Harley Benton JB-75 SB Vintage Series

I have been wanting to get a jazz bass in these colors for a while but since I don't play bass very often, I didn't want to spend the money. While surfing the internet, a video showing a Harley Benton bass caught my eye and I started looking at this model and I read the reviews. At this price point, and with the outstanding reviews, I thought it was a good gamble so I placed an order on June 2.

On June 29 it arrived via DHL and USPS. It was in excellent condition. The bass was pretty well set up and ready to play after I stretched the strings and tuned it. The only issue I could find was that one of the inserts on the fretboard will eventually get a little glue as it's rising up a hair on one corner. The neck fits snugly in the pocket. The frets and edges are smooth and the fretboard looks great with the binding. The hardware and electronics work very well. The Sunburst finish is gorgeous!

I already have a Fender Player series model jazz bass that I love so I couldn't wait to compare the two. Through my inexpensive practice amp, this bass sounds about the same as the Fender and may actually have a little more output. The Fender weighs 9 pounds, and I'd estimate that the HB is about 3-4 pounds heavier. The fret edges feel a little bit better on the HB bass than on the Fender. Due to the extra weight of the HB, the Player series bass is more comfortable when I stand up to play, but otherwise, I'd have to say the HB is pretty much on par with the Fender.

I have to say I?m astonished at what I received for ¤139. I?ve been playing bass for 45 years and have owned more than my fair share of top name brand basses. I bought this more out of curiosity than anything and expected to play it a few minutes and return it. No, that?s not what happened. First, the woods used to make this bass are excellent. Swamp Ash, Maple and Palissander are used by the best makers. The tailpiece is a good solid medium weight part with brass saddles. The pickups are very decent with plenty of lows, mids and highs. The pots are smooth and clean, no scratchy noise. The nut was cut perfectly. The finish is also very well done. The neck is a little thick for my liking but it plays smooth and fast. The bass overall is very solidly built. And yes, it is quite heavy. Not a problem for me since I sit while playing.

I did have a couple of minor issues with mine. The fret job was a bit lacking and I was getting a lot of fret buzz in a few places. The tuners are also not that good. I spent a couple hours leveling the frets, re-crowning them and buffing them, along with putting a set of Fender tuners on it that I had lying around. I have the knowhow and tools do this kind of work on guitars and it didn?t take long or much effort to fix these issues. This is now my go-to fretted bass when I?m not playing my Ric 4001v63.

Despite the minor issues with the bass, I?m still giving it 5 stars. You simply can?t buy a better instrument for the price. Oh, and did I mention this is a great looking bass? ;-)

I'm long in the tooth now and in a past life was a professional bass player on tour, opening for some top bands of the day. I also played in studio sessions and used a P-Bass and a J-Bass, both Fenders from the 70s. I haven't touched a bass in many years but felt the urge. I was leery of a low-cost bass but read the reviews and bought this JB-75 vintage series bass. It arrived almost two weeks ago now. This is one heck of an amazing bass guitar for the money. The tone is much richer and variable than I expected. The tuners hold well, and I've not encountered the fret problem some have mentioned. Hey, it's not a $2900 75 Fender but I'm truly impressed with the workmanship for the cost. Heck, my guitar cases cost more than this bass. You won't be disappointed when you buy from Thomann.

At first glance when I received mine I thought Fender Custom shop. Mine was flawless in every respect down the the brand of strings I use. I stretched the strings that were on it and went through the setup. It is the first bass I have ever had including Fender American's that I had to do nothing. Everything from string height to the nut was spot on. I thought I might have to change the pickups and wiring harness but NO. This bass sounds wonderful as is. Frets and neck are perfect and extremely comfortable to play. The only negative I have is that this bass is heavy. Obviously not a light Ash but I think that heaviness lends to the resonance of this bass. You cannot go wrong here. From fit to finish, from sound to playability you cannot do better with a Fender American at 9X this price. I don't know how they do this but I am glad they do!

This is without a doubt the best new instrument I have ever purchased for $130. Come to think of it, I've never bought a used instrument this good for anything even close to this amount.

What is the cost of a fully bound, block inlay Fender style Jazz neck on the aftermarket anyways? I'd bet that it's more than the cost of this entire guitar.

How about the Wilkinson pickups and hardware? What would that cost you?

Plus an American swamp ash body.

You couldn't build this bass on your own as cheap as Thomann sells it for, it's as simple as that.


I own two bass guitars with which I can compare this Harley Benton Jazz Bass: A Squire Affinity P Bass, and a Fender Modern Player Tele Bass. While the Benton absolutely demolishes the Squire, and I mean badly, I can honestly say that it is every bit as good as the Fender Modern Player bass.

Unlike a Squire Affinity, this Benton is a full sized bass, with a full thickness body and all of the attendant weight. It does not look, feel, nor sound like a beginners bass.

It has excellent quality hardware, from the tuners, bridge, and pickups, right down to the strap buttons and neck plate. This instrument was made with some serious attention to detail. It feels solid, substantial, heavy, and extremely well put together. As it came it was flawless, without so much as a single blemish.

The bridge has a good amount of mass to it and doesn't look at all like what you'd expect to see on a bass at this price.

Likewise, the tuners are very smooth and solid. This bass easily goes into tune and stays there.

The body is shaped exactly like a Fender Jazz bass. It is much more a scary close simulacrum than it is an inspired copy. I'm not complaining, as Fender got it right on the proportions of the J bass. The grain of the ash body is clearly visible through the finish and is quite attractive. Although from the back it looks like the body is two center joined pieces, it's hard to say how many pieces actually make up a guitar like this. Whatever the case is, it sure is pretty.

The neck is a very nice, straight line grained piece of maple. It has a satin, almost unfinished feel that is very comfortable. Although the photos on Thomann's website don't show this model having a skunk stripe on the back of the neck, mine does have one, which I actually prefer. The neck to body pocket union is super clean and tight.

The fretboard was a little dry out of the box, which I know from experience is common with a new Harley Benton. Once I had applied a generous coat of purified linseed oil it revealed itself to be an absolutely gorgeous piece of rosewood. It's a really nice, dark chocolate colored, tight grained, smooth piece of real estate to move your fingers across. The inlays are well done and the fretwork is of quite good quality. The neck binding is also flawless and clean, even around the heel where it can tend to get sloppy on inexpensive guitars.

I had read complaints in some of the reviews that claimed the pickguard looked extremely cheap, though I don't see that at all. It is a clean, handsome, and 3 ply.

Two things that I was particularly surprised by was the nice strap buttons and the rubber gasket behind the neck plate. These are quality touches that you simply don't expect to see on a budget priced instrument.

The nut looks clean and is cut well.

Out of the box the action was a bit high for my taste, though after adjusting the truss rod and lowering the bridge barrels slightly I was able to achieve an action such that the bass virtually played itself. The tiny Jazz bass neck makes playing a breeze.

Before I received this bass I was already planning on cutting the headstock into a Fender shape. Now that I actually have the thing, I think that I don't want to touch it. It is so perfect and beautiful that I now believe it should be left alone.

Imagine that, a $130 instrument that doesn't need to we tweaked in any way. Even the cheap mini-pots work satisfactorily. What's an inveterate cheap guitar modification addict to do other than shut up and just play the thing.

The JB-75 sounds very full, round, and tight, with excellent definition, just like one expects of a good Jazz Bass. The range of tones possible on this bass is very wide.

If you're thinking about getting an inexpensive bass guitar, do yourself a favor and seriously consider this one. I can't imagine that you could possibly do better for the price and I highly recommend it.

Read my full review, see lots of detailed pics, and listen to a sound demo here:

http://www.aguitarforum.com/threads/harley-benton-jb-75sb-rw-vintage-series-jazz-bass.87354/

I ordered on a notion that I can do most any work on cheap instruments and fall in love. This thing showed up to the US in a week and I sh*t a chicken when I opened it. Everything. Is spot on. The tuners are nice, the headstock is shaped to where you can reshape for that "classic" look. The nut is cut proper, the frets are nice, level and finished. The neck needed no adjustment at all. It has a satin finish which doesn't get sticky. The fretboard inlays are hard to believe they're so nice. The finish is just fine. The pick guard and screws are fit well. The control cover has the shipping plastic stuck under the controls so I had to remove the knobs and remove the nuts holding the jack and pot to removed the plastic but that showed that it has nice full size pots, good wiring and a good jack. The bridged has brass saddles that WAS intonated from the factory. I did drop the action because I just prefer a little rattle. Then I plugged it in. I just DI to the board with maybe a little chorus and I was blown right away. Never been a fan of D'Addario strings but these are very impressive and more than worthy of a couple months. I went with the usual Dunlop Straplocks so I was happy to find myself screwing into a real slab of wood vs. basswood or something cheap. Most people will complain and note that it's heavy. Yes it's heavy. It's very heavy. But that's what it means to be a kick a** bass. I've had mine a month or so and every time I pick it up Im delighted and still hard to believe I got this instrument from a legit merchant and it's not stolen or something. It's really that nice of a bass. Because of its quality I bought my daughter one of the standard series in red. It ALSO was fantastic for $160 so now I'm convinced and just now ordered the Olympic White 62. I can't say enough about these Harley Benton basses. They are without question on par with ANY other Jazz Bass on the market. I don't care if it's top of the Fender line, (A good Squire is hard to beat), or even a custom made boutique job, this Bass will most definitely hold it own.

It arrived in pristine quality! This is my first bass guitar and it feels like the more expensive models that I play sometimes at Sam Ash! It's still kinda hard to believe I only paid 150 for this amazing quality! My entire family thinks that it was double or even triple that!

Honestly, this purchase was a test purchase more or less, because I've seen all these reviews on YT about Harley Bentons and I wanted to test their quality for myself.... I was pleasantly surprised when my bass came, the neck was smooth, action was good, and if I would have known that the guitar would be this good, I would have ordered some more stuff from Thomann and sell the Epiphone I have.... I guess that's my only regret with buying this guitar haha

Will use this bass for home recording, for praticing. Playability out of the box is descent. However, I will customize to my setup; and get to it.

Was a little wary of what to expect for the cost. But I am very happy. The look and quality of the bass is very good. This bass definitely gives great bang for the buck.

Yes, Jazz Bass, sunburst finish, dark fretboard with block inlay, sweet! The '75 vintage look and sound of this bass, are those of what my dreams were made of. No blemishes, no nasty fretwork, nice, smooth control pot operation, smooth playability up and down the fretboard. Sound is the just that familiar Jazz Bass sound.

I don't how this is accomplised at the pricepoint, but I thoroughly appreciate the all the effort. Very nice!
Thanks Thomann Music!!!