Harley Benton JA-60SB Vintage Series

378

Electric Guitar

  • Body: Basswood
  • Bolt-on neck: Vintage caramelised Canadian maple
  • Fingerboard: Laurel
  • Block fingerboard inlays
  • Neck profile: "C"
  • Scale: 648 mm
  • Nut width: 42 mm
  • Double action truss rod
  • 21 Frets
  • Fingerboard radius: 12"
  • Pickups: 2 Roswell JM Alnico-5 vintage-style
  • 1 x Volume and 1 tone control
  • 3-Way pickup switch
  • Chrome plated deluxe hardware
  • TOM-style bridge with fixed tailpiece
  • Kluson-style machine heads
  • Factory strings: .010 - .046
  • Colour: 3-Colour sunburst
  • Suitable case: Art.122213 (not included)
Available since May 2013
Item number 304927
Sales Unit 1 piece(s)
Colour Sunburst
Soundboard Basswood
Neck Caramelized Canadian Maple
Fretboard Laurel
Frets 21
Scale 648 mm
Pickup System SS
Tremolo No
Incl. Case No
Incl. Gigbag No
Design J-Style
Top None
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$155
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Classic retro flair

The Harley Benton HB JA-60SB Vintage Series is a guitar whose shape clearly evokes that of certain well-known vintage models - an effect that is enhanced even further by its three-tone sunburst finish. The guitar's basswood body provides sufficient sustain, while the 21-fret laurel fingerboard features block inlays that provide enhanced orientation while playing. The bolt-on neck is made of Canadian maple, a wood that is considered to be even harder than oak, and has been heat-treated to give it a "caramelised" look. Last but not least, the neck is also adorned with white binding, a feature usually reserved for higher-priced guitars.

50s/60s looks with modern features

The Harley Benton HB JA-60SB Vintage Series brings the style of the 1950s and 1960s into the present day. The nut width of 42mm and scale length of 648mm are also typical for this design, and the Kluson-style machine heads are the perfect addition. Thanks to the fixed tailpiece, the TOM-style bridge is able to provide extra sustain. The neck boasts a well-balanced and rounded C profile, and can be optimally adjusted via the double-action truss rod. In keeping with its retro design, the guitar also features a three-way toggle switch for pickup selection. All of these features together make for an uncompromising design that evokes the flair of The Beach Boys and Elvis Costello.

Rich in volume and character

Players who are into retro looks and deluxe chrome hardware but can easily get by without a tremolo system when performing will feel right at home with the Harley Benton HB JA-60SB Vintage Series. Its single coil pickups, both vintage-style Roswell JM AlNiCo-5 P90s, deliver a warm and voluminous sound for clean guitar tones as well as a characterful crunch sound with plenty of distortion. So it's not much of an issue that the model features only one volume and one tone control. The guitar comes strung with a .10-.46 set as standard, which provides a full sound without making string-bending too difficult.

About Harley Benton

Since 1998, the Harley Benton brand has been catering for the needs of numerous guitarists and bassists. In addition to an extensive range of stringed instruments, Thomann's house brand also offers a wide choice of amplifiers, speakers, effect pedals, and other accessories. In total, the range includes over 1,500 products. Built by established names in the industry, all Harley Benton products combine quality and reliability at attractive and affordable prices. The continuous expansion of the range ensures that Harley Benton always provides new, exciting, and innovative products that keep players perfectly in tune with the musical world, day after day.

From Surf to Hard Rock

With the Harley Benton HB JA-60SB Vintage Series, guitarists in cover bands get a guitar that recreates the look of the old days on today's stages without having to invest in an expensive vintage model. In fact, this retro instrument is an interesting proposition for anyone who plays Rock guitar. Of course, Surf and Rock aren't the only styles that it can handle: Those who love a full single coil sound with plenty of character can use this guitar for almost any genre of music. To ensure that the instrument is transported safely, a suitable case or gig bag is also recommended.

In the spotlight: Caramelised maple

Caramelising is one of a range of heat treatment methods that can be applied to wood. This method, which is a relatively recent development, is used in order to give new and/or alternative woods the same tonal characteristics as older, matured tone woods (some of which are now protected by conservation laws and can thus no longer be sold). The wood is placed in a special computer-controlled oven and dried to a pre-determined degree – in other words, its natural drying phase is artificially shortened. This process also increases the wood’s resistance to warping while also changing its visual appearance by darkening its colour and making the pattern of the grain more distinct.

378 Customer ratings

4.6 / 5

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301 Reviews

KP
Unbeatable Value - Has to Get 5 Stars !
Kevlar Poser 29.04.2017
Having viewed a video review of the HB JA-60SB on the Cory Mura YouTube Channel ( a really informative German reviewer who covers quite a few Harley Bentons ) I was persuaded to add this HB model to my little collection.

Turned out that his advice was spot-on and have to say that I am really impressed with this JA model - and agree with just about all the impressions shared in the video review i.e. the one that I received seemed to be just as good as the one demonstrated. Actually I think the pickguard photo-tortoise pattern suits the Sunburst colour quite well on a retro-style such as this ( though opinions seem to differ on this ). I have noticed at least a couple of other brands use a virtually identical pattern so the HB version is not unique in that.

I did have a similar offset model of a different brand some time back ( costing 250% more ) which I had to sell, but this one is at least as good if not better than that. Overall quality is much better than you would be entitled to expect
for the price and QC on this one is excellent I would say.
Tuners & hardware work well and Wilkinson pickups in just about any guitar in this price bracket are a bonus.

The Sunburst finish is flawless and lovely - back and front & neck is super smooth to the touch. Rosewood fingerboard appreciated a little touch of lemon oil as it looked a tad thirsty after voyage & storage- but apart from
a fret level check ( A1 pass ) and minor tune this guitar was good to go without any tinkering. Am more than happy with the original spec as am home player only and its fine for me. Do not plan to change anything - apart from the string guides as I have pair of roller trees which are unused and I prefer these to the butterfly type.

If you are in the market for an offset model and don't particularly want to spend 200-300 Euros on a different headstock imprint - I can certainly recommend the JA-60.
In this case less is definitely more - I can vouch for that.

OK - got right to the end and never mentioned Thomann service once ! Here it is now - " Gold Standard" - That's why customers keep coming back !
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A Mixed Bag of Pros and Cons
jarrodwhitley 04.11.2021
SOUND: The guitar's tone is amazing. Sounds just as good as the $1k+ Fender Jazzmasters.

QUALITY: Here's where I have an issue. The parts themselves are all good quality, but I'm unable to intonate the 6, 5, and 4 strings (E,A,D). Even with the bridge saddles all the way in (toward the neck) those strings are not intonated at the 12th fret. The only explanation is that the actual bridge position is to far toward the tail of the guitar. It's only a centimeter (if that) of difference, but when it comes to intonation, it makes all the difference.

SUMMARY: I understand that these guitars are at a beginner price point, but they truth is that they are better than that. My TE-52 set my expectations high after it ran circles around my Fender Tele. I'm a gigging musician so intonation matters to me.

I will continue to buy HB guitars, because I think they art an absolute steal for the price, but I want to be honest in this review about my experience.

My hope if that Harley Benton will step up their QC a tiny bit to account for these types of mistakes. Without this bridge issue, I would have literally nothing wrong to say about this guitar.
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Y
Great JM alternative
Yargnad 31.05.2021
I have had this guitar for several years now and hadn't realized that I didn't post a review. The stock pickups definitely did not sound bad, but I had a set of Lace Alumitone P90s already, so I put those in soon after I got the guitar.

This is a very comfortable guitar to play, with a slightly fuller neck profile and tall frets. I did need to smooth out some sharp fret ends and polish the frets as well; they were all pretty level, no noticeable fret noise or buzzes. The nut was a bit tall but playable - I've since sanded a bit of height from the bottom because the slots were done well. The neck has a very nice satin finish which I didn't feel the need to sand off. These offset bodies are always my favorite for playing either standing or seated, this one is no exception and it has a solid positive fit with the neck with good weight and balance. I still enjoy playing this guitar all the time.

Not sure if this is the same with the new models, but the pickguard is just a decal of sorts on a white 3 ply guard it seems. My pinky has worn the tortoise shell graphics right off from years of resting it there as I play. It doesn't bother me but I figured I should mention it.

I was very surprised by the overall quality for such an affordable guitar. I would say this is an incredible value for the price. I've played several hundred guitars and have played far worse brand new guitars from other makers in the same price range. Very much worse.

I will add that I've also since bought a Harley Benton TE90 FLT model from Thomann and it is equally impressive and possibly more so. The pickups are pretty mush spot on for my Filtertron taste. I would basically make the same assertion about the neck and fretwork as this JA model. Playable out of the box, but needed a bit more setup work, in my opinion. They just seem to build solid budget guitars.
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W
The Most Comfortable Guitar I've Ever Played
WaitingForGhosts 10.05.2019
I discovered that P90 snarl on an old beaten up Squire Jazzmaster that I purchased from an online forum a few years ago however, it eventually needed to go into the shop for repair. Whilst I waited for it to be returned to me, I looked about for something to use in my bands temporarily and found the HB JA-60SB online and found quite a few raving (in a good way) reviews online, as well as some video's and it sounded huge so I promptly ordered one. I WAS NOT DISAPPOINTED!!!!

The guitar took only 3 days to arrive to the UK and getting it out of the box, it immediately felt so comfortable and is easily the most comfortable guitar I've played. I've not played any really high end guitars but own a few in the £200-£350 price range which it certainly eclipses in feel and sound and I've not gone back to the Jazzmaster since I got this.

It's quite a versatile guitar, I play in three bands which are all very different. The first is pretty grungey and we play anthemic rock (called Lemoncurd Kids) the other is a bit more proggy/funky (Called The March Fleet) and in the third (Three Birds Blind) I just really do atmospheric stuff and it works really well in all of them. I usually practice three times a week and gig a few times per month so it can take a good hammering.

I've found the Thomann Customer Service to be pretty awesome as well. I had an issue with the nut on the guitar after about a years worth of thrashing and they just sent me a replacement nut at no cost.

I'd definitely look to buy another Harley Benton and cant recommend this model enough. Its a great little guitar, really comfy to play and it just sounds great.
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