Harley Benton JA-60SB Vintage Series

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 !

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.

This is a great quality built guitar. It has a neck string and fret geometry that gives and encorages greater precicion in fretting. There are only a few guitars in a hundred that do this. I own 14 and two of them I made myself (mahohany, ebony Gibson Pickups 26 inch scale length) I own a Jubilee strat 1977 and it has that feel and so do the ones I made. The rest do not. So The JA-60SB is a great guitar to practice on in my opinion. If you are however a beginner expecting to rock out on Deep Purple and Pink Floyd you may wich to consider a Strat type or Telecaster type because the pickups on this guitar are darker and produce a lot of full bass tones. if you switch from strat to the JA-60 you will need to adjust patches in order to get the sounds to play more like a strat. If your style however is Jazz, Fusion Funk you will enjoy this guitar and appreciate its qualities. If you already own HBST or TE models and have looked at this wondering well I got it to keep me from the rut of having Samey guitars and never venturing to do something new. Thats why my two HB to date have been RB600CB and JA-60SB. Do Something different! Well done HB on this model even though one pickgurd screw was missing.
NOTE: Now we ended EU membership these are the rules. £135.00 is customs limit for VAT only charges. Over this amount DUTY may be applied and this is 2.5%. For the paperwork UPS charge £11.50. UPS invoice does not detail the individual charges properly. I think its unlawful. Going to complain and I had trouble with them before. Most important is tracking. You wil see Thomann tracking and a link to UPS. ude the UPS tracking. It moves very quickly to "Held up In customs" this can be a day after it leaves Thomann. If you expect them to contact you, You will be holding up your own delivery!! The payment link will be on the UPS page only and the sooner you click and pay the sooner (next day) you get the goods.

I have now owned this guitar for about a year. I fully understand that this is an inexpensive guitar. The single coil pickups are actually very good. The Volume and tone controls are the small diameter variety, but work fine. Tuners are very serviceable. The neck is good quality and well finished and the set up was good right out of the box. If I had paid twice the price, I would not be disappointed. At this price (even including shipping), I am delighted.

My only concerns were the size of the body is slightly reduced from a Fender Jazzmaster sized body. I do bump the pickup switch sometimes while strumming chords, but I have quickly adapted. I may experiment with a switch that has a smaller control handle, maybe a slide or rocker switch.

My good experience with this one was VERY much why I have just recently ordered another Harley Benton Guitar.

Three year update: This guitar is holding up very well, I have loaned it to students and it has needed no repairs or modifications, the action has been very stable, and I am even more satisfied as time has proven it's durability.

I bought this having read a few reviews, but still not expecting too much. Coming out of the box the strings had a bit of corrosion, so it has probably been in storage for a while before being shipped.

The guitar was playable right out of the box, but I still gave it some new strings and some very basic setup. Intonation and pickup height needed some adjustment. The plastic protection on the pickguard was applied behind all the electronics, meaning I had to unscrew the pickguard, the jack input, switch, and pots, to remove all of the plasic.

It plays great. Its no shredder, but thats really not what you should expect from this type of guitar anyway. Sounds good too. Nice and warm neck pickup, with a bit of bite to the bridge pickup. The lack of individual tone knobs is a bit of a drawback.

It is clear that this is not an artisan, handcrafted, several thousand dollar guitar. Only the things that need to look nice will look nice. Behind the pickguard the finish was cracked around every screw hole. A mixture of what I think is woodchips, dust, and paint was found in the electronics compartment behind the pickguard. With that being said, everything thats out in the open looks really good. The finish is spotless, everything is nice and clean where it needs to be.

So far I absolutely love it. Its dirt cheap, and still a great guitar. No, its not a top of the line model, and if thats what you want, you're going to have to buy something different, but for the price, this is fantastic. Hell, even if it cost twice what it does, it would be a great deal, on a great guitar.

I'm surprised that Thomann hasn't become the world's No:1 guitar seller. I've just bought my third Harely Benton, the Jazzmaster copy, and it's perfect. It arrived undamaged and once out of the case and tuned up it delivers what I want our of a guitar - which may be me, not you. I'm a nuisance in my local music shop because I go in try as many of the high end models, then buy Harley Benton. My two previous were the ES 345 type which can cover all the ground I want. Other people have complained abour sharp fret end misplaced bridges, marked finishes, but I have never experienced anything like that. The attention to detail must be exraordinary. I remember trying out a G*****n ES 335, while the salesman looked as if he would have a heart attack if I dropped it or scratched it. All I could think of was that it was just like my Harley Benton copy. Incredible value for money. Make you dreams come true - buy one and find out

Thomann's service is outstanding and this guitar has completely blown me away.
It's absolutely stunning, the fit and finish is perfect, intonation was spot on and played wonderfully straight out of the box!
The wilkinsion p90's sound just great, every setting has a very good and usable sound from tight, crisp and punchy to warm, fat and thumpy!
My favourite thing about this guitar though is the neck, everything about it, the tinted satin finish, the thick C shape is very comfortable and feels solid. finished off with an extremely well crafted rosewood finger board with binding and block inlays!
The pickguard in the flesh I think is actually really cool, its kind of unique really, I read a lot of reviews and most people seem to dislike it.
also I read on a couple of other reviews about the frets needing a polish and mine is the same, the only other slight negative is the tuners, they are ok but I think i will upgrade them at some point.
All in all this guitar is so much fun and a dream to play, it looks a million bucks and cost £95, I still can't quite believe it.
Bravo Thomann & Harley Benton.