Harley Benton has unveiled a budget bruiser that offers the full-on extended-scale baritone guitar experience for under 250 bucks – and it doesn’t hurt that the body has that on-trend offset guitar shape.
The JA-Baritone HH BK comes with a poplar body, a bolt-on maple neck, and there’s a heck of a lot of neck. This has a 762mm scale length, which by the old measures is a roomy 30” – as in, short-scale bass territory.
But this is not that. It’s an electric guitar, all be it one that will be invading upon the bass guitar player’s frequencies, especially if you get creative with your tunings.
Article continues belowAnd why not? the JA-Baritone has got a fuss-free six-saddle hard-tail bridge. There’s no vibrato to worry about. Just step on your guitar tuner, turn those tuners, and see where it takes you.
We have not had our hands on it yet but guitars at this price not only make a solid entry-level option but can be upgraded over time. Who’s to say that a better set of tuners would improve its performance over time, and then there’s the pickups, too.
This is a dual-humbucker platform, kitted out with a pair of high-output ceramic humbuckers at the neck and bridge, with volume and tone knobs and a three-way pickup selector switch. Again, these could be replaced over time.
Harley Benton is shipping this with a set of 14s on it. It’s a heavy duty proposition. But that C profile neck is sure to be mainstream. It seats a purpleheart (aka amaranth) fingerboard with pearloid block inlays.
Your finish options include Black with a matching pickguard, and… Well that’s it. But Harley Benton does also have a P-90-equipped version in the catalogue, which could be a better option if you’re looking for that more traditionally alt-rock range of sounds.
As usual, you’ll find these exclusively through Thomann. The JA-Baritone HH BK is priced £182, with a guide price of $246 for the US (Harley Benton sadly closed its Reverb store from 1 February). You can find out more over at Harley Benton, or via Thomann.
In other Harley Benton does low-end, the budget gear giant just recently launched a signature bass co-designed with Gregor Fris of the BassTheWorld YouTube channel. And there is a but. This was not your typical Harley Benton guitar.
Fris challenged Harley Benton to make a more high-end instrument, and created a J-style with hand-wound Kloppman pickups, Gotoh hardware and premium tonewoods.
You can read more about the Harley Benton BassTheWorld MV-4JB Plus here.
