Harley Benton JB-40FL - How Can Something So Inexpensive Be So Good? - LowEndLobster Review 

Thanks so much :) Glad you dig it!

Conversation with my wife this morning: Ima order this fretless You have enough basses 159 You really need to stop buying things 159 What’s so special about it 159 You already ordered it didn’t you 159….

1:46 mic picked up the cats purr and its the best thing!

My JB40-FL arrived yesterday and I was impressed. This afternoon I installed a set of LaBella tape wound 50-105 and now I'm super impressed! Quite sure I'll be keeping this. Thanks for the review LEL.

Got it used (but new) for 80€ at a yard sale, love it, I play it every day. Waxed the fingerboard and use Rotosound 88 nylon taped, more than a keeper, an inspiration !!!!

Man you deserve a big kompliment. You can play, you present the stuff in a great way and the dose of humor is cool, too. Keep the groove and take care.

Well... After another very thorough review and your praise.. I'm going to need one of these ASAP. I've always wanted a fretless and this looks like a fantastic option. I normally play a Peavey T-40, so I've been trained to handle the weight lol. Thanks man! Truly enjoy your channel through and through!

Hi from Canada 🙂 Just got my Harley Benton JB-40FL in today. Holy jeez, I get what all the fuss is about and why Lobster bestowed a 5-claw rating on this bass. Incredible build quality, sound, feel, at a ridiculously low price. Put a Gotoh 203B-4 bridge on her and some low-tension flats and it's the actual sound of butter 😛. Thanks LowEnd for this video, and all your videos for that matter. Money VERY well spent.

Nice bass all around especially for the price.Harley Benton makes some serious stuff.The only flaw with this one is the weight of the bass, but the woods used in this one may contribute to the great sound.If I were to mod this,I would use Fender Gen 4 noiseless pickups and a Fender Hi Mass Bridge.But using that bridge adds weight.oh well you can’t have everything.Great playing Lobster

I love how excited you are in this one! Five claw reviews are so rare. This sounds better than my similar Squier VM Fretless Jazz

Hi Lobster, after I watched this video few days ago, I decided to buy this bass. I received it 3 days ago and I love it! Fun to play, great tone and very well made! Like you said, for this price you can't go wrong. Plus, living in Italy, the cost was 169 Euro shipping included. It arrived in three days. Thank you for the nice video!

Hey Lobster, I've had this bass for a little over a year. I love it. Well...other than the weight. I was going to swap the body for something lighter but after watching your review, I don't think I will. The tones that come out of this, I'm afraid the tonal range may be affected if I change the body. Great review!!!

What a deal! You can’t beat it with a stick in both hands! It sound beautiful and looks like you had a total blast playing it. An excellent mod platform but it sounds pretty damn good right out of the box. Ooooo, 5 claws! Nice!

Thanks Lobster I love HB basses and l have the PJ and JB 75 Both sound n play great I get so many comps especially on my JB 75 and it looks Killa too Also dealing w the HB thomann company is great , very professional people friendly

This bass has such a lovely choral growl to it! I LOVE it!

Haha Lobster!! Your video convinced me to go for this fretless. I love the bass! Looks great. Sounds great. The quality is way above what you'd expect for $159! Thanks Lobster!! Looking forward to the mods you're going to do although the bass is nice stock.

You are so right about ordering more than one bass. It’s crazy to have to pay $80 shipping on a $159 bass. More than half is not even worth buying the bass. It use to be only $33. Thanks COVID! 😂😂

Just picked up my first Harley Benton, a PB-50. Got it for a modding platform, but not sure now because it is so fun to play. I was gonna get a Squier Bronco but after your review decided I two go a different route. Glad I did, how can Harley Benton make so many quality instruments while costing so little. Never played a fretless, always too scared to shell out the bucks for a bass I would have difficulty to play, but this might be the one to gamble on. Thank you as always Lobster for the review and content! Have a great morning and keep playing!

I am so glad you reviewed this, Lobster. I am very interested in picking one of these up.

Glad you gave it a great review, as I bought one in the Lockdown. I think it is great for the money, as it is my first Fretless. The shipping costs for us here in the U.K are much better, and orders over I think £100 are free!

Bought one of these recently Lobster,and youre right about the weight.Its heavy all right.I think a good wide strap would be needed for gigging purposes.I could listen to you playing all night BTW.Good review.

I was lucky enough to snag a used 2012 Squier Vintage Modified Jazz Bass for $189 a few years back. It has Designed by Duncan pickups, weighs 9-1/2 lbs., and has great balance. It really sounds awesome and plays like butter. For sure the Harley Benton is a great buy for the price. Everyone needs a fretless to keep their chops sharp.

Thats an impressive bass for 159 dollars 'absolutely no complaint here'it sounds equal to some of those so called high end Carvin bases..great job low end lobster 🎇🙏....if you mid that bass..use bartolini pick ups and preamp

Aww, your bass came complete with a floof! 💕

I was looking forward to this video , thank you Lobster.

I tested one like that on my channel some time ago, but the pickups had already been upgraded with Polish-made Merlin single coils. Really lovely budget bass! If I weren't planning to look for a cheap fretless PJ sometime soon (2nd hand Yamaha BB, anyone?) I'd have already snagged one of those myself.

The reviews on their site are insanely positive too. Definitely on the list.

Trigger has been pulled. I await the arrival of this wooden Excalibur. Thank you for a jolly pleasant review Mr Lobsters, you’re shrimply the best.

I bought one, just the model with the black scratch plate. It's fabulous. It would be great to have a playlist of all your 5 claw reviews....lots of 4's I see but a list of 5's would be great....sort of the lobster thermidor special

Looks like I’ll be adding this to my collection. Always want to improve my Fretless chops. That bass sounds incredible for the price! I’ll get use to the weight. 😌🎶👍🏾

Damn, those are quality woods at a cheap price. I'm impressed.

All prior reviews I have seen for this bass are just as full of praise. The same for the Harley Benton JB-75, which seems to be the same bass , just with frets. These Harley Benton Jazz Basses and the reviews I had seen are what got me interested in picking up a bass guitar again after many years.

So I bought this 3 months ago based on Lobster review, and general consensus on the net. After 90 days I can report it is still an excellent value! I can also say I found a few minor flaws. The string height adjustment screws are seized on two of the saddles, the routing for the bridge pickup is a little uneven and the pickup is forced in too tight a pocket. The finish on the fingerboard could have used a little more finish sanding and some cleaning and sealer in one small area on lower neck. That is it so far after a close inspection as I upgrade the bass. I have changed the whole bridge to a gen 2 Babicz FCH-4 unit, added an inexpensive 2-band preamp by Guyker and put on some really nice D'Addario tape wound strings. I had to max out the height adjustment for the E string, but it all feels very nice so far. The Guyker pre-amp is not bad, but the concentric potentiometer that controls bass/treble boost is a little sloppy/cheap feeling. For $90CAD I expected at least decent pots. I can likely swap out the pot on the circuit board with better quality but it is not too bad and it works fine so far. www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B08RZC14BC/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Sooooo glad I picked one up earlier this year. Absolutely unbelievable value. No joke it is heavy, but the neck is fantastic and there’s a great bass attached to it lol

I have one of these as a Bday present since 2018 and I love it.

I've got the fretted version with the maple board. Yes, it is heavy. Mine is over 11 lbs. It sounds good enough that I haven't changed anything on it, and that's strange for me. I can never leave things alone. I just picked up a Sire V7 from Thomann and had them throw in one of those cheap 4 string Harley Benton Stingray clones on my order just for the Hell of it. That HB sounds and plays way better than it has any right to. I was very surprised at how good the pickup sounds compared to the stock stuff that comes in the Sterling SUB basses. I really like the Sterlings as mod platforms, but stock, I think the HB sounds far better. As far as cheap basses go, I think I'd go with HB over my Squiers, Glarry's, and SX's.

Your smile says it all. I had this bass and really love it, maybe the best Harley benton bass.

5 claws... Impressive! I was really not expecting 5 claws for a budget instrument.

Wow haven’t had a 5/5claw review in a while! Great job HB!!! What a killer bass!! I’d totally own one of them! That headstock looks great too!! The tone is great! Also like how they give you the 5 screw bridge for modding great review brother!!! 🦞

Have the same bass and I love it. Sound and feel great for the price. I play a few gigs with him and do the job. The only issue I have with this bass is the weight. Besides that….great bass.

OK. You got me VERY interested in this instrument, put it on my Thomann wishlist. What a revelation it is to know that the tone knob results in such a warm sound.....will check it out on my present HB bass.

Lobster, you were having so much fun in this video, it was worth the price! I imagine you are playing the heck out of it off camera and having a blast. Do cheap but "effective mods" if you decide to play around with it. I suspect the heavy wood used is contributing to great acoustics. I'd like to see you can make it a memorable bass for less than $250 total. ENJOY!

i just ordered one on this review thank you so much

That bass does sound really good! And not just really good for $159 but really good period! If I were to get it it would be a sit down bass only as my aging back wouldn't get on with the weight, but as your said.. "$159!" If I were modding it I would probably look at replacing the tuners with Hipshot Ultra Lights if they fit without too much effort, a Kickass bridge (athough I may rethink that considering the added weight) and maybe Delano pickups. Thanks for the awesome review!

4:06 The cat approves of the Harley Benton too! its a winner 🏆!

On my HB JB40 FL I have swapped the stock PUs with DiMarzios Js. It sounds great, plays great and the only downside is, as mentioned before, the weight. An absolute steal for this price. love it.

thanks for the review. I'll pick one up.

Hi, Great review! I picked up that bass about a month ago and I love it. I aready put a Audere pre in it and I love! Thanks for your reviews.

You Sir, are a Lobster Legend! Great reviews! Be well!

That one sounds so much better than the b450fl from your other video. I already have a mim fender jazz and love it. I think imma buy one of these, it sounds really really good. Thanks for the review and badass bass jams! 💚

bought one after all, got this nutty idea of adding Bartolini BA 9J1 Set to get it somewhat close to a Wal bass sound hehe

I would definitely mod this with nordstrand hum canceling pick ups

I love your reviews Lobster! My fav youtube bass channel! Would you reccomend this Harley Benton over the Squier classic vibe fretless or the Sire V5/V7?

Bought one as my first fretless, and it very fun and easy to play. The neck is very comfortable, even for my short fingers. One complaint: there is a good deal of static. if you crank the tone all the way down it removes it, but if you want any high-end in tour tone, you'll have to tolerate a lot of static. One comment: I've normally tuned my bass to the open strings, and I was having a hard time with consistency of notes up and down the neck. I found that tuning to the fifth string-just getting a finger holding down the string-created a more consistent tone across fretboard. My next bass will one a spend a few bucks on, and we'll have to try a few out in music stores to find a good fit. But the HB helped me discover that fretless was the way to go for me.

It would be fun to hear this bass with a little Jaco like chorus added. So fun to see a bargain basement bass getting such high reviews. It makes me think twice before I spend $2,000 + for a bass. I'd just have to cover up the name on the headstock. Shipping is $89 to my area plus $159. Still a bargain. Thanks for this great video

Harley Benton seems like it's a brand that people love or people hate. They definitely interest me!! Sick video

Picked one up. You're so right! What a steal!!!

Cannot beat that price for an entry level fretless bass! That was very hard to find 20ish years ago when I started playing fretless basses unless you did your own fretless conversion.

I have parts for a four string w/a Mighty Mite fretless neck that I PAID MORE FOR than this bass. I should just get this instead as it sounds fantastic for the money! My Douglas(from Rondo)6 string fretless is a neck heavy beast that I had to balance w/wheel weights just to play it without killing my left thumb. It sounds pretty good but this is much better in tone quality and when you have this much fun playing it, it has to be good. You haven't been wrong yet. Even the Jacksonbacker sounded great. Thanks Lobster for another great choice and video. I haven't seen too many 5 claws!

I bought a JB 20 for 90 euros and its awesome too...... Harley benton are doing some really good quality basses and guitars ..... especially for the price

5 claws out of 5 👌brother that was very amazing bass guitar 22:33

Noting what previous Wizards have done as upgrades, really looking forward to your upgrade vid.

Just bought mine $159 + $80 UPS shipping US...actually had the same cat in the video...sadly it's the 7th year of his passing today...Manny was 16 and the best! Claw frets and was a meany!

Wow that punches way of above its weight tone is killer

Hi Lobster. Awesome review as always. It seems you're enthousiastic on this one as on the Sire V5 fretless. I am now trying to decide between this exact HB JB40 and the Sire V5 alder fretless. Looking for a bit more mwaah compared to my Ibz SR705FL. What's your take on this?

I just got my JB40FL in and I love it. It sounds and plays excellent. The only thing is it's weight. It makes my 9.8lb P Bass feel light. I'm assuming mine is around 12lbs. Other than that it's a great buy! So happy I have a fretless in my arsenal.

Hi lobster that thing sounds sick..wow! The only bass that can out play that is the sire V5 fretless.... Awesome sound, not only for the ridiculous price but overall that sounds Great ? Nice playing as usual bro 👍🏾

If anything, $159 for an American Ash jazz style bass body is a steal. I would buy one solely to rob the body off of it and build something else with different pickups, bridge, and neck.

Thanks for reviewing... I've had my eye on this one for a while.

It's just nice to see an all-around positive mood video once in a while.

I put fender flats on mine, never had a fretless before, or played flats (I am just a part timer not very good) But this bass has really got me going again. Contemplating putting some EMG's in it.

Thanks again for a great review.! You made up my mind for me. I ordered one today to Canada.. $197 CAD plus 5% import tax (or maybe 6.. not sure) and 8% provincial tax. It is $69 CAD for UPS express 5 day delivery estimate (but Thomann website says more like 8-9). So for around $290 CAD this is still a good deal based on the wood materials alone. The pickups sound ok even on my crummy laptop audio, and tone is subjective anyway. I would play around with different value tone capacitors and better quality pots before I would start dropping money on expensive, possibly grossly over priced name brand pickups. I have a nice Babicz bridge in my parts bin, along with some new tuners from a MIM Fender neck. Pickups maybe later if something comes my way used or cheap.. If you wait long enough a deal will pop up somewhere. Some EMG's would probably make this thing sing like a bird... the active ones I mean. The ONLY thing I would ask HB to do differently in future would be to drill it and install ferrules for a string through body option. Even if it added a few dollars to the cost.

best demo ever!

Me encanta cómo toca este crustáceo, cualquier bajo suena excelente !!!

Bass and player sound awesome! :)

I have a HB fretless 6 string that just rocks... can not beat the quality and price

Like any fretless for me its real good the pick is killing her .all the rest extra fine 😃+ the price good deal good bass

Exactly what I was looking for. Just ordered mine. Thanks for the good review. I was temped to get the 5 or even the six string lol

I’d probably mod that with a Hipshot A-style, DiMarzio Area Js, and a 920D Custom stacked knob control plate with a series/parallel switch to really squeeze the most out of it. At that point the upgrades are more than twice the cost of the instrument itself, but… $159

Tony Franklin would be proud of this HB model.

Interesting that you're going over this one...I ordered the lefty version...due here Wednesday!

The best review ever💜

Lobby great review,,thank you very much,,if I keep watching you,,death by suffocation of Bass,,and what a way too die,,love the channel!

Every fretted HB I ever owned needed serious fret work. And I mean from the ground up. I suppose the fretless could be better.

Nice review Lobster!!! Keep 'em coming!!! A few qestions... Is lemon oil suitable for conditioning this fretboard? Perhaps any other option available out there? Anyone having wear issues since the fretboard is not lacquered?

This bass has a really seriously nice tone it's really deep but also great in the higher registers, in terms of tone it's better than my fender jazz bass, it is a bit heavier but not much, everything else is awesome and you can play notes faster and cleaner, the neck is also great, a really nice wood, this cost me £150, unbelievable

This sounds great - would you consider doing a review on the Harley Benton HB-60 WB? It looks like a really cool semihollow, especially for the price. Great playing!

Great sound review. A few more close ups of its bits and Bob's would be lovely. Ta ta mate.

Hello! I've had this bass for quite a while. However, in 2 colors Sunburst. It looks beautiful and is very playable! I love him! But it's incredibly heavy! Mine weighs 5.1 kg! the original bridge was replaced with a fender bridge, so I call him "Harley Fender" now. I have another Fretless Bass from Harley Benton PB 20 FL, unfortunately it is no longer manufactured! It only weighs 2.4 kg and sounds pretty good too. however, it cannot quite keep up with the HB JB-40FL. Nevertheless, I am considering selling the JB-40FL because it is really heavy and also quite large Thank you for the nice video! Happy Easter 🐰🦞🎸

Lobster, 3 run homerun! Thank you for continuing to mix up high end/high cost Basses with affordadle new/struggling musician instruments. Though I no longer need to whine(too much) about prices over my pay grade as to the mild delight of Sweetwater Synchrony bank has deemed my a human and issued me a card. With the Water's 24 & 48month 0% rate deals my acquisition range has expanded. A bit more time before I reach the level of Fodera or that boutique builder who built your custom. When I reach the level worthy of custom, who knows? 😂

Btw they really paid attention when dial-ing in that bridge tone . Even for a low cost single coil J Bass magnet.

Bought the JB40FL before Xmas. Can't find a thing wrong with it other than the weight (significant for a gigging bassist). The finsih and fit is better than my Portamento which new is x5 the price! Shame they don't do an unlined but I checked and Thomann came back thumbs down. Think I'd try Tone Rider pups for a swop out.

Cannot say that I’m a Harley Benton fan but I would rate this as one of your best videos Lobster 🦞. I guess it’s in seeing what’s possible. Hoping to see you review something from Sandberg’s line up one day as well as a G&L L2000 USA ❤️👑🎶🇦🇺 All the best 👏🏻⭐️

Sounds great especially for the price. Many people put roundwounds on fretless but they will chew up your fretboard overtime. My suggestion for flatwounds with a bright sound and smooth feel are "Chromes" by D'Addario. Wonderful strings

I liked the slapping tone of the neck-only pickup, and of the bridge-only pickup. Not for traditional* slap tones, but those mwah sounds combined with the slapping’s percussive sounds intrigued me. I’m already imagining…. * Like my ancestors played back in the Old Country :)

I've just picked up one of these specifically to superglue treat the fingerboard, I'll let you know what prevails 😊

Hello Mister! I consider your reviews the best ever seen on YT! this is another great masterpiece and I agree this bass sounds incredible. BUT ... there is a but .. I just would like give a little contribution to your great job : one you review a fretless bass will be very very nice to play just a long time note in a simple drum+keyboard in order to show even the “mwhaaa” natural taste of the bass. Only for fretless. Just an hint! Thanks for your great contribution

One of my best Basses I have; put on flatwound strings, grinded and oiled the fretboard until it's shiny and it's way better than the Squier; heavy.....but a really fun and decent Instrument

I have been looking for a cheap fretless that isn't terribly made, to learn on and see if I want to invest more time/money in a fretless. I think I found the one! Thanks.

Check out the HB B-450/550/650 (i got the 5 string version not so long ago) in fretless mode: for literally a little few more $ you get an alder body, 3 piece maple neck/walnut board, humbuckers and shockingly a preamp that you can disengage (plus you can use the 2 band EQ knobs AS PASSIVE TONE CONTROLS AS WELL). Harley Benton it's in it's own league on the budget dept.