Harley Benton JB-75MN Black Vintage Series Reviews

Great bass, some quirks

The bass is fantastic, it feels like a very good instrument, and it sounds like a very good instrument.

The build quality is great, some frets are a bit sharp, and there's some buzz on the neck that can be solved with some neck relief.

Overall - very recommended.

HB JB-75MN Great value for money

I needed a bass for recording during lockdown. I’m a guitarist, so am not really fully conversant with the dark arts of bass playing but after reading reviews I decided on this one. I was really happy with it right out of the box and, after tuning, started recording immediately getting some good results. However the big test came ,after restrictions were lifted, when a friend who was a pro bass player came round and had a go. His first impression was that he couldn’t believe the quality for price ratio, stating ‘ I wish they made these when I first started playing’ and ‘ how can they make them for that price, He has many top of the range instruments and was really impressed. During that session I played his jazz bass, and yes it did have the overall feel of a quality instrument, however when you compare the £ 2000 pound price difference??? He uses simi flat strings, expensive but worth it, so I’m changing mine as it makes playing so much easier.

I leave you with his last quote ‘ This plays better than any budget bass I have ever played’ say no more.

Summing up, if , like me you just need a ‘fill in bass for odd recordings or you are just starting out on the bass or, you are on a tight budget, you can’t go wrong with the HB JB-75.

really good for the price

the playability was a bit of an issue but a setup solves that problem, pickups are not that great but reasonable

Excellent bass value

Very solid bass guitar. Feels fantastic to play, really nice sound and a great weight. Looks stunning as well.

Best bass for price

Other than being one of the heaviest instruments i've picked up, extremely versatile and well rounded bass. Gives my Fender Mexican Special edition a run for its money.

Got the looks

I bought the Harley Benton JB-75MN bass because I wanted that 70s vibe - and it has that in spades. However, it does seem to be lacking a bit on the electronics front, so I'll be upgrading the pots before long, as the volume and tone are a bit 'on/off'. Otherwise, I can't complain too much - as for £129 it's a wonderful bass.

Really good, mindblowing for the price

I've had several Harley Benton basses. All were really amazing for the money and all had issues with the final execution. This one included.

The good is that it's a well made instrument, sounds very good and the finish is great. Neck and frets are really good. Pickups are not my favourites, but generally good. I've met players who prefer them over other (more expensive) alternatives.

The bad is that (like on other HB basses I've had) the pickup screws are driven in the wood at a bad angle, preventing lowering or raising the pickups as desired. I found this annoying, especially since it's not such a big thing to get right during the manufacturing process, and so much else on this bass is of really high quality. The also the binding is imperfect.

The weight is great, a straight 4.0kg. Light for a jazz bass, somewhat prone to neck dive, but not much.

Impressions

The order has successfully arrived.

The bass looks great. The neck of the guitar is a bit tinted and satin. He's straight, like a bayonet. The frets of the guitar are wide, do not bite, new. Nut is neatly set. The inlay is correct.

Machine heads work perfectly.

The sound corresponds to JazzBass.

Electronics works.

The total weight of the guitar is significantly greater than that of Squire Affinity. The balance is directed towards the neck of the guitar.

In general, the body and neck of the guitar without flaws.

Harley Benton JB-75MN Black Vintage Series is no worse than Fender Squire, and in some places even better.

In the end, I was pleasantly surprised by the products of Harley Benton. I can advise friends.

Quality Instrument

I'm a retired bass player and don't play out anymore, but still enjoy noodling around on my own. This jazz style bass caught my eye and so I decided for the low price to give it a try. Glad I did. It's a a gorgeous guitar with a great neck and action. The Roswell pickups are really nice and plenty of tone from both the neck and bridge pickups.

Pros: Love the neck. No sharp frets. Arrived with the proper amount of relief and the string action out of the box was right where I like it.

Intonation was spot on. Just tuned it up and was ready to play.

Pots are smooth and quiet. No humming. Fit and finish are perfect.

Cons: It is a tad on the heavy side but a wide strap or a good chair reduces that problem. Otherwise a very nice instrument.

Would recommend to beginners and pros alike.

Great bass for a bargain!

Bass is used for recording solo projects at home and also for fun projects with friends, both rehearsal room and concerts.

Pros:

+ sound is very close to Fender original J-bass

+ low string action, ideal for begginers

+ nice and clear pick-ups sound

+ great varnish

+ perfectly functional hardware for the price

Cons:

- NONE

Best jazz bass for the price!

Cheap bass that doesn't suck!

Lovely little bass

I bought this as a back up to my 70s made Japanese jazz and was instantly impressed. Frets were all finished nicely and a nice smooth neck. Had to tweak the truss rod a bit but that was very easy. Bass has a nice weight to it for such a low cost guitar. Beefy sounding Roswell pickups with very little if any noise for single coils. A good punchy sound with plenty of top and chunky mids which you want from a jazz bass. Solid bridge with what look like brass saddles which was a nice bonus. An absolute bargain.

Very nice sound

I'm happy with this purchase. The bass is very nice, has a very nice sound, all the finishing is accurate... Now talking about the sound, the bass has required punch, sustain and attack for my heavy metal sound... =)

Good but too HEAVY

I also have a Harley Benton PJ 75 de luxe that I like a lot better. The JB 75 is a good instrument for €139,=. Sounds good and plays good. But it is HEAVY. Too heavy for me. I'm sending it back.

The specs are OK, decent hardware and electronics. Build quality is not that good. This thing just weighs too much. Playing sitting and standing is not comfortable. There were also minor scratches visible in the paint, this is not a problem to me.

Neck is not too thin but I like a bigger neck better.

Sound is OK but lacks that JazzBass bridge pickupg growl. Still ok for €139,=

I like my PJ 75 a lot better. Fuller sound and better playing.

Very good bass

For this price this is very good jazz bass

Neck isn't varnished and feels smooth

Pros:

- Price

- Quality and finishing

Cons:

- Frets look like they were already played

- Frets scratch hands a little

Amazing!!

I wasn't sure what i was going to get from spending so little on a guitar but i couldn't have been more wrong, This bass blows even fenders out of the water with how good it sounds.

Very, very good

Needless to say, I love this bass. I practically play it every day because it's just that good to play. Even my bass teachers were surprised by the good quality, jamming out on it like it was their own.

It's a very good bass for beginners and needs little to no setting up when arriving. The action on my bass was just a little bit too high, which was fixed by my teacher during the first lesson since I wasn't too sure on how to do it. So I recommend letting someone else look over it if you aren't too sure about it either.

The only downside is that it is kinda on the heavy side, I picked up other basses and found them to be half the weight of my own. This isn't too bad tho, with a good strap and some practice you can still play it standing up for a longer period of time.

Of course I can see myself buying a pricier bass some day but for now this is absolutely good enough.

Affordable and good option for beginners

For the price it's a great entry bass. A little on the heavy side for weight, other than that it's decent and very affordable.

Came with setup done, played well. The sound is very punchy, and works suprisingly well for the instrument of this price. Cons are fret-ends, which needed a little bit of sanding because they were a little bit sharp, and whole electronics needed grounding, but both things are easily done in few hours and now i have above-decent bass for 1.3 of the price of similar sounding instruments.

Heavy Bass

Good Bass but very heavy

Fantastic!

It is unbelievable what you get for the price.

The machine heads and bridge are solid and robust, frets are nicely rounded, tuning is stable and the neck feels comfortable.

The only issue is that this bass is really heavy.