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Harley Benton JP/JJ Series


stewblack

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On 07/05/2022 at 13:46, mcnach said:

Beast. I liked the JJ, but I like the JP even better. Nicer pickups and the passive electronics are simple but they do just what I need it to do.

Filed the nut slots a tiny bit as they were a bit too tall to allow a nice even lowish action, adjusted the truss rod (nice and smooth, and that little rod is handy) and saddles a tiny bit... and away you go. Not exactly a classic Precision sound (pickup is 2cm closer to the neck than standard), but it would still be recognised as Precisionesque for sure. Nice growl to it. It's also a pretty light bass for 5 strings (8.5 lbs) as I mentoned earlier. It just needs some shielding which is absent in any meaningful way. What I thought was conductive paint is just some kind of primer I guess, not conductive. But that's easy enough to fix.

 

That pickguard needs to go 'though. I don't get why it's so popular :D I'll get a single ply black instead.

 

IMG_20220507_125603892.jpg?dl=1

A Carbon Wrap on that pickguard would look great. I did just that with a bass that was a very similar blue. Looked awesome and only a few £.

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On 12/04/2022 at 14:53, Jean-Luc Pickguard said:

It might be the same bass rebadged rather than a shameless copy - just as they rebadge some (joyo?) pedals as HB.

 

Not something I'd have on my xmas list.

Looking at the Aria and it's spec, it does look like a rebadging job. Even down to the Wilkinson bridge.

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8 hours ago, BassBunny said:

A Carbon Wrap on that pickguard would look great. I did just that with a bass that was a very similar blue. Looked awesome and only a few £.

 

You know what? I think I have some!

I definitely bought some a while ago and never got around to use it... now, where could it be? Hmmmm...

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21 hours ago, Twunkbass said:

My issue is I want a pj one but with one of the pickguards from the jj ones, the burst with the white would be delicious 

 

There's a seller on eBay, based in Glasgow, who would copy your pickguard in a different colour/material.

 

He doesn't yet, but I will be sending him mine so he will have a template soon (5 string). I'll post here when it happens.

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2 hours ago, mcnach said:

 

There's a seller on eBay, based in Glasgow, who would copy your pickguard in a different colour/material.

 

He doesn't yet, but I will be sending him mine so he will have a template soon (5 string). I'll post here when it happens.

Well done! I've used him he's very good

 

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47 minutes ago, stewblack said:

Well done! I've used him he's very good

 

 

He is!

 

He made me 3 for the MB-5 (I could not decide which colour... black, orange or purple pearloid... I only use the black one :D )

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aaah farts!

 

The tuners have too narrow a slot to allow a TI Jazz Flat B string on... so the JP is now parked until I find a tuner that works.

 

Anybody knows a similar tuner with a wider slot?

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slot or hole? can't you dismantle and drill out the centre hole, and dremel the edge of the slot on one side of the peg, leaving the other edge standard? then it would stay a matching set.

can only be a mm or so...

Got a couple of odd Elephant Ear tuners kicking about but due to shape they will be £3 whatever to post... if it was letter post i'd send one your way grattis.

 

For info Post a pic...

Elephant or Fishtail... what size is a Ti Jazz Flat B string at the turny end... and what size hole n slot ya got...

Edited by PaulThePlug
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14 hours ago, PaulThePlug said:

slot or hole? can't you dismantle and drill out the centre hole, and dremel the edge of the slot on one side of the peg, leaving the other edge standard? then it would stay a matching set.

can only be a mm or so...

Got a couple of odd Elephant Ear tuners kicking about but due to shape they will be £3 whatever to post... if it was letter post i'd send one your way grattis.

 

For info Post a pic...

Elephant or Fishtail... what size is a Ti Jazz Flat B string at the turny end... and what size hole n slot ya got...

 

Fishtail style.

 

The slot is 2mm wide, while the bit of string that needs to go through it is around 2.6mm. 

It would be fine for the elephant ear type tuners, which they tend to be 3mm or so (just measured a couple). 

 

These are the stock tuners.

 

I can find many similar ones by different makers, but I can never find the slot dimensions :shrug:

 

IMG_20220515_111732663.jpg?dl=1

 

 

edit: by the way, thank you for your kind offer! :) I'm happy to buy a spare tuner, I just need to know the slot will be a bit bigger than the one I've got

 

 

Edited by mcnach
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^My spares n odds are Elephant Ears...

 

I'd stick the headstock in a plastic sandwich bag and tape it around the neck... poke the peg thru the bag, more masking tape, needle file a bit off both edges of the slot until you can get the shank of a 3mm drill down and the open the hole up - check depth with a smaller drill... and go short... blow out the peg hole with some air in a can - computer k'bd cleaner from pound land... Sorted!

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Some manufacturers provide spec sheets, Gotoh list the inner hole diameter as 3mm on Res-O-Lite and GB tuners. 

 

Wilkinson seem to provide a datasheet but don't give that measurement which is unfortunate as the WJB750 would be a nice, cost-effective upgrade for these.

Edited by lemmywinks
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  • 1 month later...
On 13/05/2022 at 09:58, mcnach said:

 

There's a seller on eBay, based in Glasgow, who would copy your pickguard in a different colour/material.

 

He doesn't yet, but I will be sending him mine so he will have a template soon (5 string). I'll post here when it happens.

 

 

He now has a template for the 5 string JP-55OP

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/usr/earlpilanz

 

I thought the tort on blue was a bit much, so I now have a single ply black pickguard.

 

Originally:

 

IMG_20220507_125603892.jpg?dl=1

 

New pickguard:

IMG_20220624_103653557.jpg?dl=1

 

(in the process of changing strings... the tuner slot was too narrow for the B string on the set of TI Jazz flats I bought so I got a replacement tuner but haven't got around to fitting it yet).

Edited by mcnach
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  • 5 months later...

(Resucitating a Zombie thread...)

 

I've just picked up a second-hand, 4 string JP-45OP in sunburst for silly money from FaceBook marketplace. Oh my... It plays beautifully and sounds gorgeous. With a bare minimum of tweakage, I was able to get a nice low action with no annoying rattles. Hardware is decent and even the no-brand tuners seem robust. There's no excuse not to have one, really. I bought it with a view to modding it, but having played it, I might just leave it as it is, with one exception - I might replace the dots on the edge of the fingerboard. The black dots look lovely, but in a sweaty club, under subdued lighting, they won't be much use, so I suspect the dremel will be coming out before too long. Other than that, it's a peach.

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  • 7 months later...

Mouth-to-mouthing this cadaver again. 

 

I found myself missing having a 5 lately, and sadly these days I won't be able to get a Yamaha BB from eBay as cheaply as some years ago (415 for £100, 605 for £160).

 

Are these still the one to get as far as 5 string Harley Bentons are concerned?

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