Harley Benton JB-20 BM Standard Series

Harley Benton JB-20 SB Standard Series

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Harley Benton JB-75MN Black Vintage Series

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Harley Benton JB-75MN SB Vintage Series

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Harley Benton JB-20 BM Standard Series

90 Customer ratings

5 55 Customers 4 29 Customers 3 5 Customers 2 0 Customers 1 1 Customer

4.5 / 5

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60 Reviews

A solid purchase

casual musician 24.02.2021

Okay, editing this review after 2 months of usage.

At this price, you shouldn't have to expect anything but the sounds and playability absolutely hit above its weight.
I've owned a Mexican and Japanese J Bass, and a US P Bass previously.

PROS:
At this price, this is an absolute steal. I can imagine basses 2-3 times more expensive than this one failing to match the level here.
Everything from the neck straightness & relief was on the spot, strings began playing better after 20-30 minutes with my finger grease on them - plays great after 2 months in. Everything's pretty solid enough.

CONS:
1 It does need a setup. Or at least someone to adjust saddle height. If you're a beginner, it might be nice to have someone who can do that for you.
2 I thought the tuners are flimsy, but they do hold up. I do find myself tuning more often than on better basses.
3 Lemon oil is necessary. The fretboard was dry as dead wood. After some lemon oil and some time later, it feels great now.
4 BIGGEST FLAW. Fret endings hurt, and will cut your skin if you keep making slides (no blood, but made my hand look like beaten leather after a track of recording). But the bass is cheap enough to risk some DIY - I got some sanding paper and sanded the edges away, and now it feels fabulous.

Tips: If this is your first bass, you'll need someone to help you out. If you know your way around a bass, get some lemon oil, sanding paper, prolly a new set of strings. Once that's done, you're going to love this bass.

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Probably what you're looking for

snailgazer 21.04.2021

First off, if you're considering this bass, you are on a budget, so don't expect a legendary instrument. With that said, will you get bang for your buck with the JB-20? The short answer is yes.

As a mostly guitar playing amateur, I wanted a bass for home recording, and was curious to see what the HB hype is all about. First impressions are great: It really is well built, and quite a looker, too. Factory setup doesn't feel half bad, with low action but no buzz, and decent intonation. There were no issues with the fret work. Right out of the box, this is probably the most comfortable bass I have ever played.

There were some small problems, too. Notably, the D string's tuning peg is a little loose. Also, the knobs aren't perfectly straight, but do their job adjusting tone and output level. I get the feeling that buyers can get lucky and receive an axe that's just percect, but take into account that there may be small faults.

Overall, I'm satisfied. Above all, the instrument feels great to play, better than more expensive basses I've laid my hands on. If I should ever need to get a higher end bass, I will probably just upgrade the pickups and make other adjustments to the pb-20. I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

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Best budget Jazz Bass

TheDan 12.05.2022

Even after spending a fair bit of time playing high-end jazz basses, I was more than satisfied with this instrument and I would recommend it to anyone, beginner or not.
I loved it so much I ended up purchasing two more to give to my students.

There were always minor issues, but nothing I couldn't deal with with proper setup. It's cheap material, of course. A bit of fret polishing, adjusting the machine heads and the bridge and I was good to go.

(Not to mention the colour OH MY GOODNESS it looks so sweet)

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Honest Comparison

The Don 23.01.2020

Most of my years playing the bass guitar, my axe of choice was Ibanez. I remember back in 1980 I received an Ibanez bass that was absolutely gorgeous with beautiful wood grain, and having that Alembic feature w/active circuitry. So Ibanez over the years have been my choice up until recently where I decided I wanted to try something different. In 2017 I bought a Fender Squier Jazz Bass, I was looking for something not to expensive but would give me that fat punchy sound I was looking for. I have bought a couple of Squier jazz basses and until recently I thought Squier was the best bargain for your money, then I started reading reviews and watching YouTube videos about the Harley Benton Jazz Basses and the comparisons to the Squier Jazz Bass. Last month I bought the Harley Benton JB-20, and in my opinion the Harley Benton is a better bass guitar than the Squier Affinity series, in terms of tone and playability - the HB out performs the Affinity, and for about a $100 less is remarkable. My next bass will be the Harley Benton JB-75 as an upgrade. I've been sold on the Harley Benton's, I gave it a try, and I am totally satisfied with the product, very well build, I found no blemishes or defects, I set the action to my personal specifications, and the bass plays great!
Sincerely,
Ramone Lyons

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