Harley Benton JA-60LH OW

Har spelat sedan slutet av sextiotalet. Då fick man som vänsterhänt med liten budget ta det som fanns, ofta stränga om. Har genom åren samlat på mig gitarrer, allt från amerikanska Fenders till ESP, Ibanez mm. Det här är en helt fantastisk gitarr i förhållande till pris. Det enda jag gjort är att justera stränghöjden (men det gör man ju på alla gitarrer). Någon påstod att man lägger mer arbete på justering av vänstergitarrer (vet ej om det stämmer). Hoppas att högergitarrerna är lika bra. Grattis alla unga människor som vill börja lira, en kanongitarr till otroligt lågt pris.

Had been wanting a guitar with P90 pickups for awhile to round out my collection. This one arrived this morning, and after unboxing, removing the protective plastic, and tuning her up, I plugged her into a Fender Reverb and let it go. It sounds so beautiful with no effects at all, crisp clean quack on the high-ends, and clear tight lows. I added a fuzz and a bit of reverb, and sounds great with that too. Exactly what I was hoping for.

Quality is very high, no dents or dings at all, the frets need a bit of a dressing, but nothing major at all. The fretboard feels great, the routing for the inlays are nice and sharp, and the nut seems to be cut well. The tuners feel very stiff, they might need some breaking in, but its not a big deal. The guitar itself is way lighter than I was expecting, against my Telecaster there's no comparison in weight, this is surprisingly light. The only thing I've discovered that's not great about this guitar are the pots. The tone knob feels fine, turns with no problem but it's all or nothing with the tone, either bright and crisp or full-on cream. The moment the tone knob is turned up from 1-2 there is a massive change, and then nothing from 2-10.

Overall, if you're looking for a well-made, quality instrument to fill in some gaps in your arsenal, this one would be hard to beat for the cost. Brilliant instrument, fun to play, sounds great with pedals, I'm a very happy customer.

Heading says it all really... a lot of guitar for so little outlay. In fact, this is the second JA-60 (amongst many other HB's in my collection) I now own - the first was a sunburst version - and I rate them as excellent for my requirements. More versatile than either Strat or SG/Les Paul style guitars with elements of both.
Usual little niggles are: fret ends needed slight smoothing and frets themselves a little gritty but a light going over with 1000 grit w/d paper sorted that issue in no time. Also strings a little tardy, but I always swap them out as a matter of couse. Best of all, though are the P90 pickups - so versatile. Goes from bright Telecaster-like to thick Gibbo sound and everything in between - can do Country/Blues/Jazz at the flick of a switch.
These, once set up, are keepers. Well done Thomann.

First of all, this thing SOUNDS INCREDIBLE. The pickups are very clear and responsive with plenty of bite. I really like the sound from the bridge pickup which is very versatile. It sounds nice and plunky with clear string definition through a clean channel, and a punchy thick growl through crunch/overdrive settings while maintaining pick attack which is impressive. The middle position has a very cool "out of phase" quacky twang which, although lower output, is still clear and produces a vintage sound that sounds great in any setting. Switching from middle to neck position, I really can't hear much of a difference. It's very subtle and it doesn't provide the warmth most neck pickups produce, though I'm not too experienced with p90/jazz style pickups so this could be by design. The only caviat with electronics is the pickup switching. The toggle switch is right to left as opposed to up and down. Hard to get used to that and I'm gonna have to train my hand to make quick switches in certain songs. The toggle switch was also a little loose and kept wanting to rotate on the pickguard so I had to loosen the nut and apply some threading tape to get it to sit firmly in place. Not the greatest QC there, but to someone with a little know-how this was only a minor issue. The hardware is pretty decent for what it is, the tuners feel great. I've never owned a guitar with vintage style tuning posts and I gotta say, the post inserts make restringing super fast and simple. No floppy strings getting in the way while winding/tuning to pitch. I was skeptical about them when I got it because some reviews mentioned the tuners could be better but they feel sturdy and hold tune just fine. Knobs feel really good, the nut is cut very well, nice and flush with the neck so it's very comfortable! The bridge is nothing fancy, just a tune o matic that does it's job. One thing about the tailpiece, the post bushings were just slightly raised out of the body and it just looked like someone just didn't hammer them quite all the down. Which wouldn't have been a huge deal since they were in there tight and didn't move. It was just a cosmetic thing and I fixed that taking the posts out during a restring and using a flat piece of wood over top of the bushing and tapping down a few times with a hammer. Good as new! The neck feels just incredible. The finish is verrrry smooth and it feels natural in my hands. It's different in the sense that it's almost like a mixture between a thin lacquer and a sanded neck. Almost reminds me of Gibson's worn special series necks. The binding looks nice, though feels a little cheap. Still a good feature aesthetically and it doesn't interfere with the quality of the neck overall. On to the frets - this is where it gets a little iffy. I had to adjust the intonation just a tiny bit, and it's not terrible, but it could bit slightly better. I realize that no guitar intonation is perfect unless it has fanned frets, but I have guitars that intonate a tad better than this. I think this is due to the fret level job. Looking down the neck it appears that a few frets are shorter by a tiny margin around the 12th fret and that appears to be what's causing the problem. Still, with some more fine tuning I think it could be a non issue. It's not really that far off. The frets feel pretty smooth around the binding. There are a couple that are a little sharp, but again not the worst by any means. I keep finding that any issues with this guitar not either not a huge deal or redeemable with some light setup. The truss rod feels nice. No problems with adjustment. No neck warp, no strangeness to the responsiveness of adjustment. It simply does its job when you adjust it and it stays where you put it like it should.

COSMETICALLY
The finish. Ooooooooooh! Gorgeous. 100% beautiful. It's a silky cream color that paired with the tortoise guard just looks sooo nice. The fretboard, though not traditional rosewood, is smooth, dark and appealing. The inlays are installed perfectly. They're quite easy on the eyes as well. The quality of the pickguard could be better. It's so easy to scratch it's kind of surprising in all honesty. But what can you expect for this price?

Overall, this was hands down WORTH the price of $200 total including shipping and customs clearing to USA. I've already got another one in a different color saved to buy later. I have more than a handful of guitars I use for different sounds and this one is a lovely refreshing addition to that. I had a Cobain Jaguar and Mustang a couple years ago that I sold because they were just too valuable and I felt like I couldn't play them without babying them, and what's the fun in that? It's so difficult for a lefty to find an offset without spending thousands. With the Classic Vibe JM being out of production this was a nice Christmas gift to myself and I have found a respect for Harley Benton as a decent brand that offers affordable alternatives to lefties with quality to price that is simply unmatched.

A truly enjoyable guitar to play. After all the setup and adjustments I am very satisfied to have this one in my collection