Harley Benton JB-75MN Black Vintage Series Reviews

Great guitar without breaking the bank

This bass is amazing and plays like a dream! I’ve only played for a few years now but this is my 4th Harley Benton guitar and I love every single one of them. The quality is great and they’re set up quite nice out of the box. They’re super budget friendly and great instruments.

First bass

Finally decided to learn to play an instrument and bought this one on my cousins recommendation as one of his friends got it and is super satisfied. The price and quality are great. Best buy in my life, so far! 😁

Good beginners bass

Better than the starter basses years ago

Ready to rock n roll

Great bass guitar,ready to rock n roll straight out of the box, well put together seems quite solid, responsive pickups, quiet when not playing as in I can’t hear any white noise or buzzing, frets are nice and smooth No sharp edges, good quality finish, plays quite well and has a nice sound. The bass is leaning towards the heavier side so I would recommend having a nice wide strap maybe a padded one for comfort while playing for long periods of time, but overall very happy

Very good bass for the price

best budget bass

good stuff for less money, good costumer service.

PLAYS LIKE A $1000 BASS

Absolutely love this bass! Been playing it at all my recent tour gigs and I can't put it down. Wouldn't change anything about it!

Very good but heavy!

Obvious choice, I always wanted to have a jazz bass but I couldn't justify the expense, I mainly play 6 string guitars. In comes Harley Benton, I did what setup I could new strings, polished the frets, adjusted the neck with a truss rod (that actually works too!) and put hundreds of hours into playing it.

No major complaints, it's very well made, maybe too well in fact because it's really heavy. Put against a Yamaha TRBX305 that I bought after the HB, the good old HB feels like it's double the weight of the Yamaha and that could be an issue for some players. I don't mind it because I only play it at home sitting down.

If not playing it, it's always great to look at it so consider it having two functions at home

Excellent Bass

Excellent Bass and value for money.

However there are a few issues that need sorting eg the pick up covers are razor Sharpe, I have several of these Basses all modified, but the pickup covers get there edges rounded off and the plastic polished. Still an excellent instrument for it's price I prefer the Harley Benton Bass range over the Squires and I have several still.

This Bass Is Sick

Try It this is bass sick ..it plays like a 70s jazz bass thats 3x times this price a tad heavy but in a good way

Great playing bass with small quality issues

I bought this bass because of many good reviews on the internet, and I don't regret the purchase. The setup was perfect put of the box aside from intonation on E and A strings. No fret buzz whatsoever, the neck was perfectly straight without any adjustment. It plays very well and sounds amazing.

What I didn't like is some quality shortcomings: the dots on the side of the neck are not round, the holes for the pickguard and control plate are out of alignment, and there is no shielding of the electronics inside, which I expected anyway. Also, be prepared for the weight of this instrument.

Overall I think this bass is a worthwhile purchase because of its great playability and sound quality, if you don't mind small quality issues and significant weight of this instrument .

JB-75

I bought this bass because I wanted a jazz bass guitar, it was the type of bass I used when i started learning how to play bass guitar.

There re no complaints about quality, actually for the money you pay quality is extraordinary. No painting failures, no scoring, no scratches on the main body, neck has no sharp edges. Playability is very good as well, neck is wider than the standard for a jazz bass and has a smooth feel.

Sound wise it sounds like a jazz bass with a warmer tone, reminds me a little bit a P bass I have. Nice mids and highs, good on lows, and sound and tone controls are quite responsive. No fret buzz for me, I did not do any neck adjustment on the instrument when I opened the box.

It is not a light instrument, however its not my P bass which is 4.8 kg. JB-75 weighs an exact 4.2 kg, for me it’s the ideal weight for a bass guitar, for sure it doesn’t feel light as a toy.

In my opinion it is an instrument that is worth every single cent from the money that you pay.

Classic vibes a-plenty

Killer looks, killer tone. a modern classic.

A little hefty on the weight side but such a dynamic sound. finished beautifully,no snags on frets? played beautifully straight out the box.

Buy it, buy it now!

Very good for the price!

I'm really happy about it. Overall it's a very good bass for the price. It has a good neck and playing it feels good.

great starter for the money

Wish I had this bass as a beginner. Great value and looks great. A bit heavy but I like it.

Very good value, but manage your expectations.

So I pulled the trigger on one of these after seeing some reviews and added yet another instrument I don't need to my collection. I've had some previously very good experiences with HB basses and, along with the great reviews, this convinced me. The bass arrived in a decent time and very well packaged (DHL absolutely mangled the outer box but everything inside was safe and sound).

First impression were..... OK. It's certainly very pretty but a quick look over the bass showed up some QC issues, although this is to be expected at this price point. Scratchy knobs, badly fitted hardware, a few finishing blemishes and rough frets are all here and signs of an instrument thrown together quickly. Like I say though, all to be expected on an instrument which costs £144.

There are good points though: the pickups are incredible. Full, punchy and with plenty of output. It sounds way, way more expensive than it actually is. The tuners are a nice surprise too - I was planning on replacing them but they're going to stay now. They're smooth, feel solid and so far are holding the tuning well. And of course the bass is very very pretty.

I bought this bass with my eyes wide open and never expected it to match more expensive instruments in terms of quality. I enjoy working on guitars and I intended this as a modding platform so it absolutely fits the bill for me. In many ways it exceeded expectations, particularly with the pickups.

Nevertheless it is worth considering that a little bit of work is required to get it playing well, in particular it is going to need a fret dress. If that isn't something you can do yourself then it might add to the cost significantly.

Would I buy again? Absolutely. To me it represents a bargain and something I will enjoy working on. To someone less experienced with set up work though, the costs will add up, possibly to the point where other brands might be worth looking at instead.

Amazing Quality for amazing price!

I have been playing Fender Jazz and PB Basses for many years. I can tell you that the quality and detail on this bass rivals Fender itself. The finish, construction, and sound are spot on. The tones I can get are just let me my Fender Jazz Bass. The only difference is about $600 left in my pocket. My hat is tipped to the wonderful designers at Harley Benton, thank you for making the most playable Bass I’ve ever touched!

Punches well beyond it's weight

I am really pleased with the JB-75MN.

I wasn't sure what to expect from a bass guitar at this price point but I was surprised at the quality of the instrument in every category. It looks beautiful, it sounds awesome through my Ampeg amp and doesn't disappoint in any way.

If there are any criticisms it would be the machine heads which feel a bit cheap, but they still do the job well. Oh just to mention, it is on the heavy side.

Great at the price?

Having owned and moved on various Fender and Squier Jazz basses, I decided the time was right to try one of these for occasional use, mostly at home when the Jazz notion strikes.

As previous reviews have said, this is quite heavy at 5.1 kg or 11.2 lb`s but as am going to use it sitting down this should be ok. The finish on the body is flawless, the neck is fine with no sharp fret ends, I have owned basses 3 time the price that weren`t as well finished.

The pickups are fine, if I was planning on gigging this on a regular basis I would change the bridge and tuners but I would do this with a Squier that was £200 more expensive. If you just want a bass for recording or to use around the home then just keep it as it is.

If you were looking for a regular gigging Jazz bass I would go the extra and get a Sire V5 but plenty of guys gig these HB`s stock. Me, I`m happy with this bass and at the price, it`s a no brainer!

Amazing value for the money!

I've been playing bass for nearly 20 years and I have owned several basses during that time and this bass is arguably the best bass for the price that I have ever owned. It is very well built, I had no issues with it cosmetically, no build issues at all. With nearly 20 years of experience, I still don't know anything about electronics, so I can't speak too much on that as far as quality and longevity. But what I can say is that it sounds great! I have a couple of jazz basses and this one seems to have a slightly higher output than any of my other jazz basses, which I really enjoy. There was also very little setup needed when it arrived. It was already playable out of the box, but, for my personal preference, it needed the least amount of setup than any other bass I've ever owned. If there is any negatives that I can find about this bass, it's that it is on the heavy side. But a good, thick strap can help with the weight a little. Shipping cost was expensive, but it arrived from Germany to the east coast of the United States in 3 days and I think it was well worth it. Overall I am very pleased and very impressed with this bass. This was the fist time I ever ordered a Harley Benton guitar, but if all of their guitars are of this quality, it will not be my last!