$150 Harley Benton Vs $2000 Fender AM Pro II Jazzmaster

#fender #harleybenton #jazzmaster
The time has come to compare my Harley Benton parts guitar (that cost £500 in total) to this Fender American Professional II Jazzmaster (near enough £2000). This is going to be fun...
Full playlist of the Harley Benton build: • £500 Guitar Build Chal...
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Previously known as Dipswitch Demos.
0:00 The guitars
0:34 Fender clean tones
1:40 HB clean tones
2:30 The looks
3:32 HB overdrive tones
4:49 The looks cont.
6:28 Fender overdrive tones
8:06 The tones
9:46 Fender fuzz tones
11:26 The tones cont.
12:38 HB fuzz tones
13:42 The feels
15:36 HB ambient tones
16:37 The feels cont.
19:57 Fender ambient tones
20:44 The final scores and my opinion
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If you like the intro tracks to my gear demos then they are also available here: jacksonbrooksby.bandcamp.com/...
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Gear frequently used:
• Ernie Ball Music Man Cutlass HSS (McNelly Pickups)
• Ernie Ball Music Man St Vincent
• Fender American Vintage '56 Strat
• Fender Telecaster (Seymour Duncan Antiquity Pickups)
• Gibson Les Paul Junior (Sunbear Pickup)
• Heritage H-150 Standard Artisan Aged Europe Ltd
• Victory V40 The Duchess
• Victory VC35 The Copper
• Victory V4 The Sheriff
• Boss Waza Tube Amp Expander
• Universal Audio Apollo Solo
DISCLAIMER:
Some of these links have an affiliate code, if you purchase gear with these links I will receive a small commission at no additional cost to you. Thank you!

[@bassbassbasser]

Fender headstocks are just the most beautiful of all guitars out there.

[@AM2PMReviews]

I got the pink Harley Benton but it looks like yours with the Gyker trem. I put in 1Meg pots and a switchable cap inside and I am shocked how good it is. I did some shielding as well. it's GREAT! I think I commented on your other video like a year ago.

[@tommybrxb]

Think I’d treasure the Fender at home and smash up the Harley on the road in my (fictitious) grunge cover band. Great video JB.

[@stevearcade]

I did a similar thing recently. Bought a Harley Benton JA-60 on a whim. Shortly after getting it, replaced the pickups with MOJOs (heavy former '59 in the neck, overwound in the bridge), Gyuker les-trem copy (almost half the price of a les-trem), roller-ball bridge, upgraded tuners, 1meg pots, switch-craft switch, pure-tone jack socket. After a thorough setup, try-oiling and buffing of the neck, and fret-level (which I did myself - I'm no expert, but used some cheap tools off of Amazon and some KZbin tutorials), I've got it playing and sounding brilliant. My total spend works out less than a Classic Vibe Squier JM (not including the price of the tools, as I'll be using those again on future projects), and whilst it doesn't feel as expensive as my Fenders, it's still a wonderful instrument, and it's been getting more attention and play-time than any of my other guitars since buying it. Nice to know I'm not the only one who has done this kind of modification with the JA-60, and that I'm not the only one who is enjoying the end results this much. 👍🏼

[@Jaimellex]

I got the Firemist version with ss frets. How was your experience with Gyuker Les-trem? I'm hoping to get the Dunsenberg as I've read several bad reviews about Gyuker.

[@zloboslav_]

Such a fun video! I was thinking though: you can always sell this fender and buy another one just like it the next day, but the Harley Benton is unique, because you've modded it yourself and that's just a nice feeling inside. :)

[@JacksonBrooksby]

So true!

[@Joelguitar7]

Solid Video

[@__thatcarguy__4086]

Great work, great quality content, just found you now, subscribed

[@JacksonBrooksby]

Thanks man! Welcome

[@Neonmnan]

JM is great guitar. I am about to get a Harley Benton 25th anniversary. I just planned out the electronics conversion. The only issue is the distance between pickups.

[@con2720]

I really know how you feel about the HB. My wife bought me a HB strat kit for my Birthday and i never liked the stratocaster for my style of playing. Others Sound great with that guitar but i never did. We did a surf Green relic finish and i kind of fell in love with it. Now it has fender rex mex pre wired pickguard, HB locking tuners and an abm vintage tremolo. Now i love that guitar more than i could ever love a real fender stratocaster. A bone nut will come in some months i guess and then Its done.

[@VeitLehmann]

Really nice what you did to your Harley Benton! I love the upgraded pickups, and the trem is a really great choice! I just saw another video of the Harley Benton (affordable Fender offset alternatives comparison by Rich Words Music), and the stock electronics sounded rather dark. Did you experience the same? If so, is it the pickups, or do the have low-value pots in there from factory which would also reduce the high-end quite a bit?

[@MS-nj7id]

I’m not a Strat player but the comparison of the 2 was interesting. I especially enjoyed listening to your playing. Something I hope I can do some day.

[@JacksonBrooksby]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@Jeremya74]

He just practiced..if you practice,you will also be as good..no secret..the more you play the better you get

[@thecrankedamps]

The Harley benton looks and sounds better to me but I'm sure the fender feels better to play. And thats usually what you get from high end guitar.. feel. You done a great job of the HB for the money i think 👍🏻

[@KUBAGRANCANARIA]

Hey buddy I bought harley tele and have to say, really great guitar for playing and for fingers too and very much, neck is not from 2 pieces of wood like all cheap guitars. I have also american prs and prestige ibanez and this guitar for 150 bugs is really not shit, but very.good guitar. I believe that this this JA will be great too. Its more about feeling that you paid 2000. And you know, you should to pay much more, because is maded in US, but all other thing are same

[@EnervatedSociety]

First thing to consider imo is the electronics (incl. pups, position, height) and the options those electronics offer. Next is the neck, but only because you have to play on it, and the proper hardware to keep it in tune + new strings + set up. Everything else, wood, shape, looks ect is all subjective and won't make a lick of difference to how your electric guitar sounds. The rest of the sound comes from your amp/FX set up and or mic technique/room, if you use them, and then of course your playing. So if you love the way your neck feels and you got the rest sorted, you're good regardless of what the guitar cost. I'll just put this here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/pGGVpXyjmMpmd6c

[@TheGissy77]

You have an interesting guitar face. It looks like you’re about to cry! Love the video and the anti snobbery!

[@Jeremya74]

That's his gasim face 😂

[@zprice2311]

@jacksonbrooksby does the Harley Benton have a slightly smaller body?

[@JacksonBrooksby]

Yes, quite a bit smaller actually

[@mikegutterman3427]

I've recently modded a Squier Jazzmaster and it is one of my favorites now despite having an awesome USA Fender Jazzmaster. Am I taking an almost $2500 USA jazzmaster to the dives bars I'm likely to play? Hell no. I have to stick with Squier over Harley Benton though because I just can't get past the smaller body on the HB, just looks off to me.

[@MarkRigler]

What mods did you do?

[@mikegutterman3427]

@@MarkRigler shimmed the neck pocket, shielded cavities, new pickups, new bridge, and new trem unit. A lot of that wasn't necessary, I just had some extra parts left around from other projects!

[@MarkRigler]

@@mikegutterman3427 did the shielding make much of a difference, getting one soon

[@mikegutterman3427]

@@MarkRigler Yeah the guitar is pretty silent now, really cut down on the single coil noise. Just used copper tape.

[@marcraygun6290]

I agree jazzmaster should be big

[@rodneykuhn249]

Kudos to Benton but.... I prefer the real deal when it comes to a jazzmaster. Im not a guitar snob since Im a lefty guitarist so I play watever. But when it comes to a jazzmaster unless its an original design with all the bells and whistles that it came with originally forget it.

[@BladeDoomer86]

They both sound great through the Victory amp.... which is the main factor for that tone and the end results.

[@madsam7582]

Then let's only have one guitar each. 😂

[@thomastucker5686]

Your playing is fantastic. Your scoring need not include the fact you want to play strings that most wouldn't wish to play. The only thing that the heavier strings give you is more bass. With the tone you used in this video, more bass would be ridiculous. Most of us are working within the mix of a song, whereby I would cut out all the bass you gain with .11 strings. Even .10s I cut out all the bass you might not get over using the .09. When you are playing by yourself, the bass sounds great. In a mix, it sounds like bloody hell.

[@user-vv7hb8ok2f]

there is actually no comparing because the Fender has resale value the Benton cannot. The cheap one can be great anyways, just play and enjoy

[@JacksonBrooksby]

Very true

[@juls7724]

That's true...but the hb cost less than the amount you'll loose if you resell the Fender.....

[@feloniousmonk321]

It's ironic that the Harley Benton ends up having more of a Jazzmaster tone than an American made Jazzmaster!

[@AndrewAHayes]

Your guitar face is nearly as bad as mine! LOL I am not a fan of the neck tints Fender is putting out these days, they look like the false suntans!

[@GAZBLIN]

Good vid but imo, the looks for the HB is 0 - not cool looking at all. Each to their own.

[@gorlagOv]

Having played both it’s not even close. The Fender Jazzmaster is miles better.

[@Crow-jg4sj]

So is the price

[@fuzzchan]

Yeah. The HB woulda been awesome before the Classic Vibe Squires came out.

[@dorianford6227]

Fender isn’t perfect they never were and never will be. Sure boutique companies can “perfect” fender guitars but you can’t match their vibe. That is what you are paying for and for my music it is worth every cent and penny.

[@rodneykuhn249]

My Squier lefty Jazzmaster sound and look a million times better than this pos