AS
My first bass.
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.
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.
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J
Great at the price?
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!
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!
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t
Great playing bass with small quality issues
I bought this bass because of many good reviews on the internet, and I don't regret the purchase. The setup was perfect put of the box aside from intonation on E and A strings. No fret buzz whatsoever, the neck was perfectly straight without any adjustment. It plays very well and sounds amazing.
What I didn't like is some quality shortcomings: the dots on the side of the neck are not round, the holes for the pickguard and control plate are out of alignment, and there is no shielding of the electronics inside, which I expected anyway. Also, be prepared for the weight of this instrument.
Overall I think this bass is a worthwhile purchase because of its great playability and sound quality, if you don't mind small quality issues and significant weight of this instrument .
What I didn't like is some quality shortcomings: the dots on the side of the neck are not round, the holes for the pickguard and control plate are out of alignment, and there is no shielding of the electronics inside, which I expected anyway. Also, be prepared for the weight of this instrument.
Overall I think this bass is a worthwhile purchase because of its great playability and sound quality, if you don't mind small quality issues and significant weight of this instrument .
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f
Really good, mindblowing for the price
I've had several Harley Benton basses. All were really amazing for the money and all had issues with the final execution. This one included.
The good is that it's a well made instrument, sounds very good and the finish is great. Neck and frets are really good. Pickups are not my favourites, but generally good. I've met players who prefer them over other (more expensive) alternatives.
The bad is that (like on other HB basses I've had) the pickup screws are driven in the wood at a bad angle, preventing lowering or raising the pickups as desired. I found this annoying, especially since it's not such a big thing to get right during the manufacturing process, and so much else on this bass is of really high quality. The also the binding is imperfect.
The weight is great, a straight 4.0kg. Light for a jazz bass, somewhat prone to neck dive, but not much.
The good is that it's a well made instrument, sounds very good and the finish is great. Neck and frets are really good. Pickups are not my favourites, but generally good. I've met players who prefer them over other (more expensive) alternatives.
The bad is that (like on other HB basses I've had) the pickup screws are driven in the wood at a bad angle, preventing lowering or raising the pickups as desired. I found this annoying, especially since it's not such a big thing to get right during the manufacturing process, and so much else on this bass is of really high quality. The also the binding is imperfect.
The weight is great, a straight 4.0kg. Light for a jazz bass, somewhat prone to neck dive, but not much.
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c
Very good bass for the price
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RH
Precision Instrument
Just the same this is NOT your typical value bass. the craftsmanship exceeds my expectation, to be honest. It has that "depth" of a fender but without the excessive bulk. Phat Bass Tones...pretty easy to make playable right out the box w just about an hour of tunning & adjustments. As soon as I got it - I started to look at another already!
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LK
This Bass Is Sick
Try It this is bass sick ..it plays like a 70s jazz bass thats 3x times this price a tad heavy but in a good way
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A
A diamond in the rough
After purchasing my HB TE-52 telecaster not long ago and it being impressive I decided to buy a HB bass as well.
The bass I received looks great, but it has some flaws I didn't expect to find since these guitars go through inspection before shipping. The bass I received was unplayable in the condition it came out of the box. The neck had a back bow which caused severe fret buzz. Neck pocket has a 0,5mm gap at the bottom, but that's not a biggie. Frets need to be filed on the edges cause they're a bit on the sharp side. Pickups were set super weird with one being completely flush with the body and the second all the way up. But again, minor stuff for me as I'm used to setting up guitars, might be an issue for someone who doesn't know how to.
So the good stuff... it looks great, sounds great, bridge and tuners are well made. The pots and wiring is decent.
It does have that jazz bass sound and feel, also it's quite heavy which I like.
All in all it's a good guitar after some additional finishing touches and well worth the money.
The bass I received looks great, but it has some flaws I didn't expect to find since these guitars go through inspection before shipping. The bass I received was unplayable in the condition it came out of the box. The neck had a back bow which caused severe fret buzz. Neck pocket has a 0,5mm gap at the bottom, but that's not a biggie. Frets need to be filed on the edges cause they're a bit on the sharp side. Pickups were set super weird with one being completely flush with the body and the second all the way up. But again, minor stuff for me as I'm used to setting up guitars, might be an issue for someone who doesn't know how to.
So the good stuff... it looks great, sounds great, bridge and tuners are well made. The pots and wiring is decent.
It does have that jazz bass sound and feel, also it's quite heavy which I like.
All in all it's a good guitar after some additional finishing touches and well worth the money.
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TG
Very good but heavy!
Obvious choice, I always wanted to have a jazz bass but I couldn't justify the expense, I mainly play 6 string guitars. In comes Harley Benton, I did what setup I could new strings, polished the frets, adjusted the neck with a truss rod (that actually works too!) and put hundreds of hours into playing it.
No major complaints, it's very well made, maybe too well in fact because it's really heavy. Put against a Yamaha TRBX305 that I bought after the HB, the good old HB feels like it's double the weight of the Yamaha and that could be an issue for some players. I don't mind it because I only play it at home sitting down.
If not playing it, it's always great to look at it so consider it having two functions at home
No major complaints, it's very well made, maybe too well in fact because it's really heavy. Put against a Yamaha TRBX305 that I bought after the HB, the good old HB feels like it's double the weight of the Yamaha and that could be an issue for some players. I don't mind it because I only play it at home sitting down.
If not playing it, it's always great to look at it so consider it having two functions at home
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O
Great affordable recording bass
I bought this for a couple of recording projects, wanting to keep my costs down. At half the price of a similar Squier, the Harley Benton is a good match on quality, with some better features! The hardware quality is decent, as far as I can tell, and the pickups sound great.
The finishing leaves something to be desired: The fret crowns feel scratchy and will need polishing, but the fret ends (which are often sharp) were totally fine. The black finish had a few hairline scratches on out of the box, I assume from less time polishing, but they're barely noticeable and fine for a recording bass.
Tuners are totally stable, despite expecting them not to be. The neck feels better than the Squier Jazz bass I played recently, although is a little dry if you're used to lacquered necks. The Harley Benton also has the added bonus of brass saddles and the block and bound fretboard, which are a nice touch on a low budget bass like this one.
I've never been a stickler for bass pickup tone, so it's hard for me to compare these pickups to other jazz bass pickups, but they sound absolutely fine, no strange noise, and have quite a wide range of tones if you use the tone and volume knobs wisely.
With a little bit of work, this will be a great bass for great value.
The finishing leaves something to be desired: The fret crowns feel scratchy and will need polishing, but the fret ends (which are often sharp) were totally fine. The black finish had a few hairline scratches on out of the box, I assume from less time polishing, but they're barely noticeable and fine for a recording bass.
Tuners are totally stable, despite expecting them not to be. The neck feels better than the Squier Jazz bass I played recently, although is a little dry if you're used to lacquered necks. The Harley Benton also has the added bonus of brass saddles and the block and bound fretboard, which are a nice touch on a low budget bass like this one.
I've never been a stickler for bass pickup tone, so it's hard for me to compare these pickups to other jazz bass pickups, but they sound absolutely fine, no strange noise, and have quite a wide range of tones if you use the tone and volume knobs wisely.
With a little bit of work, this will be a great bass for great value.
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