Harley Benton JP/JJ Series

[stewblack]

I've been playing my 4 string passive JP all evening and it's just wonderful. Plays like I've had it for years.

One feature I love and wish I had on all my basses is this

[Vin Venal]

3 hours ago, stewblack said:

I've been playing my 4 string passive JP all evening and it's just wonderful. Plays like I've had it for years.

One feature I love and wish I had on all my basses is this

The Aria has a truss rod wheel as well.

[stewblack]

6 hours ago, Vin Venal said:

The Aria has a truss rod wheel as well.

Lots of basses do but not many of mine. It's such a joy for a truss tweaker like me.

[MichaelDean]

11 hours ago, TheLowDown said:

The JPs(both 4 and 5 string) are passive, and JJs(ditto) are active.

 

I'm really fond of that JP. I much prefer passive over active and P and PJ over JJ.

Ah, their product description is wrong then!

 

 

[mcnach]

16 hours ago, MichaelDean said:

@mcnachisn't it passive? On the Thomann website it says "volume, balance, tone"...

 

No, the JJ is active, the JP is passive. On their website both say Volume, Balance and Tone, which is true if a bit misleading: on the JJ the 'tone' is a concentric dual pot for treble and bass cut/boost. If you look further on the specs you see the JJ having some kind of "active boost" although it's most definitely cut/boost. 

[mcnach]

15 hours ago, stewblack said:

I've been playing my 4 string passive JP all evening and it's just wonderful. Plays like I've had it for years.

One feature I love and wish I had on all my basses is this

 

 

+100

 

 

 

 

[mcnach]

After spending a lot more time with the JJ-550, I decided the pickups are just fine and I'm happy to keep it stock (I will probably turn it passive at some point, 'though). I put a bit of foam at the bridge and got a very nice sound... I have a recording session on Tuesday and I think I'm going to bring this bass along. 

 

 

[shoulderpet]

15 hours ago, stewblack said:

I've been playing my 4 string passive JP all evening and it's just wonderful. Plays like I've had it for years.

One feature I love and wish I had on all my basses is this

I could do with that feature on my 50s p bass, I mean who thought it would be a good idea to have to remove the neck to adjust the truss rod

[Vin Venal]

5 hours ago, stewblack said:

Lots of basses do but not many of mine. It's such a joy for a truss tweaker like me.

Oh yeah I know, I think I was just labouring my point that I reckon these are made in the same factory as the Arias.

 

Like, if you were just gonna copy the body design for a cheaper bass, you wouldn't include details like that necessarily.

 

But if they come off the same production line, probably cheaper to include it than to retool or whatever?

 

I dunno, I'm just thinking aloud because I'm curious about the phenomenon of an exact "copy" of a little known, relatively cheap bass, and what insights it can give into the way brands and manufacturers work in the luthiery business. 🤷🏼‍♀️

[Woodinblack]

1 hour ago, shoulderpet said:

I could do with that feature on my 50s p bass, I mean who thought it would be a good idea to have to remove the neck to adjust the truss rod

 

Probably the same person who thought you would never have to adjust a truss rod and it wasn't a user changeable item. And if it was based on the 50s design, the first telecasters (or broadcasters) didn't have truss rods at all, so they weren't a user item

 

[shoulderpet]

5 hours ago, Woodinblack said:

 

Probably the same person who thought you would never have to adjust a truss rod and it wasn't a user changeable item. And if it was based on the 50s design, the first telecasters (or broadcasters) didn't have truss rods at all, so they weren't a user item

 

Yeah it's just sad that Fender have gone so far in trying to stay faithful to there old designs that they have made it so that you have to remove the neck to adjust the truss rod, then if you find the first adjustment was too much or not enough once you have the strings back on you have to take the neck off again

[CJPJ]

One day I will learn about trustrods and how to set them

[Woodinblack]

1 hour ago, shoulderpet said:

Yeah it's just sad that Fender have gone so far in trying to stay faithful to there old designs that they have made it so that you have to remove the neck to adjust the truss rod, then if you find the first adjustment was too much or not enough once you have the strings back on you have to take the neck off again

 

I fail to get the idea that someone would buy something called a 50s precision bass and then complain that it had a feature that was present on a 50s precision bass. I know several people who would be absolutely mortified if fender made a model claiming to be based on another model and a screw was even a mm out of place.

I guess they are damned if they do and damned if they don't!

 

[stewblack]

So. I took mine to a rehearsal last night. Good news, it balances beautifully, plays beautifully, light and easy on the shoulder and sounds like a P bass or a jazz bass or a mix of the two.

Bad news I put a dent in the headstock and one on the neck. And I have no idea how. So I'm happy and grumpy all at once.

[Vin Venal]

1 minute ago, stewblack said:

So. I took mine to a rehearsal last night. Good news, it balances beautifully, plays beautifully, light and easy on the shoulder and sounds like a P bass or a jazz bass or a mix of the two.

Bad news I put a dent in the headstock and one on the neck. And I have no idea how. So I'm happy and grumpy all at once.

Mojo is a good thing, and even better if you earn it yourself. A harley benton you've battered the sh*t out of is better than a clean one imo.

[shoulderpet]

11 hours ago, Woodinblack said:

 

I fail to get the idea that someone would buy something called a 50s precision bass and then complain that it had a feature that was present on a 50s precision bass. I know several people who would be absolutely mortified if fender made a model claiming to be based on another model and a screw was even a mm out of place.

I guess they are damned if they do and damned if they don't!

 

I get what you are saying but people dont always buy because because they want a carbon copy of something, people are often attracted to an instrument primarily by looks and then if they play it and they like the way it sounds and feels they might buy it, also on mine it does not say anywhere on the headstock that it is a 50s precision bass so if I had not looked up the serial number online afterwards I would not have even known, no labels in the shop declaring it as such either.

[stewblack]

14 minutes ago, Vin Venal said:

Mojo is a good thing, and even better if you earn it yourself. A harley benton you've battered the sh*t out of is better than a clean one imo.

I entirely understand your point. However, I don't regard it as a cheap bass but as my brand new bass, and so for it to last just one outing before being spoiled is disappointing.

[Woodinblack]

2 hours ago, stewblack said:

Bad news I put a dent in the headstock and one on the neck. And I have no idea how. So I'm happy and grumpy all at once.

 

All my basses get a dent in the headstock. I guess it is just low ceilings.

Dent in the neck is more dissapointing, I did that to my EHB, it was next to a cupboard that a metal hard disk fell out of.

[stewblack]

48 minutes ago, Woodinblack said:

 

All my basses get a dent in the headstock. I guess it is just low ceilings.

Dent in the neck is more dissapointing, I did that to my EHB, it was next to a cupboard that a metal hard disk fell out of.

I honestly don't know how that one happened. Right in my eyeline on the 8th fret.

I confess it's one reason for me not having many expensive basses. I'm a careless pillock.

[stewblack]

3 hours ago, shoulderpet said:

I get what you are saying but people dont always buy because because they want a carbon copy of something, people are often attracted to an instrument primarily by looks and then if they play it and they like the way it sounds and feels they might buy it, also on mine it does not say anywhere on the headstock that it is a 50s precision bass so if I had not looked up the serial number online afterwards I would not have even known, no labels in the shop declaring it as such either.

Quite agree. You buy something styled on the original but have every right to expect it to encompass practical, technical improvements.

[Greg Edwards69]

1 hour ago, stewblack said:

I honestly don't know how that one happened. Right in my eyeline on the 8th fret.

I confess it's one reason for me not having many expensive basses. I'm a careless pillock.

I've never tried it myself, but I hear you can remove (or reduce) dents in wood with a wet cloth and a soldering iron and steam it out.

[ezbass]

1 hour ago, Greg Edwards69 said:

I've never tried it myself, but I hear you can remove (or reduce) dents in wood with a wet cloth and a soldering iron and steam it out.

Yeah, I’ve done this on a few basses and even on some furniture; works a treat.

[shoulderpet]

3 hours ago, stewblack said:

Quite agree. You buy something styled on the original but have every right to expect it to encompass practical, technical improvements.

Exactly, to expect people to remove the neck to adjust the truss rod on a bass that is produced nowadays is ridiculous 

[Woodinblack]

7 hours ago, shoulderpet said:

I get what you are saying but people dont always buy because because they want a carbon copy of something, people are often attracted to an instrument primarily by looks

 

Indeed, but in this case it is something designed to replicate a 50s P Bass. That is what they sell them as. There are a lot of P bass types around.

 

7 hours ago, shoulderpet said:

 also on mine it does not say anywhere on the headstock that it is a 50s precision bass

 

If it is a copy of a 50s P bass why would it say anywhere it was a copy of a p bass, because then by default it wouldn't be a copy of a 50s P bass any more as the 50s P bass also didn't say it was a 50s P bass!

 

Its fair enough that you didn't want that, but I can assure you that if fender made a 50s P bass and there was some aspect wrong (even if it was an improvement), there would be a wall of people wailing about what idiots they were for producing an inaccurate replica.

 

Ultimately people aren't looking for improvements, for a lot of people, if it wasn't there 70s years ago there is no reason for it to exist, and that is the market that fender is in.

 

4 hours ago, stewblack said:

Quite agree. You buy something styled on the original but have every right to expect it to encompass practical, technical improvements.

 

If these technical improvements really matter to you, check it has it when you buy them, its not like it is hidden!

 

Fender are not a company to make technical improvements.

[Woodinblack]

4 hours ago, stewblack said:

I honestly don't know how that one happened. Right in my eyeline on the 8th fret.

I confess it's one reason for me not having many expensive basses. I'm a careless pillock.

 

Are you sure you did it and that it wasn't there to start wtih? I mean, most of my basses have dents somewhere, but I remember doing each one, its not really something you can do without noticing.