Harley Benton PJ-75 VW Vintage Series

The sound is perfect for any style of music. If you use two pickups at once with an open tone, then the sound is like Ibanez sr305 (imho)
The tone of this bass can be very aggressive or soft.

Suitable for both a beginner bassist and professional musicians (but for studio recording, you will have to replace the pickups with some seymour duncan).

Came out of the box tuned to the scale. The height of the strings suits me as well (Under 1st fret <1mm under 12th fret 2.5mm), but maybe I'll lower it a bit because it's a little difficult to play.

The bass is in perfect condition, no noticeable chips, no scratches. Of course, if you look closely, then there will be small ones, but they will also be on expensive instruments with a price above $ 1,500.

Analogues in local music stores (in Kazakhstan) are 4 times more expensive, so this is an ideal option for all musicians.
Even if you are a guitarist, you can buy this bass for such a good price for fun.
Ребята из Казахстана и стран СНГ! Не переживайте о том что что-то пойдёт не так, всё было отлично. Я тоже сначала думал что такого быть не может - "отличный бас и за такую цену?", думал что придут дрова, но инструмент оказался отличный и по факту придираться тут и не к чему. Так что заказывайте и кайфуйте!

I'll jump straight to the point.

The bass is a very nice sounding PJ, with a quite good low B, especially considering the price. However, in my case, the bass came with uneven frets, needed a shim and the nut was high. There was also a bent potentiometer but that was fixed easily.

Fit and finish were beautiful. Apart from a couple of very, VERY minor spots which would be someone being nitpicky, the bass is perfect in that regard. No paint/clear runs, no uneven surfaces, the back of the neck is finished beautifully, all in all, great.

The sound is also one of its very good qualities. The Roswell pickups on this will not need an upgrade. They are classic examples of alnico pickups, perhaps a tad on the hot side but nothing excessive. Sweet sounding and perfectly balanced, without sanding harsh in any setting.

Now the setup and quality control on that regard, which should be the most important -playability- was very, VERY poor.
First off was the need for a shim. The saddles couldn't get low enough to accomodate even medium action. And it needed a relatively substantial shim, too.

Next up was the frets, which was the worst part. The neck was thankfully not warped but, looking at the frets, you'd think it was! This was unacceptable in what's supposed to be on the more upscale PJ model. Even after the shim, you'd get buzzing all over and especially on the higher part of the neck, since the last few frets were incredibly high.
Sadly, it needed leveling and crowning since this wasn't a case of a couple of frets just popping up.
Really, REALLY BAD quality control on this one.

Other than that, the nut was also cut very high and the slots were apparently cut for lower gauge strings, too. It wasn't terrible but it needed filing to be set up correctly.

Thomann of course offers a no-hassle refund but at that point, I did the work myself.

Now, AFTER shimming, nut filing and doing fretwork, I must admit it plays beautifully but you can't expect everyone to be able to do their own fretjob.

I must also mention that it's quite light for a PJ fiver. At just shy of 4kg, it's just nice, especially compared to a lot of heavy Sires, for example.

Would I recommend this one? Yes. It's a nice sounding and nice playing bass. If you can do the work yourself, moreso. Still, even if you can't, If you get a lemon, Thomann will replace it and it's still a very nice bass. Not just for the money, either. A nice bass, period.

I love this bass! I've heard lots of stories about how great these basses are so I decided to try one out myself. I got it for noodling at home and occasional recording.

I plugged it in an played it along with two songs...one with just the neck pickup and one with the neck pickup at full and bridge pickup at about 40%...and I was floored in both cases. It has a very meaty, full mid tone that both sits very well in a mix but also stands out. Mixed tones are also fantastic, and the low B string absolutely sings. This bass is very hot, and I'm still kind of surprised it's not active. It just sounds lovely.

It's very playable, and the fit and finish are well above what you'd expect for a bass in this price range. The neck is a thick baseball bat of a neck but it's also very stable. Once the bass was acclimated to the temp in my house, all I had to do to finish setup was to tune it and set the action. Neck relief was spot on.

The only con I'd have so far is that it has a fair bit of neck dive, but that can always be offset by a thicker strap. I absolutely recommend this bass to anyone.

Unlike a lot of HB guitars, HB basses have a long way to go. To keep this short and sweet:

Tuners: must be replaced immediately. This was to be expected - the tuners on this bass are laughably bad. You'd be tuning between each song if you took it onstage.

Neck: straight, but fret sprout was atrocious. Took multiple passes cleaning up the fret edges before this thing was playable.

Pickups/sound: Not very good. I have a passive Mexican Fender Jazz and P-Basses and, stung up with the same brand of strings and through the same amp... this thing is not even in the same universe. Sounds cheap and junky... which it is. In the case of this instrument, you're getting what you paid for.

On the other hand it's affordable and it looks awesome. But you would need to do the above and then go ahead and swap the electronics and pickups to get this thing on the level of a mediocre Mexican Fender. This could turn out to be a very costly exercise on a 5-string.

If you come into this with the mindset of needing to spend another $300-$400 to make this a bass you play in the studio or onstage. At that point, you're approaching the cost of a used Fender bass.

I've been happy with my guitar purchases from HB, but this bass? If I could do it all over again, I'd have just saved up and bought a used 5-string Fender. Much better resale value, less hassle.

OK, so this isn't actually my favorite bass that I own, but nothing can replace my 73 fretless P Bass. But that's not the bass I want to play on most of our songs. The PJ-75 is.

I primarily play it as a full P, and the sound just works for me. And then there are the times when I want to mix in the J or go for some other variation - you know, all those various sound options one wants from a passive PJ - they're all available.

This isn't exactly a light bass. After our last 3 hour gig I woke up the next morning remembering that I'm a middle aged man who had a large chunk of lumber on my shoulder for a few hours. But that's hard to overcome if you to play a 5 string like this.

I have noticed that after playing for a few hours the outside of my left pointer finger is calloused. I looked carefully, and I think the frets are a hair wider than the fretboard which a good tech should be able to fix with a little extra rounding and/or polishing. Considering the price, I can afford that little bit of work.

One thing to know - like most passive JBs, if you turn the neck pickup to full and then turn the bridge pickup to full the overall output on mine decreases. One day I may add a series / parallel switch to give me some additional options there, but even if I never get around to it, I'm thrilled with this bass.

I really appreciate the fast delivery to the U.S.
Pros: Great price! Mines look like it came with a roasted maple neck, Beautiful finish, Great sounding pickups (wish they were noiseless), Brass saddles, Good tuners (not great), Snappy strings and an Excellent feel!
Cons: Sharp fret edges, Looks like a plastic nut (not bone) and a couple of Pickup screws were slightly bent (comes from using a power tool and not a screwdriver by hand). Tone pot was crackling after about a year.
Overall 3.5/5, I am satisfied with this purchase and will be ordering another bass. This bass is also an excellent MOD platform.
Appreciate it mate!

1. I received the goods in good packaging (I live in South Korea)
2. The quality of the product was fine and the pick-ups worked well.
3. The pick-up knobs also worked well.
4. It is stable because there is no noise even if I don't touch the bass guitar strings.
5. The weight is light.
6. I like the sound of the product, too.
7. It's easy to play.
8. It took two weeks to deliver such a good product.
9. Overall, it's a very good product.
10. I'm willing to buy it again.
※My next target on the premises is to purchase an electric guitar.
I'm looking forward to it.
Thank you.

Astounding Build quality! Near perfect setup! And It's pretty! Been playing bass for half a century.I was a full time pro but now I am a weekend warrior type. Gobsmacked 4 different ways. Took delivery Saturday. The outer box was destroyed. Ripped torn and bent like a strung longbow. Inner box was bent as well . Amazed when I took the bass out it was in near perfect condition. It did take a really hard lick on the lower strap button. bent the button and the screw and cracked the finish around it. Cosmetic damage no one will ever see. Build quality is astounding at this price point. Blackwood fingerboard is sweet. Looks like ebony with a more open grain. The skunkstripe looks like blackwood instead of the specced roseacer. Looks very nice. Fit and finish is excellent. I give the setup an A-. Neck relief and intonation are spot on. Had to raise string height on the A string just a little. Then there is the sound. Think lower register of a Steinway concert grand piano. That's what I like!!!!! Only con is poor quality volume pots, Since I play with everything wide open on the bass this really isn't an issue for Me. Can't wait to take it to rehearsal and try it through My gig Rig. Cheers! ( Okay did that, Bass has ballz. Good clarity from low B to high E. This is a very gigworthy instrument.)

I got one of these for practising on my lunch breaks at work. I'm really really pleased with it.

I was expecting some buzzy frets and some hum from the pickups (based on other reviews). No buzzy frets and the signal is near silent. If I touch the strings there is no sound at all (good grounding in place).

I'm in the process of straightening the neck (I only adjust by quarter turn once a day until I get to where I want to be). It's very playable already though. The intonation was almost perfect upon delivery. I've got it dead on with loads of play left in the adjustment if I needed it. It is in tune all the way up and down the neck (including on the lower frets where you sometimes get slightly sharp/stretched notes if the nut isn't right). It keeps its tuning fine. Machine heads feel smooth and sturdy.

The p-bass pickup is good and the tone control has an even response from closed to fully open. The only con so far is the J Bass pickup which is thin. I don't think this could be used solo. I get a good sound with 100% P and 50% J. To be honest I just want 100% P most of the time anyway.

The neck is lovely and smooth (no sticky finish).

The pots feel cheap but rotate smoothley and there is no crackling. The jack input is nice and secure. I even think the pickguard looks good.

The woodwork and paint is flawless as far as I can see. No large gaps anywhere around the neck joint.

This feels every bit as good as much more expensive five strings I've picked up and played at PMT and Dawsons. I've not gigged it or recorded with it yet. I'm getting a very clean signal through my studio headphones though plugged into a Zoom B3 effects pedal.

If any problems comes out of the woodwork I will let you know.

Thank you Thomann and cudos Harley Benton! No idea how you build these for this little money.