Fender Jazz Bass 1977 VS Harley Benton JB75 Vintage
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- Опубліковано 17 вер 2024
- This video is not sponsored by any of the brands mentioned!
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Fender Jazz Bass 1977 Original, Maple neck with block inlays, Black over Mocha color, with Hipshot KickAss bridge and brass saddle inserts.
Harley Benton JB75 Vintage Series 2020, Maple neck with block inlays, Black Ash body, brass saddle inserts.
Unfortunately the strings were not the same on both basses during the test...next time perhaps.
0:09 Both Pickups, Tone 100% Off
2:36 Neck Pickup, Tone 100% Off, Muted
3:44 Both Pickups, Tone 100% On
5:03 Bridge Pickup, Tone 100% Off
7:13 Both Pickups, Tone 100% ON, Muted, Pick
9:38 Neck Pickup, Tone 100% Off
Recorded through Focusrite Scarlet 2i2 with just a bit of compression on both basses.
Let me know in the comments what you think about the sound :)
Music themes in this video:
-A Taste of Honey - Boogie Oogie Oogie
-Led Zeppelin - Dazed and Confused
-RATM - Killing In The Name
-Jaco Pastorius - Chicken
-Led Zeppelin - Good Times Bad Times
-Led Zeppelin - Rumble On
Many thanks to my friends Robert Fisher and Miroslav Hicil !
No copyright infringement intended.
Thanks for the great comparison, I love the Harley Benton guitars, they democratise music by offering such wonderful quality and value for money.
You are a really talented and skilled bassist.
Thank You very much!
Somewhere out there is a current or future musician who started on an HB because they were affordable and good quality.
My first bass was so cheap, it didn't even have a manufacturer's logo on it.
Horribly high action, crap bridge & barely functioning pickups.
It was that or no bass at all and I'm grateful to have had it.
Yes, mine to. It was Cheap Jolana bass in bad condition.I bought my first Fender when I was 24.
Sure, Fender sounds much, much better. However a few modifications on the HB will make it stand out at a fraction of the fender cost
Exactly and pretty doable with all the $ saved - literally comparing a $800 fender to a $150 HB.
Late answer but I did this exact thing! but with a PB 20, I upgraded the pickups and polished the frets and now sounds and plays amazing, I may upgrade the tuners at some point because it is a little neck divey but nothing too bad
I don't like the sound of the Fender?
Indeed. Strings first and a good overall setup. The pickups can wait.
Not so much better than i would have expected.
I believe the HB strings are more dead than the strings on fender!
Unfortunately Yes :(
I have the same HB. Exactly the same. Mine sounds a LOT brighter. Your strings must be either knackered or just poor quality. Also I find the tone knob seems to have a greater range on the HB. Overall its a great bass.
Same here, I own the exact same Harley Benton and it sounds a lot brighter. I'm guessing Obrad Lacarac is using Flatwound strings to get such a dark tone.
UA-cam’s compression makes it damn near impossible to detect the difference between similar sounding guitars
Strings are flats or old
I put flats on my HB Jazz. Prefer the tone and added ashtrays. Looks and sounds great.
I prefer the HB's tone. I don't like top end on bass. I feel like your Fender has seen better days, pickups feel a bit microphonic. To me, the HB sounds tight with more low mids and low end. I already have a Jazz bass, but the HB is very very tempting.
Microphonic ? What are you talking about 🙄
The Fender sounds better, but there are so many variables. Strings are one of the most important. The comparison should be done with the same brand/type/age strings on both basses.
You're spot on! My guess is he has Roundwound strings on its Fender while he used Flatwounds on the Harley Benton.
He also had a high mass bridge on the fender and not on the HB
@@seabassrocks5545 Yo'u are correct. Not to mention the pickups, and their height relative to the strings. That is a huge part of the sound too. Also worth mentioning, Harley Benton's usually have a .068uF cap on the tone control pot, whereas Fender's have typically a .047uF cap. The higher value muffles the sound a bit more, as well as decreases the volume slightly.
The text at the start of the video said both had old round strings
@@SteveAaron 👍
I had a HB bass. before I sold it I put new strings on it, and then wished I hadn't said I would sell it. The strings that came on it are total trash.
Fender tone 100% off and it still has snap when slapping. Kills the HB by the way. Great playing as usual!
Good Year but remember $3,000 instrument minimum compared to $150 Harley Benton
Tell the 10 year old me "Come up with a few grand or no bass for you."
Truth be known: With even a cheap pre-amp, the HB would've dominated the Fender.
Disclaimer: I have 12 Fender basses, so I'm no hater. Just an honest observer.
Fender is so much better, openess, growly mids, sparkly highs and focused lows 👌🏻
Absolutely....well said.
Lol ist costs 4 times the price
The Harley Benton kills the Fender cause it's cheaper and it's not that much worse
I got the sunburst one and was blown away, so I bought one of the standard series for the kid. Had to shim the neck a little bit but it's bad ass now so I ordered a 3rd one on the higher end in Olympic White with a roasted maple neck. I just can't believe how nice these basses are. Price point aside they rock. I could play these all night. Yes they are heavy but it's a bass. I wouldn't expect a good bass to feel like a Uke. For the price however I would expect to pay between 7 and 9 if this was a Squire and easily up to $1800 if it was a higher end Fender. The days of paying those prices for those brand names are over unless you are buying to invest but if you just want good instruments that have the classic look, this is your deal. Shipping is mind blowing as well. Takes about a week from Germany to The United States.
Thanks for posting… love hearing these in a realistic setting
Cheers from Australia 🇦🇺
Thanks from Serbia!
Great video. I think with some new strings and some setup the HB is so much worth the money. Keep up the great work with your videos. I really enjoy watching them. Greetings from Germany :)
Thank You very Much :)
I am lucky to have bass guitars from fender, yamaha and warwick but my two go too bass guitars are a HB 84HH (music man copy) and a “Vintage” VJ74 jazz.
Something's not even with the strings here.
The Harley Benton Jazz is a hot tipp, as every serious musican knows... some people even like her better than the original.
Price is an absolute no brainer.
Thanks for the vid though
Fender sounds much better, having better presence and resonant depth but the HB is a cheap guitar and could be made to sound better for not a lot of modding. The HB for its cost is tremedous value tbh.
Good demo and great playing.
Thank You.
Thanks great comparison
Loved your playing👍
Thank You for watching.
Thanks. Now I'm gonna be playing RATM on my bass all day!!
Your playing is phenomenal ! Thank you for giving us such a great review ! I'm considering getting this Harley Benton bass and removing the pickguard (because I like the look of it) and I'm wondering if there's a gab around the pickup under it or not? In some of their models the pickups are not "embedded" in the wood , but I can't find a modding video of this one to check that out. Have you ever removed yours ? Thank you!
Thanks. No I'm not. HB is not mine, just borrowed for the test.
Beautiful instruments both. But the Fender has the edge with that growl. Great video mate!
Thanks a lot
Hi Marcel, can You tell me what do You use to cut the bass from original songs that You recording over? Thanks
@@ObraBass Funny coincidence that you ask me that now as I just recently discovered an app that does exactly that 😊 All my videos so far include the original bass part playing in the background. The reason you don't hear it is because I try to match the original exactly. I have wanted to do what you suggest for a long time but I didn't know how, until I saw this video from Mohini Dey: ua-cam.com/video/0XSwHeJEyw4/v-deo.html
I have been working with this app over the last week or so and it works surprisingly well. It'll be great for recording songs with your own bass interpretations, and also a great tool that challenges you to learn a song even better when you do want to match the original (it's much harder without the 'ghost player' in the background 😆)
Simplesmente uma cópia do Fender ! Sem personalidade e sem comparação !
Thanks for comparing these basses!
Glad you like it, hope it helps 👍
Comparison is not very fair (how about the strings ? same ones ?) but if you consider that the HB costs you 150 bucks and a vintage fender thousands bucks, HB wins all the way, just put some good pickups and electronics.
As much as I love HB, and for the money you can't beat it, but...lol....this was NOT a fair fight. That Fender Jazz is kicking the butt of the HB and it's not even close.
Great playing btw. Comparing apples and oranges but if you are able you could use the HB for a Mod vehicle. Thats what I am thinking. I am fortunate to have a pickup winder and a spare ancient Mexican Jazz neck so I might take the plunge!
Thanks
If you can't tell the difference you are very hard of hearing and it's not because I have the same exact bass, a 77 Fender J bass, even down to the maple finger board. But a week ago I got the HB Thunderbird, I always wanted a bird, and I am very surprised, needed two truss rod adjustments and I think I will keep the pups, we will see. But will definitely upgrade tuners and tha horrible plastic nut. So if you can't afford the real thing, HB is not a bad way to go. I am really thinking about the Jaco Fretless.
When you factor in that most people can't afford a '75 jazz bass and yes the Harley is weaker sounding BUT at $205 shipped to Illinois a simple swap from HB pickups to Fender Vintage '74 pickups and a decent wiring harness which is another $160 investment for both and that HB will take on that '75 Fender any day and look better doing it. I've got a total of $365 into my HB 75 keeping in mind that I have a '75 jazz bass and it's a whole new ballgame. In fact in some ways the build quality of the HB is better than my '75. You absolutely cannot go wrong with the HB at any price.
Thank's for Your comment. For most parts I can not agree more :)
For $365 I suggest you go for a Squier
But I def see what you mean
But don't forget the Fender costs AT LEAST 10 times more ...
That's the point of the test 🙂
Uncomparable. The Fender sounds so much better.
I agree
I love the HB thunder love compressed tone
I'm sure most Fender players have headstockitis, and like Mercedes drivers, rely on the badge. Time will tell but I'll take my SIRE over a Fender any day. Yeah, I know I'm in the minority, but I always root for the underdog.
Boogie Oogie 😁 Nice comparison
the HB sounds a bit dead in comparison, but at least 2 things should be taken into consideration before blaming that deadness on woods, lutherie, pickups & hardware :
1. the strings (brand, type & age) : they sound fresher on the Fender bass
2. the electronics : pot values 250k for both? Capacitor 0,05 microF for both?
You're totally right. Both strings were pretty dead, but they sound worst on HB. Unfortunately there was no chance to change them for new ones, since I had the bass just for one afternoon. For capacitors I really do not know, but will try to found :) Thanks
@@ObraBass actually the right way to judge a bass would be to play & compare it with dead strings : a good instrument sounds good and even better with more than broken-in strings, and a bad one is only deceptively "saved" by the brilliance of fresh strings, but overshadowing what is most important : the "voice" and whole spectrum's impulsional response, not only frequency balance.
Ultimately it's the resonance of the wood & assembly, with the right pickup response and resonant peak (combination of pickup design and electronic circuit), in which lies the magic of an instrument, sounding good with any string type.
Fender USA,if ya can’t swing that price tag, then u know what to look at next
Best Regards.....throw some SD 1/4 #s in there,or custom shop Jazz an tear it up! Been there done that!😘
Obrade, koji se magneti nalaze u Fenderu? Standard America ili neki Vintage pick up?
Originalni Fenderovi iz 1977.
In my opinion of course Fender won. But if you realize the price/quality matter - HB!
Zanimljivo poređenje. Koje je tvoje mišljenje kao nekoga ko je svirao oba na osnovu osećaja? Imam jedno pitanje za kickass bridge, da li je vredno instalirati na bass tj da li je razlika primetna u odnosu na normalni bridge i šta si sve primetio da se poboljšalo kada si stavio kickass?
Fender Jazz nije moj. Ja nikada ne bih zamenio originalni bridge Kickass-om. Po meni ti Hi mass bridge-evi nemaju smisla nikakvog. Sto se tice osecaja, Fender je Fender i to je poznato, a Harley Benton sem sto je mnogo tezi, ima jako ostre zavrsetke pragova koji su veoma neprijatni. Teba na novom basu brusiti ivice pagova obavezno. Inace mu je vrat prilicno udoban i uzan....to je veoma ukratko :)
Hey Good Day. May I ask is it heavier than 'normal' bass guitar? do you think it is a heavy one? I am a guitar player and doesnt like heavy one as it is a bit hard when you stand when playing a heavy one.... thx!
Hi, HB is a lot heavier than this old Jazz. It is around 4.5kg.
thanks for the video
How did it feel playing each one?
It felt totally different in favour of Fender
I love my HB 75 jazz
Only neg is its heavy
Awesome comparison? What tone cap do each bass have?
Sorry but I really don't know for sure. They are not mine, and I had them for just a day. I'm only sure that both have original caps. HB is new, right from the store, and '77 is all original acording to my friend, and that mean it is the ''Blue Drop'' capacitor .33 uf 400v.
Thank you anyway for your response!
It was hard for me to tell. I liked both. I like your taste in Led Zepplin.
Thanks. Zeppelin still rules for me 🙂
I believe in honesty therefore I am obliged to admit that the Harley Bentson sounded better all the time and by a long chalk .
Make it somewhat of a fair fight by at least upgrading the pickups and wiring harness in the HB. But presently it's not even close tonal wise.
Does the HB have the 70’s pickup spacing too?
Yes
@@ObraBass Interesting. And a nice touch on a budget instrument. The Fender has a bit more spank but I quite enjoyed the sound of both. Nice demo man 👌🏽
@@KlemensCathcartBass Apparently no. The Harley Benton has a 94 mm pickup spacing, right between the 60’s 91mm and the 70’s 100 mm. I have a Standard Series Harley jazz and just measured it for fun once.
@@szilardadamosi Interesting, deffo makes a difference soundwise I reckon. Thanks for the info!
@@szilardadamosi Even 3mm does make a noticeable difference
May I ask you for your gain knob settings in focusrite 2i2? I have problems with recording my harley benton PJ with it
It was long ago , I could not remember. Normaly, it is around 12 o'clock. If I using JDI Radial, then a little bit more.
Wow! The Benton JB75 sound pretty close without breaking your bank!🤨
Ovviamente!Il Fender jazz bass per miei gusti suona meglio ,ha più presenza sulle medie e timbro fender .ma per 120 euro o 150 euro mi prenderei l Harley Benton
Fender may sound a little better but the HB is a fraction of the price.
I agree for the price, not for ''little better'' 🙂
I'm sure that if you change pickups from Fender to Harley Benton, the sound will be almost the same as on Fender, even with all this Chinese electronics
I agree, but point is in ''almost'' Also, inspiration will not be the same...
@@ObraBass This feeling occurs only when you hold both instruments in your hands) And yes, it is always worth looking for an instrument that has a soul
ну тут фендер, конечно, вне конкуренции!
Nope. There's something not right about this comparison. My Harley Benton sounds so close to your Fender JB that it doesn't matter.
I don't believe you loaded both basses with new exact same strings. Not the correct way to do a sound comparison, different strings give a totally different sound.
Very nice playing bud.
Unfortunately the strings were not the same on both basses during the test...next time perhaps.
@@ObraBass I respect that, but there's so many bass comparisons done on UA-cam & very few are ever done correctly. I remember trying out a completely different set of strings on my bass I'd never tried before & my bass sounded massively different, a sound I didn't like, I decided I needed to go buy my usual set & stick with them. It's so important to load up a bass/guitar with the SAME SET OF "NEW" STRINGS to get a true sound comparison, otherwise we're mostly hearing the difference in strings & that isn't what's been advertised.
Thanks for your video & your time.
Bless
@@garywillacey9979 You are completely right. Since this video, all of my latest videos are with the same strings! Lesson learned.
Спасибо, дружище!
Слышно, что у "НВ" не хватает средних частот. Он явно проигрывает Фэндэр, но всё равно - звук более-менее достойный. Для хобби и занятий то, что надо.
Если ты, конечно, не приложил к нормальному звучанию "HB" свои руки и уйму времени.
Спасибо!
You’re very welcome, thanks for watching. I hope you'll like the other videos on my channel and consider subscribing. 👍
The Fender will still be a viable instrument in another 44 years. The HB will be in a skip. Let’s be realistic here 🙄
The Chicken is wrong played ☺️😉
Cool playing
It's not wrong, it's played my way 😉. I didn't even try to learn it ''right''. Thanks for watching.
@@ObraBass lol. 🤣 It's ok
Im quite certain that if the HB had been turned up a bit, there would be practically no difference.
El Fender tiene más pegada y más brillo
A comparação não foi muito justa, óbvio que o fender é um instrumento top, mas com uns ajustes muda tudo e não sei se o fender ficará tão distante. Olha o som do HB aqui: ua-cam.com/video/r0Kwzhqqgq8/v-deo.html&ab_channel=ReunionGuitarWorkShop
Tone 100% off???
Unfair comparison. One costs ten times the other...
I agree, but that is why it's interesting, especially for Harley Benton buyers
Well that's the point...
Benton+ duncans kill Fender ..meaby
do you think? I am playing on Sire m5, but i am thinking about HB as a Jazz bass 70' classic because i love the look. I was thinking about buying it and change pickups for duncans and change tuners. You think that will be guitar for playing proffesionally for gigs?
nema razlike
Bad comparison Fender just sounds way better and I know they cost a whole lot more. I really was rooting for the HB but for the price it really sounds good