I've "experienced" 2 outlaw V's form HLK about 3 years ago. The outlaw V# 1 was a complete mess with several issues out of the box: (1) The neck pickup wasn't even wired in. (2) Action was sky high and could only be lowered and properly setup with major neck adjustments. Still had buzz at 2nd fret after all that. (3) White paint overspray on the fret board - not a ton but noticeable (4) the nut came off after changing the strings the guitar. The customer services was good and I got a replacement guitar but had to pay shipping back to them??? Then the new guitar came. But wait..... outlaw #2 was a total mess as well. This time the neck was also bowed the truss rod broke when trying to get it aligned. Barely turned. There was so much tension already on the rod. I bet the factory cranked that thing just to make look straight. This time, customer service ignored my request for a refund saying I broke the guitar. I had before pictures of the bow which was very clearly in need of adjustment and they said you should have sent it back again before trying to adjust the neck. BTW, I bought these when the "pro" setup was included in the price. So what a sad outcome. . I was able to get he money back from my CC company but damn, I'll never try a HLK again. These are just import crap guitars that are not backed by service or brand pride.
A few years ago I was going to buy a guitar from the clearance section, the shipping was $59. The exact same guitar which was priced higher in the regular section had a shipping charge of around $30. I contacted them to ask why the shipping was so different and they said the clearance guitar had a set up fee. This was before it was optional and it was advertised that the set up was included free of charge with all of the guitars. So I asked why it wasn't free since the website said that all of the guitars come with a free setup, they responded that it's expensive to ship guitars. I responded with some shipping amounts of similar companies and got no response. They seem like a super shady company and will always steer clear of them.
I bought an entry level series model from Grzenia Guitars and the owner personally polished the frets, conditioned the board, changed the strings, and set the guitar up the night before shipping to me at no additional charge. That's a lot of love for a $399 guitar!
What I don't like about these guitars: All the T style and S style guitars are only 21 frets, yet they are all made to look like a metal or hard rock player would play them, I use all 22-24 frets when I play lead, and wtf would you put humbuckers in a guitar and only put 21 frets on it? This isn't 1957, 22 frets minimum or GTFO my face. Also, hidden fees make me cringe, as do websites that look like they were built pre-Y2K. If you want a cheap guitar that's good for the money that'll likely need a little work to make right, then buy a Harley Benton (I've bought 6), they have actual variety, a 3 year warranty, 30 day money back guarantee, and are from a legitimate company. Side note: Great video, Max.
Totally agree about the 22 fret argument. I won't buy a guitar anymore with less. I have an old Strat that I love that has 21 but that's it. And I have to say, you have the best youtube handle ever.
I have 1 21 fret guitar, a Harley Benton TE-52, but it's also modeled after a 1952 telecaster, so in light of historical accuracy I can let it slide only having 21 frets, that and it plays like a damn dream.
I want to see a Washburn review. That company never gets any love. I paid $100 for mine and its great. Grover tuners, Seymour Duncan pick ups, smooth frets, and quality wood. The action on it is fantastic.
What model is your Washburn? If it doesn’t show the model, give us an idea of the shape, color, what trem or if none, pickup configuration, etc, etc, etc.
@@yactabay I have a Washburn BT-2 They don't make them any longer. It's got a walnut body, Rosewood fretboard and maple neck. Seymour Duncan pickups, and Grover tuners.
I've got 2 guitars from HLK. They're decent quality, except for the pickups. Swapped the ones in my Outlaw for an EMG 81/85 set & sounds much better. Looking for a different set for the Bossman. Overall build quality is nice. Both are set neck, solid mahogany with black walnut fingerboard. They're good platforms for building hot rods. They'd be cool beginner's instruments, too.
Several years ago I purchased the bombshell chop shop as a floor demo... I was impressed for the price (but sold it because it was meh at best). Then I purchased another just like it but left handed for my daughter. It was on par with the first. So I ordered the lady luck (explorer). It arrived with a terrible bow in the neck, sky high action, and absolutely unplayable. This led me to learning new skills. I finally got it setup nicely and in great playing condition. My daughter didn't take to playing at all, so I gutted the Guitar, repainted it, put a JB, a 59 and a hot rail in a new pickguard (its routed for hsh), updated the junk pots and wiring with all push/pull pots for all possible combinations of voicings, high end capacitors, switch and Jack, replaced the nut with bone, and added high quality locking tuners, rolled fretboard edges, polished the frets, set it up and gifted it to a left handed friend that had lost his gear in a house fire. So I have found that they are decent mod platforms if you enjoy doing such things, but they're honestly not worth purchasing otherwise. There are way better options. I have since built 3 guitars from scratch (working on my 4th) and find this option to be the most rewarding (and affordable) way to get a completely custom Guitar. Avoid the temptation to buy dressed up hot garbage if you want more than a guitar shaped object to hang on the wall. I had zero woodworking or guitar tech experience prior to covid. You can do anything you set your mind to doing. No need to waste your hard earned money on inferior junk that requires so much attention when there Way way way better options in the same price range.
HLK owner here. Bought one this summer. The Bombshell in Mint/Surf Green. I can only speak from my experience but I really like the guitar and I've had excellent customer service experiences with them. I only found out about them this year. To get more info, I called their number and left a message. Within 24 hours I got call back from the owner. Had a great chat. I ordered it the next day. it played great out of the box. I've gigged with it and it held up well. Used it this past week for an audition and got some nice compliments on the sound and look. The only thing I've changed thus far was the string gauge from when it first shipped. Again, I'm only speaking from my experiences.
I have HLK and Harley Bentons. For budget guitars they play well and sound great, I enjoy them. I really love my HLK Southern Belle (Tele). You're right about the paint jobs, my Belle is orange and gets lots of compliments.
I've seen a lot of negative comments about HLK on this review. Must be mostly people that had the bad luck to get a lemon. I own six and I love them all. Granted, I have modified three - because I wanted to - and I do my own set-ups - when needed. That being said, there are a lot more satisfied customers out there that have not commented. here's mine: buy one or don't. I too am a connoisseur of inexpensive guitars, and now that I have subscribed, I have a lot of vids to watch! You are awesome, Bro.
My Randy Rhodes XMG was an amazing guitar, I can’t play v’s though so I sold it. I got Monarkh SCX and it was a middle of the road guitar and TINY the neck was like a yard stick with strings and the body was only an inch thick. Pickups were the same as JS. The Monarkh is the dead horse of the series for sure. The Kelly X is amazing.
I play a Jackson Js22 Dinky. It is great. The tone is amazing. I have played Blues, Metal, and Punk on it. It has a much slimmer neck than most guitars, which makes it great for new players or players with smaller hands. For those versed in guitar, it is a fast neck. It came already set up out of the box. It is great. I put heavier gauge strings on it. You can get it for 200 on Amazon. They have a 7 string model as well around the same price point.
I got a Hard Luck King guitar and it is a huge disappointment. I paid for the "fret job" and simply put, the guitar had many dead spots and fret buzz. One pot is broken. I struggled to set up the intonation properly. The pick-ups are dull. It got cracks between the neck and the body. Even the logo decal on the headstock was not put properly.
I had purchased the Southern Belle tele copy model. What a pc. of crap! The neck joint was sloppy and loose, for starters. When I called them asking for a refund, they gave me the runaround!! Then when I explained why I wanted this, they tried to give me advice on how to fix the problem, rather than granting my wish for a refund. So after persuing them to no avail, I decided to fix it myself, by drilling and putting dowel pins in. Then the wonderful fret job that they promised?? You guessed it! So I ended up rounding off the frets myself, so that they werent catching on my hand. There are 3 frets that needed to be filed also!! My advice?? AVOID HARD LUCK KINGS!! PERIOD!!
I fell in love with these guitars, I own 6 of the different styles and they are my go to when I play live, they look cool play awesome and are just all around fun to play and for the price with or without the setup can't be beat, shame they went out of business. Ty for the reviews
Thank you for reviewing I had no idea that they charge so much for shipping. You have to get into the checkout process before they tell you which is always a turn off for me.
My kiddos surprised me with a HLK Bombshell, white with white pearloid pick guard and 3 black single coils and a maple fretboard and I simply love it. It's balanced well and plays superb. That pro setup is definitely worth the price. Best birthday present hands down. 🎸👍
Sorry I'm a mod in a large FB guitar group and the owner of this company at the time was not a pleasant dude. I'd play a piece of plywood with strings on it before I'd touch one of these.
@Mía Rodríguez The group in question is a large 65k+ group. This was before my time but apparently he joined and then started posting links to ad for his products which is against the rules. He would then get irate when he was moderated. Lot of name calling apparently so he got booted. then apparently he started bad mouthing the group in other venues/media including a video trash talking the group while wearing a demon mask. I seem to kind of recall that one. He also sent 'minions' to join the group and start trouble from what I've heard.
I've owned a few. I bought them when I was learning set set up, and upgrade. The first I purchased was a LP style, and at fist glance it looked great. But after closer look, the corner of the nut had been broken off, and superglued back on. Now, after a few years, I have frets popping. I ordered another a few months after my first. It was a Tele style, and I ordered it thinking the broken nut on the first was just one of those things, and I LOVED THE BLUE Ford racing color. It was a great looking guitar, and for all intensive purposes was a good guitar. After about a year it needed a neck adjustment. Only then did I find the nut stripped so badly it could not be adjusted. Within that year I had ordered two more. When I got around to working on them, I found on the strat style the neck was twisted. After removing the neck, I found the neck pocket horribly routed, and chuncks of wood broken out. The other, and last one was a quite expensive FB style. Beautiful looking guitar. It needed a fret crowning, becausethe frets seemed very "flat". I found something I had never seen, hollow frets. Guitar was absolutely junk. I actually sent an email to HLK after receiving the FB style raving about it that they actually used as advertising for it in their comment section of said guitar. I feel bad if anyone bought that guitar based on my first impressions. I have given all but the LP away with full disclosure of the issues. I did research HLK before my first purchase and found mixed reviews. The one I remember the most is "Hit and miss, buyer beware". No truer words spoken about these guitars. Because of the time between purchasing, and discovering the issues, I never tried to return them mainly because of the reputation of the owner.
As an Australian, I have never heard of this brand, so I googled reviews. I have to say, based on the reviews I read the quality control is non existent. If you get a good one good luck, if you get a dud, bad luck. The customer backup seems to be non existent. Factoring in the freight to OZ, I don’t think you will see many make their way here. A mate of mine bought a prince madcat tele copy direct from China that he gifted to me. Lovely guitar. Plays great, well made, looks fantastic, and was $300.00 au, which works out at about $230 us.
I bought one of their SG styled guitars earlier last year and my experience was super mixed. I was kinda mad about all the extra fees (especially because a guitar should be playable when bought without needing to pay for the setup) but when I got the guitar in hand I noticed that there was still sharpie marks on the frets, one or two sharp fret ends, the guitar was wired incorrectly so my neck and bridge were essentially swapped, and the bridge was set up so that the guitar was straight up unplayable at opening. So I figured mine just blew through their quality control and I emailed them about it. The dude got back to me and blamed the problem on "guitars tend to get knocked around a bit during transit" and then told me if I wanted to send it back, they were gonna take 50 bucks out of my refund. I've come to the conclusion that they make decent guitars, but have a bad business model and a horrible quality control, so it's a gamble on getting a good one. At this point I've swapped out the muddy pickups, fixed the wiring, added locking tuners and tried my best to setup the bridge and it's pretty awesome now, despite the fact I can't remove the buzz from my low e and a strings but I'll likely replace the bridge soon. All in all, I'd say it's a total gamble.
Inexpensive guitars are so much better made these days. But I think there’s QC issues oftentimes with affordable guitars. I’ve tried Bullet Strats that weren’t well made and I found one last year that I purchased that was impeccable. Zero sharp frets, tuners work and the nut is cut well. For affordable guitars I think it’s always good to see them in person.
I bought a Lady Luck model over 2 years ago and spent the $ for the case, setup, e.t.c. with the guitar being only $109 on clearance. I am still loving it now. The setup was fine... frets and all. The build is solid and comfortable. The clean sound is especially beautiful! My only change would be to have 2 volumes instead of one for my style.
Got one of the Lady Luck model around the same time, it was marked up for a guitar with case. I do like the fretwork and it has a nice sized neck, it's a very playable, not the best but very good for the cash.
Geez!! How many little known brands are there out there that have killer finds like this. I love that look. And the color as well!! I know most wouldn't but I think its a sick looking fiddle!!
Love your reviews because not only do you tell us, you also show us. I have been curious about Hard Luck Kings for a while... I bought a Wolf LP copy after watching your review on them. Best guitar I currently own 👍
Love Hard Luck Kings guitars. I own the traditional 3 single coil Bombshell and the vintage sunburst Spider which is a Fender scale Gibson Firebird copy with humbuckers
I bought an hlk wild bill from a pawn shop 100 bucks . The feel of the neck ,it is a bolt on that's a plus, I had to rewire, replace pods, fret work and I had to set it up.. Plays crazy good I am happy
I bought a tele style for my son-in-law. He loves it. The neck is thicker than my B.C. Rich, but it's not an issue. It sounds like a tele, it plays well, and the electronics are wired properly.
I got one a few years ago and had to have it set up immediately. Even after the set up the neck was junk and had a slight warp. I pulled the neck off and put a replacement on it. I’ll not use them again
I own two of these, purchased when the "pro setup" was included. My advice to anyone considering buying... if you don't know how to do setup work or know someone who does, stay away. The first was a tele model, the string height was 2x normal, and when lowered anything above the 10 fret was unplayable. The frets were nicely polished, just too bad they weren't leveled first. The second guitar was an explorer model, again the frets were unplayable with a normal string height. Then the fun started, it had a grounding problem that finally lead me to the stop bar not conducting to the post, the ground wire was grounding the post but the bar was not grounded. Buy at your own risk.
I have the exact same one, The Grinch. Love it. I upgraded mine with DIMARZIO Gravity storm pickups and I use it all the time. It is super comfortable to play.
I have 3 HLK guitars... and have been super happy with all of them. I'm a strat guy...i have a 79 strat, a 96 American strat, and a 2016 American tele... i also have a gibson studio, and several other various cheaper guitars... i Shays play my hlk guitars on my recordings... they have needed various adjustments out of the box, but they are sooooo worth it in my opinion. That's my opinion and I'm sticking to it.
Late to the game, but I have 5 HLK's and they all rock. I'd wait until they were on clearance and with set up and shipping they were about $200-$250 (imagine the upgrades and mods you could afford with a base guitar like these). They are no longer it seems, but I love mine dearly. Your review was, for the time, spot on, Max! ✌❤🤘
this brand isn't going to get much attention from me. Their marketing and everything surrounding the brand itself is just disgusting. But if you like what you've got, then more power to you. Recent subscriber, keep up the good stuff Max
@@GuitarMAXMusic Maybe I could've said "social media presence" but I'd argue that counts towards marketing. There are certain ways that they've presented themselves as a brand, along with their main fan base that just leaves a bad taste in my mouth. What with the "rat bastards" and the aggressive call-out to their "haters" on social media (specifically their Facebook post from January 9th). Maybe it's just a personal or generational thing lmao, but the way I see it, I'd be more willing to check out the other brands you've covered for affordable shred machines. thank you for the reply. Again, I loved the video, the brand just doesn't seem to be the best when it comes to PR in my opinion lol Cheers, I can't wait to see what you've got in store in the future (even if it is more HLK lol)
@@MrJennety To this, I would add a stream of naming tropes and other marketing materials that objectify women in ways that, frankly, don't reflect at all well on the brand when put in conjunction with the rest of the behaviours you've mentioned. As you said, I'll give HLK a pass cause it just doesn't feel like the kind of brand I'd want to encourage to do that sort of thing.
Guitar Max - I just received my Harley Benton SG (~ 239 $ shipping included) which I decided to purchase after seeing your review and I am literally blown away ! I had a Gibson SG back when we were endorsed by them like 25 years ago.... All I can say is THANK you bro ! I can hardly believe the quality of the workmanship, the wood the build quality .. all is incredible. The Frets are rounded, filed and smoothed and perfect.. the binding is flawless, the action perfect out of the box (and it was a winter delivery - cold here !) , the color, the hardware awesome and it comes with Grover tuners... Btw, this is my second Harley Benton now, the first one was the Fusion-II after seeing your video on that one, also very good buy.
I had one of the Hardluck King's Southern Belle's a few years back. I bought it used, but it was still in pretty mint condition. It played, sounded and felt great in the hand. Typical 7 ish pounds for a T style guitar. The only thing I didn't care for was the walnut fretboard was too light against the matte black. Other than that it was very comparable to a MIM Fender Tele. The only upgrades were a bone nut, brass saddles and roller string trees. It was a very gigable guitar. Besides, who doesn't like matte black and chrome.
Ok a few comments on this video. I got my HardLuck King Bombshell 38 Special Tuesday Afternoon. So I have been playing it for 3 DAYS NOW. I was a bit sceptical at first after reading all the comments here. Over all the look is what you get. there were 2 real minor paint specks on the the body below the Bridge. Other than that it was a really clean paint job. Where the Neck meets the body is clean and tight. The neck is very playable. The frets are Ok the edges are not supper smooth but not uncomfortable , There were no string buzz or dead spots. I was worried about the "Cheap" Tuners with a tremolo but after playing each night I checked the tuning and it was right on. I bought the HLK 5-STAR SET UP and the intonation is perfect. Overall I am very satisfied with The Guitar. I been playing on the Factory stings and It sounds pretty good. This is going to be my travel/ Mod Guitar and it definitely meets my expectation. I did take the back cover off and the tremolo was actually grounded, and the pots felt good and sounded clean.
Thankfully Max doesn’t have the Glen Diva attitude to match. Whoa... I’ve never looked at green guitars, but that green and black is looking mighty niiiiccceee 🙂
Thank you for sharing yet another vid. I always enjoy the time effort and honesty you put into your work. Very informative always. You're also one of my favourite guitarists.
I have two Bossmans (or is it Bossmen?) from them. One I gutted; changed out all the hardware and electronics. Everything down to the screws was changed out. Now, I love that guitar. If you plan on doing that, these are great mod platforms.
I found a hard luck kings SG shape called the maverick used and it has quickly become my favorite guitar I love the feel of the neck it has no issues accept the finish on the back of the body being destroyed but it’s used and I didn’t pay much for it
Hey.. I own 6 HLK guitars, they are all great I love the finishes, the body styles and the feel of them. I have upgraded a few with locking tuners, EMG pick ups ,strap locks.... but at the price point you can afford to do that. I do all my own work and set ups. I have not paid any more than $129 for any of them plus shipping. I have not purchased any since they separated the shipping and set up, but I do have my eye on a couple. I am trying to collect all the body styles.
This is why I love your content because you show a ton of brands.You and a handful of RUclips guys do it and its awesome for the sometimes cash strapped(you review all levels of price) because of the virus.Keep it up brother!
Max, I'm glad you did a review. I stumbled on the site searching for guitars. There's not much content in them. I agree. The sale price is good but with the setup, pewter accessory, and shipping adds too much. I can have my local music store do a setup for $45.
I bought a HLK Southern Belle (Tele) about a year ago. My pricing experience was the same as yours - I paid about $280 to get my $159 guitar. Though I paid for their set up, mine still needed the frets leveled and the neck pocket cleaned out (full of wood shavings and didn't sit right) to get the action to what would be "normal" on a Squier Tele. After all that it was a great-playing guitar - as good as my Squier, but the pickups weren't anything special. I swapped in a set of Fender Tex Mex pickups with a base plate for the bridge. Now it's a mean blues machine. I had to change out the pick guard because the HLK neck pickup is a little bit smaller than the Fender, so the Fender pickup wouldn't fit without widening the hole into the screw holes. I had to adjust a couple of pick guard screw holes to make a regulation Fender pick guard fit, but it fits. Also the HLK control cover plate is slightly wider than a Fender, so I had to shave a wee bit out of the indent for the pick guard to fit around the north end of the control cover plate. That's not a complaint - one runs into these issues when swapping parts on any guitar - just a heads-up for anyone who wants to do a little modding. Also, the tuners worked but felt cheap and lumpy. I changed them for some from GFS with butterbean knobs and now it feels like a Tele when I'm tuning. So now I've added almost $200 (not including my free labor) to this HLK guitar that I already paid $280 for. For $500 I could have bought a used Fender MiM Tele. So I have a $480 guitar that is comparable to a Squier, but looks nicer and has all the features I chose. What are you really getting extra when you pay extra for the Fender branded guitar made in Mexico? A nicer neck and a nicer finish, neither of which is a requirement for me. So my Hard Luck Kings Southern Belle, after some work and parts upgrades, is now a guitar I enjoy playing every day. I'm not sorry I bought it.
I've got a beautiful transparent lime green telecaster with a nice flamed top, gold hardware, that I've done a little custom work (pickguard, knobs, just cosmetics) on. Cost me $175 shipped to my door, sounds absolutely amazing, and I had to do absolutely nothing to it. No fret work, no setup, no nothing. Absolute amazing value for the money.
I did pay the shipping, omitted the setup, and as I mentioned mine didn't need it anyway. And mine was like $175 AFTER the shipping cost, because I got mine on closeout.
Floyd Rose is really hard to restring guitars. I personally prefer the normal bridge tailpiece cause it's easier to restring guitars too. I get what you mean that people use Floyd Rose guitars to sound cool, I respect that, but I prefer the normal bridge tailpiece with the six screws above the bridge saddles. It stays in tune well, whereas, with the Floyd Rose bridge, it's so hard to tune the guitar too, especially when you're using lower tunings like Drop C sharp and Eb half step, cause that's what I use on my guitars.
For the price there are much, much better options. Not to mention..dressing the frets is not time consuming at all, and if paying extra for set up shouldnt even be an issue.
I’ve got 1 HLK guitar. The Lady Luck Explorer style. Got it about 3 years ago. When I first got the axe I was very very impressed. Played good, sounded great and looked real nice. I’ve got to say the Chinese pick ups are a very good PAF sounding hum bucker. Very crisp, lively awake sound. Great cheap pickups. But, after having the guitar for a few years, the neck keeps bowing. Ive had to adjust it 5 times in 3 years, and the truss rod is about to be out of threads. The proper Torx tool is also quite hard to find. Not sure what the problem is, but if the neck keeps bending at this rate - as I am sure that it will, the instrument will become unplayable and unrepairable in a year or two.
What size Torx tool did you end up getting for yours? I have a Spyder that I got for a solid price on craigslist a couple of years ago and I haven't been able to get a solid answer from anyone on what I need to adjust the neck. TIA.
I bought one 2 years ago, the Bossman "Commando." It's the Les Paul style guitar. I got it when the setup wasn't optional, but "included." I think I paid $139 for the guitar plus $50 to ship it. I'm certainly glad I didn't get "charged" for the setup, because if they really do set these up, they certainly do not do a good job. I had fret sprout, high spots on frets, I needed to adjust the truss rod, and it didn't even look like they took the time to polish the frets. I hope they do a better job, now, since they are charging people for it. I've been trying to sell the thing for $100 locally, but nobody seems interested.
But....there are similarly priced guitars, with equal quality that are "free" to ship. I guess what I'm saying is....HLK guitars are WORTH $169, but NOT $283...
Greetings, I have wondered about the guitars ...... Recently ( nov ) I bought a wolf bass ! It was a deal of the day 169.00, so I went for it... When it arrived , it came nicely packaged in a box ( i did not get a case at that time ) At first look it seemed nice, nice weight, nice paint ,neck felt good, I opted for the set up , I also e mailed them that I wanted it set up a whole step down all four strings.... Well the strings were just laying on the neck, even when tuned , half of the split p type pick up was kinda forced down into the body, but other than that it seemed good, obviously I couldn't play it.... I took it to my guitar guy and had them set it up the way I get my basses done, which took a week and half to get ( busy store ). The day came too try it out, I took it to practice ,,,,, and was kinda shocked!!! It had a nice sound , the neck felt rather thunderbird like , and its kinda a big bass.....which I like . Now at a second practice, i statrted playing hard, which I do anyway , with a pick, and found that either the string was slapping the pick up or I have no idea because there was a sound happening which was not good.... I backed off on my playing and it seemed to go away....so needless to say ill need too lower the pick up a shade and try again. All n all im happy with it for the price , so with the set up it cost me 240... and I did eventually get a case which was another 100..... Now that i've watched your video I can make a better decision on getting a hardluck kings guitar..... I'm like the only one I know in my area ( southeast michigan ) that has a hardluck instrument..... Hell I even wrote the company to ask if they'd make a wolf guitar so I could have a matching pair !!!!! Thanks for listening !!!!!! P.s. My guitar player got a g and l tribute tele type guitar and the wiring is wrong, it has two tone knobs, no volume knob......
I bought one about 3 years ago, the black bombshell (bombs on the inlays and had a Hard Luck Kings skull on the body behind the bridge--nice looking). I find that even though it was set up, the action is high and the intonation wasn't done right. It really plays well in the neck pick up for a deep blues sound. The bridge sounds nice, a bit thin, but meh... It really plays well as a slide guitar with the higher than normal action and the deep tones from the neck pick up. I waited for it to go on sale and got it for $139, paid about 189 with the shipping. Wasn't a bad experience. I may go down that rabbit hole again.
I own a HLK Spider. It looks, plays and sounds great. However I bought it from a friend for $160 because I just can’t get past that damn shipping fee. That being said, I do really like the guitar!
I bought a used HLK Maverick from the GC website a couple of years ago. I actually probably paid more than it would have cost to buy it from the site, but it was the OD green style paint scheme similar to the one you have here. Set neck, coil split pickups, pretty good heft to it. It was a solid guitar. It had Alpha pots, and Orange Drop caps in it when I got it, but I don’t know if that was a factory thing or an upgrade from the previous owner. I never had any neck or fret issues, but, again, that could have been because of the previous owner. Initially, I really, really liked it! I liked it enough to recommend it to quite a few friends, in fact...but then, I started seeing a lot of things that put me off. There was a guy who professed to be an employee who really slammed a lot of different people for saying that there were better options. There were numerous horror stories of the owner claiming that he had fixed issues when it was obvious that he hadn’t. There was at least one story of him offering to send a buyer a new neck for the guitar that he had sold him, brand-new, that was unfixable...as long as the buyer paid the shipping for the new neck and the returned neck. At the end of the day, there were too many stories for me to disbelieve what I was reading, especially when a number of them had screenshots of correspondence from the owner backing up their story. My opinion has always been that if you build and sell a product and it isn’t right, you make it right. If you refuse to do so, or make excuses why you can’t, then my business will go elsewhere. I got rid of my Maverick not long after that. I traded it for an Epiphone LP Studio. Couldn’t be happier!!!
I just sold my Spider. It was a Matte Red FireBird style body. I had GFS pickups in it. Sounded fine for $400. Built well. Neck was GIGANTIC! HUGE-ASS neck. Some folks love that. I thought it was a cool guitar.
I bought a southern belle about 4 years ago. I just happened to come across their website one evening and had enough beer in me to say “what the hell”. I had never seen one, read a review, just took a chance. Well, after years of reading nothing but bad reviews and trash about them I must have gotten a unicorn.. Mine plays and sounds as good as most I have. (Excluding the explorer with dirty fingers.🤣). I’ve had friends play it and not find any issues.. Now I’ve never had to deal with their customer service, and a lot of the complaints seem to lie there, but as far as an instrument goes mines gonna stay in the rack here for a long time.
It's a wonderful sounding guitar for what it is, Max. I don't know what it is but that beautiful, evocative green colour always takes me back to better days in my life ( and at 57 years old, that's a long way back! 😆 ). You have this knack of showing what a guitar can do in a relatively short time span. It's a nice instrument; but I do understand about 'that bridge'. Best to just swap it out for a nice Wilkinson or some such? Thank you Max, for all your great guidance and terrific playing ability. Your such a humble guy. Bless you and yours, always..... STAY SAFE STAY WELL EVERYONE! 🤗❤️❤️❤️❤️😷😷😷😷🤘✌️🖖👋
I got a 5 string Bombshell bass from them, with the setup, and it was an excellent value and has done quite well for me. I'll definitely try a guitar and probably get another bass.
I recently got the same guitar. My wife picked it. I like it alot! It's built well. I'm going to upgrade the tuners and pots. Then it will be a pretty sweet guitar. I had to set mine up myself but didn't take too long. I think the pickups sound pretty cool.
The Explorer style guitar looks like one I would love to see you review. I always liked that style of guitar , not the bass , I’m not a bassist , but I seen the silver Explorer style I think they called it Spider. Awesome video as usual 👍👍👍✌️✌️✌️🤘🤘🤘
I've been watching Max's vids for a while now, and I've never seen any comments about his luxuriously thicc voice. Dude could have a fantastic career as a voiceover artist
Hmmmm, I'll have to check them out. I'm like you, I've known about them for quite some time,but I always hated that extra shipping charge, and the required setup fee. Great playing too dude,you rock.😉
From what Ive seen all their social media comments give them stellar marks, and if you google seaech them youll see virtually nothing but owners that hate them.
I've "experienced" 2 outlaw V's form HLK about 3 years ago. The outlaw V# 1 was a complete mess with several issues out of the box: (1) The neck pickup wasn't even wired in. (2) Action was sky high and could only be lowered and properly setup with major neck adjustments. Still had buzz at 2nd fret after all that. (3) White paint overspray on the fret board - not a ton but noticeable (4) the nut came off after changing the strings the guitar. The customer services was good and I got a replacement guitar but had to pay shipping back to them??? Then the new guitar came. But wait..... outlaw #2 was a total mess as well. This time the neck was also bowed the truss rod broke when trying to get it aligned. Barely turned. There was so much tension already on the rod. I bet the factory cranked that thing just to make look straight. This time, customer service ignored my request for a refund saying I broke the guitar. I had before pictures of the bow which was very clearly in need of adjustment and they said you should have sent it back again before trying to adjust the neck. BTW, I bought these when the "pro" setup was included in the price. So what a sad outcome. . I was able to get he money back from my CC company but damn, I'll never try a HLK again. These are just import crap guitars that are not backed by service or brand pride.
Sounds like a total mess
Glad I saw this. Was taking a serious look at this brand. Probably reconsider now.
A few years ago I was going to buy a guitar from the clearance section, the shipping was $59. The exact same guitar which was priced higher in the regular section had a shipping charge of around $30. I contacted them to ask why the shipping was so different and they said the clearance guitar had a set up fee. This was before it was optional and it was advertised that the set up was included free of charge with all of the guitars. So I asked why it wasn't free since the website said that all of the guitars come with a free setup, they responded that it's expensive to ship guitars. I responded with some shipping amounts of similar companies and got no response. They seem like a super shady company and will always steer clear of them.
I bought an entry level series model from Grzenia Guitars and the owner personally polished the frets, conditioned the board, changed the strings, and set the guitar up the night before shipping to me at no additional charge. That's a lot of love for a $399 guitar!
What I don't like about these guitars: All the T style and S style guitars are only 21 frets, yet they are all made to look like a metal or hard rock player would play them, I use all 22-24 frets when I play lead, and wtf would you put humbuckers in a guitar and only put 21 frets on it? This isn't 1957, 22 frets minimum or GTFO my face. Also, hidden fees make me cringe, as do websites that look like they were built pre-Y2K. If you want a cheap guitar that's good for the money that'll likely need a little work to make right, then buy a Harley Benton (I've bought 6), they have actual variety, a 3 year warranty, 30 day money back guarantee, and are from a legitimate company. Side note: Great video, Max.
I'm getting my kids Into guitar. Just ordered 4 HB, and an orange 20rt
Harley Benton are just imposible to beat, wide range of guitars to cover each style, shape, or preference. Great guitar for the money
Totally agree about the 22 fret argument. I won't buy a guitar anymore with less. I have an old Strat that I love that has 21 but that's it. And I have to say, you have the best youtube handle ever.
@@johninama585 Thanks. 😋
I have 1 21 fret guitar, a Harley Benton TE-52, but it's also modeled after a 1952 telecaster, so in light of historical accuracy I can let it slide only having 21 frets, that and it plays like a damn dream.
I want to see a Washburn review. That company never gets any love. I paid $100 for mine and its great. Grover tuners, Seymour Duncan pick ups, smooth frets, and quality wood. The action on it is fantastic.
What model is your Washburn? If it doesn’t show the model, give us an idea of the shape, color, what trem or if none, pickup configuration, etc, etc, etc.
@@yactabay I have a Washburn BT-2 They don't make them any longer. It's got a walnut body, Rosewood fretboard and maple neck. Seymour Duncan pickups, and Grover tuners.
Wolf/AIO are Los Angeles based luthiers with free shipping. Orangewood too.
Wolf/AIO only ship from L.A.. It's a South Korean company that makes em. With that said. I love my Wolf S1 FL.
I love my Wolf.
@@alanlevesque7180 I love my wolf too!! I’m playing it now..
are those wolf thingys made in south korea?
I want a wolf bad
I've watched alot of guitar players do reviews and your by far the most proffessional and informative one I've seen right on
I've got 2 guitars from HLK. They're decent quality, except for the pickups. Swapped the ones in my Outlaw for an EMG 81/85 set & sounds much better. Looking for a different set for the Bossman. Overall build quality is nice. Both are set neck, solid mahogany with black walnut fingerboard. They're good platforms for building hot rods. They'd be cool beginner's instruments, too.
It’s probably 5 percent the guitar, 15 percent the amp and 80% the player. You are an amazing player, Max.
Max totally shreds!
Agree
But to my ear, these 5 percent aren't really great
Let's be honest, he's no Lil Wayne. But he's good, none the less.
@@ZeldaxLegacy ☠️🤣😂🎸
I know this may be comparing apples and oranges, but for the price range, I’ll take my Kramer Baretta Special over this one.
Definitely gonna buy one of those suckers when my store gets them in 😈
Several years ago I purchased the bombshell chop shop as a floor demo... I was impressed for the price (but sold it because it was meh at best). Then I purchased another just like it but left handed for my daughter. It was on par with the first. So I ordered the lady luck (explorer). It arrived with a terrible bow in the neck, sky high action, and absolutely unplayable. This led me to learning new skills. I finally got it setup nicely and in great playing condition. My daughter didn't take to playing at all, so I gutted the Guitar, repainted it, put a JB, a 59 and a hot rail in a new pickguard (its routed for hsh), updated the junk pots and wiring with all push/pull pots for all possible combinations of voicings, high end capacitors, switch and Jack, replaced the nut with bone, and added high quality locking tuners, rolled fretboard edges, polished the frets, set it up and gifted it to a left handed friend that had lost his gear in a house fire. So I have found that they are decent mod platforms if you enjoy doing such things, but they're honestly not worth purchasing otherwise. There are way better options. I have since built 3 guitars from scratch (working on my 4th) and find this option to be the most rewarding (and affordable) way to get a completely custom Guitar. Avoid the temptation to buy dressed up hot garbage if you want more than a guitar shaped object to hang on the wall. I had zero woodworking or guitar tech experience prior to covid. You can do anything you set your mind to doing. No need to waste your hard earned money on inferior junk that requires so much attention when there Way way way better options in the same price range.
HLK owner here. Bought one this summer. The Bombshell in Mint/Surf Green. I can only speak from my experience but I really like the guitar and I've had excellent customer service experiences with them. I only found out about them this year. To get more info, I called their number and left a message. Within 24 hours I got call back from the owner. Had a great chat. I ordered it the next day. it played great out of the box. I've gigged with it and it held up well. Used it this past week for an audition and got some nice compliments on the sound and look. The only thing I've changed thus far was the string gauge from when it first shipped. Again, I'm only speaking from my experiences.
Awesome! Fantastic playing and what a cool axe! Also thanks for the shout out! 🤘
You bet!
Love the Danzing T shirt! Nice to see you promoting your merch!
You just lost 4 points, MR!!! lol!
I have HLK and Harley Bentons. For budget guitars they play well and sound great, I enjoy them. I really love my HLK Southern Belle (Tele). You're right about the paint jobs, my Belle is orange and gets lots of compliments.
Same.. just ordered a HLK southern Belle.. I have 3 Harley Benton's too.. 👍
Let’s be honest.. their setup is them kinda going through the cheap Chinese guitars they order to find the best outta the 4 they tried...
Bingo
They don't call them hard luck for nothing.
I've seen a lot of negative comments about HLK on this review. Must be mostly people that had the bad luck to get a lemon. I own six and I love them all. Granted, I have modified three - because I wanted to - and I do my own set-ups - when needed. That being said, there are a lot more satisfied customers out there that have not commented. here's mine: buy one or don't. I too am a connoisseur of inexpensive guitars, and now that I have subscribed, I have a lot of vids to watch! You are awesome, Bro.
I’d like to see a Jackson x series on the channel.
I have a pro and a js. They are amazing! But all the x series I played were pretty meh. I don't why. Something just seems off.
My Randy Rhodes XMG was an amazing guitar, I can’t play v’s though so I sold it. I got Monarkh SCX and it was a middle of the road guitar and TINY the neck was like a yard stick with strings and the body was only an inch thick. Pickups were the same as JS. The Monarkh is the dead horse of the series for sure. The Kelly X is amazing.
Currently every Jackson series is a decent bang for the buck :)
I play a Jackson Js22 Dinky. It is great. The tone is amazing. I have played Blues, Metal, and Punk on it. It has a much slimmer neck than most guitars, which makes it great for new players or players with smaller hands. For those versed in guitar, it is a fast neck.
It came already set up out of the box. It is great. I put heavier gauge strings on it.
You can get it for 200 on Amazon. They have a 7 string model as well around the same price point.
Jacksons are junk you guys are nuts. Get a MIJ one from the 90s
Outstanding Sir and the Fury Road rocks in the background
Thanks for the review. I've been wondering about these guys for years. Someone told me they were good. I didn't believe them until now.
I agree with you on the vintage trems. All new modern guitars should use the two-point trems at the very least, or just go with stop tailpieces.
I got a Hard Luck King guitar and it is a huge disappointment. I paid for the "fret job" and simply put, the guitar had many dead spots and fret buzz. One pot is broken. I struggled to set up the intonation properly. The pick-ups are dull. It got cracks between the neck and the body. Even the logo decal on the headstock was not put properly.
I had purchased the Southern Belle tele copy model. What a pc. of crap! The neck joint was sloppy and loose, for starters. When I called them asking for a refund, they gave me the runaround!! Then when I explained why I wanted this, they tried to give me advice on how to fix the problem, rather than granting my wish for a refund. So after persuing them to no avail, I decided to fix it myself, by drilling and putting dowel pins in. Then the wonderful fret job that they promised?? You guessed it! So I ended up rounding off the frets myself, so that they werent catching on my hand. There are 3 frets that needed to be filed also!! My advice?? AVOID HARD LUCK KINGS!! PERIOD!!
But they look so pretty!
yes very leery of HLK
@@catmandoo8295 what a nightmare, sorry about your experience, they should be called bad luck kings
Now you understand the name of the brand! lol
I fell in love with these guitars, I own 6 of the different styles and they are my go to when I play live, they look cool play awesome and are just all around fun to play and for the price with or without the setup can't be beat, shame they went out of business. Ty for the reviews
Thank you for reviewing I had no idea that they charge so much for shipping. You have to get into the checkout process before they tell you which is always a turn off for me.
My kiddos surprised me with a HLK Bombshell, white with white pearloid pick guard and 3 black single coils and a maple fretboard and I simply love it. It's balanced well and plays superb. That pro setup is definitely worth the price. Best birthday present hands down. 🎸👍
Sorry I'm a mod in a large FB guitar group and the owner of this company at the time was not a pleasant dude. I'd play a piece of plywood with strings on it before I'd touch one of these.
What?
How long a go was this incident? or are you a Guitar Center Employee?
What happened?
@@theshadowoftruth7561 What an odd thing to say but no, I'm not a Guitar Center employee
@Mía Rodríguez The group in question is a large 65k+ group. This was before my time but apparently he joined and then started posting links to ad for his products which is against the rules. He would then get irate when he was moderated. Lot of name calling apparently so he got booted. then apparently he started bad mouthing the group in other venues/media including a video trash talking the group while wearing a demon mask. I seem to kind of recall that one. He also sent 'minions' to join the group and start trouble from what I've heard.
I've owned a few. I bought them when I was learning set set up, and upgrade. The first I purchased was a LP style, and at fist glance it looked great. But after closer look, the corner of the nut had been broken off, and superglued back on. Now, after a few years, I have frets popping. I ordered another a few months after my first. It was a Tele style, and I ordered it thinking the broken nut on the first was just one of those things, and I LOVED THE BLUE Ford racing color. It was a great looking guitar, and for all intensive purposes was a good guitar. After about a year it needed a neck adjustment. Only then did I find the nut stripped so badly it could not be adjusted. Within that year I had ordered two more. When I got around to working on them, I found on the strat style the neck was twisted. After removing the neck, I found the neck pocket horribly routed, and chuncks of wood broken out. The other, and last one was a quite expensive FB style. Beautiful looking guitar. It needed a fret crowning, becausethe frets seemed very "flat". I found something I had never seen, hollow frets. Guitar was absolutely junk. I actually sent an email to HLK after receiving the FB style raving about it that they actually used as advertising for it in their comment section of said guitar. I feel bad if anyone bought that guitar based on my first impressions. I have given all but the LP away with full disclosure of the issues. I did research HLK before my first purchase and found mixed reviews. The one I remember the most is "Hit and miss, buyer beware". No truer words spoken about these guitars. Because of the time between purchasing, and discovering the issues, I never tried to return them mainly because of the reputation of the owner.
As an Australian, I have never heard of this brand, so I googled reviews. I have to say, based on the reviews I read the quality control is non existent.
If you get a good one good luck, if you get a dud, bad luck. The customer backup seems to be non existent.
Factoring in the freight to OZ, I don’t think you will see many make their way here.
A mate of mine bought a prince madcat tele copy direct from China that he gifted to me. Lovely guitar. Plays great, well made, looks fantastic, and was $300.00 au, which works out at about $230 us.
I bought one of their SG styled guitars earlier last year and my experience was super mixed. I was kinda mad about all the extra fees (especially because a guitar should be playable when bought without needing to pay for the setup) but when I got the guitar in hand I noticed that there was still sharpie marks on the frets, one or two sharp fret ends, the guitar was wired incorrectly so my neck and bridge were essentially swapped, and the bridge was set up so that the guitar was straight up unplayable at opening. So I figured mine just blew through their quality control and I emailed them about it. The dude got back to me and blamed the problem on "guitars tend to get knocked around a bit during transit" and then told me if I wanted to send it back, they were gonna take 50 bucks out of my refund. I've come to the conclusion that they make decent guitars, but have a bad business model and a horrible quality control, so it's a gamble on getting a good one. At this point I've swapped out the muddy pickups, fixed the wiring, added locking tuners and tried my best to setup the bridge and it's pretty awesome now, despite the fact I can't remove the buzz from my low e and a strings but I'll likely replace the bridge soon. All in all, I'd say it's a total gamble.
Inexpensive guitars are so much better made these days. But I think there’s QC issues oftentimes with affordable guitars. I’ve tried Bullet Strats that weren’t well made and I found one last year that I purchased that was impeccable. Zero sharp frets, tuners work and the nut is cut well. For affordable guitars I think it’s always good to see them in person.
I bought a Lady Luck model over 2 years ago and spent the $ for the case, setup, e.t.c. with the guitar being only $109 on clearance. I am still loving it now. The setup was fine... frets and all. The build is solid and comfortable. The clean sound is especially beautiful! My only change would be to have 2 volumes instead of one for my style.
Got one of the Lady Luck model around the same time, it was marked up for a guitar with case. I do like the fretwork and it has a nice sized neck, it's a very playable, not the best but very good for the cash.
Geez!! How many little known brands are there out there that have killer finds like this. I love that look. And the color as well!! I know most wouldn't but I think its a sick looking fiddle!!
Oh you know it's going to be good when there is an extended intro guitar solo!
Not real sure about the guitars,but I kept rewinding you playing that amazing lead! Pure feel
Great analogy on the drum brakes
Love your reviews because not only do you tell us, you also show us. I have been curious about Hard Luck Kings for a while...
I bought a Wolf LP copy after watching your review on them. Best guitar I currently own 👍
The Wolf/AIO guitars are awesome! Some of my favorites that I own. I've been playing my new gold top a ton lately.
Love Hard Luck Kings guitars. I own the traditional 3 single coil Bombshell and the vintage sunburst Spider which is a Fender scale Gibson Firebird copy with humbuckers
Your sweep arpeggios have really come a long way great job very clean and articulate and awesome scalar tapping their man
I bought an hlk wild bill from a pawn shop 100 bucks .
The feel of the neck ,it is a bolt on that's a plus, I had to rewire, replace pods, fret work and I had to set it up..
Plays crazy good I am happy
I bought a tele style for my son-in-law. He loves it. The neck is thicker than my B.C. Rich, but it's not an issue. It sounds like a tele, it plays well, and the electronics are wired properly.
I got one a few years ago and had to have it set up immediately. Even after the set up the neck was junk and had a slight warp. I pulled the neck off and put a replacement on it. I’ll not use them again
Nice shirt, good to see you STILL have a great sense of humor!!
I own two of these, purchased when the "pro setup" was included. My advice to anyone considering buying... if you don't know how to do setup work or know someone who does, stay away. The first was a tele model, the string height was 2x normal, and when lowered anything above the 10 fret was unplayable. The frets were nicely polished, just too bad they weren't leveled first. The second guitar was an explorer model, again the frets were unplayable with a normal string height. Then the fun started, it had a grounding problem that finally lead me to the stop bar not conducting to the post, the ground wire was grounding the post but the bar was not grounded. Buy at your own risk.
I have the exact same one, The Grinch. Love it. I upgraded mine with DIMARZIO Gravity storm pickups and I use it all the time. It is super comfortable to play.
I have 3 HLK guitars... and have been super happy with all of them. I'm a strat guy...i have a 79 strat, a 96 American strat, and a 2016 American tele... i also have a gibson studio, and several other various cheaper guitars... i Shays play my hlk guitars on my recordings... they have needed various adjustments out of the box, but they are sooooo worth it in my opinion. That's my opinion and I'm sticking to it.
Late to the game, but I have 5 HLK's and they all rock. I'd wait until they were on clearance and with set up and shipping they were about $200-$250 (imagine the upgrades and mods you could afford with a base guitar like these). They are no longer it seems, but I love mine dearly. Your review was, for the time, spot on, Max! ✌❤🤘
this brand isn't going to get much attention from me.
Their marketing and everything surrounding the brand itself is just disgusting.
But if you like what you've got, then more power to you.
Recent subscriber, keep up the good stuff Max
Their marketing? How so? I haven't seen much from them aside from their mailing list emails.
It’s like parody level of douchiness.
@@GuitarMAXMusic
Maybe I could've said "social media presence" but I'd argue that counts towards marketing.
There are certain ways that they've presented themselves as a brand, along with their main fan base that just leaves a bad taste in my mouth.
What with the "rat bastards" and the aggressive call-out to their "haters" on social media (specifically their Facebook post from January 9th).
Maybe it's just a personal or generational thing lmao, but the way I see it, I'd be more willing to check out the other brands you've covered for affordable shred machines.
thank you for the reply. Again, I loved the video, the brand just doesn't seem to be the best when it comes to PR in my opinion lol
Cheers, I can't wait to see what you've got in store in the future (even if it is more HLK lol)
@@MrJennety their ads make me want to steal copper and get a DUI
@@MrJennety To this, I would add a stream of naming tropes and other marketing materials that objectify women in ways that, frankly, don't reflect at all well on the brand when put in conjunction with the rest of the behaviours you've mentioned.
As you said, I'll give HLK a pass cause it just doesn't feel like the kind of brand I'd want to encourage to do that sort of thing.
Great playing as always Max! Rock on!
Guitar Max - I just received my Harley Benton SG (~ 239 $ shipping included) which I decided to purchase after seeing your review and I am literally blown away ! I had a Gibson SG back when we were endorsed by them like 25 years ago.... All I can say is THANK you bro ! I can hardly believe the quality of the workmanship, the wood the build quality .. all is incredible. The Frets are rounded, filed and smoothed and perfect.. the binding is flawless, the action perfect out of the box (and it was a winter delivery - cold here !) , the color, the hardware awesome and it comes with Grover tuners... Btw, this is my second Harley Benton now, the first one was the Fusion-II after seeing your video on that one, also very good buy.
Excellent!!
I had one of the Hardluck King's Southern Belle's a few years back. I bought it used, but it was still in pretty mint condition. It played, sounded and felt great in the hand. Typical 7 ish pounds for a T style guitar. The only thing I didn't care for was the walnut fretboard was too light against the matte black. Other than that it was very comparable to a MIM Fender Tele. The only upgrades were a bone nut, brass saddles and roller string trees. It was a very gigable guitar. Besides, who doesn't like matte black and chrome.
Ok a few comments on this video. I got my HardLuck King Bombshell 38 Special Tuesday Afternoon. So I have been playing it for 3 DAYS NOW. I was a bit sceptical at first after reading all the comments here. Over all the look is what you get. there were 2 real minor paint specks on the the body below the Bridge. Other than that it was a really clean paint job. Where the Neck meets the body is clean and tight. The neck is very playable. The frets are Ok the edges are not supper smooth but not uncomfortable , There were no string buzz or dead spots. I was worried about the "Cheap" Tuners with a tremolo but after playing each night I checked the tuning and it was right on. I bought the HLK 5-STAR SET UP and the intonation is perfect. Overall I am very satisfied with The Guitar. I been playing on the Factory stings and It sounds pretty good. This is going to be my travel/ Mod Guitar and it definitely meets my expectation. I did take the back cover off and the tremolo was actually grounded, and the pots felt good and sounded clean.
Just a note: The string height on my 38 Special is identical to my PRS Santana SE I.
Thankfully Max doesn’t have the Glen Diva attitude to match. Whoa... I’ve never looked at green guitars, but that green and black is looking mighty niiiiccceee 🙂
Danzig whit his Own T shirt
@Mike. Hunt. Does the scoring system apply to Max as well? 🤣
Thats so typical!
HA! Danzig! Right off the bat! Your channel keeps getting better, Max. Always look forward to the latest.
Thank you for sharing yet another vid. I always enjoy the time effort and honesty you put into your work. Very informative always. You're also one of my favourite guitarists.
I have two Bossmans (or is it Bossmen?) from them. One I gutted; changed out all the hardware and electronics. Everything down to the screws was changed out. Now, I love that guitar.
If you plan on doing that, these are great mod platforms.
Some Keisel guitars would be cool and possibly the Jackson Pc-1🙏
Just picked up an ESP MV200! Super strats are amazing!
Guitar Max... love the reviews!
Can you once again show the effects and amplifier you are using on the videos.
Pleeeeeeeze!
I found a hard luck kings SG shape called the maverick used and it has quickly become my favorite guitar I love the feel of the neck it has no issues accept the finish on the back of the body being destroyed but it’s used and I didn’t pay much for it
Hey.. I own 6 HLK guitars, they are all great I love the finishes, the body styles and the feel of them. I have upgraded a few with locking tuners, EMG pick ups ,strap locks.... but at the price point you can afford to do that. I do all my own work and set ups. I have not paid any more than $129 for any of them plus shipping. I have not purchased any since they separated the shipping and set up, but I do have my eye on a couple. I am trying to collect all the body styles.
This is why I love your content because you show a ton of brands.You and a handful of RUclips guys do it and its awesome for the sometimes cash strapped(you review all levels of price) because of the virus.Keep it up brother!
Sweet Danzig shirt bro!!!!
Great review. I almost bought that very model when they dropped it to $169. Kind of regretting it now.
Max, I'm glad you did a review. I stumbled on the site searching for guitars. There's not much content in them. I agree. The sale price is good but with the setup, pewter accessory, and shipping adds too much. I can have my local music store do a setup for $45.
Wait - we can't make Danzig references, but he wears the shirt? No fair!
It's what the kids call a 'self own.'
Hes the teacher he can do what he wants lol
I bought a HLK Southern Belle (Tele) about a year ago. My pricing experience was the same as yours - I paid about $280 to get my $159 guitar. Though I paid for their set up, mine still needed the frets leveled and the neck pocket cleaned out (full of wood shavings and didn't sit right) to get the action to what would be "normal" on a Squier Tele. After all that it was a great-playing guitar - as good as my Squier, but the pickups weren't anything special. I swapped in a set of Fender Tex Mex pickups with a base plate for the bridge. Now it's a mean blues machine. I had to change out the pick guard because the HLK neck pickup is a little bit smaller than the Fender, so the Fender pickup wouldn't fit without widening the hole into the screw holes. I had to adjust a couple of pick guard screw holes to make a regulation Fender pick guard fit, but it fits. Also the HLK control cover plate is slightly wider than a Fender, so I had to shave a wee bit out of the indent for the pick guard to fit around the north end of the control cover plate. That's not a complaint - one runs into these issues when swapping parts on any guitar - just a heads-up for anyone who wants to do a little modding. Also, the tuners worked but felt cheap and lumpy. I changed them for some from GFS with butterbean knobs and now it feels like a Tele when I'm tuning. So now I've added almost $200 (not including my free labor) to this HLK guitar that I already paid $280 for. For $500 I could have bought a used Fender MiM Tele. So I have a $480 guitar that is comparable to a Squier, but looks nicer and has all the features I chose. What are you really getting extra when you pay extra for the Fender branded guitar made in Mexico? A nicer neck and a nicer finish, neither of which is a requirement for me. So my Hard Luck Kings Southern Belle, after some work and parts upgrades, is now a guitar I enjoy playing every day. I'm not sorry I bought it.
I’d have to say that Harley Benton and Xavier has it beat. Still love the in depth review! Keep the awesome vids coming!!!
Thanks! Will do!
Please a review of Xavier
I've got a beautiful transparent lime green telecaster with a nice flamed top, gold hardware, that I've done a little custom work (pickguard, knobs, just cosmetics) on. Cost me $175 shipped to my door, sounds absolutely amazing, and I had to do absolutely nothing to it. No fret work, no setup, no nothing. Absolute amazing value for the money.
I did pay the shipping, omitted the setup, and as I mentioned mine didn't need it anyway. And mine was like $175 AFTER the shipping cost, because I got mine on closeout.
I prefer guitars with Floyd Rose disc brakes.
Floyd Rose is really hard to restring guitars. I personally prefer the normal bridge tailpiece cause it's easier to restring guitars too. I get what you mean that people use Floyd Rose guitars to sound cool, I respect that, but I prefer the normal bridge tailpiece with the six screws above the bridge saddles.
It stays in tune well, whereas, with the Floyd Rose bridge, it's so hard to tune the guitar too, especially when you're using lower tunings like Drop C sharp and Eb half step, cause that's what I use on my guitars.
@@Tool-Deftonesfan101 It's not that hard once you get the hang of it.
Percussionist here
Disc Brakes sound better
For the price there are much, much better options. Not to mention..dressing the frets is not time consuming at all, and if paying extra for set up shouldnt even be an issue.
I’ve got 1 HLK guitar. The Lady Luck Explorer style. Got it about 3 years ago. When I first got the axe I was very very impressed. Played good, sounded great and looked real nice. I’ve got to say the Chinese pick ups are a very good PAF sounding hum bucker. Very crisp, lively awake sound. Great cheap pickups. But, after having the guitar for a few years, the neck keeps bowing. Ive had to adjust it 5 times in 3 years, and the truss rod is about to be out of threads. The proper Torx tool is also quite hard to find. Not sure what the problem is, but if the neck keeps bending at this rate - as I am sure that it will, the instrument will become unplayable and unrepairable in a year or two.
What size Torx tool did you end up getting for yours? I have a Spyder that I got for a solid price on craigslist a couple of years ago and I haven't been able to get a solid answer from anyone on what I need to adjust the neck. TIA.
I have 2, Bombshell and a Bossman. Love them
I bought one 2 years ago, the Bossman "Commando." It's the Les Paul style guitar. I got it when the setup wasn't optional, but "included." I think I paid $139 for the guitar plus $50 to ship it. I'm certainly glad I didn't get "charged" for the setup, because if they really do set these up, they certainly do not do a good job. I had fret sprout, high spots on frets, I needed to adjust the truss rod, and it didn't even look like they took the time to polish the frets.
I hope they do a better job, now, since they are charging people for it. I've been trying to sell the thing for $100 locally, but nobody seems interested.
I like that green and black color scheme. It reminds me of my AR-15.
The one I lost in a tragic boating accident.
Man, you and a million other AR owners;-)
Let's see Beto confiscate that! 🤣
F in the chat, sorry such a great rifle was compared to such a travesty of a guitar
Do you have any videos covering cases? I would love an affordable case for some of the affordable guitars but don’t know what’s good and what’s not.
🐊 cases 👍🏽
That's a good idea... but their aren't that many choices unfortunately. I'll see if I can do some research on it.
You’re wearing a danzig shirt!!! Happy days indeed!!!!!
All the companies that have "free" shipping raise the prices of the product to cover shipping. The best way to say this is shipping included in price.
Yeah there is no such thing as “free” shipping
But....there are similarly priced guitars, with equal quality that are "free" to ship. I guess what I'm saying is....HLK guitars are WORTH $169, but NOT $283...
Greetings,
I have wondered about the guitars ......
Recently ( nov ) I bought a wolf bass !
It was a deal of the day 169.00, so I went for it...
When it arrived , it came nicely packaged in a box ( i did not get a case at that time )
At first look it seemed nice, nice weight, nice paint ,neck felt good, I opted for the set up , I also e mailed them that I wanted it set up a whole step down all four strings....
Well the strings were just laying on the neck, even when tuned , half of the split p type pick up was kinda forced down into the body, but other than that it seemed good, obviously I couldn't play it.... I took it to my guitar guy and had them set it up the way I get my basses done, which took a week and half to get ( busy store ).
The day came too try it out, I took it to practice ,,,,, and was kinda shocked!!!
It had a nice sound , the neck felt rather thunderbird like , and its kinda a big bass.....which I like .
Now at a second practice, i statrted playing hard, which I do anyway , with a pick, and found that either the string was slapping the pick up or I have no idea because there was a sound happening which was not good.... I backed off on my playing and it seemed to go away....so needless to say ill need too lower the pick up a shade and try again.
All n all im happy with it for the price , so with the set up it cost me 240... and I did eventually get a case which was another 100.....
Now that i've watched your video I can make a better decision on getting a hardluck kings guitar.....
I'm like the only one I know in my area ( southeast michigan ) that has a hardluck instrument.....
Hell I even wrote the company to ask if they'd make a wolf guitar so I could have a matching pair !!!!!
Thanks for listening !!!!!!
P.s. My guitar player got a g and l tribute tele type guitar and the wiring is wrong, it has two tone knobs, no volume knob......
304 gutters all stainless steel fret board with Seymour Duncan pickups. The blue one is pretty cool.
I bought one about 3 years ago, the black bombshell (bombs on the inlays and had a Hard Luck Kings skull on the body behind the bridge--nice looking). I find that even though it was set up, the action is high and the intonation wasn't done right. It really plays well in the neck pick up for a deep blues sound. The bridge sounds nice, a bit thin, but meh... It really plays well as a slide guitar with the higher than normal action and the deep tones from the neck pick up. I waited for it to go on sale and got it for $139, paid about 189 with the shipping. Wasn't a bad experience. I may go down that rabbit hole again.
Everything and Anything you play sounds Pro Level. Sweet 😀
I own a HLK Spider. It looks, plays and sounds great. However I bought it from a friend for $160 because I just can’t get past that damn shipping fee. That being said, I do really like the guitar!
Great job max!!! these guitars are cool!!
I bought a used HLK Maverick from the GC website a couple of years ago. I actually probably paid more than it would have cost to buy it from the site, but it was the OD green style paint scheme similar to the one you have here. Set neck, coil split pickups, pretty good heft to it. It was a solid guitar. It had Alpha pots, and Orange Drop caps in it when I got it, but I don’t know if that was a factory thing or an upgrade from the previous owner. I never had any neck or fret issues, but, again, that could have been because of the previous owner. Initially, I really, really liked it! I liked it enough to recommend it to quite a few friends, in fact...but then, I started seeing a lot of things that put me off. There was a guy who professed to be an employee who really slammed a lot of different people for saying that there were better options. There were numerous horror stories of the owner claiming that he had fixed issues when it was obvious that he hadn’t. There was at least one story of him offering to send a buyer a new neck for the guitar that he had sold him, brand-new, that was unfixable...as long as the buyer paid the shipping for the new neck and the returned neck.
At the end of the day, there were too many stories for me to disbelieve what I was reading, especially when a number of them had screenshots of correspondence from the owner backing up their story. My opinion has always been that if you build and sell a product and it isn’t right, you make it right. If you refuse to do so, or make excuses why you can’t, then my business will go elsewhere.
I got rid of my Maverick not long after that. I traded it for an Epiphone LP Studio. Couldn’t be happier!!!
I actually really like the chunky tone this thing gets! And it sounds it responded very well to your playing
Great review dude!
Thanks a ton!
Bought one in the past. Came with broken pot and bad set up. Guy wouldn’t let me return it ! Never buy one again !
If its the truth, its the trurh
Another troll in his moms basement. Shut up blue hair............
@@jasonthemason1971 Your brain is more damaged than hlk's reputation
@Victor Buford Your uncle acts like someone who hits his wife after downing a case of natty lite
@@croc3862 say hello to your mom for me. I bet she’s my biggest fan...........
I just sold my Spider. It was a Matte Red FireBird style body. I had GFS pickups in it. Sounded fine for $400. Built well. Neck was GIGANTIC! HUGE-ASS neck. Some folks love that. I thought it was a cool guitar.
Those Mavericks look sick. Like the esp viper almost but I love that they match the neck to the body color
I bought a southern belle about 4 years ago. I just happened to come across their website one evening and had enough beer in me to say “what the hell”. I had never seen one, read a review, just took a chance. Well, after years of reading nothing but bad reviews and trash about them I must have gotten a unicorn.. Mine plays and sounds as good as most I have. (Excluding the explorer with dirty fingers.🤣). I’ve had friends play it and not find any issues.. Now I’ve never had to deal with their customer service, and a lot of the complaints seem to lie there, but as far as an instrument goes mines gonna stay in the rack here for a long time.
It's a wonderful sounding guitar for what it is, Max.
I don't know what it is but that beautiful, evocative green colour always takes me back to better days in my life ( and at 57 years old, that's a long way back! 😆 ).
You have this knack of showing what a guitar can do in a relatively short time span.
It's a nice instrument; but I do understand about 'that bridge'.
Best to just swap it out for a nice Wilkinson or some such?
Thank you Max, for all your great guidance and terrific playing ability. Your such a humble guy.
Bless you and yours, always.....
STAY SAFE STAY WELL EVERYONE!
🤗❤️❤️❤️❤️😷😷😷😷🤘✌️🖖👋
I got a 5 string Bombshell bass from them, with the setup, and it was an excellent value and has done quite well for me. I'll definitely try a guitar and probably get another bass.
Yes Max i agree drum brakes on a 3k PRS is insanity!
I recently got the same guitar. My wife picked it. I like it alot! It's built well. I'm going to upgrade the tuners and pots. Then it will be a pretty sweet guitar. I had to set mine up myself but didn't take too long. I think the pickups sound pretty cool.
Yes I would like to see more hard-luck Kings guitars on your videos keep it up bro I love it
The Explorer style guitar looks like one I would love to see you review. I always liked that style of guitar , not the bass , I’m not a bassist , but I seen the silver Explorer style I think they called it Spider.
Awesome video as usual
👍👍👍✌️✌️✌️🤘🤘🤘
It looks cool, but not sure if I could do insane sweep shredding on it.
I'm really liking the sterling stingray 30 matte black👍 love to see a review.
I've been watching Max's vids for a while now, and I've never seen any comments about his luxuriously thicc voice. Dude could have a fantastic career as a voiceover artist
Hmmmm, I'll have to check them out. I'm like you, I've known about them for quite some time,but I always hated that extra shipping charge, and the required setup fee. Great playing too dude,you rock.😉
From what Ive seen all their social media comments give them stellar marks, and if you google seaech them youll see virtually nothing but owners that hate them.
He removes all negative feedback and blocks the poster from commenting. I know he did it to me for mentioning the guitar had bad fretwork.