Harley Benton PJ-74 VW Vintage Series 4-stars Reviews

Solid build quality, decent price. I personally disliked the pickups and the tone they produced, but I would still recommend this bass to others.

Another great from HB

Bought this as my first bass, shipping to the US was lightning fas as usual. Bass is BEAUTIFUL. The only flaw I possibly see is the strings are not centered over the pickup magnets perfectly.

Good for the price

First off its a great looking bass, the reason I wanted one,and for the money the build quality and everything about it is great. The neck feels great in the hand.

Only thing it looks like the pick ups have been thrown in ,I own two Squiers and the output of the Roswell pick ups is nowhere them, but all in all for £155 , I would be very happy if this was a first bass

Great sound, a few flaws.

Sounds great. No issue there. This is a tone monster for being a passive bass.

Wood finish on the neck is a bit off. The skunk stripe shrunk and is not flush with the rest of the neck wood. A slight bit of fret sprout that will need to be addressed but nothing too bad. Fret ends are little sharp.

Hardware and tuners function OK. Nothing special. Quality paint finish on an alder body which is awesome at this price point. D'Addario strings too! Not no name!

Great for the price for a beginner or as a backup. A new bass player will need to know how to do a set up or know someone that can do it for them. Truly not a lot to be done but after a trip across the pond it will need some work.

This bass would be a great mod platform but is not bad as is.

Overall I'm happy to add this to the collection!

Beautifull but quality...

It's my first bass.

I love it. It is really beautfull and sounds good as I can estimate.

but there are some little problrms with quality:

Bridge mounted not acurately on its place, so strings (most of all G and D strings) are not right between magnets. On single pickup all 4 string are not ok. Frets got out a little "from the box" and little more in 3 months.

But!

I love this instrument. It inspires me to practice every day.

Harley Benton PJ-74 classic!

Great bass guitar. Lightweight, very comfortable neck. Collected efficiently and beautifully. The tuners keep the tuning very well. All in all a very nice tool. The sound is rather classic, rustic. I think it's suitable for non-demanding beginner musicians.

Great value

Bought this to have in the home studio for laying down bass tracks, I didn't want to spend to much since im not even a bass player and just needed something "ok".

Didnt expect too much but have to say its been stellar so far. Keeps the tuning really well and no big issues except the frets being kinda sharp on the ends, but thats fixable without any big hassle.

Very good overall quality. Body and neck was correct. The sound is overall good but the P sound is better articulated than the J. The bridge pu (J) is weaker than the neck P. The P pickup has good attack and depth and loud but the bridge J is weaker and not so growling. I will replace them. Hardwares are OK, finish is nice. Potentiometers and electronics should be upgraded/replaced. For this money this instrument is a best buy and a good basis to upgrade.

Good value

It is set up so well and feels really nice to play - neck feels amazing - chunky more P than J.

It is very solid and the pickups sounds great - I had planned on upgrading them but I don't think i'll need to.

The finish is impeccable on the body and the neck.

Harley Benton really give competitors a run for their money.

Not bad

I purchased this bass at the beginning of June for studio recording along with a couple other products. At first The projected ship date was a couple of weeks. At the end of June, when the item was projected to be in stock in a couple of days it suddenly jumped back up to 3-4 weeks. Understandable issues with shipping due to current pandemic, but it was a huge bummer. Product arrived yesterday, in tune out of the box which was super cool. At first impression, love the look of this bass. The colour is exactly the off white vintage colour as in the pictures. Not a blemish on the body. The pick guard contrast with the off-white is awesome. The pick guard itself is as the pics look, a cheap laminated photo of a tort guard. I knew it before ordered and I’m fine with it. The neck is a nice satin feel. The rose art skunk stripe was not well done. Some uneven feeling spots. Head stock is nice perfectly matching the body. Some residue in the truss divot. Tuners are good given it stayed in tune shipping from Germany. Fingerboard looks cheap. Frets are excellent. No sharp ends or sprout. Pots and electronics seem fine on first play. Action is high high high! Intonation is good. Love the neck pickup sound and plan to mostly use this. Bridge sounds smooth. Pickups are definitely not high output but that’s okay for my needs. Came with a complimentary patch.

Pros:

Price

Excellent finish on body

Sounds decent

Arrived out of the box in tune with D’addario strings

Satin finish on neck is nice

Tuners

Cons:

The nut is rough in a couple spots and looks very cheap

Fingerboard is pretty cheap looking

Big time neck dive

Action is high

Skunk stripe could have been smoother

Overall first impressions: A pretty good purchase with a classic P-bass sound and feel.

Excellent but may have a problem with the truss rod

This is an excellent instrument for the value. However, I feel there may be a problem with the truss rod on mine. I am able to get the neck straight without strings. However, when under string tension, it turns up into a banana. Turning the rod to lessen tension seems to do nothing.

I'm dealing with it for now and probably won't send it back because of the trouble sending it back from the United States though.

I am NOT saying to stay away though. These are great instruments to learn on and learn how to fix/modify. If you're just starting out no need to wreck a $2000 P-Bass. It's just like driving a car, you work your way up.

Thank you.

Perfect as studio tool

I am a guitar player and needed a bass for my own recordings, this makes the trick at an incredible price, and honestly the quality is amazing for what is paid.

I don't know how will behave on the road or on stage but in the Studio, it is a very valid option for occasional bass guitar tracking.

Need to be fixed.

Very nice looking bass and sounds great,but need to be fixed. All frets where loose. The slots are to wide,so i put some superglue under the frets and then made them more even on the fretboard. People who are buying this bass must be aware of that if they cannot fix it themselves,it can be expensive. I also noticed that the where double layer of plastic on the scratch plate,and when i took the second layer off,there was a pretty scratchplate in high gloss. The Blackwood looks great after oiling it with lemon oil. I cannot give this bass a five stars for quality because of the loose fretwire, it is not a Fender quality instrument,but when it has been fixed,it sounds and works great.