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Lobster Reviews Harley-Benton JB 40-FL

Dr. Cheese

Dr. Cheese

Supporting Member
Mar 3, 2004
57,358
120,791
Metro St. Louis
#1


I really appreciate Lobster reviewing this bass! Ever since that fretless Squier Jazz fell apart on me, I had been interested in picking up a cheap, but good fretless Jazz. I had seen videos of the Harley-Benton, but I just didn't pull the trigger. At the price Harley-Benton charges, this bass would be a great battery mate for my Glarry Fretless P-bass.
 
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#4
I recently bought one of these. It's a very well built and solid bass. Construction reminds me of my HB PJ74. Heavy. Neck feels great with plenty of mwa
It also got to me from Germany in under a week. :O
EE98B44C-90AC-4B40-9DCA-83CFE0938D34.jpeg
 
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#8
I thought about getting one of these when I picked up a starter bass for a relative recently , but the shipping costing almost as much as the bass made it a no go for me…I hear they're pretty good though…just wish every Fender clone fretless didn't HAVE to look like Jaco's bass…doing different and interesting colors would be fresh to say the least..
 
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#9
rpt50 said:
I watched the video and went to the website. They have a basic precision bass for $85. How is that even possible?
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I've had one of those, actually I paid £20 as it was their Deko item (marked as unplayable/unreturnable and sold as a decorative item, I never found anything wrong with it). The secret is no middle man. They make these, they sell them to the end customer. No importer, no distributor, no big brand.
 
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#10
Marihino said:
I've had one of those, actually I paid £20 as it was their Deko item (marked as unplayable/unreturnable and sold as a decorative item, I never found anything wrong with it). The secret is no middle man. They make these, they sell them to the end customer. No importer, no distributor, no big brand.
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They have to be cutting corners on materials as well. Probably a lot of young wood of unclear provenance that they can get for little. The problem is that as a buyer any associated issues would probably stay hidden until after the warranty period - but at those prices who cares. It's worth a chance.
 
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#13
Old_Noob said:
Fuel my GAS; why does someone not into jazz need a fretless?
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Those who know KNOW. I started playing fretless in a jam band in the 80s and never looked back. I've used it for many non-jazz genres (Latin, r&b, Americana, rock). For jazz I play upright. A fretless bass guitar is not something I associate with jazz at all.

For me it's about expressive potential. You can make the notes sing on a fretless in a way that's just not possible with frets. You can also play very straight, and nobody would notice it's fretless. You can even slap it, but the technique is a little different and the tone less bright.
 
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#14
Altitude said:
They have to be cutting corners on materials as well. Probably a lot of young wood of unclear provenance that they can get for little. The problem is that as a buyer any associated issues would probably stay hidden until after the warranty period - but at those prices who cares. It's worth a chance.
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Heck, if it has green wood, it's still 1/3 the price of a Squier fretless Jazz I bought with green wood.
 
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#17
mb94952 said:
I've never played a Harley Benton, but I'm a fan. Is that weird ? I KNOW I'd like it and make it work for me.
When I think of VALUE, I think of :
- Peavey,
- SIRE, and
- Harley Benton.
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Yeah but the secondary market has figured Peavey out now. Those of us of a certain age remember when you could buy pretty much anything Peavey on the secondary market for thrift shop prices. I just searched Reverb for T-40s, saw several for over a grand! For a T-40!!!
 
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#19
Relayer71 said:
That's an incredible bargain. But all I can think is that aside from using lower quality components, there must be a bunch of people working for next to nothing for them to make a profit at those prices.
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Indeed, but as others have said, these workers are probably getting the same thing whether they are making Harley-Benton, Sire, Cort, Squier, etc. Thomann is just cutting out middlemen.
 
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#20
Altitude said:
Yeah but the secondary market has figured Peavey out now. Those of us of a certain age remember when you could buy pretty much anything Peavey on the secondary market for thrift shop prices. I just searched Reverb for T-40s, saw several for over a grand! For a T-40!!!
Click to expand...
Yes, true, but I'm talking about the old days you just mentioned, not the present time.
 

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