Harley Benton JB-75MN SB Vintage Series

OK so, let's take it from the top. Selection and ordering. This site is one of the best online retailers I have ever encountered. Everything is accounted for. The site is unbelievably intuitive and easy to navigate and supplies answers to questions I had before I even knew I had them. Placing the order could not have been easier and communication was great.

The package arrived earlier than stated and the container was in perfect condition. This was due to the shipper (UPS) and not so much a function of Thomann. I was a little surprised at how the packing was done, not as much "padding" as I would have thought but everything was in perfect condition. The bass was in immaculate condition. Not one nick, dent, scratch, or other imperfection. Removing it from the box my first reaction was, "Wow, this is heavy." It's listed at 5.15 kgs (one of the lighter in the series and the reason I chose this particular model.) But I don't know what the average bass weighs in at.

Not having the slightest bit of experience with a bass there is not much more I can say. I tuned it up but felt that it did not sound just right so I trekked on down to the local guitar shop for a setup. The tech picked up the bass and the first words he said were, "Wow, this is heavy." He made a few minor adjustments to the string height but otherwise said the instrument was in good shape.

When I got home I could notice the difference.

So now I am learning how to adjust the pickups and create different effects. I tune it up before every practice session and it stays very well tuned day to day. I'm taking an online course (which I can highly recommend from bassbuzz.com) and feeling more confident each day. The neck is smooth and easy to navigate.

I chose this particular bass as an entry level instrument. I had never heard of the Harley Benton name before but after doing some research and reading many positive reviews decided this was the best bang for the buck and I am not disappointed.

Because I am just starting out I didn't want to go all out and buy a speaker amp in case things didn't work out so I bought the Vox amPlug2 and it really works great.

So, from a Noob's perspective I have absolutely no complaints and I am thoroughly satisfied with the purchase. At the entry level my personal opinion is that you don't need to spend a lot of money on the instrument until you're sure you want to stick with it and this bass is very reasonably priced. I am enjoying the learning and playing experience very much and would highly recommend this bass for folks in the same position as me.

Really hopes this helps.

..you're not paying Fender prices, are you?

Many of the reviews here are slightly hyperbolic and do the JB-75 an injustice. It's very nice (very, very nice) but it's not perfect and you should be aware of this when buying.
Finish is, as others have said, excellent. Removing all the protective plastic was a royal pain in the backside, especially from the control plate. There were a couple of minor scratches on the scratchplate, under the plastic sheet - nothing to cause concern.
The neck is great - thin just as JBs should be but noticeably deep. The satin finish makes it very playable and I have absolutely no issues with this. The slot for the A string was cut too deep which meant that the string buzzed on the first fret. While I have no doubts that Thommann would have addressed this, it was easier just to deal with it here buy very slightly building up the bottom of the slot. Easy to do and problem solved. Likewise a spent ten minutes going along the fret edges with very fine wet and dry as there were sharp edges - nothing major, but just enough to irritate me. On the upside, these minor issues dealt with I have a good low action right up the neck with minimal buzz.

The sound is everything I was looking for - punchy with lots of pop. As with the real thing the tone control does it's job but it isn't spectacular, that's a criticism of passive tone control in general rather than this bass in particular, but fading between the pickups gives everything from majestic lows to real punch with plenty of bite. This is what I was looking for, this is why I bought it and this is exactly what I got.

I have a few basses and this gives nothing away sound-wise. Construction is solid and I have no concerns about longevity. Pickups are great, hardware is simple, solid and does it's job well. D Addario strings are a bonus as they are my choice anyway.

It is unfair to suggest that the JB-75 is equivalent in overall quality to a bass costing several times more, it isn't. For what you pay for it though, I struggle to see how it can be beaten for value. Very solid with a good tonal range, decent (read high) output and that sense of a well-built instrument that will go the distance it remains a mystery how Thommann can offer these at the price they do. I am just glad that they do!

Finally - service from Thommann was absolutely spot on, really cannot fault it in anyway whatsoever, for which they have my thanks and my continuing custom.

Shocked and pleasantly surprised. For the money, you simply cannot top this Jazz Bass clone. If you want a great-looking, great-playing, and great- sounding Jazz Bass but you don't quite have the dough for the real thing, the Harley Benton JB-75 MN SB will do quite nicely. I was simply amazed that a bass could be so good for the price it sells for. Is it perfect? Not quite, but it's very close.

Where most cheap instruments show their cheapness is in the neck, especially how well the frets feel. When you rub your hand along the edges of the frets. Most cheapos will slice you open with the sharp edges of the fret/neck union. No such flaw with this bass, it's I perfectly smooth and the frets are seated well. I said it before and I'll say it again, I'm amazed by the quality of this bass at this price. I've played a lot of basses that cost way more than the JB-75MN SB that sounded and played a lot worse.

I'm not a big fan of the bridge and will probably replace it with a BadAss II or something similar. The tuners, although they amply get the job done, are a little rough around the edges and feel cheaper than their actions would indicate. Lastly, the pickups could use an upgrade but to some Seymore Duncans or a couple of EMGs would be great, but a pair of either of those cost more than this whole bass did, and the OEM Roswells sound pretty good as is.

Harley Benton did it again: It's incredible that such an amazing instrument can cost that little! All the hype you read about in other reviews is entirely justified. This is a marvelous bass. Until now I was playing a bass bought by… a competitor (yes, that one), at about the same price range. Any comparison is not even close: The Harley Benton blows the competition out of the water.

The only negative about it is the first thing you'll encounter receiving the box: This thing is heavy. Really heavy. But guess what: It's the price you have to pay for getting stunning tone. The sustain is beyond belief – just hit the string, let it ring, and you'll be amazed.

The pickups are excellent, guaranteed to give you full control and the tone you've been after.

The finishing is great, high quality with no discernible flaws.

All in all, you really can't go wrong with this bass!

I have been continually impressed with this bass as it has the best sound and build quality of several basses I've owned over the last decade. The build out the box is well beyond the $400 squire vintage bass and more on par with the $800 Fender Player series. The higher weight must contribute heavily to the sustain and warmth that it generates as it sounds ridiculously good with all genres that I play. I really appreciate that it came setup out of the box and the stock strings sound great. I also like the neck as it is a good length and thickness with great looking inlays. I introduce it to people as my "Gazz Bass" (German Jazz) thanks to Thomann.

TL;DR:
Pros: feels good, sounds awesome, and is well setup before it gets to you
Cons: Really heavy, and can have quirks if you play in tunings other than E standard without a fret mute.


If you're down here reading reviews, you're wondering if buying this cheap of an instrument is worth it. I decided to bite the bullet so here's my experience. For context I am a recording artist and engineer. Not a lot of live gig use in my case.

I wanted a jazz bass for a while. I've played many, yet never owned one myself. I also wasn't trying to spent over $1,000 on a Fender Jazz. While researching all the different brands, I came across Harley Benton and as humans do, I wrote it off as cheap because well...... this bass is cheap. I always look for sound examples off of YouTube, and I was actually kind of impressed when I heard this guy. I decided this bass was cheap enough, so why not give it a try? After all, it isn't a huge hit against my wallet, and Thomann has a good return policy if I didn't like the bass. After shipping to the US, I paid a grand total of $230 US dollars

Firstly, I was very impressed with the shipping time. I got this bass to my house in the States less than a week after I ordered it. The instrument was well packaged and no scratches/issues with the bass itself.

First impression: This bass feels very nice to play, came shipped only slightly detuned due to international travel, so a quick tune up and I was good to go. Action and intonation were also spot on, so big props to the quality control guys at Thomann. One con I will give this bass, is that it is HEAVY. I weighed it and it is 11.7 lbs (5.3 kg). This isn't an issue for me as I am a recording artist and usually play sitting down, or standing for short periods of time. But this would be something to keep in mind if you are a gigging musician who would be wearing this for well over an hour or longer.

Sound: Trying this out for the first time was a lot of fun. I wanted to get a good sense of what this bass could do so I recorded it two ways. DI, and through my usual recording setup (a Sansamp RBI and an 1176 compressor).
The Direct signal was shockingly good. Considering this is a jazz bass, I'm not all that surprised but still.... I could easily record and mix the dry signal and it would still work well on a record.
But through my recording rig, I was honestly floored. I couldn't get a bad sound out of it. I gave it just a little bit of drive, slightly boosted the midrange, and this thing sounds beautiful.

After my initial testing, I threw on a new set of strings as I planned on using this bass in Eb tuning. Everything still sounded good, but the nut didn't like the thicker strings all that much. The A string started buzzing pretty bad whenever I played the string open. I will say that the bass had NO buzz with the original strings in standard tuning, it just didn't wanna play nice with the new strings. It wasn't a big deal though, I just bought a $5 fret mute off Amazon and the problem was immediately fixed. Just thought I should mention it though. You could fix this by widening the opening on the nut, but I don't really like altering my instruments in a way that I can't undo. Plus the mute was perfectly fine.

Conclusion: For the money, it really doesn't get any better than this. I don't know how the heck Thomann is selling this for this cheap but I'm all for it. If you're on the fence, give this bass a try. Worst case, you're out a couple hundred bucks and you still have a good bass for practice. Best case, your mind will be changed about cheap instruments, just like me :)