I've had the JB-75MN for a week or two. I'm keeping it for sure. Though it's not perfect, for the money I can't imagine asking for more.
The first impression when I pulled it out of the box, it just left me speechless. It's a beautiful instrument, all through. It weighs a ton, but it makes sense for a bass guitar. Great neck profile, solid but not chunky.
On closer inspection, I got slightly discouraged. The thrust rod was all over the place, frets not finished very well, so it produced some nasty buzz despite a rather high action. The A string was stuck in the nut, so the nut had to be filed down. The nut job got me swearing :) Poor setup.
After setting the neck, cleaning up the frets and lowering the action, I still had to check and tidy up the wires to get rid of the hum - there was way too much of it. With the pickguard off I cleaned off tons of wood shavings and dust. I guess that's a trade-off for the price.
Right now after two evenings to set it up, the guitar play and sounds wonderful. Way better than the Squier I had, and way cheaper, incomparable really. Huge tone.
So all things considered, it's a steal at the price, and with a bit of care after unpacking, some setting up, it's as good as they come in terms of sound and playability.
With all these done now, plugged into the amp, it sounds absolutely perfect. Full, rich, clean sound, a dream of a passive JB.
Just don't get caught unprepared. You might get lucky with one set up properly. You might get one you'd need to set up yourself. I'd buy it again. And looking at another HB bass to buy right now.
