Is This The GREATEST Budget Bass???

[@cjbrewdog]

Dude, Harley Benton is just proving that guitars are way overpriced lol. Awesome bass!

[@flaviosan3020]

Try build one yourself, your prospectice will shurely change.

[@cjbrewdog]

@@flaviosan3020 that totally depends on your goal. If you wanna use expensive woods and parts then yeah.But you can build a good bass for cheap. Guns & Guitars does it all the time.

[@TenFalconsMusic]

@Flavo San The epitome of an apples to oranges comparison. Think harder.

[@clementealfredoobrador4822]

@@flaviosan3020 Pros-what?

[@jesseparrish9198]

For real! Your just paying for the name on the headstock.

[@swperry04039]

I love the sunburst finish with the woodgrain visible like this. Along with the roasted neck it’s a beautiful looking instrument.

[@joelspaulding5964]

Always admire how you surf wildly different styles all with equal aplomb and ferocity. Used to be skeptical of HB instruments - picked up an HB-35 VS during early COVID times on an ale induced shopping spree- Far out kicks its coverage. This Bass appears to do the same- perhaps even better.

[@diawilliams5915]

Thanks!

[@themigwel6185]

It’s really great! Very happy with my purchase.

[@boomerbassmeme]

That is pretty sweet! Reminds me a lot of my old Ibanez TR70. Got the Ibanez for 100 bucks with fried electronics and dropped in set of EMG Geezer PJs (yeah I know, twice the cost of the bass 🤪) It turned it into a beast though and love it! I dig this HB and would play the hell out of it! 😊👍

[@DiscreetHobo]

Powerful Pickups will always turn a good instrument into an amazing one. Except for feel obviously. I swapped out my Squire Affinity Pickups with Seymour Duncan SJB-2 HOT's, a Fender Hi mass Bridge, custom control plate with 3 way pickup selector and 250k tapered pots, as well as upgraded tuners with Schaller Nickel BT7s and 1 Hipshot D-tuner that allows me to go to drop C# or Drop D with the flick of a switch and back again. All in all, I paid £210 for the Bass. Pickups were £200 together, Bridge £30, Schaller Tuners £67, D-tuner, £111, custom control plate £70 All in all its at the price range of a Fender Made in Mexico. But it sounds better than one could be in my books.

[@boomerbassmeme]

@@DiscreetHobo Well done brother!

[@rickrolli7091]

Hey Patrick. Of course you probably know that the Jazz pickup is a single coil, which is the reason for the noise. But it is the reason for the snappy high end as well. So... Like you were saying. It sounds so good and it makes you wanna play it. And there's room in the money department to swap out the J pickup for a humbucking one.

[@surlydogstudio]

Just ordered this exact bass an hour ago. Thank you for the most excellent review.

[@chrisb48907]

how do you like it ?

[@AndyBondo]

Great video. Love ya work mate. I bought the 5 string version.

[@Mezziah777]

Now would be a good time to get the Aria Pro II 313 MK2 Detroit Series. I'd love to see a comparison between the two. =)

[@myampgoes2twelve]

yes, a comparision would be great

[@swizzarmygrizz]

I have found that you notice the noise with a lot of PJ setups since the neck pickups are humbucking the single coil bridge sound super noisy. Best fix is to put a stacked J pickup that’s humbucking in the bridge. The difference is night and day.

[@nikolasrbija]

This is literally Aria Detroit which is a beast for the money

[@josecardenas4013]

Awesome bass !!! Great review!!!!

[@timbenke5676]

I watched this with interest... for I have the 5-string version... and have been amazed at how great it is. Some months later, I am still amazed, and so pleased I made the purchase. A truly amazing 'bang for your buck' as they say... a wonderful bass for 248 euros (2023)

[@knitterfreiyoutube]

Harley Benton is the house brand of the german trader Thomann from Germany Bavaria. manufactured in China, Indonesia and Vietnam.

[@erikarko]

Wow! That actually sounds and looks great!! 😳

[@asfodhell]

I think it's a great Bass, but I'd remove that Blend pot, put another Volume pot instead so it's VVT setup, then drop in a DPDT switch for a sweet Series option ;) (a must have on any Bass with two pickups) Great playing too ! I wish you'd do more "versus" with the gear you have at hand ...

[@mathieufoley2339]

what's the advantage of two volume pots over a volume and blend? I like having the one volume knob to do on stage swells, fades, or whatever

[@asfodhell]

@@mathieufoley2339 In this case, yes, that would be better to have only one Volume pot ... I don't really use the Volume pot, since I'm still a massive noob. I made a very shortscale headless Bass out of an Ibanez JEM copy, and put only a 3way switch and tone pot 😅 using two Belcat DualRails guitar pickups, so .... I do weird stuff

[@mathieufoley2339]

@@asfodhell I do want to put in a series/parallel switch on my jazz bass and change it to volume/blend

[@asfodhell]

@@mathieufoley2339 ah yes, I did that on a 10€ Jazz Bass last week (check my "page") and it sounds so nice !

[@humanbass]

Small compact 2x2 headstock is always welcome for balance. With a heavy bridge and gotoh gb350 machines it will balance crazy well.

[@edlink3483]

Patrick what would you recommend to quiet the pickups ? Ed

[@lewisthebat3408]

Ace review as always man, can't wait to get the 5 string model of this bass soon. Would be awesome if you checked the Harley Benton B-450 progressive bass at some point. Another one on my list 😁

[@itsnotacello2296]

What is the model number for the five string?

[@demoncleaner80]

@@itsnotacello2296 Think it's the JP-55OP

[@nicklorusso5898]

@5:51 , please help or share your tabs for that song.

[@rmccain99]

You did not mention the fret work so I asume it's not a finger schreder. I agree that should mod this with EMG Hz pickups and Dunlop Ultra bright 45 too 105 strings.

[@SimulacronX]

I got it, it's a great bass indeed. Plays by itself, modern, punching sound etc

[@samlelowitch]

Perhaps shielding the body cavities, double-checking the bridge ground, and maybe changing the pots out for CTSes would help eliminate the noise problem.

[@pinkcricketer1921]

Yes, it is the best! In fact, their whole line is incredible.

[@oldasrocks9121]

Blend knobs are tough to get "right" between dissimilar pickups, if this was a split or stacked coil JBass bridge it would likely work as a blend control better. Nevertheless!! I wish Thomann had a US shipping depot, you need to buy at least 2 or 3 instruments to get realistic shipping

[@haxenheimer9707]

Didn't need to call me out like that at the end😭 Awesome review as always! Had my Eye on these since they announced them, but damn sound is nice

[@MisterStabby]

If a bass can make you groove like that you know it’s an amazing instrument

[@alanhearne6733]

I have just got the JJ45 OP, (JP out of stock, could not wait the 12 weeks...).. Blue finish.. Sounds, looks and plays way above the price point

[@jim3541]

2:21 sounds a lot like something on a newer Kings of Leon album

[@barracklesnar]

Man flats would sound insane on this. So warm

[@shaunmorrison6448]

I've been looking for something 24 fret for DFA1979 covers, but most of them are hideous. Still not quite my vibe but the natural one looks pretty sick.

[@thomasdeshais]

what effects do you use for dfa79? For a beautiful 24 frets = Dingwall ng3 :)

[@shaunmorrison6448]

@@thomasdeshais If I could afford a Dingwall... I use the detune on a Bass Whammy before an EQD Hoof. You need quite a lot of mids so it sounds tight.

[@surlydogstudio]

Just ordered the JJ-45OP from HarleyBenton. Can't wait to get my paws on it.

[@leighcoulson2148]

Sounds awesome. Looks are ok ...could be tempted.

[@TheSirpatrick33]

Gonna have to try them one of these days

[@1234drums]

Awesome tone!

[@Ashaliel]

Huh. I have no idea why I've never thought of HB for a bass. I play guitar, and wanted to try bass. Would a 4 or 5 string be recommended?

[@meyersguitars2196]

Sounding good!

[@tomnealeo]

Please do a review on the Harley Benton JB-62 series!

[@justinkline1294]

I have the blue JP-45OP. It is basically a 1 for 1 copy of the Aria Detroit (but with roasted maple fretboard instead of rosewood and maybe different screw patterns, but that's it). Probably made in the same Chinese factory on the same machines and from identical source materials (including electronics). But the Aria is like $600. And I like the roasted maple fretboard over rosewood. So prefer the HB. It is truly a premium quality imported instrument. No mods necessary (or even desirable from my perspective). It's the hit legit.

[@ambientnoiseaddict]

Came here to mention that myself. This bass got popular quick, and seems like a lot of people might not know it's an Aria Pro copy. I'm really curious about how these two compare, as normally I'm a huge Aria fan.. Though I can't disagree, it looks way nicer w/the HB headstock and roasted maple.

[@justinkline1294]

@@ambientnoiseaddict Oh nice. I have a small collection of vintage Japanese basses (all made in the Fujigen factory 1974-1981). So yeah, the fact that this HB is an Aria Pro II copy was actually a big selling point. Only differences (and I mean only differences seem to be the 2-piece neck/tilted head stock on the HB but both are Canadian roasted maple w. exact same nut width and fretboard radius; the screw patterns are different by like 1 additional screw each; roasted maple vs real rosewood fingerboards is the only meaningful distinction, and that's just a matter of listening to both and your preference. I prefer the roasted maple fretboard for added brightness/note definition. Honestly, can't go wrong with either. Both are premium. And again I think same manufacturer (clearly identical tooling at least). Oh and the Aria is 3x the price of the HB. I'd take the HB even at the Aria price, honestly. In other words, I think you should probably get one or the other if you're really in the market for a new instrument right now. Only the HB comes in blue, which was final selling point.

[@justinkline1294]

@@ambientnoiseaddict So I got an Aria as well. While it's tone is somehow more aggressive (and even unruly) than the HB, the HB kills it in all other areas, and esp. with fit and finish. Also, the neck on the Aria dives because of the weight of big chunky tuners Aria chose to use, instead of the Gotoh-style lightweights used by HB. Way better balanced when playing seated (as I do all the time).. I even had to break out the fret file on the Aria. Repeatedly. So, yeah, the win goes to HB over Aria by a good stretch. In fit, finish, feel and playability it tops the Detroit. Plus I want to play it because so comfortable.

[@congerscott6064]

Nice, I like it, looks nice and sounds great 👍.

[@davelock3166]

Great Review.

[@christiancouture2194]

Amazing review and playing as usual, brother! How do you feel that this bass compares to the HB PB20?

[@Josh-js6sm]

I've got both the JP-45 and the PB-20 here (to send one of them back). It's a close one to be honest. The PB-20 feels just like a P (in the right way) and the build quality is pretty good (had to re-ground the bridge but that's a 5 minute job). The JP on the other hand feels insane, mostly due to the smaller roasted neck - but it doesn't exactly sound like a P due to the PU's position. There's a bit of this high-mid growl missing, so it won't sit in the mix the way a "true" P-Bass does. But the bass (in terms of frequencies) is more present on this one. If you could bear a chunkier neck and especially if you're just looking for "the P-Bass tone", go for the PB-20 and use the saved money on a better PU. That's what I'll probably do.

[@marcusroute935]

Man, the year isn't up yet I'll change my strings soon I swear.

[@leesbassment6393]

I really like these. I'm trying to keep from ordering a white JJ 5.

[@ifgwelf]

The body shape reminds me of my Conklin Groovetools

[@rome8180]

I hate that overly long horn, but otherwise it looks and sounds great. The neck is beautiful. As for the noisy jazz bass pickup, that's just a byproduct of the PJ configuration. My $900 Fender Aerodyne bass has an unusably noisy rear pickup, even after shielding. If you got this bass, the thing to do would be to swap out the bridge pickup for a noise-canceling jazz pickup.

[@Jett-Litt]

The longer horn is all about functionality. It balances the instrument far better on a strap and reduces neck dive when the strap pin goes up to the 12th fret. Fender and other older manufacturers didn't understand this when designing their instruments long ago. Their basses suffer from annoying neck dive because of the shorter horn.

[@knappymer]

I love the longer horns. Gives it an Ibanez BTB feel which have been my favs for a while now.

[@manuelespinosa8781]

What aftermarket tuners would you recommend for this bass?

[@bobbyzig3879]

Anything from hipshot is solid

[@EdwardFregoso]

Review the Michael Kelly Element 4

[@nathanmoak1515]

my first bass was a kent copy of a fender. i paid $150 for it. it was made of solid mahogany and weighed 20 pounds! it was not good and sounded worse, but it was the cheapest bass i could find in 1968. my second bass was an apollo copy of a hofner. it was light and played good but sounded lousy. another $150. back in the 60s, guitars and amps were expensive! my solid-state bassman amp was $400 used and sucked!

[@williampeckham9838]

I'm always tempted to get a HB but brands like Charvel, Jackson, Ibanez ect make much better budget guitars for a little bit more.

[@BenD_Bass]

I heard nothing but good things about these HB basses in particular, but I know HB likes sponsoring people so Idk what to believe lol. Are they really good? Ive had my eye on the white jbass one. Just looks and features alone seems worth it. Shipping to US is like 70$ and its still under 250$! So at the very least it would be a good mod platform

[@ChrisDavis1975]

Man, that roasted neck looks great.

[@alexskibicki2262]

Awesome demo, Patrick. 😎🤘🏻🎸 that bass sounds phenomenal for the price. The model of this bass reminds me of a Yamaha bb bass. Harley Benton makes great affordable basses. I would totally go for a 5-string version of that bass and their stingray styled bass.

[@FoamSquatch]

Been looking for a mod platform..... think I just found it.

[@drdoom8793]

Nice bass, also Hail Satan! Love LPOTL!

[@reneebear3641]

I’ve heard meh things about Harley Benton qc but otherwise they seem like good instruments

[@reneebear3641]

Also to add onto this everytime I’ve heard of a qc issue I’ve also heard of great things abt customer service, which kinda makes up for it?

[@grantkoeller8911]

I love the bass, I do not like the headstock, or tuners.

[@VeitLehmann]

The Aria Pro II 303 Detroit is for you - same bass, different headstock and tuners. But it's more expensive. Not sure if the pickups/electronics/shielding/fretwork are upgraded on the Aria, or if they select better quality wood for them. Body shape and bridge are exactly the same.

[@atomgroup3179]

It even dropped to 179 dollars before tax

[@smellsak]

Omg its great bass for this price. 😮

[@coreyroberts47]

I love harley Benton so much

[@daveringer9535]

Mine sounds like garbage. 😞

[@ArturBFPV]

Definitely not with this headstock :)

[@barackmycat9448]

Seemed fine to me. Options are good.

[@bushmann9272]

LPOTL!!!

[@borisbg]

It's a copy of Aria Pro II 313-MK2 Detroit bass with different shape of head. Probably for Thomann Aria made another level of quality control, but for Aria... I owned 5 string version. So: sound is good. Not wow, amazing and etc. Just good. Balance is bad. Deep neckdive. Wilkinson bridge was awful, low precise and lightweight. I replaced it with hipshot bridge. Tuners are cheap and heavyweight. I think that is the cause of neckdive. As for the neck... The frets scrabed fingers. I didn't like this bass. It needs a lot of improvements out of the box. This is my opinion about original version by Aria. Maybe Harley Benton (Thomann) is better than original production.

[@Exercise-01]

Such a beautiful piece of wood and color but that shape hum no

[@Exercise-01]

@@flogginga_dead_horse4022 😜 Yeap

[@specmiata4840]

Dont like mine. Good for wall hanger only

[@ludekrauer5705]

Greatest Bass ist HB JJ 45OP.

[@HapyLLIuTeJIb]

Too bad there's no fretless 5-string version.

[@jamcam9]

I plan on making one out of one of these.

[@mochynband]

The one I bought is a piece of shit unfortunately, literally have to adjust the truss rod every week, bridge wasn't grounded, nut wasn't glued in, the Wilkinson bridge is a much cheaper version than the one on my LTD, the white finish develops weird yellow spots. If Harley Benton could sort out their QC they'd be excellent as I have had good ones but at the moment they're too inconsistent. If you don't mind probably having to do some work on them they're an option but I'd definitely tell anyone starting out to stay away.

[@TenFalconsMusic]

Love the Harley Benton gear...but I had to stop ordering them due to Thomann's abysmal shipping standards.👎

[@justinkline1294]

Weird, I have just received 2 Harley Benton basses (this and the Ric-inspired) directly from Thomann this past week and thought the packaging was top-notch. Impressive even. And quite timely. Been surprised with the overall quality of my HB purchasing experience. Obviously different from yours. How recent?

[@TenFalconsMusic]

@Justin Kline It happened over a 2 month span earlier this year. The bass I ordered took 2 weeks (and several emails) to arrive. And by arrive I mean: It was propped up against a tree at my neighbour's house in full view of the road. I was home, but the delivery person didn't bother knocking. The second was a guitar that was "lost in transit" with no tracking information available. ? Since they had sold out by the time I was allowed to report it, I had to wait another 2 months to have another one, which again was left by the road. Again, I was home. Two other (smaller) items were probably stolen from my doorstep or by the courier. Yet again, I was home all day. I opted for a refund for those and decided never to use them again if they didn't change to a courier that wasn't notoriously dodgy and incompetent. Glad you didn't have any problems.

[@justinkline1294]

@@TenFalconsMusic Man it sounds like you must have the worst UPS driver ever on your route. I don't blame you for not ordering more if it was not ever showing up safely on your doorstep. I know that company has mishandled other unrelated boxes of mine in the past. Sucks that you have to miss out on these instruments though. Because they are quite good.

[@christianhildalgo]

@@TenFalconsMusic Yeah really just sounds like an incompetent UPS driver... I have been having problems with UPS too, I ordered this exact bass and it was supposed to arrive yesterday... Thomann has nothing to do with it and UPS is probably the only delivery service that can allow them to ship to every ckuntry they ship to...

[@christianhildalgo]

@@TenFalconsMusic Also report to UPS directly, not just Thomann! They're the ones employing that driver, they're the only one who can do anything about that.

[@gpasc]

sponsored ok

[@Peppeblackmetal]

Is that a church of Satan shirt?

[@drdoom8793]

Last Podcast on the Left

[@peterrussell8409]

If its cheap you got problems, sharp fret ends cheap electronics etc i wouldnt waste my money.

[@drdoom8793]

Enjoy spending too much and missing out then

[@eaglebauer944]

Aria rip off, HB sucks.

[@MB57]

🦞 points out is it is $70 to ship 1 but only $110 to ship 2 so when in doubt, buy 2! I'm buying 1 when I get my MR & prob dropping in EMGs Geezer set.