Harley Benton JB-75MN NA Vintage Series

I'm a singer/songwriter and producer. My main instruments are guitar and piano, plus the singing. I was on the market for a cheap bass to add some bass lines to my recordings — nothing fancy, since I'm not a bass player by any stretch of the imagination. I was split between this guy and the Harley Benton PB-20BK, but ended up getting this one because I thought the jazz bass would be more flexible for my use case. Plus this one looks better, which isn't a big deal for me, but it's always nice when the instrument looks good.

I have to say I am ABSOLUTELY BLOWN AWAY by this bass, and I just can't put it down since I got it. It has exceeded my expectations in all possible measures. It's on par with any Squier with similar features and materials, while costing at least 100EUR less. It came well set up from the factory, so I didn't even have to mess with that. The strings it came with are pretty good as well. And the tone is really exceptional for what it is — a sub-200EUR instrument. Obviously it will never beat a proper Fender Jazz Bass in that regard, but I really believe that if I replace the pickups down the road, it may indeed give said Fenders a run for their money. We'll see.

What impressed me the most is the fit and finish. The attention to detail from Thomann's quality control is exceptional here. Everything from the fretboard inlays (which are plastic, but look great nonetheless) to the black binding on the neck, to the fretwork — which is perfect from the factory — to the beautiful ash piece they used for the body — this really looks and feels like a much more expensive instrument in that regard. No crappy woodwork, no frets sticking out, perfect tolerances and fit across the board. Congratulations, Thomann!

I don't know if I can complain about an instrument this cheap with this much quality, but for the sake of completeness, I have to say that the tuners and the bridge are really nothing special, especially the tuners. They feel really cheap, even compared to my Harley Benton acoustic guitar (which was cheaper but has much nicer tuners). I might replace the them eventually, but for now, they get the job done.

Overall, if you're like me, and are on the market for a bass to get started or just to lay down some bass lines in your tracks, this is a great purchase. You'll be very satisfied. 5 stars across the board. Thank you, Thomann!

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

To begin with, I initially bought this as a back up for my Fender Geddy Lee Jazz bass.

My first thoughts were, how can they sell a natural '75 style jazz bass with D'addario strings, Canadian maple neck and, in my case, a two piece maple body with a join so good I thought that it was a 1 piece body for this price?

To put things into perspective, I use a Radial Tonebone for tone shaping and DI which cost twice as much as this bass did.

Out of the box I found that the fit & finish was excellent for a bass at this price point. I have found over the years that the main difference between a low priced bass and a high priced one is the attention to detail in the finishing process. I had a couple of frets that were protruding ever so slightly as can happen with new basses many times the price of this one but less than 5 minutes with a small file and it was sorted. The tuners hold the bass in tune and the bridge is the usual familiar style but with brass saddles which is a nice touch. The body has what I imagine will be a tough poly finish and I can find no flaws in that either.

The neck is very well made with a very smooth satin finish and I actually prefer it to the very thin neck on my Geddy. It's still slim but feels a bit more substantial front to back.

The bass balances well on a strap and is very comfortable to play for long periods (90 minute to 2 hour sets at a time)

I play in a wedding/function band entertaining anywhere from 200 to 2,000 people and made the mistake of using this at a gig shortly after buying it. The mistake being that I enjoyed playing it so much that my Fender Jazz bass is now up for sale and I will be using this bass for all future gigs.

I see ads all the time where people have bought a cheap bass and sell them on due to having upgraded to a more expensive "name brand" bass. Over the past 30 years I have owned and played over 140 basses from one that I got for nothing to some costing over £3,000. This bass is good enough to use professionally and the only change to this bass I have made is that I prefer D'addario EXL165 strings over the EXL170s fitted to this one as I like a heavier A & E string.

I get the impression that this won't be my last Harley Benton branded bass if this one is indicative of the quality.

I bought this bass as I already have a classic vibe p bass and wanted to try a jazz bass with its skinnier neck and different tonal options. I should point out that I have been playing guitar for 22 years and over the past year have started playing bass. In that time I have learnt what a good guitar and a bad guitar feels and looks like. I can only speak for the bass I received but it's an absolute gem! Straight out of the box I let it sit and warm up and then tuned it, nothing else needed adjusting. Nice low action with no fret buzz or high frets (Being really picky, could probably do with a little filing on a couple of fret ends, but they aren't sharp and perfectly playable) The nut was cut perfectly and no cosmetic imperfections at all and the tuners feel smooth and hold tune. No complaints with the electrics. I always look to change the pots on cheap guitars anyway, no need to just yet. And the pickups sound pretty good for this style of bass. For the price, I was expecting to level a couple of frets, adjust the truss rod and cut or replace the nut. And I was certainly expecting a couple of cosmetic blemishes at this price point. The guitar required none of these things! Cosmetically it is finished better than my classic vibe p bass which is double the price. Well done Thomann and the guys putting them together in the factory. If, like me you were dubious about the glowing youtube reviews then don't be. It is a great solid bass that punches well above its price. One final note is that the bass it a little heavy but not obnoxiously heavy, a wide padded strap will do the trick. This was my first Harley Benton purchase but certainly won't be my last.