Harley Benton JP/JJ Series

[Bassfinger]

The CV Squiers that have passed through my hands have had far better, and visibly different, tuners to the likes of cooking level Ibanez, HB, etc.

 

The statement about swampmash being lighter is so sweeping as to be quite untrue.  There are literally dozens of varieties of ash, and ash of any type is itself one of the more variable woods in terms of density between individual trees.  

 

Indeed, swamp ash itself is denser than black ash and pretty much on a par with the typical varieties of white ash used in luthiery.  It's only the european types that tend to run significantly denser, and these aren't used in instruments of far eastern origin.

Edited April 19, 2022 by Bassfinger

[stewblack]

3 hours ago, Bassfinger said:

The only one I thought was a bit of a garden gate was my friends JB-75, but boy did it make up for it with the sound.  All mine have been light to middling.

Yep those J basses will hold you down in a storm

[Gothic]

9 minutes ago, Bassfinger said:

The CV Squiers that have passed through my hands have had far better, and visibly different, tuners to the likes of cooking level Ibanez, HB, etc.

 

The statement about swampmash being lighter is so sweeping as to be quite untrue.  There are literally dozens of varieties of ash, and ash of any type is itself one of the more variable woods in terms of density between individual trees.  

 

Indeed, swamp ash itself is denser than black ash and pretty much on a par with the typical varieties of white ash used in luthiery.  It's only the european types that tend to run significantly denser, and these aren't used in instruments of far eastern origin.

 

 

Same tuners for other basses as well. Maybe they are indeed different. Who knows. Seem quite the same to me.

 

As for the ash, in my experience so far, whatever type of ash is used in budget instruments, tends to be heavy. That is all.

 

[miles'tone]

On 10/04/2022 at 16:34, andyaber said:

Pick up is also very close to the end of the neck.  Not a criticism just closer than most Precisions or Jazzes.

Probably in the same spot if you count from the 20th fret 😉

[stewblack]

Getting excited for this. Not has a new bass for ages. Got to sell one now though (stupid rule).

[CJPJ]

22 minutes ago, stewblack said:

Got to sell one now though (stupid rule).

It’s totally not the rule. Rule is n+1 and not (n+1)-1. How do you define n in your rule?

[stewblack]

50 minutes ago, CJPJ said:

It’s totally not the rule. Rule is n+1 and not (n+1)-1. How do you define n in your rule?

n = the space taken up in my room by one bass. r = the available space in the room t = the total number of basses in the room.

Currently r = t

[andyaber]

2 hours ago, miles'tone said:

Probably in the same spot if you count from the 20th fret 😉

Don't think so looks further from the bridge than a std precision pick up position.

[Bleat]

I would spend the extra money and get the actual Aria Pro II version. It is their original design after all, which I quite like. I nearly bought a Detroit bass a while ago. Sorry but not tempted by a HB copy of an already relatively budget friendly instrument even if the price is favourable. Just my personal opinion. 

 

[mcnach]

9 hours ago, Gothic said:

 

The tuners on most basses under ~500 of whatever your currency is are pretty much the same. I needed a new tuner for a Talman TMB100 and the item's code was the same they use on everything from Ibanez and Jackson to Harley Benton and classic vibe Squiers. Most of them are indeed soft metal and the teeth on the gear can get really mangled if there's the slightest misalignment from the factory (there usually is) but they are serviceable and a touch of grease and some care can definitely help. Never changed them out on any of my basses (other than the one that was literally mangled) and haven't had any issues with tuning stability. But then again, my perspective is that stability comes from a properly cut and lubricated nut and bridge. Oh well.

 

As for the weight, cheap ash (not swamp ash) is usually on the heavier side and at those prices, you're not getting swamp ash. I'm gonna bet those are heavy. Perhaps not as heavy as the Enhanced series or the JB-75 due to the slightly smaller body but still, heavy.

 

Apart from that, can't say that I like the body shape very much. They're obviously Aria bodies, copies of F bass bodies (as discussed in other places as well) but they're just unappealing to me. 

 

Tuners.

I also thought that they're all much of muchness... but those in the PB-20 SBK felt soft even before it sheared. Hard to describe, they feel thin and light. I have not yet changed strings on the MB-5 SBK (also 'stealth black' series), but they feel the same and one of them is already feeling like it's getting stuck. I'm going to add a drop of oil and hopefully that will keep them going a while, but they aren't solid. I have never encountered this before. It's a really soft metal. 

It's not great, but again, how much was the bass? I really like everything about it, so getting new tuners doesn't seem like a terrible deal. 

 

Weight? Who knows. Ash tends to have a grain that looks nice... but it can be very light or a boat anchor. Not all 'swamp ash' is light either. I don't expect these basses will be the lightest but hopefully the smaller body (compared to a Jazz) will make it a bit less hefty. I'll be able to tell you by the weekend The MB-5 I've got is not heavy at all, but it's not ash either. I think it's basswood. 

 

Shape? Now that's very subjective, like colours.

I don't care whether they're a copy or not. But I like it. I'm not in love or anything with it but I think it looks pretty good, especially in natural or sunburst, although if they had had a black satin finish I would have gone for that.

[stewblack]

Just want to get my mitts on it. As interesting as all this theory and different ideas are, there's only one thing matters to me. 

Playing the bass.

I have no doubts about the quality, I've played enough HBs to know there's nothing to worry about there. The only thing can spoil it for me is if it doesn't feel right. 

Only one way to find out. 

Playing the bass.

[Vin Venal]

I like the looks of these, and although I haven't played one, by all accounts some of the HBs with the "roswell" pickups and the Wilkinson hardware are really good value for money.

 

I'd definitely buy a second hand one, or one someone has weighed - can't go much above 8lbs, so won't take a punt on a new instrument.

 

But it does weird me out slightly when manufacturers start doing cheap copies of already budget products which are still in production.

 

I believe this happens when manufacturers (in this case Aria) are having something produced in China, and the factory screws them over and offers the tooling and patterns to someone else on the cheap. Must be very annoying for the likes of Aria, but I guess that's part of the risk of offshoring your production to places where they don't give a toss about IP.

[mcnach]

Is the problem that they copy another design or that they copy another *cheap* design?

I don't hear so many complaints about, say, Jazz style basses

 

[Woodinblack]

2 hours ago, Vin Venal said:

But it does weird me out slightly when manufacturers start doing cheap copies of already budget products which are still in production.

 

Yeh, that is where I am with that one. When they do copies of something like a musicman, well, there is no way someone spending £200 would buy a musicman anyway, and maybe at some point when they do, they will get one. However, if you are doing a copy of a £300 bass, you are directly taking that sale from the company that did the design and came up with that thing.

 

I guess it is the way of a lot of chinese (and frankly most business) marketing, to rely on the designers of other companies, and lets face it. most designs are just copies of old fenders but a bit sad when they can't get their own designer. You can see why it isn't worth a company making unique designs, they have to take the hit that noone likes it and lose money on it, and if they do get a successful design, it just gets copied.

[Woodinblack]

3 minutes ago, mcnach said:

Is the problem that they copy another design or that they copy another *cheap* design?

I don't hear so many complaints about, say, Jazz style basses

 

The designer of the Jazz bass died a long time ago

[Vin Venal]

2 minutes ago, Woodinblack said:

 

Yeh, that is where I am with that one. When they do copies of something like a musicman, well, there is no way someone spending £200 would buy a musicman anyway, and maybe at some point when they do, they will get one. However, if you are doing a copy of a £300 bass, you are directly taking that sale from the company that did the design and came up with that thing.

 

I guess it is the way of a lot of chinese (and frankly most business) marketing, to rely on the designers of other companies, and lets face it. most designs are just copies of old fenders but a bit sad when they can't get their own designer. You can see why it isn't worth a company making unique designs, they have to take the hit that noone likes it and lose money on it, and if they do get a successful design, it just gets copied.

 

I suppose its entirely possible Aria didn't even design the bass.

 

Rather than the Chinese factory copying the Aria design they'd been licensed to make, and selling it to Thomann with HB on the headstock, Aria may have effectively ordered that design from a catalog from their Chinese manufacturer in the first place, and it's legally theirs to sell to whoever wants their name on the headstock.

[Woodinblack]

21 minutes ago, Vin Venal said:

I suppose its entirely possible Aria didn't even design the bass.

 

I suspect that is aria, that is the traditional Aria shape that goes back to the 80s.

[Muzz]

On the HB tuners thing, I've got one HB bass (one of the 55P things), and it's OK as a bass (tho remarkable for the price I paid for it: Next To Nowt inc.shipping) and I played a few gigs with it (including one posh gig at Manchester Cricket Ground where the cost of a ticket was at least five times the price of the bass), but one day (luckily not on a gig) one of the tuners just let go, by which I mean just sheared off while turning it. Never had that happen to a bass before, and it's clearly one of the places where costs were cut.

 

I've not replaced the tuners yet, so I don't trust it enough to gig with any more. One day I might pimp it and use it again.

[Woodinblack]

10 minutes ago, Muzz said:

On the HB tuners thing, I've got one HB bass (one of the 55P things), and it's OK as a bass (tho remarkable for the price I paid for it: Next To Nowt inc.shipping) and I played a few gigs with it (including one posh gig at Manchester Cricket Ground where the cost of a ticket was at least five times the price of the bass), but one day (luckily not on a gig) one of the tuners just let go, by which I mean just sheared off while turning it. Never had that happen to a bass before, and it's clearly one of the places where costs were cut.

 

Its not common for that to happen though, and for balance, the only tuner that I have had go is a Grover tuner from a Shuker, and that certainly wasn't a cut corner, it was just a manufactured defect.

[yorks5stringer]

There was an interesting YT video talking to the Harley Benton design chief ( who is a Dutch or Danish guy) around 3 months ago which I cannot now find, maybe someone more into HB knows it's whereabouts? I seem to recall a discussion about hardwear in said video.

[Greg Edwards69]

3 hours ago, Vin Venal said:

 

I suppose its entirely possible Aria didn't even design the bass.

 

Rather than the Chinese factory copying the Aria design they'd been licensed to make, and selling it to Thomann with HB on the headstock, Aria may have effectively ordered that design from a catalog from their Chinese manufacturer in the first place, and it's legally theirs to sell to whoever wants their name on the headstock.

Admittedly I didn't even know about the Aria bass.

 

I wouldn't mind betting they are all likely made in the same factory, with the same tools, machine and people. But I do find it amusing that the original aria headstock design is very similar to the usual HB headstock design on their other basses, unlike the 2+2 HB have employed on this new range.

Edited April 20, 2022 by Greg Edwards69

[bnt]

These seem OK, if a bit conventional, and I'm not really in the market for conventional since I got a conventional (but better) HB a couple of years ago (the MP-4EB). I'm still hoping that Thomann gets back in to the affordable multiscale bass market, but I also don't think that market is big enough to justify the investment.

[Newfoundfreedom]

10 hours ago, bnt said:

These seem OK, if a bit conventional, and I'm not really in the market for conventional since I got a conventional (but better) HB a couple of years ago (the MP-4EB). I'm still hoping that Thomann gets back in to the affordable multiscale bass market, but I also don't think that market is big enough to justify the investment.

 

Yup. I'm waiting for HB to come up with an affordable multiscale six string. Don't think I'll be holding my breath though. 

[Woodinblack]

12 minutes ago, Newfoundfreedom said:

 

Yup. I'm waiting for HB to come up with an affordable multiscale six string. Don't think I'll be holding my breath though. 

 

Gear4Music did one, the redsub coliseum 6

[stewblack]

3 hours ago, Woodinblack said:

 

Gear4Music did one, the redsub coliseum 6

Someone here had one. Liked it I seem to recall.