Harley Benton JP-55OP Sunburst Reviews

Best value bass in the HB lineup.

I wanted a passive bass that looks good, sounds good and is as simple as possible. This one (along with it's 4 string predecessor, that I have as well) checked all the boxes on paper. I know it's always a bit of a lottery with instruments at this price range, but mine arrived in amazing condition, just the right bow in the neck, and slightly higher action that I would have liked, that took 5 minutes to lower using the saddles. Frets are pretty level (was a bit worse for the 4 string, but still very playable), and I can play with a very comfy action all over the neck. Highly recommend this, and I hope they bring back the 4 string version too!

Great Bass Lacking Volume

Well, there's good and there's bad. first, the good:

Bass came and was very easy to set up and get a VERY low action. Fret ends are dressed beautifully. finish is very nice. love the roasted maple neck.

now, the bad:

pickups are VERY VERY VERY weak. in comarison to my other passive basses (Fender, Squier, Harley Benton) this bass has half the volume. so, i will be ordering some new pickups. the other bad thing, and this is indicative of PJ pickup configurations, it's noisy. there is not shielding in the electronics cavity.

overall, it is worth the money. very well constructed and finished bass. the electronics are where it falls down.

VERY COOL!!!

Highly recommend, excellent instrument for the price.

Amazing for the price!

I'm really enjoying the bass. Seriously this is so much value. Comparable quality to basses priced 2-3x.

Fret work was great, everything matches perfectly. Sounds amazing for the price.

Only things I am not 100% satisfied about:

- the black fret markers are not very visible and this makes it a bit uncomfortable to navigate the neck. I fixed it with white fretboard stickers

- the back of the roasted maple neck isn't 100% super smooth. You can feel a bit of texture below the thumb which is only slightly annoying.

- I'd like to be able to change the pickups in the future but I think these are not very standard size. I could be wrong

highly recommended!

Reviews are right

It's a beauty to look at. Great design with that open pore and maple neck. It is light, comfortable and good balanced, can't find flaws or place for criticism. String spacing comfortable, but as this is my first 5 string, it will take some time to get used to. Love the neck, my hands are not small and I never got comfortable on thin jazz necks. This one can't be called fat or anything like that - for me it is just right.

Got it with good setup, strings a bit high but even intonation was spot on. Lowering strings is no big deal, allen keys are included. Anyway, got it restringed with popular Fender 7250 - as I read somewhere that factory strings are not that good and yes, in visual comparison they seem flimsy. Can't compare sound but that is good enough to make a conclusion. Weird, my previous (and cheaper) HB jazz bass came with D'addario strings, and similar brass saddle bridge without Wilkinson logo. Win some, lose some.

Cavities are not shielded, not even with paint. But that is ok for controls as coaxial cabling is used so wires are shielded. Jazz pickup receives some interference from electronics (computer monitor, LED lights) which is normal unless you have a humbucker. Shielding should help to lower it. P pickup sounds as it should, deep and powerful. Controls are good, and it is easy to balance them to get different tones.

So, some reviewers on yt are raving how good JP and JJ OP basses are. I think they are right. This one is a keeper.

Lightweight Beast!

Was looking for lightweight 5-string bass (mission impossible). And by pure accident found this bass. I don't buy by logo on the headstock as these days are gone by now... well.. for me...

First bass in my life when basically i did not have to do the following:

1. Strings height at the nut, 2. Fretwork, 3. Intonation, 4. Neck curvature...

I had USA, Mexican, and Indonesian-made basses but all of them always came with faults... big and small!

Ready to play out of the box.

The factory-fitted B string is horrible but I don't care as only play E-C.

Love it!

Amazing for the price

I bought this bass (& it's 4 string brother) as a bit of an experiment. In the band I'm in at moment I swap between 4 & 5 string and both of my other 5 strings have a much higher output than my Fender PJ bass so it makes change overs a bit longer winded. I wanted to try a Bass with similar pickups and see. I've used it at rehearsal and had compliments on its sounds. It's well built of good materials, it's got a nice solid bridge and the pickups sound fine. The neck is comfortable and the fretting is good. The setup out of the box was OK but the action was a little high but it only took me 10 mins to get it where I like it. My only criticisms are that the machine heads are a bit vague and the pickups are a bit polite for my taste. My other Harley Benton basses have Roswell pickups which have a bit more grunt. But that's a matter of personal taste. Overall I don't think you'll go far wrong with this bass either as a first taste of the 5 string world or as a platform for modding. Recommended.