Top 5 | J-Basses | Demo | Thomann

[@tubridge]

Harley Benton JB-75NA Vintage 02:47 Neck & bridge 03:18 Neck only 03:50 Bridge only G&L JB-2 Tribute (Ash) 05:38 Neck & bridge 07:38 Neck only 08:03 Bridge only Sire Marcus Miller V7 (Alder), passive mode 12:53 Neck & bridge 13:42 Neck only 14:14 Bridge only 15:14 Active mode engaged Fender Jazz "Standard" Mexico 18:11 Neck & bridge 19:50 Bridge only 20:14 Neck only Sandberg California II TT4, passive mode 23:28 Neck & bridge 24:04 Neck only 24:33 Bridge only 27:07 The Lick 5X plus lots of fret rattle For more direct A/B comparison. Exact models are educated guesses. Obviously, strings, setup, and who's playing matter to the way any instrument sounds at the jack.

[@thejonesbass]

damn so youre the real MVP!

[@tokai5707]

Harley Benton sounds like a million bucks

[@MichaelUhler]

Your reviews stand out from the crowd. Refreshing for their honesty, and you are well informed. 1/2 hour well spent. Keep up the good work

[@xMTLKx]

wow, the Harley Benton is far from being ridiculous !

[@srsly4242]

...and now with no pickups!

[@nealgold4290]

Kudos on your wonderful rendition of "All the Things You Are" on that G&L, Russell!

[@peteralexanderbart1527]

If Thomann would make a poll for searching his best moderator for his youtube channel videos I would vote for Mr. Snyder. Cool, smart, relaxed, unpretentious, with good presence,, good performance in front of the camera, and with good english.

[@pillepalle3614]

Peter Alexander Bart 1 but the man can‘t play. C‘mon! 😂😘

[@garideb]

Yes, he seems nice

[@thewomble1509]

@@pillepalle3614 Nope!

[@timworley3235]

but please. MORE RUSSELL! im sure im not the only one who really gets engaged into what he's saying compared to the others. the odd humour is amazing too!

[@leonardoperes6830]

In my opinion the perfect jazz bass is a passive with the 60s pickup position, alder body, maple fingerboard, and round wound strings. Very balanced sound and very versatile!

[@mackymaca]

The Fender and the Marcus, for me.

[@mirkocaserta]

Now this is a great demo, thank you!

[@ThomannsGuitarsBasses]

Thank you for watching! :)

[@Harlembrown]

mirkocaserta You nailed it. I thought exactly that.

[@luigi.zanini]

27:07 I prefer these sounds in this order: 1) Fender 2) Harley Benton 3) G&L 4) Sandberg 5) Marcus Miller

[@AndreasR77]

G&L JB-2 is my main bass. I'd love to be able to afford a Sandberg though.

[@edmiller5101]

Had a jb2 loved it sold it to a friend when i retired for active jigging But I still have my SB2 that my baby.

[@hahabass]

Sandberg/Standard Fender.

[@MichaelUhler]

hahabass I agree- Sandberg was most authoritative w the delanos/active setup. But fender did the jazz bass thing more typically/better than the others. GnL sounded sanitized. Marcus had it’s own voice which wasn’t bad, but not better than the fender.

[@mutantbaby1672]

Nothing here nail the jazz tone like the Fender though you can bet the build quality of the Sandberg is miles ahead.

[@philipmcadam5339]

For me, the versatility of the active basses is the way to go. I really like the look of the Sire bass with the tort pick guard.

[@musenw8834]

Of course active basses offer better choices, but that means you have to have a battery prepared every gig if it's the main bass

[@eljapel]

the sandberg sounds and looks amazing, that growl was killer

[@plookie9]

I liked the Fender and the Marcus Miller V7. They sounded very close to each other in this setup.

[@thomasmarcotte270]

fender will always be my jazz bass

[@sleepsire9321]

Usually i always want time slots to skip around, but you sounded so sad when you said no one wants to hear you talk. So i listened and watched the whole thing no skipping. I think your explanations are very helpful

[@faithbassed49]

Great video. Surprised by the GL sound, very nice, not fond of the design of the headstock though! My vote would be for the Sire and the good old Fender! Great job demoing all of the basses, sir!

[@matmatmatamatvsjdjfh]

My list of favourite sounds: 1. Fender 2. Sandberg 3. Marcus Miller 4. G&L 5. Harley Benton

[@felixweber6593]

They all sound very good... I prefer the G&L. Thanks...!!!

[@ThomannsGuitarsBasses]

You're very welcome, thanks for watching :) //Philipp

[@jameslewis2635]

For me it is between the G&L and the Sandberg. The two seem to have a fuller sound than the rest of them. If you want the traditional Jazz bass sound you might as well just buy the Harley Benton and save some money in comparison to the rest.

[@fm1057]

The Sire is favorite but the Hartley Benton sound great too.

[@MikkelGrumBovin]

i love the Marcus Miller sound(s),- ;) i might just buy a second , and rip the fretts ! :) its deff the best bang for bucks I ever bourght !

[@alexbile2597]

there is a sire v7 fretless ;)

[@MikkelGrumBovin]

Al Right ! -

[@dannychane]

Sandberg and then Sire/Marcus Miller are my favourites

[@pwokaren]

Great review and it’s refreshing when you see honesty in reviews. I thought it would have been fairer for G&L to review the G&L JB. I did however like the Sandberg the best and couldn’t believe how good the Harley Benton sounded.

[@RonaldvandenBoogaard]

The HB is really surprising. Didn't expect much for that money. The G&L beat everything handsdown and the old Fender is next up.

[@musenw8834]

Generally for the cheaper brands such as the Harley Benton and Ammoon, their basses have some lower quality fret wire but still retain quite a level of playability for under $200. Goes to show you can get cheaper basses with decent quality so long as you don't have rattling or loose parts

[@ricardog.s2505]

If we take in consideration the price difference, IMO the Harley Benton wins, also the quality of the wood is amazing (Ash and Maple) so sure it is heavy but it is VERY reliable, I would rank them like this: 1) Harley Benton 2) Fender 3) Marcus Miller 4) Sandberg 5) G&L I didn't like the Sandberg sound that much, and the G&L was fine (a little bright compared to the rest) but as someone who had a L2000 for years I must say that I hated the feel of the bass, which is why I rank it very low because most G&L basses feel the same

[@renarddelespace9211]

The sandberg one is the mots expensive, but it's from faaaaaaaar away the better

[@hetul784]

I kinda loved the fender and the Sandburg they're both so warm and so punchy sounding. I'm not a fan of those sharp brittle-bright sounding jazz basses

[@Stratisfied22]

For the money the Squier Classic Vibe Jazz bass is hard to beat. It sounds as good or better than any high end jazz bass iv'e played at a fraction of the cost. For me alnico magnet single coils are the key to a really good sounding jazz bass and the Squier has them and it really does sound amazing. The Sire's also offer a good value with some nice extras like preamp, block inlays, and case.

[@p90Killah]

Stratisfied better than high end jazz basses? it’s good for the price but overall not like high end basses at all

[@nunito66]

Fender Jazz Bass for me! Great video!

[@GER_1]

Loved the sound of the Harley Benton...!! Thanks for the video!

[@Leiria65]

Didnt know you guys had a YT channel. And that Harley Benton holds up surprisingly well against much more expensive basses

[@eminzeynali6325]

Also Ibanez Black Eagle is a very good version of classic JB. Unfortunately Eagle is very underrated bass. Excellent video, many thanks

[@ricardog.s2505]

Underrated and not well known, but it became famous for being Krist Novoselic (Nirvana) main bass for most of his career with Nirvana, specially on the Bleach and In Utero era

[@thomastatzsch2936]

...and how sounds the Sandberg in active mode ??‘

[@Cheguebuddha]

Ok Thomann dudes Im starting to dig this show of yours and I already dig your shop so go go! I had the HB JB-75NA lots of bass for the money! Love Harley Benton!

[@Bassboy-dg4mw]

I expect any high school would be lucky to use fenders and not squires lol! I'm looking into getting a fender MIM jazz bass-i tried it out in my local guitar shop! It played and sounded great! Great vid👍

[@pickupghoul4196]

interesting comment. I got a little bit confused on what he said. I would what was his upgrade?

[@davidbrown6415]

Fender Jazz Bass every time :)

[@skyreadersociety6183]

thanks - really helpful! The sandberg is amazing - but second in line is the G&L, wonderful bass. Maybe I am not into Fender that much....

[@pillepalle3614]

This guys noodling drives me insane 😂. 😘

[@pickupghoul4196]

Hey Russell, salute! I'm curious on what you said on the minute 17: that you upgrade the Fender Standard Jazz Bass (used in high school). Wow! that's something. May we know what bass was that on your upgrade?

[@isosnitsky]

Fender J-bass is really light. Like, when i took my SRX-505 after Fender J-bass, i realized that if you try and break my bass against the stage, the stage will break instead.

[@bassatisfaction]

Sandberg totally. Would have been better to just play the same riff throughout.

[@frazbass6405]

Fret buzz, fret buzz, fret buzz fret buzz, fret buzz, fret buzz....good job Thomann 👍

[@garryedwards2917]

zenattitude agreed. Really annoying fret buzz

[@laserlithuanian]

love the red jazz bass

[@Rikkcas]

The Sandberg has Delano pups. You can hear the difference.

[@Labi5150]

Damn them Harleys do sound good at that price. Thank you for the back to back comparison.

[@CarstenMolewijk]

Absolutely the Sire V7, it sounds way much better than this dude demonstrated!

[@morioh6505]

Well that explains why I didn't like it

[@Tedroy]

He never realy got into all the tonal variations on the Sire. Gots me a V3 5.

[@erikfilipcic2441]

Have a Sandberg TT5 and a Fender AVRi62, both amazing beasts :)

[@arpotoo7719]

"Stand by Me" is not a Motown song, it was issued on Atco records, by artist Ben E. King

[@StPfaff]

Really enjoyed this one! Very pleasant guy!

[@paulvanwal4875]

A very good Review , Thanks ....A nice Journey between the Basses , Fender 👍👍 Marcus Miller 👍 but I do like the Harley Benton with some extra Weight , I can live with it , and it's a beautiful basse ! Thanks to Thomann....

[@airworthy777]

I don't like the knob setup of the Sire, there is an active bass has a good knob setup like Fender Elite or Ultra model.

[@MC-zi9rf]

it is a real shame that the HB basses are so heavy. Most of their low budget models are better than other (more expensive) basses, but at the same time it's important to be comfortable when playing and on that topic Harley Benton should really improve. BUT the sound is excellent for that kinda budget. My first HB was the classic jazz bass, payed more or less a 100 bucks, and it's awesome for that price.

[@Lysdexia]

1. Sandberg. 2. Fender - sonically. 1 Fender 2 Sandberg - visually

[@julien.biardeau]

A top 5 j-basses without any slap ? whaaaat

[@oscarsantos2608]

This video should be banned because of that...

[@bertbregdenz2756]

g+l jb2 in sunburst/mapleneck with fender flats 45-100 is my butter and bread bass to go with..

[@domagojoinky8262]

Sire and Fender are the best. But Harley Benton is also amazing being the most affordable of all the basses in the video.

[@marais888]

You are having way too much fun!

[@ErikSWE]

The only question I had after this demo was... Natural or Sunburst on the Harley Benton?

[@EKB480]

Nothing beats the original Fender!

[@IAmNotARobot-OrAmI]

That's a couple fo things I like about Sire bases, despite the wonderful 18V preamp, they still have the passive toggle...and a passive tone knob. Almost no active bass still has a passive tone knob...and it such a different effect than active EQ...

[@danroberts3585]

The Carvin Jazz Basses also use a pair of 9 volt batteries in their preamp.

[@alfieharries]

Fender and Sire, G&L very different but great sound

[@johnhodgson5313]

Fender Jazz for a Motown sound? Mr. Jamerson and Mr. Babbit played P bass and they played on a great number of Motown hits. I like that Fender Standard Jazz with SD 1/4 lb.ers. I like his version of "Stand by Me".

[@sylart57]

“I’ll just buy them all and go home!!”😂🤣

[@ThomannsGuitarsBasses]

Then you win! //Andy

[@sylart57]

Thomann's Guitars & Basses absolute win!!!

[@binheiss]

My Marcus Miller V7 gen.II is a sound monster! I’ve never play such a amazing Jazz bass before. The neck is so sweet and easy to play - wow! This Bass has a better workmanship than all my other Fender basses. I love this instrument 😍

[@Snandra66]

I mean, they all sound like Jazz basses and they all do a good job at it, main thing that differs is the bells and whistles plus the feel and price.

[@kylecuppett422]

Sire has trim pot to lower output on the underside of controls

[@daelowkey]

kyle cuppett where? Inside of the metallic plate?

[@paulvanwal4875]

A verry good introduction and funny to , because music is fun ...Thank's.

[@bassface8580]

Hb is best value for money. Fender jazz for me though. I got a 70s reissue and I fucking love it. Also love the 50s reissue which I have with nice flatwounds. Plays like butter and sounds so fat and woody .. mm..

[@pablogutierrez1356]

I know that the 18:11 bass line is really wellknown and familiar but i dont know the name, can someone tell me? Thanks¡¡¡ Great video anyway, i need to try the no pickups style P¡¡

[@Sakapukaman]

the song is called "stand by me"

[@CarloMarchiori]

I'd go for the Sandberg

[@g.medina3717]

For me it’s Fender -Can’t beat the Originator

[@jorgeburgosjr7556]

Ah, when it comes to Motown, 50s & 60s, it's the Precision bass that's mostly used.

[@kevinhobbs6064]

Actuallyyyy the most infamous Bass Player of MoTown, Jamie’s J aka Jamerson use a J. Almost every big MoTown hit was recorded on a J Bass

[@gregedwards69]

@@kevinhobbs6064 Google images James Jameson. Every picture he plays a P. He is universally famous and recognised as as the quintessential P bass player.

[@steveinnes6350]

Iv got the HB I love it even though it feels like Im cheating on my guitars when I play it, my mate tried it and he prefers it to his Epi Thunderbird.

[@runnindownadream0]

does the G&L still have the protective scratch covering on the pups? might wanna take that off when doing a sound test.

[@matiaswainerferreyra4622]

Loved the G&L.

[@MrDriepinter]

I enjoyed that, thank you. Close call between the fender and the sandberg...The Sire sounded very thin with the back pickup i thought. You left the sandberg on the back pickup in the comparison at the end which was kind of a bummer :(

[@d.fowler2537]

Q: Out of all of these ...which one did not hum when you rolled off one volume or the other? Some produce more single-coil hum than others. Thx!

[@alxiroi]

Ah now with no pick ups, just kidding... got me laughing out loud :)

[@MrThelonliestpunk]

your face lit up when you said the word Sandburg

[@jkees6751]

Great review!

[@HTA92ANG]

This video is perfect !

[@Idontlikethisever]

"I am a huge Marcus Miller fan." Let's play a Marcus miller song. Hmmm..I actually don't know any song" 😂😂🤣🤣

[@daveydoodle1916]

No offense but need a guy that can play and get tone.Im trying ta figure out what your trying to play?

[@aarondavis4341]

Im sold i want a Harley Benton now,but just a question,how does the JB75 hold up next to day a VM70s?

[@themerlinbass]

love it great demo

[@NuncNuncNuncNunc]

Seems really harsh on the G&L (lesser known?). Motown sound, then straight into Stand By Me - a nice tune but not very non-Motown sounding. Review seems biased towards sounding like Marcus Miller, the player. Better comparison would be to play same lick(s) throughout.

[@SeverinoSE]

Excellent video! They all sound great! Do you have a video about DI boxes, please? Maybe you want to do one. 😊 Thanks.

[@ThomannsGuitarsBasses]

Cool idea, thank you! :)

[@matthewlunsford4351]

I would have liked for reviewer to comment on neck dive, or lack thereoff, for each one. I have hand problems and having to hold neck up disqualifies an instrument in my case. Also a similar review of p or pj basses would be appreciated. Thanks.

[@MusikPlusMehr]

Loving the Sire. HB is not bad, though!

[@jaimesemedo1675]

for those who trashtalk the kid bass skillzzzzz!!!!!!!!i enjoyed!!!

[@alfieharries]

It might be an idea to play (with right hand fingers) over the pickup you are using. Otherwise we can't really hear the basses properly

[@stereolala3383]

Yall do realize the HB is $169 u.s. Ups fast ship 2 day is $69. I bought mine in black on black. Next bass up is like 400 bucks more.

Personally I liked the Sandberg best, it had least fret-buzz!

[@cessrcd]

Fret buzz on a bass is almost entirely necessary in my opinion, in some genres, it's compulsory

[@rodrigocostamagna3896]

All sounds similar. So, are they great? or are they a big fake?

[@Avenzic]

Was the fender american standard jazz bass mystic red? Is that the specific color for the bass?