Let's ask a Luthier: are Harley Benton guitars any good?
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- Опубликовано: 27 янв 2022
- On the trip to pickup the Harley Benton TE80 MadCat, I decided to take a camera along and ask out favorite luthier Fern his thoughts on the subject.
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Basically, all guitars in the “affordable,” working man’s budget are imported from China, Indonesia, or Korea. I’ve had a ton of them from Fender, Epiphone, Gretsch, Ibanez, Italia, Danelectro, and more. If you research any of the modern Far East guitar factories they all have CNC and automation to such a degree that poor build quality is a thing of the past. The caveat is that budget guitars use some lesser quality hardware, electronics and pickups, all of which are easily improved with relative simplicity and reasonable cost. I have an Epiphone Les Paul Standard Pro upgraded with all Gibson OEM parts and electronics. It plays and sounds like a Gibson costing thousands more and I don’t have to baby it. I play it. I take it into dive bars. I play outdoor venues. I’d rather be able to use my “cheap” guitars than stare at high priced ‘wall-hangers.’ Cheers!
Yes I myself have traded an LP Standard for a Epiphone 59. Never looked back! Thanks for sharing!
Wouldn't buy a guitar from China... It would feel tainted. Anywhere else... Indonesia are producing the odd high end guitar, Korea has produced decent guitars... China can keep its junk to itself.
@@mikethebloodthirsty that's OK Mike, millions of people still buy Chinese made stuff, including your American fellas, hopefully you don't feel tainted
Sorry, but if you buy an expensive guitar and feel the need to “baby it” and not take it out to play, you probably couldn’t really have afforded it anyway. Simple fact is - since expense is relative - somebody that can afford an expensive piece of kit will use it as normal since if it is damaged, they replace or repair it.
Imagine buying a private jet but keeping it in a hanger and never using it?
Imagine owning a classic Porsche but being too frightened to take it for a spin?
It would be because you can’t afford the repairs or cost of replacement - that is the only reason you would “baby” anything.
I so agree. I would love to have a Fender Pro II in the Dark Knight finish, but I can not justified or afford spending $1500 (US) for a guitar. About a year ago I bought a Squire Affinity Strat off of Facebook Market Place for $100. over the last years, as I had the money, I changed out the tuners, pickups, trem system, strings and string trees, pickguard and all the electronics. The most expensive part was of course were the pickups, but I love this guitar now!! It sounds amazing and plays wonderfully. Over all I spent about $700. know some will say why didn't I just save my money and buy a players series fender? I actually think I did better with my own build, there is something to be said for taking a guitar all the way down and building it back up to where you want it to be. I am an electronics technician so I was able to do all my own wiring and I learned a lot in the process about how electronics work in a guitar. You can make it very simple or get a little creative. Mine has a couple things not usually found in a strat. . To each his own......thought.
I've said this on many guitar videos, I have a Fender Stratocaster and a Harley Benton, and it's not how good the cheaper guitars are, it's how bad the expensive one are 🤘
I also have a Fneder Stratocaster, and a Harley Benton. Fender is by far a better instrument. It's not even close.
@@milankotevski1663 I just got a players plus for a little over 1k. It's an amazing guitar! I have 18 guitars in total. Most are cheap imports. I don't have a Harley Benton. So I can't say they are like my squires or ephiphones Or ibanes. But I do know they are not as good as my fender.
@@captaintony1227 HOW are they "not as good" if the neck carve was run the same on a CNC settings.... the frets good, if one changes the Pickups, and maybe tuners.. what's left? Seriously.
I have a Japanese law suit strat guitar that was made by "Splendor" in 1972, it is comparable to Fender quality.
@@grantkoeller8911 Kiso Suzuki Violin Company made it, not some shady folks trying to cash in by stealing IP. The Yamaha ones are killer as good as Strats and Les Pauls of their time.
I own 3 Harley Bentons that I've done work on and I love them. They all shine at what they do.
100%.
I have the TE52 , SC450GT , and the DC junior . with set up intonation dialed in and replaced w Gotoh tuners I have sturdy hard working guitars . Surprisingly I like the pickups in them but I need spacer to raise dogear P90 closer to the strings . other than that pups are ok . the SC450P90GT , the p90 gold top is my pick o the litter . it took couple or three months for them to arrive and they went through customs and sent to a distant post office and I had to pick them up and pay additional 60$ customs fee . but I am very pleased w my Harley Benton guitars and to me they are found worthy to sit next to my '04 Gibson SG and '96 American Standard strat , '97 Guild S100 . the H.B. p90 gold top is my honey right now the ceramic P90s light the front end o my '55 , 5E5 three knob tweed pro clone up really good w pleasing Tone plugged straight in
It has become quite evident that the Thomann guys were watching very carefully the increase in quality of instruments coming from the East. Their goal was to position themselves as the main provider of the best quality Chinese guitars in the world and they have accomplished that task.
Good point, but I just want to chime in that Thomann do their manufacturing all in Indonesia when it comes to guitars at least.
uhhh. with some work on it..ruclips.net/video/KlkwiJQpScE/видео.htmlsi=-TSg1tz4iuPPyAWQ
I'm an old geezer who bought a Fender Broadcaster back in the day (new). Back then Leo Fender was the ""disrupter" with his new line of guitars, although even these had "teething problems" with the early examples that didn't have truss rods.
Now a days its brands like Harley Benton and I say "good for them."
If a guitar plays good, sounds good, has a decent weight to it (no boat anchors please), stands up to the rigors of gigging (or whatever the owner wants to do) and looks good what more can a guitarist ask for?
eh?
Good on Harley Benton.
Old geezer who bought a new Broadcaster? So you're in your 70's, yet you posted "Let's Play" videos on your RUclips channel??? Stop your nonsense.
The QC on HB is terrible. I've had 10 and sent back 8.
Okay I will admit Harley Benton Jazz Bass is a boat anchor. But then so is my Fender Jazz! Thanks for sharing!
How old are you?
I think we should distinguish some things. 1) when you buy in a shop you can judge the guitar (the physical specimen) on the spot. When you buy online your only have some indicators that generally are about a model and a brand. That, indeed, brand name, model, and information from reviews. You can't judge an individual guitar. Which brings me to point 2) More important than brand name/reputation is the consistency. When you buy a certain model from a certain brand, will these two indicator be sufficient to determine the quality of the single physical specimen that you will get delivered? That mainly is a matter of quality control (QC). QC is more decisive than brand name. But then, some brand have high consistency, others have low consistency. Since the costs of making a guitar are mainly determined by labor (although we mainly think of the materials), labor is relative expensive and QC is a matter of labor, affordability mainly comes at the cost of consistency. Also cheap labor and QC don't go well together, it appears (when you pay peanuts..). So, when it comes to brands, the question rather should be, what is the chance i will get a good guitar. Undoubtedly there are very good affordable guitars, but will you get one of them (when you buy online)?
That beings me to 'a good guitar'. I think the video shows clearly well that it also depends on what your resources are. Do you have luthier 's eye, knowledge and skills? Then in essence you can afford to buy a guitar that was made with savings on labor. You put in the labor now yourself. Or pay a luthier, which easily will top 50 bucks on labor alone. The same and of course in a higher degree holds for the beginner guitar issue. For the beginner generally can't set up a guitar (even isn't aware of the concept) and certainly has no ' luthier' insights, knowledge, let alone skills. Here also the matrial doesn not matter as much as the consistency, the QC and the set up right out of the box.
So as a conclusion I'd say ' Is x a good brand?' isn't the right question when (as generally) meant ' Are there good guitars branded x?' And the effort to save 40-100 bucks on a affordable guitar gives a decent risk of having to spend a multitude of that to get what you want/need, or may ruin a beginners guitar dreams (unplayable guitar, needing set up, fretwork etc).
Yes it comes down to playing skills but high end guitars just feel so good.
jimmy page shaved his les paul neck so idk what you mean by feel since the neck is pretty much all you touch when playing any guitar and sandpaper is inexpensive
@@carmineredd1198 What? You don't understand what 'feel' of a guitar neck means? You ever played a high end guitar?
My Fender US 75 RI went to a pro luthier ok and came back amazing. My Sadowsky came back with a not saying it needs nothing. I hear you. As for Harley Benton and the others it's great for those who can't afford the 3k up and can still have a well playing, great sounding instrument to get started. Having both is best.
I've had a Gibson (1985 XPL-V with Kahler factory installed, got it in a swap with a nice Japanese guitar) and it really was utterly rubbish - definitely worse than Chinese and Indonesian Epiphones.
If it makes you feel good to spend thousands on a single guitar, then by all means go ahead.
Harley Benton is a house brand for a line of music instruments and equipment produced by original equipment manufacturers, mostly in China and other Far East nations, for Musikhaus Thomann, a large multinational importer and mail-order retailer based in Bavaria, Germany.
Thanks for that!
I'm 100% fine buying guitars from Indonesia and Korea, great quality and no ethical or genocide problems! I have 4 Harley Benton's and they're excellent.
There will always be ethical problems, I doubt the workers are paid great. But then you have Gibson paying employees $25 an hour to make guitars that they sell for $4,000. And with the sourcing of materials for the instruments, someone's always going to be exploited somewhere in the process.
I have two HB guitars, both excellent for the money, as you say, a great upgrade guitar, change to lockable tuners, and maybe up the pickups , but they are decent for the money. Great review very honest and upfront
If the guitar is excellent with everything you need in a guitar then it’s not just excellent for the money. It’s simply excellent and a 10 out of 10. What else would you want then?
My Harley Benton DC-580CH Vintage (emulates Gibson SG) is an amazing guitar.. especially for $150. It's the most comfortable guitar to play, it just fits me really well. I did replace the Roswell pickups. They weren't bad, but I wanted lower output vintage hum buckers... It does sound a little better now.
Take a look at my latest video swapping the Roswell pickups for a set of Alnico 3 custom winds. You may find what you’re looking for with the company that made mine.
I was going to buy a 335. I have never played one and was worried about paying $3k plus and not liking it. I decided to buy a HB equivalent to try. I wasn't expecting much. I was shocked when it came in. The thing sounds and plays amazing. I honestly can't see bothering with the Gibson now. I might change pickups, I doubt it though.
Yes, it's very silly to cast your pearls before swine when you are a pig.
@@richsackett3423 The bible is a book of pedophiles for pedophiles.
I ended up with a Harley Benton SC-400 gold top out of a swap for an effects pedal (worth about £50). Amazing how good it is for the cheapest LP copy they offer, I think they're only about £110 new. Anyhow after minimal tweaking the guitar plays well and sounds great for classic rock tones. Good guitar for little money, that is if you like thick baseball bat necks, which I do lol. I'll probably need to replace a few bits over time like the cheapo tuners, etc but I'm happy enough with it overall. Good value for money guitars imo.
I got the L-1000 from Harley Benton. And for a guitar priced at $170 it’s a great guitar. The construction and the build quality I would say is close to perfect. The only things is some of the finish has a little bleed but it’s so minor. No issues. Now out of the box it’s a decent guitar of course. But I’ve modded and it plays and feels like a guitar worth 10 times it’s value.
I sold all my expensive guitars years ago and replaced them with Harley Benton guitars. I don’t regret it at all. I used to have a Gibson SG Standard, Explorer, multiple Fender Telecasters and strats. I honestly get the same feeling from the HB guitars and had money to spare. You only sound as good as your playing and as I don’t play shows anymore, I’m less worried about the name on the headstock. I know resale value isn’t great on these guitars but I bought them to keep, not to sell or flex.
I have seen some good quality coming out of China lately. It's easy to find good deals on lightly used pickups on line. Duncan pickups aren't expensive new. I recently purchased a cheap Tele style for a friend, and was surprised at how well it played.
I wouldn't sell my guitars cheap or expensive guitar when I buy I never worry about resale value cause I'm not planning to sell them down the road. I'm glad you found some you don't want to sell and it inspires you to play that's what it's all about.
@@qua7771 People often think China is just cheap crap. It's not. They have great craftsmen, it's just that normally people are making something to a price. If you tell the Chinese manufacturer you want to sell it in the UK for £149, Then once the markups are acounted for they are making it for about £25 or whatever, they make what they can for that money. You tell them you want the best they can make, they will sell you an all solid wood acoustic guitar that pisses over £3000 Taylors and Martins that you can retail in the UK for £500
@@EfftupSmith I have one of the solid wood acoustic replicas, and I'm impressed. The hardware was junk, but the craftsmanship was good. I'm assuming it's epoxied together, so any future repairs may not be so easily done. I can tell they painted the guitar with the neck on. I'm not sure any future neck reset will be possible. They did scallop the bracing. I guess I'll find out how graceful this guitar ages.
Very few things are still manufactured in the US, and UK. I don't think people realize how little.
Most Harley Bentons are made in either Indonesia or Vietnam.
So my first question is does this luthier just work on them or does he sell HB?
I purchased the SC-DLX Gotoh Pelham Blue over Xmas as they we're on "sale". It was my first HB, and was pleasantly surprised. The pickups are ok, nothing to make you go wow but for 280 USD, I cant really complain at all. Plays well, did have to adjust the truss to reduce the bow but other than that, good to go out of the box.
I have a Harley-Benton DC-600 VI (SG copy with 3 humbuckers) and I absolutely love it. No alterations needed.
I want one of those. Vintage white? Looks like a light yellow with a white pick guard? Oh yeah, that's the ticket. I like this program, the idea of build up a cheap guitar with parts you want.tuners, pickups, whatever.
You are ahead of the game!
@@saltpeter7429 I believe they call it Vintage Ivory. It’s a cream color with gold hardware (no pickguard).
Excellent video. I have three Harley Benton's and they are all great guitars. I did replace a bridge pickup on one of them but the others are perfect to me and need nothing. Thanks for posting this video!
Thanks for watching!
I'm glad to see some decent imported guitars out there, because that's all most people are going to be able to afford. You can buy a decent import guitar, a decent combo amp, and set up a small home recording studio for the price of a single American-made guitar in many instances.
I bought a TE70RW two years ago, and I've got no complaints. I knew that cheap tuners were going to be on this guitar, so I added a set of Klusons from them to add to my order.
When I ordered mine, shipping costs to the US was still reasonable. I was able to get the guitar and tuners shipped to me for a total of $200 USD. I haven't changed the pickups yet because I always play with a little gain.
For what you pay for a Harley Benton, I think they're pretty solid. One thing Harley Benton does that you won't find on other "working man" guitars, is they use a Floyd Rose 1000 vs a Floyd Rose special. At a 430-ish$ price point, you get a Floyd 1000, stainless jumbo frets, a spoke wheel truss rod, and Grover tuners. That's pretty damn good if you ask me. For a bit extra, you can get a roasted maple neck. The Roswell pickups aren't the best, but they're pretty punchy. It's nothing a simple swap can't fix. The affordable market has come a long way over the last decade. I think RUclips channel reviews have had a lot to do with that.
Seymour Duncan pups are under $100 USD as are DiMarzio
@@carmineredd1198 Hi where are these pups at that price? especially here in Australia, can't find any where near that price, Do you know wheres a good place to source them online?
The guitar tech is spot on. Expense is in the details. Play what you want and get better at it.
I own 2 of these guitars, and I mostly travel up and down the west coast with various bands in all types of genres of music. I couldn't make much in playing with one band. I take my Harley Benton guitar's on the road, and they hold up pretty well. Not much issues at all. Now session playing I use more of my music man guitar's, and charvel guitar's. So in my opinion, for what's worth. Great guitars. No complaints from me.
Music Man guitars are amazing! But I am interested in having a Harley Benton to throw around.
@RyanMcQuen I really don't have complaints. I have one of their tele style, super strat, and a solid body electric nylon guitar. All have been fine. Eart guitar's I have had pretty good luck with as well.
I have several Harley Benton. Pick-ups are good as soon as you pass the 100€ price line.
The real issues are with quality spread and consistency: it is not uncommon to get a quitar with a few high frets or with faulty or strange electronics. I had one (an SC-450 Plus) with a logarithmic pot on one tone control and a linear one on the other tone control: carelessness in the factory. I also had a R-458 with humbuckers wired in parallel instead of in series (as humbuckers usually are), and several review videos confirmed it was that way on all guitars of this model.
Another common occurence is the sudden change of features or part types. You might not always get what you see on the web site (their B-450 basses once moved from monorail bridges to a more standard design without warning and people got the new type before they knew it was happening).
Finally, new models have often come with design flaws corrected in later batches. The Fusion model was first made with a retainer bar (on the non- Floyd Rose models) which was later replaced by string trees because that was causing tuning stability issues.
To sum it up, they can be very good guitars but the customer is the quality control instance.
It is not snobby to give an accurate opinion about Harley Benton. As a professional guitar technician, I see many HBs, and because their quality control is inconsistent, individual guitars can range from quite good to horrifying. Usually, the negative reviews come from people who have had a legitimately bad experience.
Yeah quality control seems to have a huge range from perfect to unplayable.
Thats exactly why I tell everyone to play it before you buy it. Buying guitars sight unseen is a good way to get burned
I’m willing to take a chance on Harley Benton, are Sires good guitars?
I've bought 3 Harley Benton guitars.... they are all great. I record with them along with guitars that cost 10 times their price and they perform beautifully.
I have a Harley Benton EX model and I was stunned by the quality. Such a fun guitar to play! Can't say how it compares to an actual Gibson but I know I like it. I love what you did to your TE, it looks great! I've been thinking for a while that I really should add a Tele to my lineup...I may need to follow your lead. Good stuff, man!
I just got an HB S620 TR. I haven't done much with it yet since I gotta set up the Floyd Rose (waiting for weekend so I have all the time needed, lol). Looks and is put together great! Has a locking nut, Floyd, and decent pickups for $140 (EDIT: has gone up to $155 in last few days). Putting it up against an LTD ec256 and an Epiphone 339 pro on an MK2 Katana 50. Hopefully all goes well for my 1st HB.
I think you did a great job on the reshaping of the headstock. I know you were trying to match the stain on the body but I like the look you ended up with. It kind of looks "worn" or aged without looking overdone. But in the end it is your guitar and it comes down to how do you like it and how does it play. Enjoyed the video and hearing the Luthier opinion.
I appreciate that! Thanks.
I've purchased 2 nylon string guitars and an 5 string resonator banjo from Harley Benton/Thomann. All of them are excellent construction and materials. The main point that gets me are the shipping costs from Germany, which could almost be the same as the price they sell for. They are all beautiful to boot
I love guitars and have a collection of 43. In those there are two very expensive Gibsons which I hardly use, a Martin, a Taylor, 5 Deans, one Fender, 3 Squiers...etc. I also have 3 Harley Bentons, 2 basses and a small accoustic. All 3 are really good for the price, excellent in fact. I use the accoustic more than my others, and also a squier tele.
I too have a Squier classic vibe series Strat which is my go to guitar and after a couple of minor set up tweaks is a much better instrument to play than the fender player series Strat I also own which is now gathering dust in the cupboard.
@@andrewgent5887 The same with my Fender Tele. I always use the Squier, the Fender is in its case some where....lol! I also have a Japanese Strat from about the 1970's. Bought it in a second hand shop for about 50euros. It is superb.
@@opheliajadefeldt9123 ✊👍
i bought a HB sg junior for £150 thinking it would be a mod platform and not all that great, but was really surprised at how well it played for such a cheap guitar. I'm no luthier of gearhead though, so I'm really glad to hear a professional give the thumbs up!
I have two Harley Benton guitars. Both of them arrived from the factory in incredible condition. I tuned them up and played them. They felt as good as any guitar I've played that cost multiples of the HB. In fact, I played a friends brand new Martin acoustic. Worth about $4000 Canadian dollars and the fret work was horrible and the tone was mediocre. I will never ever pay that kind of money for a new guitar, EVER!
Gretchs have some good ones in my opinion for about 500 to 600 that play and sound great the look may not appeal to some and the electronic layout is different but hey I think they sound great
I bought a HB TE90 hollow body a few years back.
It came in a beautiful dappled blue colour, which sadly faded over a couple of months .... and it ended up a horrible faded green colour.
The guitar however sounded great, came with Wilkinson pick ups, and a set of Fender tuners which I installed after a few weeks.
I’m awaiting delivery of Harley Benton JA-60CC in seafoam green, so it is a relief to hear the luthiers verdict on these guitars.
I can see myself installing new pickups, as while watching a demo my partner said the sound from the pickups wasn’t so good (she has a good ear) and as long as the basic construction of the guitar is good especially the neck, I’ll be happy.
I asked the same question at Guitar Center..and everytime the guy says, "Luther's out to lunch."
My opinion is that all affordable guitars have gone up in quality in the last 20 years, looking at the affinity line from squier is basicly the standard quality from back then.
Did you need drill the holes to fit the fender tuners on there?
Yes. And unless filled and sanded the holes from the previous pickups will show.
A lot of these HB guitars are made at the Cort factory where PRS SE, G&L Tribute, and many other companies have their guitars made. HB has improved a lot in the last few years. I bought a HB LP type and the body and neck are great. Some people claim that they use a maple veneer. That may be true, but this LP type has about a 1/2 inch of maple on top of the mahogany. There may be a higher grade veneer on top of that, but it looks great. I replaced the pots, pickups, tuners, switch, and output jack. I now have about $650 in this guitar, but it sounds, feels, and plays as well as a lot of guitars that cost a lot more. A little fret work, round of the edges of the fretboard, and it plays great. Very few people will have the exact same guitar that I have.
Yes, it is a maple veneer and it's all one needs. Some fools think a thicker cap does something important and more idiots just sneer at things for being cheaper than others. The latter sort are born suckers.
Early 2020 I ordered a HB mandolin and a 6 string bass anticipating more time at home to have a couple new yet inexpensive instruments to play. Shipping was messed up at the time so the order was delayed but all arrived packed fine and so far the instruments seem to be really well made. I had them set up (I do that with any instrument I have) and they are fine as is. Definitely not going to hold anyone back.
FWIW to me a guitar/bass/mandolin is all about the neck fitting my hand and the setup
I appreciate the honesty
As a luthier myself I'm 50/50 on a lot of these. Certainly modern automation is making guitars far better and more solid, however there are often issues with fret and hardware alloys and the fret dressing, which just takes more money and time than the guitars need, and sure you can refret and replace everything but at that point there is just a better time buying a nice used guitar. I think it's great beginners can get a good guitar for not much money, however the one thing I don't like is people with 10 cheaper guitars. You don't need 10 different guitars by any means, and the consumerist nature of some players rubs me the wrong way. But that's more a people issue than a guitar issue.
is titanium alloy frets good ?
need several guitars due to different scale lengths and 21 22 and 24 frets so your point is moot
Mind your business. I’ll have as many guitars as I like. :)
@@carmineredd1198 Don't think there's titanium frets! But Fender/Gibson nickel frets aren't the same as import guitar nickel. Stainless seems to be fine regardless. This is over god knows how many setups and the handful of different guitars I own. And even then things like fret count and scale length only do so much - I'll agree that 22 vs 24 is different as you move the pickup position, but 21 frets keeps everything in the same place so it's functionally identical.
@@karlcountry2363 Guitars are my business! Literally! Cheap guitars have a place, but from talking to customers the vast majority of actual grownup musicians will see better results from a handful of good instruments rather than two dozen chibsons or harley bentons. Esp as the cracks begin to show if you actually put them through the wringer like in a school setting where the "lots of cheap guitars" is actually useful. So many broken output jacks and frets just about played through.
I am definitely going to have to get one
If you’re in the states expect delays on shipping. But if you’re in no hurry try the SG custom and see how it is in comparison to your new Epiphone. Thanks again for sharing!
Thanks a lot, very useful video!
The "cheapness" that he points out is stuff you can find on brand new $3000 Gibsons.
Thanks for that professional confirmation! I've been seeing reviews of the Dave Mustaine signature from Gibson. They all say it's a $800 guitar sold for $2800. But the quality issues in paint finish, tool marks on the fretboard, sloppy shielding paint work etc., I've never seen it that bad on cheaper models of other name brands and not with any of my Harley Bentons. In general the quality of basic models is now so high that there's no reason they couldn't be used as gigging guitars.
Exactly.
I've owned an '85 Gibson XPL-V (basically Mustaine's new toy, but then mine had a Kahler installed from factory) and that was definitely a badly made guitar. Body was 5 asymmetrical pieces of mahogany, the neckpocket was so rough that some blue putty was plonked in before painting the whole thing black (well, slathered actually - never seen that much paint on any surface...). That paint was peeling away from the neck, and sanding it off was a real nightmare: never had the chance to cure in between layers.
Gibson has, for many decades, been all about the name and the pricetag - absolutely not about quality....
I have 3 HB guitars swapped the pups in one and the other two come with EMGs .....the quality is outstanding on them.
Agreed!
Anything you work on an accomplish with your hands you should have a certain amount off pride in. I think the stain job fits it fine.
Great to hear a luthiers take on it. I think more people would buy them here in the states if they were more accessible. As you know Americans want things "now" and absolutely hate paying shipping, LOL. I mean I ordered something off Amazon and got it on my door step in less than 24 hours, that is hard to compete with. I honestly don't know why they are not on Amazon yet. HB's and Solar's need to get into our warehouses here for sure! I feel like they could fill that space in local music stores created by Gibson and Mesa's absence.
Great show this week Mike, hope your well and good! :)
Oh Fern is tough. He is a true perfectionist so I never would have got high marks anyway! No I’m happy with it myself. It was a fun project.
All is good here. Today feels like spring. Take care!
@@USTTRM Yeah we got sun here today too, enjoy. :)
My latest purchase is a Jackson JS22 Dinky DKA in Natural Oil. I got that finish so I could get a different body wood than the usual poplar. (I have nothing against poplar; I've already had two poplar guitars and didn't want to repeat myself too much.) The Natural Oil finish model comes with a NATO body, and nato is a wood I hadn't experienced before this purchase.
The quality of the Jackson is surprisingly good. I won't say much about the tone of the nato body, because I need to get more used to it, but I am REALLY crazy about the neck and fretboard! While some people consider Ibanez' Wizard necks to be the gold standard of thin shredder-type necks, the Jackson speed neck profile is the thinnest I've owned. Understand that I also own two (Count 'em!) Ibanez guitars, one of which is an RG and the other of which is an EX, which is a precursor of the South Korean built RGs. The speed neck is thinner! The fret work is a mixed bag, with sharp fret ends but also with fretwork that feels and sounds like a recent fret job. Great sustain! The pickups are cheap ceramic humbuckers which sound way better than cheap ceramic humbuckers! The weakest points of this Jackson are it's tuners (changed them out the same day I got it), the bridge (ditto), the sharp fret ends (easy to deal with) and the pickups. For me, the really standout feature is the conical (compound) radius fretboard - my first! I really like it!
I got all this for a mere $200 and tax! I got it through eBay but the seller was Guitar Center/Musician's Friend, and there's a Guitar Center in town, so ... I bought the axe specifically for modding, so I'm ignoring most of its initial faults.
While it may be true that there are no "beginner" guitars, I would not recommend this model for beginners. First, there are the sharp fret ends. Beginners won't know how to deal with them. Second is the vibrato unit, which came to me DECKED. While this was no deal breaker for me, a beginner would have trouble with it and would probably not enjoy the guitar because of it. For the experienced player or the modder, however, the JS22 makes for a great upgrade platform!
A half decade ago the budget line was terrible. ESP really killed Jackson there. Now not so much. I think Jackson needs to offer some more modern models though as they are still sticking with the 80s stuff and we are getting a bit long in the tooth now.
@@ripley7t429 You really needed to remind me of how old I am?😆
I used to ride a Harley Benton super glide and play a Harley Davidson Telecaster. Seriously, every time hear Harley Benton I think of bikes. lol. 😆
Im a lefty. Got a bass from them this week. I love it. Came out set up and sounds awesome. I gotta get a guitar from them next
Rock on!
Whoa! I didn't know Trey Anastasio worked on guitars!
I had to mod all the HB’s I acquired except the slimline fender copy. It came perfect.
I'm a 12-string player. I'd like a Rick. I have a Harley Benton. I could buy another 39 of them before I'd spent the price of a Rick. I'd still buy a Rick if i had the budget, but the HB is an amazingly good substitute for the price.
I bought one two years ago, and it's a great little guitar.
That's Shaggy from Scooby-Doo! He would've gotten away with it if it wasn't for me. 🤔
I have a Harley Benton Sg custom
And a Boss Katana MK 2. I got both for under $900. If you can’t make great sounds with this rig, you don’t know guitar. I have a great “Trower” tone and Iommi tone. I also get a great clean “def lepperd” sound
Oh man, you’re in for a treat! I just put my HB SG custom in with Fern for a makeover. Stay tuned!
@@USTTRM I will stay tuned
I bought a Harley Benton SG style guitar. Not exactly the model. I had to get a fret job done on it. The pickups are a very slightly micro-phonic. For the price... It rocks. It is my "mule"guitar. It was bought to be an experimental guitar. Something I could test pickups with. Other then the fret job, it is worth every penny I spent.
The angle of looking at it sitting on that bench looks like you could drive a truck under the low E string! Having said that, I'm a fan of HB as a whole. I have three of them in my 12 guitar collection and they are superb! Good vid!
I have a HB35Plus which cost GBP250, and I believe is Chinese made. It has a few finishing flaws but overall it is good straight out the box. I have been waiting for my luthier to catch up after lockdown etc (he is excellent and so high in demand locally). Shortly he will set up the action and intonation for me, and while he is doing it (as it will be restrung) I will probably ask him to fit a Graphtec nut on it. I bought it because a wanted a semi hollow humbucking guitar and this attracted me first by price, but secondly by having push pull pots for both pups which gives a very wide range of tonal opportunity. There is a very small area on the neck binding near the 12th fret, but Rob (my luthier) is thinks he can overcome with clear filler (this means he can and I trust him 100%, and he won't charge the Earth). It will need better tuners on at some stage but it looks great (cherry flame top) and sounds great, so I am satisfied I bought it.
My go to guitar though is my G&L Tribute Series Legacy (made in Indonesia), and is a match for a 1990 US Standard Strat I sold previously, and this replaced it for GBP425 about 10 years ago. I also have a Faith Saturn electro-acoustic that I bought 5 years ago for GBP875, which is also made in Indonesia.
I fully agree that the standard of Indonesian, Korean and Chinese made guitars are of a level that should not frighten anyone. HB do a PRS style which I have heard massively positive reviews about.
The only reason I see to buy the top line Fenders, Gibs and PRSs etc is for custom shop high end tweaks or for badge-snobbery.
BTW, I loved the video so have liked and subscribed.
I will always take my new guitars to a luthier for two reasons:
1 support your local luthier. I have as you all should how to do a basic setup. That said her/his is a business that is absolutely essential to our community.
2.The educational value.
Thanks again for your support and sharing!
I personally own a harley benton sc 450 plus and I love it, Atm I gave it to a luthier so that they do some adjustments to make it more playable as the strings out of the box were too low as well as the pickups (which was resulting in a phaser like effect on dry signal) But apart from that the quality is great
They had the same kind of opinion on harley benton, great guitars that just need some adjustments by replacing the strings and setting it up (as for him the default strings were bad)
I'm impressed the guy has Thomastik Swing flat wound strings covering the back wall. That dude knows his stuff!
I have several HB bass guitars, for me they are the best bang for buck out there. I just wish they had factory in the US, shipping is a bit costly but the last 2 guitars arrived in like 4 days. Super fast.
@johndelong9230 Which basses do you have? I was thinking about the HB-60 WB semi-hollow body.
Nice Looking Guitar , I've been looking at the HB Bass line up and this will help me in deciding my Next Bass , Thanks for Your Time and to the Luthier 'Fern' for an Honest Opinion ...Semper Fi...
Love my Harley Benton tele, play it more than anything else in my studio, a little setup work and it was good to go
I ended up changing out the tuning machines, modded the nut, modded the bridge (flipped the bridge pieces) cleaned up the nuts and I am in the process of resoldering everything chasing a cold shunt. I also ended up adding extra shielding to the pickguard and pickup locations. This was in a b-stock RB-612CS. I wish that the headstock had a closer to straight string path to the 12 strings, but otherwise, I love this guitar. It plays incredibly well, sounds great with the “filtertrons” in it and I am a big fan of the three-way switch and individual volume and tone controls per pickup.
I've had a couple Harley Bentons, and they're good if you want to try something new. I had a 5 string bass and a Jazz Master style guitar. The 5 string was actually pretty decent and had nice features, but the JA-60, I think it was called, not so much. Very sharp fret ends, really bad tuners, the neck needed to be shimmed, etc. But I was able to get my feet wet with a couple types of guitar I'd never played before and I liked them. Now with that experience, I may be more inclined to get a better instrument of that style in the future. But, Harley Benton has added better quality instruments to their line up in recent years and if you spend a little extra money, you may not need to get a better guitar.
I have a HE 6 string banjo. Good quality, better than some others I've seen and it sounds great.
I have The Harley Benton RB 12 String Rickenbacker Copy. It Is Fantastic, Plays Very Well.
I got curious about HB basses and ordered am Enhanced MP 4eb. Beautiful looking bass with amazing appointments, ebony board, zero fret , nice bridge, bound neck, block inlays and many more but for two things, the pups are dark sounding and the preamp garbage. I have played it once and am still considering upgrading it with better electrics which would cost more than I paid for the entire bass or just sell it and call it a day.
I am a lefty guitar 🎸 player, and have many guitars. And I have 2 Harley bentons which in my opinion are well made and play extremely well. Very good value for the price i paid. So a big thumbs 👌 👍 to Harley benton from lefty Jeff 👏.
Thanks lefty Jeff! I wonder if they offer more for left hand players than their competition.
@@USTTRM HB is the most lefty-friendly brand I've found by far.
@@USTTRM Maybe in the overall amount but I couldn't find anything I liked. Tame, boring selection for me. Found a neon yellow elsewhere, that was exciting.
Have a hb sc customer fr trem. Had it set up or as I say tweet out for the money I payed 277 us dollars outstanding iove it love it have had many ax in about 50 years of trying to play guitar best money I ever spent on a ax. Simply love it. Keep pickin it up ......
I've got expensive Guitars and cheaper ones, HB are a good buy now, Jet and Vintage also worth a look, usually get mine setup by a pro. Tbh, for the average Gig, I dont take expensive ones out to play, just something to worry about, something is either playable on stage or it isn't, recently bought a Jet JS400, pickups ok, but swapped the single coils, as good as a Fender Strat I paid a lot of money for and winds up gear snobs.
I have a Harley Benton DC Fat. Other than changing to lighter gauge strings it's a great guitar for my needs.
I worked in the music industry for decades. Harley Benton doesn't manufacture guitars themselves. They have them made all over the planet and in the same factories as Fender has Squire made, Gibson have their Epiphones made, ESP, Ibanez, Yamaha, PRS etc have their medium to el-cheapo guitars made. I went to the Ibanez, Yamaha, Gibson and Squire factory in 2005 and still have pictures of their warehouse with boxes with Harley Benton written on them. As cheap brand guitars get better, so do the non-brand products because they are often made in the same factory. The main difference is that Fender have tens of thousands manufactured every year and generally get better quality and discounts whereas those who only have small numbers manufactured are squeezed in at down-time. The Cort factory in Korea used to manufacture our guitars but at lower quality. Why? While CNC machines were used on lets say Ibanez, our small production run was done by the night shift and they did not re-program the CNC machines just for our small run...so, they used templates...and often got it wrong. While the Indosian HBs are OK, the Chinese and Vietnamese models suck. Not so much the wood but the electronics. Every non-Indonesian HB I've seen had issues (pots loose, wires loose, poor paint job, fret sprout etc).
@Mark Seymour Didn't he say that he went there in 2005? Sheesh. Trying to score points where none are to be had.
How does it feel?
How does it sound?
Does it fight you?
Do you like it?
I have been playing for 40 years - I'm not old, just an early starter! and I love all of my HB guitars. Two acoustic guitars, one of them a 12 - string, two electric - a double cut custom resembling the SG Custom (3 pickups and all), a single - cut made of mahogany with a set neck a la Les Paul (all of the necks on my HB guitars are set as they're not Fender style bolt - ons) and a 5 - string fretless bass, this one a through - neck design.
They arrived to the PAC NW from Germany within four days of the order.
They arrived slightly out of tune . . . horrors!
But they tuned up very easily, and all not only stay in tune, but the intonation is spot - on. Let me reiterate: every guitar has perfect intonation up and down the neck, including the notoriously difficult - to - tune/ keep tuned 12er.
I always set up my guitars, and these guitars needed little or none. I was bummed because I really didn't have anything to do other than sand and oil the necks.
The electric cello arrived with a snapped bridge, but they replaced it, at no charge, in 4 days.
They all sound exactly like they're supposed to sound and meet my unusually high - set bar (so I've been told) of quality and standards.
The single cut, upon my request, was fitted from the factory with push/pull split coils so the humbuckers can cut to single - coils, with a pull of the tone knobs.
Blah blah blah - sorry, I did not mean to go this long. Point is, an excellent guitar does not have to cost over $500, and my HB "Les Paul" sounds and plays better than my early 80's Gibson LP Custom. I'm not kidding. And since it's close to two pounds lighter, still a heavy guitar as mahogany ain't balsa - it's even more fun to play, especially with multiple set gigs. And if it's ever stolen, well, I won't cry as if it was an Alex Lifeson LP.
Criticize my buys or my thoughts on my buys, but all my guitarist friends either bought one or more or have them on The Wishlist after playing mine.
Sorry to go on and on, but less expensive guitars get a bad rap. And that's bulls**t.
Thanks For Sharing 🎸
i was on the website a few weeks ago and my only concern is shipping they don’t sell the guitars on the website thamann sells them although they are priced cheap shipping is where most of the money comes from and i understand it’s an overseas company that’s my only gripe about them if someone can please explain the difference between the 2 companies please do so is harley benton over seas or just thamann or both
Thomann is a German company based in Bavaria. Harley Benton is their house brand and are made overseas.
A beginner's guitar should still work. It's seems like the new generation of cheap guitars are built better than the cheap guitars we had in the 70s and 80s. A bridge in the wrong place or a rubber neck...wall-hanger, at best.
I started playing in the 70s so yes I hear you! The modern CNC machine technology has turned this around from how it was. Thanks for sharing!
I've had an Indonesian Gretsch, cheap Orangewood acoustic, and a G&L....excellent build quality. My Chinese B&G, Edwards, and Eastman are also excellent. Have said that, my Gibsons are top notch in every way (except my Traditional LP needs a better nut!). My Korean PRS SE is super!! Are we in the Golden Age of guitars? I think so.....
Eastman are on another level to harley benton guitars and are handmade by luthiers. I'd pitch eastman against gibson any day.
I remember Sears Silvertones being common. Jeeze.
@@markfurman4386 my first electric was a very used Silvertone strat my dad brought home in 1978 for me to play...must have been left by a soldier who deployed away and didn't want to take it...valve amp too. Had it thru much of college in early 80s.
the pickups are awesome copies! even better than the original actually. no need to change a thing. i love my HB's
For me, the aspect that matters most for the playability and the feeling of quality of the instrument is the work and attention put into the frets. If the neck is good, well adjusted and the frets are well leveled, polished and the height is to our liking, the differences between an expensive guitar and a cheap guitar are very small. Sometimes it happens that cheap guitars do not allow you to make the necessary adjustments to ensure good tuning. In this case we are faced with a cheap guitar that has no quality and should be discarded. This has never happened to me with a slightly more expensive guitar, but I've had a lot of difficulty getting a good set up on a Delux Stratocaster, but once I got the setup right, it's my best guitar in the collection.
5:08 I heard they (from time to time) redirect the JWT towards a HB played open air to spot the mistakes in the binding!!!
I bought a Kramer guitar from Music Yo, many years ago for $69. It is one of the best playing, looking and sounding guitars I have EVER owned. It's my go-to guitar. My guitar playing friends kept poking fun at it. So I wrote this little verse about her. "Some girls and boys buy expensive toys, shelling out all that legal tender. They think It's good luck if they spend the big buck for a Gibson, a Gretsch or a Fender. And some guitar players try to put her down, they laugh and they defame her. But in all of my years I have known too few joys like my SWEEEEEEEEET sixty nine dollar Kramer!"
Shalom/gw. FYI Just in case you're wondering, I am not Jewish. But My Lord was once a Jewish carpenter. I close with "Shalom" because it is a word that wishes all of God's blessings on the recipient. ;-))
A friend of mine in Memphis bought the $69 Kramer from MusicYo. I was working with him at the time and got a good look at it. I wish I'd bought one!
@@robertowen1956 Two years after buying my first Kramer I bought another one. But prices had gone up. It was $89. Three years ago a friend gave me another one. I used to lead a guitar group at work. I tried to give away what I had learned. After seeing mine about six other people bought them. I have a standing offer to buy them should they ever decide to sell them. But I encourage them to keep them. In my humble opinion it is one of the greatest guitars ever made...at any price. I believe that God's children are talented and if given the chance they can produce excellence, wherever they are. And that includes Indonesia, where my $69 Kramer was made. Shalom/gw
@@robertowen1956 Robert. I checked the Kramer web site. They still sell a VT212S that looks similar to mine. They list it for $149. Shalom/gw
Here's a tip about interviewing people, if you as a question, let them answer, don't talk over them.
What about the HB bass guitars?
Let’s discuss!
Interesting. I couldn’t agree more . Beautiful guitar
These days you can buy a good platform for $300 put another $250 upgrades and you get the equivalent of a Gibson or Fender minus the pink and fuchsia colors.
Couldn’t agree more. More coats will darken it . Headstock looks great
Are you asking for a partipation trophy for the headstock work?
Ha. Yeah not taking too many prizes home but it’ll do!
love this vid... its so important to remember that music is subjective.
Ik people say Squiers are good for beginners but still expensive. You can get a Harley benton for only 82€ (the cheapest I found)
Look for the Indonesian made HBs and your good.
An electric guitar is foremost a tool. It is also a quite simple tool. The technology of electric guitars has not really changed since the 1950s. The main difference is that automation has made it much cheaper to make guitars. Let's compare it with traditional tools. You can probably get a simple chefs knife for a euro, but then you will certainly know it's not a good tool. If you pay a few euros more though, you can get a decent knife. Pay 20 euros and you will get a really good knife. A professional knife might cost you up to 100 euros. Then you have the handmade Japanese knives that cost many hundreds if not thousands of dollars. When you pay more than 100 euro for knife you don't pay for the basic quality of the knife. You are usually buying a piece of art. There is nothing wrong with that. But, it has little to do with the actual quality of the knife. Most people don't need knives that cost more than 20 euros. Professional chefs or avid amateurs might find a more expensive knife really valuable. As a tool, the really expensive knives really don't have any utility. The same is true with guitars. Under 100 euros is usually the limit for electric guitars being so cheap that you know right away that it's not a good instrument. There are of course exceptions. Then we have the 100 to 500 euro range, the 500 to 1000 euro range and the 1000 euro and above range. In the 100 to 250 euro range you can get a decent or even good basic electric guitar, but quality control can be a major issue. In the 250 to 500 euro range, the electronics is usually improved upon. When you pay over 500 euros, you can expect more attention to detail. If you buy a guitar in the 1000 euros range, you should expect to get a professional guitar. In term of basic quality, I don't think you should need to pay more than 1000 dollar for a guitar. When you get above that limit, it's not really about the basic quality anymore. Then you are paying for the brand, country of origin, craft or aesthetics. If you want an electric guitar made in USA, you will have to pay much more. It rarely has anything to do with quality though. If you appreciate hand made guitars you will have to pay for it. But, it has little to do with basic quality. If you want a custom made guitar built to your specs, you will have to pay for it, but again it has little to do with basic quality. If you want a piece of art, you will have to pay for it.... but, it really isn't about the quality of the instrument. To get a really good guitar you really don't have to pay more than 500 euros. In terms of usability, you don't need to pay more than 200 euros to get a fully functional decent guitar. If you are a professional and need a guitar that is really reliable and durable you might want to pay up to 1000 dollars. Anything above that is... well not about basic quality.
gibson are notorious for not staying in tune and the LP are hollow body not real les paul but cost ten times as much as an import which has a solid body
@@carmineredd1198 Exactly!
I bought a Harley Benton Les Paul Jr and replaced the pickup with a Gibson P90. It sounds fantastic.
I have a HB SC450 with P90's and as I got it there wasn't too much to mock about. The PU's sound good, exactly what you'd expect from P90's. The binding is not perfect like with the Mad Cat, but nothing substantial. I had to do a setup for intonation and by doing that I found out that the bridge is rather crappy. It was 139€ or so and for that money, if you change some parts like bridge or tuners, you'll get a decent working horse for under 200€. I only recently saw that there are some troughs on the fretboard (like it was singlestring scalloped) between some frets. Anybody experienced something similar or is it just me?
The real question is: why would you want to cheap out on an instrument you will be playing for many hours? Guitars are incredibly inexpensive compared to many other instruments. That's great of course for those on a tight budget or beginners. But it also appeals to our consumer instincts of wanting more (guitars) for less. And I have fallen for it too. But in hindsight I would love to trade al my fairly cheap guitars for one or two really good instruments.
People want everything NOW, CHEAP and MORE...
I have to be honest, I ordered three different HBs from three different pricerange:
Harley Benton DC-580 CH Vintage Series
Harley Benton SC-Custom II Vintage Black
Harley Benton Fusion-III HH FR EB FCH
and I wanted to send back all of them to Thomann, I've only kept the Harley Benton DC-580 CH Vintage Series, the cheapest in the end. Harley Benton SC-Custom II Vintage Black had too many finish and small flaws. Harley Benton Fusion-III HH FR EB FCH this one too, only the cheapest was almost perfect. None of them were set up properly so if you are a beginner you need someone to help set it up. The guitars are fine, that is true, it is not like they are bad or anything, however other well known brands can offer very similar or even the same for the same price or just a tiny bit more, but with proper setup.
For example Squier Contemp line offers 95% the same specs as the HB Fusion series and they only cost like 20-30 bucks more. I would never send my Squier Contemp back, I love it, it didn't have these small flaws. Jackson and Ibanez offer also very good cheap guitars and for my experience they were all better set up and less flawed.
So for a cheaper guitar like 100-150-200 bucks I would buy a HB, but anything more than that like 250-300 I'd go with another well known brand.
However Thomann offers an amazing service, their website and their huge range of instruments in their supply is hard to match, I always go to them first to buy anything music related so thumbs up for them. They really upped their game with guitars and I love all the variations they offer, but I always hear, see and read good reviews about their guitars everywhere and after my experience it bothers me a bit, but maybe I was only unlucky with my orders. I wanted to say this so people will have a better overview as I was convinced by these reviews to buy a new HB and was a bit letdown. Just so you can keep this in mind before you buy.
I wish all of you the best of luck buying new gear and have fun whatever you have or play:D