Harley Benton JA-60CC Lake Placid Blue

Previously, I built a JA-kit guitar, which does not seem to be available anymore. This guitar played well and sounded good, but to my later regret I sold it after some time as I found I played other guitars more.

When the new line of colors for the JA model was introduced, I was immediately tempted to get one. The positive (though paid) reviews convinced me to go for it. This guitar is different from the kit mainly in that the body is considerably heavier; the pickups come in a jazzmaster package; and the neck is a caramelized maple rather than plain maple.

The paint on the body is striking, but not perfect. Along the edges, there appears to be some light scuffing, probably from a hasty polishing job. The neck overall looks good, but there are also some smudges along the binding. This may be some residue from staining applied to the fretboard. It did not come off, neither with water nor rubbing alcohol.

Regarding the playability, I found that out of the box, the action was somewhat high, and the pickups extend above the body quite far, which looks a bit odd. This can of course be remedied, and as one of the video reviewers remarked, it is likely that not all guitars come out of the box with a perfect setup at this price point. The neck has a comfortable shape, feels smooth and there were no sharp edges on the frets. The frets are polished nicely. The tuners feel smooth and the guitar stays in tune well. The pickup selector switch feels more sturdy than on other Harley Benton guitars I have (had).

Now, what intruigued me most about this guitar was the pickups. Since the kit guitar and some early Harley Benton JA models had P90's, I wondered (as did some of the video reviewers) if these Roswell JM pickups are just P90's in a larger package. However, I believe they are different. The specifications on the Roswell website are different in terms of output and dimensions, where the JM neck (N) model is wired to 6.6kOhm and has an output of '160', and the bridge (B) model is wired to 11.7kOhm and has an output of '270',. Both the bridge and neck are 14.5mm high. In contrast, a Roswell P90-N is wired to 7.1kOhm with output '220' and the P90-B is wired to 10.2kOhm and has output '240'. The P90's are 17.3mm high; 21.3mm if you include the pole screws. Clearly, the package and output are different. For reference, original Fender Jazzmaster pickups are wired to 6.8kOhm and are approximately 15mm high. I have never played a Fender Jazzmaster, so I cannot compare the sound, but what I can say is that this particular guitar sounds phenomenal. I only have a humble Fender Frontman 10G amplifier, but the tone I get is crisp, clear, and has plenty of bite and mids. There is however quite a bit of hum, so I reckon it will pay off to apply shielding to the cavity. Some of the hum disappears when touching the strings, so some better grounding may also be benificial.

Overall, this is a beautiful instrument which sounds great and inspires to play.

I am truly shocked by the quality of this guitar. No joke.

I've owned lots of Harley Bentons, many of them came with oddball QC problems but I'm not exaggerating when I say there is none of that here and the model I received was flawless. Aesthetically the neck is GORGEOUS, feels so smooth, the finish is amazing, and the blue colour is a looker!

No sharp fret ends, nut seems to be cut decently, was setup really good for E standard right out of the box. I played it for hours and had no complaint with the setup. The tuning stability was rock solid. I genuinely cannot come up with a single complaint. Even the pickups aren't microphonic like I was expecting, I've been playing mostly the bridge pickup on my Boss Katana MK2 head and 4x12 cab with the presets I use for Thrash and Doom and while there is "hum" like all single coils, they're not reacting horribly and even sound exceptionally competent and usable to someone who's normally and EMG 81 guy!! This is a personal bias comment but even that the guitar has only 21 frets has actually made me more inspired to create music as I have "less to distract me" and let's face it, I'm usually playing in E minor or A Major and generally never go higher than fret 20 when soloing.

I've fallen in love, and I can see myself getting this exact guitar again in other colours for different tunings. To anyone on the fence, if you're looking for a guitar with rock solid tuning stability, the most versatile set of stock pickups I've ever tried, 25.5" scale with a tuneomatic bridge (which is unique in my opinion for JM style guitars) and no nonsense features in between to distract you from making music, then I strongly wholly recommend this guitar!

@Thomann, I really hope you keep this model in stock and production for a really long time, and that the QC stays this good because this is genuinely one of the best guitars I have ever played and probably for the best price I have ever payed for an instrument. Well done!

A few months ago, I purchased the Seafoam Green model and I was blown away by the quality. Playability and sound quality was amazing.

So, I decided to try another one. This time the Lake Placid Blue model. I am delighted to say, it has the same great build quality. I have never seen such attention to detail on the Neck, the neck pocket is so precise, the carmalized finish is smooth as silk. Perfect profile. I am also amazed at the fretwork. Beveled and rounded edges and polished (not gritty). The fretboard is very nice and the fake pearl block inlays are done well.

The Nut is cut great. Just the right depth and nice fit and finish.

The vintage style tuners look great on this guitar and they are smooth and accurate. They are not locking tuners, but they work great and they fit the vibe of this guitar.

The neck binding is a nice touch with dot markers.

The body being Basswood is light, but still has decent sustain. The paint job on both the seafoam green and the Lake Placid Blue is very good. I like the sparkles in the blue.

The pickups are SUPER. They are alnico V P90 style by Roswell. They sound fantastic to me. I find the true Jazzmaster pickups to be a bit too thin and bright for my taste. These pups have a smoother top end and a nice full bottom end. Not dark. More balanced.

Setup from the factory was very good. All I did right out of the box was tune it up, then play for a while. Then I lowered the action about a half turn on both bridge adjusters. Re-tune, make a slight intonation adjustment, re-tune and play.

Shipping was amazingly fast from Germany. I ordered it over the New Years weekend and got it today (Tuesday 3 Jan 2023) in Colorado USA. Double boxed and wall packed. Now, shipping is not cheap in this day and age, but that was amazing.

I have all kinds of guitars from Gibson Les Pauls to PRS CEs to Charvel Pro Mods to more affordable brands, like Hagstrom, Fame, and Sire, and I have to say this guitar is not just a good guitar for the money, it is a GOOD guitar PERIOD!

PROS:
- Beautiful, vivid, calm blue colour with flawless finish.
- It has a belter of a neck! Dark, roasted, beautifully figured and professionally finished. Playing it is a joy.
- Binding looks decent.
- Tuners do their job.
- Frets are well-polished. I didn't detect a single scratchy fret, which is huge for a guitar in this price range.
- Pickups sound great for my taste. I always disliked the Jazzmaster's shrill bridge pickup, but the bridge pickup on this guitar is mellow yet punchy (and has higher output).

CONS:
- The binding is a bit filthy in some spots, but within expectations.
- The body is smaller than that of a Jazzmaster and can look a bit too small compared to the neck, but it's not off-putting in anyway.

If I didn't know that this is a $150 guitar, I would have guessed it's worth around $700 minimum!

Please keep in mind that I ordered this guitar as soon as it was announced, so I believe I received mine from the 1st batch.
HB are known for dishing out batches of slightly inconsistent quality, but judging from what I have in my hands, this is one hell of a deal!