Harley Benton JB-75 NA Bundle 1

Because of the good reviews here, I have to practice the Harley Benton HBB1975 NA ordered. The seventies finish with the great block inlays and the overall nice look have just irritated me in advance :-)

Sunday evening ordered and delivered Tuesday at noon by DHL - Thomann as always perfect!

Curious as a school boy, I opened the box and the good piece only once. The bass is definitely an eye catcher. If there was not the Harley Benton print on the head plate, then one could also consider it as an instrument of a major well-known manufacturer.

If you take the bass then under the magnifying glass, then fall (as with the price also different) smaller minor processing defects, but the playability and the generally good quality do not break off. Underneath the clear lacquer, for example, there are two tiny lacquer inclusions, which bear witness to a one hundred percent perfect lacquering. The cheap snow-white plastic saddle, which leads the strings from the head plate to the fingerboard, does not want to fit the otherwise good look of the bass and is also quite sloppy worked - with a suitable key file but in a few minutes repaired. Or the centering of the two pickups, whose magnets are not exactly under the sides. The rubber ring, which is inserted between the lower belt pin and the body, already dissolves into its components - if someone has a screwdriver, but a "Peanut" :-) Everything else is pleasing on a proper level.

The potis work easily, but not too easily - exactly as it should be. The chrome-plated ventricles on the head plate work as it should and should not be cheap at all. The beautiful neck with the black blockinlays is perfectly fitted into his pocket and straight. Strings and neck are (at least with the model I bought) well adjusted and do not need a fine setting - I would not have expected. Again a big plus for the bass!

It goes on - belt laid and the beautiful piece around. First Impression: No unwanted headspace - quite the opposite, perfectly balanced. The effect of the visual test is confirmed by the dry impression: the string position is very good for my feeling and the relatively thin neck is perfectly in the hand. Everything else like the big original - no more, but also not less! Pickguard is neatly processed and the black pickups also do not look cheap.

But now quickly plugged and the first amplified tones fabricated. And lo and behold, I will not be disappointed! In all the sound settings you get with the three Potis, the bass sounds like a jazz bass - great! Again a big plus! And if the sound is not so brilliant and crisp, I just push the pre-tuned strings, because you should change as quickly as possible. Freshly from the box, they had already started flying rustle and felt also when playing not just finger-friendly. At the price you can not really expect sharp strings for 20, - EUR or more.

My conclusion:

It is amazing how much bass you get here for your money. My expectation was not very high at the price. The bigger is my joy now about this really successful instrument, which is purely for practice purposes, only really too bad is :-) Simply a beautiful bass, which can be really good play - great sounds - and up to the small processing flaws one truly Great figure. For the price unbeatable!