Harley Benton jazz basses JB-20 Vs JB-75 (their vintage modified clone)

[Geek99]

1 hour ago, prowla said:

What’s a no-load pot?

since Google isn’t working right now …
 

It works like a normal taper tone pot for 90% of its traverse and the contact somehow disconnects itself from the pot for the last 10% of its travel giving full bypass 

oh hang on .. it’s back .. https://googlethatforyou.com?q=no load pot

And more … https://humbuckersoup.com/no-load-pots/

awesome thing on a p bass and cheap 

Edited February 20, 2022 by Geek99

[prowla]

9 hours ago, Geek99 said:

since Google isn’t working right now …
 

It works like a normal taper tone pot for 90% of its traverse and the contact somehow disconnects itself from the pot for the last 10% of its travel giving full bypass 

oh hang on .. it’s back .. https://googlethatforyou.com?q=no load pot

And more … https://humbuckersoup.com/no-load-pots/

awesome thing on a p bass and cheap 

I tried googling this, which was enlightening: https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-lm&q=smartass

[Geek99]

58 minutes ago, prowla said:

I tried googling this, which was enlightening: https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-lm&q=smartass

Heh I knew you were going to say that …

joking - in my line of work, if you keep asking questions you could look up for yourself in just a few seconds you get no respect. Apologies if you were offended 

[shoulderpet]

17 hours ago, Geek99 said:

Yes i am that person

 

I have those in my p bass - there’s a very slight tactile “click” (not audible) as the pots go full on at 10 and come off the track - sounds amazing 

 

Much better answer than a blank plate - good idea 

Yeah, I will wait for the bass to be delivered and assuming all is well I have some mods I want to do 

 

No load pots

Kiwi shoe polish neck tint mod

New pickguard (white always looks awful imo)

Brass saddles (purely aesthetic)

 

I would love to reshape the headstock to look like a 51 p bass but I have neither the tools or the know sadly

[kodiakblair]

1 hour ago, shoulderpet said:

Kiwi shoe polish neck tint mod

Always a good shout.

 

1 hour ago, shoulderpet said:

New pickguard (white always looks awful imo)

Try a vinyl film/wrap from eBay for starters , cheaper and easier to do than a spray can.

 

1 hour ago, shoulderpet said:

 

I would love to reshape the headstock to look like a 51 p bass but I have neither the tools or the know sadly

Not a problem. I've talked quite a few folk through the process using the barest minimum of tools. I'll message you 🙂

[shoulderpet]

On 21/02/2022 at 16:37, shoulderpet said:

Yeah, I will wait for the bass to be delivered and assuming all is well I have some mods I want to do 

 

No load pots

Kiwi shoe polish neck tint mod

New pickguard (white always looks awful imo)

Brass saddles (purely aesthetic)

 

I would love to reshape the headstock to look like a 51 p bass but I have neither the tools or the know sadly

Ok so as I never actually use tone controls I am thinking of just having a volume control, I will reach out to one of the companies that does custom pickguards and see if they will make me a control plate shape with one hole for the volume control to replace the original control plate

[iconic]

How does the JB20 neck compare to a say a Squier VMJ or maybe Squier Standard J? 

 

Many thanks 

Edited February 24, 2022 by iconic

[shoulderpet]

Ok so have received the bass, overall I am pretty happy so far, some shortcomings but that is exactly what you would expect at this price and they are all things that can be sorted in one way or another

 

The nut is a cheapo, I may replace it but I love the fact that it is cream coloured, that is awesome so I am thinking maybe I will get some fine sandpaper and just smooth the edges a bit on it instead, some fret tarnish which is not a big deal and some T-Cut will sort that out, the pickguard is super cheap looking but not a big deal as I was looking to replace that anyway. The pickup has some tarnish on the pickup poles, anyway to remove or cover this without damaging the magnets?(from what I have heard this pickup is alnico5)

 

I lowered the action to Fender spec and there is some fret buzz on frets 1 and 2 on the E string but not anywhere else on the neck so I am thinking that the frets probably need dressing,  I might just slap a heavier E string on there to reduce the string excursion until I have the cash to get the frets dressed.

 

Looking forward to giving the neck the Kiwi polish treatment, what colour do people usually use? Also is it limited to just Kiwi shoe polish? I have seen this which if it works looks like it might actually be a better colour Cherry Blossom shoe polish - light tan

 

I read somewhere about some of the PB-50's having the ground wire under the pickguard, thankfully on mine it is under the control plate, looks really good with the pickguard off so I might just have a see through pickguard made for the sake of having something to put the pickguard screws into to hide the screw holes where the white pickguard was

 

I was looking at no load pots and found that it has been suggested that they don't work as volume pots only as tone pots so I have instead ordered some 1meg pots for some extra brightness, am hoping my soldering has improved enough to not bodge it up

 

 

 

Edited February 25, 2022 by shoulderpet

[Geek99]

Yes they only work as tone pots but maybe just connect the tone ?

[kodiakblair]

22 hours ago, shoulderpet said:

I read somewhere about some of the PB-50's having the ground wire under the pickguard,

?

 

After the factory change in 2018, some owners reported the hook up wire from the single coil being visible under the scratchplate. The channel was formed by drilling from the top , one hole angled into the pickup cavity while another went towards the control cavity.

 

PB-50 FR belongs to friend, burst is one of mine.

 

 

[shoulderpet]

58 minutes ago, kodiakblair said:

?

 

After the factory change in 2018, some owners reported the hook up wire from the single coil being visible under the scratchplate. The channel was formed by drilling from the top , one hole angled into the pickup cavity while another went towards the control cavity.

 

PB-50 FR belongs to friend, burst is one of mine.

 

 

Interesting, I am glad I am lucky to get some without the hole under the scratchplate although at this price it is by no means a deal breaker

 

Am liking mine so far, is good to go out of the box, nice bright tone, only grumble is the bit of fret buzz on the first couple frets but at this price you can't expect the frets to be perfect and I have seen worse fret work on much more expensive and honestly I have played much more expensive basses that been worse basses

Edited February 26, 2022 by shoulderpet

[kodiakblair]

2 hours ago, shoulderpet said:

Interesting, I am glad I am lucky to get some without the hole under the scratchplate although at this price it is by no means a deal breaker

Aye , you'd be scunnered finding this on your MIA Fender 🤣

 

[shoulderpet]

31 minutes ago, kodiakblair said:

Aye , you'd be scunnered finding this on your MIA Fender 🤣

 

Haha yes, I have owned a few Fenders and even if the routing was done via a panel on the back of the bass you still couldn't take off the scratchplate because of those bloody locating holes they punch into them

[shoulderpet]

So looking for some wiring ideas, I found the below diagram which is supposedly for a bass cut, does this look correct?

 

 

 

 

[shoulderpet]

Just wondering if anyone has done a pickup swap on a Harley Benton pb-50?

Is the pickup a standard length(will for example a Duncan single coil p pickup fit?) Roswell says it is 84.94mm in length and just looking at Herrick pickups and there single coil p pickup is 87mn in length, my guess is the Roswell is slightly different to standard spec but I could well be wrong

 

Am asking as the pickup route is very tight in terms of space, there is no wiggle room at all

Edited March 4, 2022 by shoulderpet

[shoulderpet]

2 hours ago, shoulderpet said:

Just wondering if anyone has done a pickup swap on a Harley Benton pb-50?

Is the pickup a standard length(will for example a Duncan single coil p pickup fit?) Roswell says it is 84.94mm in length and just looking at Herrick pickups and there single coil p pickup is 87mn in length, my guess is the Roswell is slightly different to standard spec but I could well be wrong

 

Am asking as the pickup route is very tight in terms of space, there is no wiggle room at all

Ok after looking on the Seymour Duncan website it appears there single coil P pickup is also 84.94mm (or 3.344" as it says on the website) so it would appear it is Herrick that is a slightly different size to standard spec

[kodiakblair]

4 hours ago, shoulderpet said:

Just wondering if anyone has done a pickup swap on a Harley Benton pb-50?

I've fitted Bloodstone , Herrick, Jess Loureiro , Muddslide, Seymour Duncan and £8 alnico units made in China. Don't recall issues with any of them.

 

I do recall one fella having trouble installing a Duncan SCPB-2. After trimming the bobbin to fit he then discovered he hated the tone , "lacking character" was his description. 

Not PB-50 related but I also remember folk on TalkBass reporting trouble when attempting to install Duncans in Fenders and Squiers , length was fine but they were too wide.

 

Herrick wind to order so will trim the bobbin should you ask beforehand. 

[shoulderpet]

Thanks, that is good to know, funnily enough the Duncan SCPB-2 is one I am interested in, it is a hot pickup but Duncans Eq specs say that this pickup has strong treble response which is something that appeals to me

[kodiakblair]

1 hour ago, shoulderpet said:

specs say that this pickup has strong treble response which is something that appeals to me

Yet the blurb says different.

 

" adds beef and warmth to the traditional vintage tone."

 

" we came up with a more robust pickup that added output and low end"

 

" but wish it had a fuller, ballsier tone, "

 

Just a thought .

 

Have you considered the effect your hunt for brighter highs will have on the hum ? A single coil P-bass is a hum antenna which no amount of shielding will get rid of completely.

 

Darker tone can divert folks attention from it but I'm thinking super bright highs tone will bring hum front and centre ; probably with a spotlight on it so everyone knows the cause 😆

[shoulderpet]

14 minutes ago, kodiakblair said:

Yet the blurb says different.

 

" adds beef and warmth to the traditional vintage tone."

 

" we came up with a more robust pickup that added output and low end"

 

" but wish it had a fuller, ballsier tone, "

 

Just a thought .

 

Have you considered the effect your hunt for brighter highs will have on the hum ? A single coil P-bass is a hum antenna which no amount of shielding will get rid of completely.

 

Darker tone can divert folks attention from it but I'm thinking super bright highs tone will bring hum front and centre ; probably with a spotlight on it so everyone knows the cause 😆

Yeah that is a bit confusing, I wonder if they got the eq mixed up with the vintage wound scpb1, people usually think of vintage pickups as being bassy but in reality that are often fairly full range and bright.

 

I haven't had a chance to use the PB-50 in a live setting or rehearsal yet so I think that will be the test for the hum, I know there are stacked coil 51 pickups that are meant to address this but my hunch is that they will change the fundamental character of the 51 pickup

[kodiakblair]

10 minutes ago, shoulderpet said:

I haven't had a chance to use the PB-50 in a live setting or rehearsal yet so I think that will be the test for the hum, I know there are stacked coil 51 pickups that are meant to address this but my hunch is that they will change the fundamental character of the 51 pickup

Guitar players will tell you hum is part of the single coil tone 🙂 Personally I don't find it a problem , nobody notices it above the din made by a band 👍

 

You definitely lose something using stacked or split 51 singles . If a normal healthy kid running about full of E numbers is the single coil ; the split/stacked is the same kid after a double dose of Ritalin 🙁

[shoulderpet]

13 hours ago, kodiakblair said:

Guitar players will tell you hum is part of the single coil tone 🙂 Personally I don't find it a problem , nobody notices it above the din made by a band 👍

 

You definitely lose something using stacked or split 51 singles . If a normal healthy kid running about full of E numbers is the single coil ; the split/stacked is the same kid after a double dose of Ritalin 🙁

Tbh I have never played a bass where the hum has been an issue, as you say it's usually drowned out by all the other sounds

[shoulderpet]

On 04/03/2022 at 19:56, kodiakblair said:

Yet the blurb says different.

 

" adds beef and warmth to the traditional vintage tone."

 

" we came up with a more robust pickup that added output and low end"

 

" but wish it had a fuller, ballsier tone, "

 

Just a thought .

 

Have you considered the effect your hunt for brighter highs will have on the hum ? A single coil P-bass is a hum antenna which no amount of shielding will get rid of completely.

 

Darker tone can divert folks attention from it but I'm thinking super bright highs tone will bring hum front and centre ; probably with a spotlight on it so everyone knows the cause 😆

What are your thoughts on the aftermarket pickups you have tried? The stock pickup is decent but it seems to be a clone of the Duncan Quarter pounder so probably not the most traditional single coil tone, Herrick are probably not either but there promise of a brighter tone with added treble with the Neodymium pickup is intriguing.

 

[kodiakblair]

10 hours ago, shoulderpet said:

What are your thoughts on the aftermarket pickups you have tried?

Need to take this up tomorrow , dead beat tonight.

 

[Bassfinger]

21 hours ago, shoulderpet said:

What are your thoughts on the aftermarket pickups you have tried? The stock pickup is decent but it seems to be a clone of the Duncan Quarter pounder so probably not the most traditional single coil tone, Herrick are probably not either but there promise of a brighter tone with added treble with the Neodymium pickup is intriguing.

 

At risk of starting a riot, don't believe all the guff about pickup magnets.

 

The only difference from our pespective as bassists is the strength of the magnetic field, and thus the output for a given number of turns of wire.

 

The idea that X magnets give a warm tone or Y magnets a classic 70's rock tone, etc, are hiliarious.  A stronger or weaker magnetic field can only make the output higher or lower, and thus louder or quieter. It cannot colour the tone in any way, cannot give a warmer tone, or a harsher tone. 

 

More or less output, ie more or less volume - that is all magnets of different type can do.

Edited March 8, 2022 by Bassfinger
My alnico 2 keyboard gave me classic 50's typing.