Harley Benton HB JA-60 OW - 2 months later...

After the previous unboxing and first impression video I thought it might be good to let you know what I think about this guitar after using it more.
So here it is, some sounds, thoughts and live fragments at the end.
You can get one here (affiliate link):
thmn.to/thopro...

[@ovash1]

Great video. First time I can remember seeing a video done months after the initial excitement of a new guitar is gone. Good to hear that you still like it, because, we all like the new guitar. The flaws and problems usually emerge as the excitement fades away. Thanks again.

[@ColinLPrice]

Thanks very much. I still like it too :-) Here it is recorded earlier today: kzbin.info/www/bejne/aojXknmMatGIa7s

[@DrTomoculus]

I picked up the HB JA-60SB, and I love that thing. I've had it a few months, and still haven't changed the strings on it from out of the box. When I barely tap a string on the upper frets, it resonates with a very chime like sound. No other guitar I own does this. But my Basses do. I found that fascinating. I tend to keep it in its case, because I honestly would use it for every recording I do. And I own Fenders/Squiers etc.

[@ColinLPrice]

I don't know if they all have that, but mine also has what you describe, that chiming resonance. It just sounds very open.

[@DrTomoculus]

@@ColinLPrice Absolutely. It was a very WOW moment.

[@sea_low7627]

thanks been considering one of these as my 1st "jazzmaster " type to see if that is what I really want sonically

[@BenjaminKanarek]

I have the Harley Benton Bug! I own 8 of them! 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@ColinLPrice]

I used to have their gold top LP copy with P90's, a good guitar too. But I traded that for bass amp. I wasn't using the guitar as much as I expected. The pricing makes it very tempting to get more though :-)

[@TheCommonSenseProfessor]

Get ready when you take your pick guard off. Mine was really messy, really messy. I took a Dremel and cleaned everything up and put grounding tape and it is great. I have the same issue with the input jack, so I will probably take it back apart and try to adjust.

[@ColinLPrice]

It should be coming apart soon so now I'm really curious what I'll find :-) I just watched your video on the guitar kit competition you put out to school kids - what a great idea! Getting young people enthusiastic to just make stuff and see how much fun it is.

[@socarrones]

Good video, from start to finish. By the way, great ending.

[@ColinLPrice]

Thanks very much! Triggerfinger inspired me with that last song. It’s great to do with an audience joining in :-)

[@alandennis3853]

Good review, those Alnico Roswell P90s sound good! I think HB wanted to make a Jazzmaster for the masses and alternative fans because many reviews I’ve seen have shown the bridge pickup to be very high output (11k in one)

[@ColinLPrice]

Thanks :-) I'll try to remember to measure that when I take it apart to do the treble bleed mod (video to follow...).

[@rallefreifahrt6630]

Those are NOT P90s.

[@valueofnothing2487]

They certainly look like Jazzmaster pickups.

[@Mike_S_Swift]

I just built a test treble bleed for my old Strat wannabe. .001uf cap &100k resistor in parallel worked great. When I get time I’ll solder it on the vol pot.

[@ColinLPrice]

That sounds like what I got in the 'kit', although I'm not sure of the values. Thanks for letting me know what you used. I'll mention what I put in when I get round to making the video on that.

[@blueeyedsoulman]

I'm not having much luck with those tuners. I like your Smiths wall hang.

[@ColinLPrice]

Hmm.. that's a pity, maybe I was just lucky. It was something I thought might need upgrading but till now, mine have been fine. Try graphite in the nut slots so that doesn't hamper tuning adjustments.

[@Bob48]

Those P90s sound so so sweet....I'm in. I have their 335 knock-off and it's amazing. Good review...thanks Colin.

[@ColinLPrice]

Thanks :-) I really like the neck and ‘middle’ pickup position most. I don’t use the bridge position much. ‘If’ I ever replace pickups it would be that one first. But its great as it is. From what I can figure out they are not true P90 though, more like the Jazzmaster construction.

[@stratosphere835]

That's are Singlecoils, Not P90's

[@northernthrifter8817]

I have the 335 myself and I agree it punches way above it's weight, the pickups are fantastic, I've done some mods on mine everything bar the pickups and circuit.

[@diogeneslantern18]

My birthday is in January and I have decided to pull the trigger and get one as my first guitar - It's as cheap as chips so if there is buyer's remorse, then the sting wont hurt

[@ColinLPrice]

You won’t regret it. My advice would to get someone who knows about it to check/adjust the intonation, neck relief and string height/action. If you don’t know someone who can do that, leave it all as it is. Out of the box its probably ok and you can mess it up if you don’t know how to do it right. And if you do buy one, feel free to use my affiliate link in the video description :-) You pay the same price and I get a little credit at the shop, which helps me get cool stuff to make video’s about.

[@diogeneslantern18]

@@ColinLPrice oki doki I shall do so (when I eventually do pull the trigger - as I'm still doing research on amps, pedals, etc - I like the grunge/shoegaze sound, but also I want to just lie on the bed and pick or strum and get lost in the echo/flange? soundscapes!). Fortunately my friend is in an active band and has been playing for 15 years 🤗 I love the Jazzmaster look so much. It's so much more interesting than a tele and strat whilst still remaining a classic, simple "Fender". Great hoodie btw. My ex was from Kansas 🥲 Edit: I'm left handed, and I like the lake placid one (not the B stock), so I'll have to ask for an affiliate link when I am ready to get one! Can you believe it's cheaper to buy a guitar and import it to South Africa, than buying an entry level guitar here for lefties? (and the stock selection is complete shite!)

[@ColinLPrice]

Here's your link :-) thmn.to/thoprod/514523?partner_id=15901 The blue is also my favourite of the new colours.

[@fr.abbadon]

mine in Inca Silver arrives today!

[@philsaudio6mm]

Awesome ...... a demo in context.

[@davidjames7778]

Got a sunburst, only thing I don't like is the colour of the fretboard.

[@ColinLPrice]

If you want it darker there are luthier products that should work for staining it. I don't think you can get it lighter though. But if they made a maple neck/fretboard version... now that would be nice :-)

[@timperry8961]

Nice Herman Brood tune!

[@you2vertigo]

I remember the crap electric guitars I managed to own back in the 1980's (among them a Peavy T60). My "cheap" HB JA from 2023 is 10-times better than those. Thanks for all the "cheap" guitars out there....they are a gift 😀

[@ColinLPrice]

Absolutely! I just got another HB :-) Video on it’s way soon…

[@ItsRael108]

Thanks for sharing 🎸🌞🧘

[@moronsmorons8913]

Nice and honest review. Will buy the pink one.

[@ColinLPrice]

Glad you liked the review. I like a lot of the new colours. If they didn’t make this one I’d probably get it in blue. I had a pink strat once, didn’t suit me :-)

[@ck2music712]

I've already ordered mine, but I'm havin to wait until they get some more Seafoam Green ones in stock... Like Tom Petty said, "The waiting is the hardest part..."

[@ColinLPrice]

But it's worth it 🙂

[@davidnelson3666]

Good review, love the KANSAS hoodie👍

[@ColinLPrice]

Thanks, I've never been to Kansas. But maybe one day I'll make it :-)

[@wombatmats]

I got the left-handed sunburst about a year ago, and I'm absolutely loving it. It is just a very smooth and comfortable guitar for its price. I just wish it had a tremolo (as you briefly touched on).

[@ColinLPrice]

I ordered the Duesenberg tremol yesterday... watch this space :-)

[@lonesomebillyvideo]

@@ColinLPrice I was wondering about the post spacing for the same reason..Hope you let us know...

[@ColinLPrice]

Post spacing is standard, so it's a perfect fit - here's my video on that. kzbin.info/www/bejne/qXmXlpl-g9V4h5o

[@dromeus21]

I'll appreciate your opinion about This guitar or the telecaster Jet 300 (the 🍌 one). I know that are quite different but at this point I'm between the two. Thanks for the reviews, cheers from Greece!

[@ColinLPrice]

That’s a hard choice as they are indeed so different. But I kept the JA-60 while I returned the Jet, that says something. If the Jet had been the right colour (for me) I might still have had it though. It was certainly a good guitar for the money. I’m still positive about the JA-60. Its got a great feel and sound, but that’s not much like a Tele sound. Depends what you are looking for. If I were to order one now I’d be tempted by the blue one.

[@dromeus21]

@@ColinLPrice Thanks again for answering, Colin. I remember you not liking the banana colour of the Jet and who can blame you. Can't beat that olympic white for sure. I'm not looking for a tele sound, I only have played with classicals just think it's time to try an electric. I don't like the sound of Stratocaster much and I find the Les Paul very heavy (and as I heard, fragile compared to a fender type) especially in comparison with my guitar. Also I have the notion that with the Gibson in general you have to pay a bit more than 200€ . So it is Jazzmaster or Telecaster copy for me. I like the Tele type for its clean (neck) sound, but I find it a bit heavyweight as well to make the transition. The HB Jazzmaster is lighter and I prefer how the neck pickup sounds, better than a strat fe... I have a last question which one has the mellower tone in the neck pickup? Thanks again 👍

[@ColinLPrice]

I listened back to my recordings to see if my opinion now matches what I heard back then, and it does, the JA-60 neck pickup is warmer/mellower.

[@dromeus21]

@@ColinLPrice That was a very nice thing to do! Really, really thank you Colin, all the best 🙏

[@blueeyedsoulman]

Try raising the height of the bridge pup. It will go brighter.

[@ColinLPrice]

I'll probably try that, but its quite high already

[@alanjohnson6369]

Just found your channel thanks for sharing

[@ColinLPrice]

You're welcome :-)

[@mement0matrix]

Hello, I have a question. I would be very grateful if you could help me. I have very large hands and somewhat fat fingers. I have read in some forums that the Jazz Master is appropriate and has a long neck. Does the Harley Benton have the same wide neck?

[@ColinLPrice]

I can’t compare to a genuine US Jazzmaster as I don’t have one. But the neck on this HB model does not feel particularly wide to me. Its very similar to my Telecaster in terms of neck width and length.

[@mement0matrix]

thank you, very helpfull information @@ColinLPrice

[@diogeneslantern18]

Also, go The Smiths and Johnny Marr 😎

[@ColinLPrice]

Get your free The Smiths gig poster here: colinprice.nl/the_smiths_poster/

[@thenovicenoisemaker]

I had one of those Colin, chunky neck but nice guitars

[@ColinLPrice]

The neck on this one doesn't feel what I'd describe as chunky. About the same as my Mex Tele. Was yours one of the earlier ones with Wilkinson P90 pickups? This one has Roswell Jazzmaster style pickups. I don't know if more changed in the spec on the more recent ones.

[@thenovicenoisemaker]

@@ColinLPrice hi Colin I had mine early this year and certainly thicker than my Player Tele. Maybe it was 13.78” radius, I know a lot of HBs have now been updated to 12” so possibly that?

[@ColinLPrice]

Maybe, I can't measure that difference :-) (*thinks*... got to get one of those gauges some time...)

[@louisfryzel4618]

Do you know what the cap value is? I've read it's 250K and some say 500K but definitely not the 1M cap of the vintage Jazzmasters.

[@ColinLPrice]

I guess you mean the pot (volume control) value? I'll see if its printed on it or measure it when I take it apart and let you know.

[@louisfryzel4618]

@@ColinLPrice Thanks a lot. As I said I get different opinions so it would be nice for some clarification. But no I mean it's the potentiometer value for the tone. Generally the lower the value (250K) the darker the tone. The classic Fender JMs had 1M values for a brighter sound but I"m finding many of the newer JM clones have the 250K ones.

[@gergnotsloh]

I just ordered the MR Modern in white. First HB guitar. This series looks very interesting too. I want a guitar with P90s and my son really likes Jazzmasters. Do you miss the tremolo on this? I think I'd get the Inca Silver one if I bought it. HB seem to make very good guitars. Thanks for the video ! Cheers.

[@ColinLPrice]

You're welcome :-) It's not totally clear to me if the pickups are P90 or Jazzmaster. There's currently mixed info on them on the Thomann site and I understand the construction of the two types to be quite different (magnetic pole pieces vs magnet bar, and the number of windings). I'm not planning to take mine apart to find out what's inside :-) What ever they are they sound good to me. On the first JA-60 models, a few years ago, it had Wilkinson P90's, on the current models they have Roswell Jazzmaster style, but exactly whats in the casing - I don't know. I don't miss a trem much, I don't use them that often, but occasionally I'd love to gently do that Bigsby wavering thing and its just not there. Someone gave a tip about a drop in replacement tailpiece trem from Duesenberg - I'm tempted by the idea: thmn.to/thoprod/319560?partner_id=15901

[@gergnotsloh]

@@ColinLPrice Thank you very much for the information and the link. Glad you are enjoying the guitar :)

[@louisfryzel4618]

@@ColinLPrice I've contacted Thomann directly. I was told the specs are being corrected. The pickups are Roswell Jazzmaster pickups. They have, according to the Thomann rep, individual alnico pole magnets just like in a "real" Jazzmaster pickup. But the specs are confusing and contradictory ... but AFAIK these are Jazzmaster pickups ... not Fender-built but still Jazzmaster style pickups.

[@ColinLPrice]

Thanks for the additional info Louis!

[@louisfryzel4618]

I got today an email from the HB rep, a salesman. He said he asked somebody in another department to make the correction but he doesn't have the authority to do so. So now I don't know when the specs will be corrected.

[@blueskyhorizon]

gut

[@rhiwderinraytube]

Unfortunately it doesn’ have the other circuit for rhythm like the old Jaguar…..

[@ColinLPrice]

But with a bit of work… :-)

[@rhiwderinraytube]

@@ColinLPrice just Bought a used mint Revealation RJ60 for cheaper that has the tone adjustment circuit!

[@ColinLPrice]

I hadn’t seen that make before, looks cool. And you got a good deal on it. Here in NL they are going (new) for twice the price of the HB

[@andrej8377]

So it's absolutely worth buying?

[@ColinLPrice]

I think so. Its a great deal for the money that's for sure.

[@andrej8377]

@@ColinLPrice Thanks for the info. I've been playing an acoustic guitar for almost two years and I am looking for an electric guitar now so yeah.. I've always been a fan of the jazzmaster so now I am thinking of getting this one.