Harley Benton JB-62CC SP

I had my eye on the MV-4JB Gotoh until I found out it was a heavy bass. I went for this model instead knowing that poplar was likely to be lighter. I was right, mine came at 3.9 kilos, not bad for a jazz bass.

The pictures on the website are misleading, this is a solid colour, it’s not metallic. It’s a plain faded pink, like a strawberry milkshake that has too much milk.

The bass has no paint imperfections, all the hardware looks well fitted, it has a good neck joint, pickups work, no dents, everything looks fine.

Out of the box it was well set up, they even took the time to set the pickup height correctly. I tightened the truss rod and lowered the saddles a little to lower the action to my preference, nothing major. The fret edges are not protruding, no issues there. The frets are pretty decent, no major buzzing.

The Roswell pickups sound ok but don’t have enough mids for my liking, like most budget pickups they lack character. Despite the Alnico 5 the pickups don't sound particularly vintage to me. Beware, despite the 62 in the name of this instrument the bridge pickup seems to be in the 70s position, this is not good or bad but I feel it shouldn't be advertised with the 62 as part of the name.

Overall for the price this bass is a great buy.

I've had lots of jazzes - USA, MEX< Squier and some of the copies and "inspired-by" basses.

I have to say, for the price, this really stands up.

It came out of teh box set up, so nothiung to do there. There were some VERY VERY slight sharp fret ends, and a couple of seconds with 1000 grit sandpaper sorted that.

The roasted maple is gorgeous, it's just under 4KG ( 8lb 13oz), so it's light.

The colour is not as it appears online. There's a slight lilac hue to it, as opposed to a flat pink or shell pink. It's not Lilac per se, but there's a tinge to it.

I've seen people talk, before they've even taken delivery of one of these, about changing pickups. Honestly, the stock Roswells are fine.

I will do a comparison video at some stage and update this review.

But for now, for €159, this is a decent instrument, and I'd recommend it highly.

This was my first HB instrument and I knew they were supposed to be good for the money but any expectations I had were thoroughly exceeded.

Fret work is decent, not perfect of course but levelled nicely and no sharp fret ends.
Fit and finish is excellent. No flaws in the finish, the neck is seated really well in its pocket, very well put together bass.
Hardware is really good. You get brass saddles on the bridge, tuners turn really well and hold tune nicely, pickups sound great, pots are smooth.
The neck is a really pleasant shape and not too thick, very comfortable to play. Oh and it's roasted maple which looks gorgeous.

For the price this bass is an absolute monster and punches well above it's weight.