Harley Benton JB-75MN LH NA Vintage Series

After many years playing guitar I decided finally that I would try bass. I had heard that this model was very good for the money and so I figured it would be only a minimal financial risk for me to buy one.

The package arrived in perfect condition - double boxed and padded with what seemed like 50m of bubble wrap.

I got to say I was immediately impressed with the feel and weight of the guitar. I didn't weigh it but it felt really solid. Everything was in proper order - it produced a beautiful JB tone and stayed in tune. Only a buzz on the 15th fret of the D string (no big deal).

One problem though that bugged me too much. The body was made of 4 pieces of wood which were very poorly matched at the front (in fact they looked matched at the back). The 4th piece was a small oval bit(maybe 5 cm long) piece on the bottom edge of the body that was noticeably darker than the others. It really looked like a defect.

I agonized about whether to return it because it played so well but I decided to do so in the end. Thomann to their credit accepted the return and facilitated the shipping. The process was painless. Top marks to the company for their excellent customer service again.

So a couple of weeks later I received the replacement unit.

This time the body was perfectly matched - and there wasn't even one buzzy fret. Again bridge, tuners (and did I mention the excellent sounding Wilkinson pickups) were all present and correct.

My only complaint about this one is that the neck alignment seems marginally 'off' insofar as the G string is a little too close to the fret ends. Intonation is perfect though and the strings run properly over the pickups polepieces so I'm not sure exactly whats wrong. I can play the guitar without the string slipping but that is because any bends I do on the G string are towards the center of the fretboard. It may be a problem for other players (and it's really only too close on the 3rd to 5th frets). It bugs me and I'll probably loosen the neck to see if I can get it to align perfectly. I'm hesitant though and the reason I didn't return it is that I can play it perfectly so I've pretty much gotten what I asked for.

In summary,

1. A beautiful looking, hefty but well balanced Bass with great pickups, brass saddles and a really quality feeling neck.
2. Theres a chance of quality problems but rest assured Thomann will see you right.
3. Still superb value for money
4. Recommended.

Hello everyone! I can't resist writing a few words about my new acquisition. When I go to a musical instrument store in my city, my mood immediately deteriorates. Because for us left-handers, these stores have nothing to offer. .. Absolutely nothing. At best, there is one acoustic guitar, and that's if you're lucky. About an electric guitar, and even more so a bass for left-handed people, you don't even need to ask: there is none of this in stores! But they can offer you to order a blind instrument from the catalog. in that catalog in the budget range, the number of offers is amazing (sarcasm). There are exactly two of them! How and where I bought my instruments is a topic for a separate sad story. Therefore, when I found myself on Thomann's website, my wishlist rapidly approached in size to Guinness Book of Records))). Now I will slowly but steadily reduce it, crossing out the already acquired. Starting from the first position: Harley Benton JB-75MN LH NA Vintage. Paid, waited. Although I had to wait exactly forty-five days ((. Although these are claims not to Thomann, but to the postal service. Expectations did not disappoint. The instrument arrived in two cardboard boxes. The large one, the outer one was slightly crumpled, but the inner one did not suffer at all, like the bass guitar in it. Now about the tool itself. The Harley Benton JB-75MN LH NA Vintage turned out to be exactly what I expected for the money. A good budget version of the jazz bass. Everything was done soundly and neatly. The appearance deserves 9 points out of 10. Especially pleased with the neck, thin very nice on the hand, very comfortable. The jack for the jack was so tight that it took a lot of effort to disconnect the cable. But I think that over time this will go away. The balance of the instrument itself is slightly shifted and the neck outweighs, but for an instrument like jazz bass it can As for the sound, I can put 6 out of the same 10 points. Replacing the strings with other strings of a well-known brand, bought by the way, from Thomann, achieved an improvement. Now my sound rating fluctuates between 7 and 8. Now oh, it's unpleasant m ... All those instruments that went through my hands had classic springs for adjusting the pickups in height, but I did not find them on the Harley Benton JB-75MN LH NA Vintage. Instead of them, some kind of elastic pads made of a substance similar to tourist The mat is made of polypropylene. Therefore, there are problems with the adjustment of the pickups. You can still lower them lower, but you can’t raise them up. I understand that the instrument is of a budget class, but this is a very strange way to save money. I will adjust it on my own, though for now I don’t know how ((... Conclusion: Harley Benton JB-75MN LH NA Vintage is a very good tool for beginners, or as a second tool to substitute for established musicians. In terms of price and quality it is ahead of many. In terms of the convenience of playing it and the sound will not satisfy everyone, but very many. And although the untidiness with the adjustment of the pickups spoils the overall picture, I still recommend the Harley Benton JB-75MN LH NA Vintage to everyone who loves the growl of a bass guitar, but not has a lot of money in his pocket. And although they say that happiness cannot be bought, a small piece of it can be bought here, from Thomann ... And I will come back here!

Wanting to play bass for a few years, I finally decided to play. Unfortunately, I quickly realized that it is not easy for a left-handed player to find a Jazz Bass with a good quality/price ratio. I spent days looking at tutorials, reading reviews. Every time I saw a model that matched my criteria, it was only available for right-handers, except for the Harley-Benton JB-75MN. So I started looking for this bass back home in Canada. NOTHING! While doing more research, I came across the Thomann website. Worldwide delivery, really? It didn't take 2 minutes before the bass was in my shopping cart. The delivery took 5 days. As far as the JB-75MN is concerned, I can say that I am very satisfied with it. Except for a little adjustment, this bass does not need anything else. The finish, the smoothness of the neck and the non-cutting frets are a great asset. Of course, some will say that it is a bit heavy. Nevertheless, its retro 70's PB look, sound and price make the Harley-Benton JB-75MN a must-have bass for the budget conscious looking for a rare gem.

This is my third HB guitar and first bass, just to qualify my comments, I own numerous guitars ranging from HB to a Duesenberg Paloma at 10 times the price of the HB guitars.
The ethos behind the HB brand of guitars ( in my understanding ) is to provide well made instruments at very affordable prices, all my HB guitars have met and more importantly exceeded this, maybe I have just been lucky in the ones I have received, but this is all I can give my opinion on.
Sure they are not perfect in every way which is usually the case with far more expensive guitars as well, but being so pocket friendly any minor things like setup and sharp fret ends can be forgiven and easily rectified.
The controls work better than expected, they are budget small sized pots but the wiring is extremely good and all the pots are smooth and noise free, a good range of tone can be dialed in by blending the Bridge and Neck pickups for a desired tone, i.e. for a bright slapping tone have the Bridge full on and the Neck full off and for a smooth jazz sound do the reverse and roll off some tone with the tone control, or go any where in between, the range is very good if you have set a good tone on your amp to start with, personally, I’d start with the amp tone controls at their mid points and the the Bass Bridge full on Neck full off and tone full up, then adjust the tone controls on the amp until you have the brightest sound with depth or weight that you are likely to want to hear, from then on you should be able to dial back the highs using the guitar controls alone, without having to keep going back to your amp
Tone is a rabbit hole that we can all get lost in and is very personal, so just enjoy the process of finding the tone that pleases you.

When I ordered the Harley Benton Vintage Jazz Bass, I was expecting to receive a cheaper version of the Squier Vintage Jazz bass. I was more than pleasantly surprised, however, to find the quality of body, neck and tone to be quite good. I did have a few problems with fret buzz initially, and had to have a luthier dress them down a bit, but when he was finished, I had a really fine jazz bass. I love the neck and it's satin finish, and the volume and tone controls are easy to use. I will admit I ordered an actual Fender Jazz pick guard, in white, to put on the HB, and it looks great. Personal taste, I guess. This is my second HB bass (the first was the P-Bass shorty version), and I like this one even more than the first one. Thank you, Thomann!