Harley Benton JB-75MN Black Vintage Series

I have an expensive and rare Spector bass and I bought it for three reasons.
1. I needed an easily accecible bass to have it laying around and throw it around without thinking about damaging or anything else as I am with my other bass.
2. I normally prefer PB setup but wanted to have a JB configuration to explore the sound. But I did not want to spend a lot of money at this time.
3. I wanted to by a Harley Benton instrument and see for myself what it is all about. Few very bad reviews, Many great reviews and many people are amazed about the value for money and not only.

It is one of the best purchases I have ever had. The bass is great just out of the box. Sound is decent, hardware is very good, woods are very nice, finish is excellent. Pots are real, factory fitted strings are ok. It is definately not an instrument of bad quality and yes I do care a lot if something happen to it. Surely it is not in par with my Spector in terms of sound, playability and exclusivity and surely a American Jazz Bass is another league, but I really love it A LOT for what it is!.

Cons.
All issues below are not something that worries me, not the slightest though of regreting my purchase and not a deal breaker in any case. For the price, you have to have a flaw. However, these flaws are often present to all other brands' more expensive models.

1. A bit heavy but It does not affect me that much as I read other reviewers which to them that seem to be a great issue.
2. Action is a bit high, however, I have not tried to set it up yet as it is not a major issue yet.
3. Frets are a bit sharp, but I will not bother to sand them. Playability is not affected, feel is ok.
4. The block inlays and stripes at the fretboard is some short of paint application. I hope it will last, otherwise i do not think that it would look nice if it start to fade.

Highly recomend for a new player, or an experienced one (if you need it).

I only have it for 3 weeks and did not have the chance to play with my mates yet. Will provide feedback.


Very happy with my purchase. Thank you Thomann

+ nice strings, nice pickups (high output), no radio noise, frets not trying to hurt you, good balance
- pickguard holes were drilled not in place, but everything works. Metal parts looking cheap, but work pretty well
+- thick freatboard, but it's comfortable for my hands

Good bass for it's price, For me it's very comfortable to play. Sure, it looks cheap, but comfort is the better option :)

And for Russian users:
Бас отличный! Выглядит дешево, отверстия под пикгард все кривые, но какая разница. Я собирался брать удобный инструмент для обучения, который не будет пытаться срезать пальцы. Все так и получилось. Вид на троечку, удобство на пять. С завода все отстроено, натянул струны и вперед. 3я и 4я струны немного не строят на 12м ладу, но это решается регулировкой седел. Даже анкер крутить не пришлось, струны максимально близко к ладам, на ладах не звенят, да и сами струны хорошие. Инструмент сбалансирован, гриф не клюет. Короче я доволен. Дизайн на любителя, башка прям здоровая, колками канаты тянуть можно) холка бобра настоящая, гриф толстенный (может для кого-то это и будет минусом, но мне удобно) При желании можно конечно замнить все фурнитуру на поприличней, но что-то мне подсказывает, что я ничего делать не буду. Работает - не трогай. Новичкам прям усиленно советую, оно того стоит!

До этого мне друг подарил какой-то euphony (копия BC Rich Mockingbird), так вот он прям дико неудобный: гриф клюет, расстояние до струн гигантское и не настраивается, гриф повело винтом, звучки в неудобных местах, натяжение струн вообще недружелюбное. Я еще присматривался к Dean Guitars Evo XM Bass Mahogany, там конечно гриф еще меньше, да и в целом гитара очень современная, качество материалов поприятней, как и внешний вид. У товарища взял попробовать. В плане размеров все супер, но на этом плюсы заканчиваются. У нее вылезли лады, высоту струн низко настроить не получилось, с завода был фон, стоковые струны тоже так себе. Играть конечно можно, но харви бентон мне оказался приятней)

This is the second Harley Benton bass I bought and I must say, it is a top tier instrument. Excellent bass, period. For its price, it's simply unbelievable and I would not hesitate to buy the whole Harley Benton line up, after this one!

So, first off, the build quality. I have looked over this one thoroughly and I simply could not find the smallest of faults on it. The paint is really good all over, no chips, hairs, runs, anything. Everything lines up correctly, the neck pocket is TIGHT, every single screw is just fine. There have been reports of less than optimal screws for the pickups but this was not the case on mine. Sturdy as can be and built perfectly. Five stars here!

Now, the sound. This bass has Wilkinson pickups (and hardware, more on that after). The sound is spot on! In a blind test, I doubt one could easily discern between this one and an American Fender. It's THAT good! I've used to it record direct and amped and I must say, it kicks serious ass in any situation. Rock, funk, pop, metal, the versatility of the Jazz Bass is nto lost in this one's price range! Simply excellent. Five stars here, as well!

One more thing here, though. The cables are cloth wrapped, the electronics EXTREMELY tidy and the pots are just excellent. No hissing, no scratching, nothing.

Now, the hardware on this bass is Wilkinson as well, and it is a huge plus. The tuners are nice and sturdy and, combined with the very well cut nut, the bass can hold the tuning after much abuse. The bridge is also sturdy and with enough mass. Everything is as it should be and doesn't really warrant a swap with anything pricier. Also, the bass came from Thomann set up PERFECTLY, which I did not expect. I only had to tune up and it was ready to play.
I should mention that the bass came strung with D'Addario strings. Excellent, and quite a pricey choice, considering the instrument's price!

Overall, it's five stars on every aspect. Just an honestly excellent instrument, well made, very nice sounding and a total sleeper. Plus, it's entertaining as hell to see people scratching their heads over how awesome such a low priced instrument is! I really hope Thomann adds more Benton basses in the future!

I just want to start off by saying that this is my first bass. I've heard many great things about Harley Benton so I just wanted to shoot my shot and see if bass might be something I'm interested in. I have played guitar previously but I felt ready to make a transition over to the bass and wow this left me seriously impressed.

Being completely honest, the JB-75 is perfect. The pickups do not sound muddy, the finish is fantastic, and of course it looks amazing. The only issue I could potentially see is the weight of it but I personally do not mind it. It's a very small compromise for the great deal you get on it, which you can easily compensate by getting a thick and comfortable 4 inch strap. I mean at the end of the day, you're paying 150-160 USD alone for the bass and it's VERY worth it!

This bass guitar has left a good impression on Harley Benton for me. I'll be coming back maybe a year or two from now (depending on how good I get at bass) to come back for a 5 string Harley Benton :)

To anybody having any doubts about buying off of Thomann, let me just make it clear that they honestly have some of the greatest customer support I've seen, very approachable and very reliable with accurate delivery dates!

TLDR;
Pros:
1) Low price! I mean this is practically half the price of a Squier but the JB-75 is at least 3 times better.
2) Fantastic finish. My guitar was 500+ USD yet somehow this 150 USD bass has a finish just as good or even BETTER?? Seriously, Harley Benton blew my mind with this.
3) Good sound quality. For being 150 USD, this bass has some incredible pickups. Of course, the stock pickups would be incomparable to some nice EMGs or DiMarzios but for 150 USD, you get a pretty good tone that could even be gig worthy.

Cons:
1) Heavy. Even though I don't mind it, it weighs like a truck. Fortunately, you can just slap a thick high quality strap on it and call it a day and all the heaviness is solved. On the bright side, there's literally no neck dive (at least not any that I noticed) just because of how heavy the body is.

I'm a beginner and never had a bass in my hands, so I decided to purchase a Harley Benton JB-75MN Black as my first low-cost training bass. After very fast delivery, I unpacked the box with the tool. The set includes keys for tuning the neck and string heights.
The bass looks great, nice black lacquer and light neck. I was afraid that the neck would be a screw, but everything is in order, the quality left me satisfied, everything is smooth, the screws are spinning, the sound is fine tuned.
A few months later, when I had already learned to play several popular melodies, I was slowly mastering slap and got to know the instrument better, I can say that it is quite massive. When you play sitting for a long time, the right leg gets tired, and while standing, it pulls the shoulder, even with a wide belt. The balance is shifted towards the neck - the head falls down.
Two months later, some frets came out and I scratched my palm on the sharp edges, and out of the box the neck was just even, because of this, the sound at 1-2 frets was not very good. I had to grind down the frets and set the neck deflection and lower the strings a little, and now the bass sounds even better!
In general, what we have:
+ fast delivery
+ high-quality and beautiful instrument
+ strings D "Addario
-heavy
-a bit unbalanced
The result is a good choice for a beginner to learn to play and not feel sorry for the money spent.

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!

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.

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.

I actually have three of these, this one, a natural and a sunburst.

I could not decided which one I liked best so I bought a natural version, it was so nice I bought the other two.

I love black guitars generally and this one looks amazing, it's perfectly finished and looks just how a jazz bass should look in my opinion.

I cannot find fault with this guitar in terms of finish and build quality it is flawless as are my other two, it does not look like a cheap guitar.

The most important parts are how it sounds and plays. Mine is set up very well from the factory and is lovely to play. It sounds great, the pick ups are of good quality and the strings are D'Addario roundwounds. I may try some flats on it later but right now I could not be happier.

If you are looking for a jazz bass, or even just a nice bass, then I recommend that you give one of these a try, you will save yourself a lot of money and even if you bought a much more expensive guitar than this I think it would be difficult to notice and significant gains.