Harley Benton DC Style Kit (think SG)
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- Опубликовано: 30 июл 2024
- Welcome to the Next Project!
Here we go again!
Another kit assembly video, which will lead us into a modification project series. Let's start at the beginning, what's in the box and is it any good?
00:00 - lights, camera, action
00:04 - project intro
01:08 - what's in the box?
01:53 - follow the instructions / install the tuners
02:57 - electronics bench test
04:00 - electronics stuffin'
05:17 - trim n' tom
05:57 - neck pain
06:35 - strung up
07:02 - bad nut n' more
07:49 - tactical fretwire
08:06 - kit takeaway
10:58 - noise sample
At first glance, everything looked pretty good, especially for and $80 guitar kit. As the saying goes "don't judge a book by its cover", or maybe a better saying is "looks are only skin deep".
Giving the instructions a once over, I jumped in and kinda attempted to follow them. Adding the tuners to the neck was step 1, but I did some prep work first. I took one of the tuner mounting screws, rubbed some bar soap on the threads and pre-threaded each of the mounting holes. This helps ensure I won't snap the head off one of the little screws later during actual assembly.
Now the tuners were dropped in, screwed into place and the threaded bushing was secured. Hmm, something doesn't look right...due to lazy manufacturing and/or poor Quality Control, the tuners don't all line up nicely, but rather look a bit drunk in their posturing. Oh well, they will still work - as good as the poor quality tuners can be expected to.
On to bench testing the electronics. Again, this step isn't in the instructions, but I find it's easier to fix potential issues before everything is stuffed into the guitar. There were NO issues with the wiring, pickups, pots, switch and output jack. All went well.
Now to stuff all that wire into the little body.
Almost instantly I found the cavity routing left the top a little thick and the 3-way switch was then a bit short on threaded shaft. I wasn't able to use the little poker chip Rhythm/Lead decorative washer. No worries, I just left it off. Other than that, the trick is just to stuff all the excess pickup lead wire into the control cavity. Oh, the output jack mounting screw holes were not positioned perfectly, but I was able to get the screws in without redrilling... probably should have plugged and redrilled, but that's another day.
I now added the small pickguard/scratchplate. It honestly is cut and finished really well, I was surprised!
This was followed by pressing/hammering in the stop tailpiece posts and the bridge posts.
You won't have too much issue with these, the holes were properly drilled for size and spacing, and the wood is just soft enough you won't need a press or excessive hammering to get them in place. Again, this step went well.
This is where the "fun" ended.
It was time to mount the neck to the body. ( this is the second step in the directions, but I didn't want to wrestle with a full guitar to do all the other things. )
It was easy to see that the manufacturer didn't bother with a template for drilling the mounting holes in the body. It would have been nice, and made the kit look more professional, but that isn't the case.
The neck mounting plat holes and the body/neck holes aren't really close to being aligned. But in true caveman fashion, I put it together anyway.
I rubbed bar soap on the screw threads and pushed them in as I tightened them. Not ideal, but it worked well enough.
- This kit will be coming apart and getting a complete overhaul -
Time to string it up, and as this was underway, I was thinking something looked very wrong with the nut. With all the strings on, I adjusted the bridge to get the string action in the ballpark, but it was now clear that the neck has a major flaw.
With playable string height at the heel of the neck, the strings were all resting on the 1st fret. Funny, I didn't know this was a Zero-fret SG kit.
Off came the strings, and the nut. Only to expose an issue with the trussrod. It was projecting into the nut slot, the nut was just glued on top of the trussrod. We'll just say this is a big problem and the neck is a reject, and so would be the entire guitar kit because of it.
But, I shade-tree mechanic'd a crappy fix, got the nut and strings back on and plugged it in.
Honestly, it sounded pretty good. In the right hands it would likely sound very good. I was able to get the string action pretty low, but there was one more major issue with the neck. THE FRETS ARE TERRIBLE!
This is the worst fretwire I've every seen. They have the texture of beach sand, pitted and rough with sharp ends. UGH, I give up on this one.
Time to take it apart and start the repair process.
I give this a 1 star rating, which may be very generous. However, with any kit, there is a chance to get a great kit, a terrible kit, or something anywhere in-between. My kit was in the terrible range.
Thanks for watching, and stay tuned for the upcoming MOD project series!
Take care! 
Развлечения
Well, this guitar kit is simply excellent.
You don't feel bad about any modification!
Refret it? Heck, yes.
New nut? Heck, yes!
Throw the electronics in the garbage, including pus? Heck, yes!
Achim, thanks for watching!
It's like you can read my mind... it's a short read - ha!
Yep, I have no concerns cutting into this kit, in fact I'll be doing it a favor.
Refret, yes.
New tuners, yes.
New strings, yes.
New Nut, yes.
Gut the body, change things up a little bit, yep...
I may reuse one of the control knobs.
Thanks for the comment and I'm glad we are thinking in the same direction.
Be safe and take care!
Lovin' that Stray Cat noise you made!
canyoncarver, thanks for watching!
I've always enjoyed the Stray Cats sound, but when I thought about playing it to record, I kinda went blank and forgot how it went. I choked a bit and had to play it a couple dozen times before it started to come back.
Take care!
oohh yeah, another guitar kit !
can't wait for the next video :)
Take care.
Hey Bob, good to hear from you and thanks for tuning in!
The series mod work is underway, not much of the original will remain, other than the basic silhouette.
Hope you are doing well, take care!
Another great project, thank you for this new journey !
Robert, thanks for watching!
Glad you're enjoying it already, and the mod has already begun.
The series should launch in the very near future.
Take care!
I watched it straight and already enjoyed it for many reasons,
1st/ SG is my favorite guitar shape so I'm really excited to see the mod episodes.
2nd/ when the 2022 DIY guitar kit challenge by Thomann started I really considered to do it, with this SG style kit of course but finally I didn't because of my tiny apartment, so I am interested.
3rd/ you say that yours is crap and it surely is but let's be honnest if it was too easy it wouldn't be fun right and the modding less interesting for those who will give it a try.
But basically I enjoy all your videos, and I wish I could play that well.
Take care too !!
@@robertruamps5680 thanks for the get message.
Glad to hear you are enjoying to channel overall.
This kit, even with its issues, will be a good place to start a modest mod project.
I completely understand your situation, living in an apartment, limited work space. I've been there, been in a bigger space, now downsized again to some degree. I'm lucky, as I do have a work space across town I can get to once a week. A few years back, all my stuff was in storage, I worked at my kitchen table and counter top, after that I had a place with a garage, now kinda of a split environment. Life is a colorful challenge at times.
I'm trying to dream up more projects I can do strictly from my apartment. Maybe I'll wind a few pickups, also thinking of making a violin - I know nothing about violins (should be interesting).
I hope the upcoming mid series is of interest and entertaining.
Be safe and take care!
It will be interesting to see what you can do with this one. I’ll be watching. Good luck.
Jim, thanks for watching!
The mod work is underway and the first installment should be out in a week or two, as time allows.
I'll need that luck, thanks.
Be safe and take care!
You could always sell the neck as a fancy cheesegrater. Looking forward to seeing what you can do with this one.
LOL, I like the lateral thinking and repurpose of the neck. Very clever!
In a way, I'm going to greatly simplify this guitar, but it will take me a great deal of work to do so.
Seems rather pointless, but I enjoy the challenge. Also feels good to save something that is otherwise defective.
Stay tuned and take care!
Looking forward to this. I like sg style guitars
Hey hey, thanks for power watching!
Yep this was an interesting kit project. Plenty of issues right out of the box, but tuning into a nice guitar in the end.
Final mod video will be posted in a few days.
Take care!
Loved the Stray Cats riffs!!
Ah, I just read through and replied to another message from ya. I guess you already saw this project.
Thanks for watching, good to hear from you again. looks like you may have a couple random videos to watch - hope you enjoy.
Take care!
I've built two Thomann kits imported from Germany and have had no problems with the materials except for the cheap guitar strings which are o.k. for kit strings but I needed to replace for playing. The first kit was the Les Paul-ish 6 string and the second was the Precision-like 4 string bass. Both well made but I did spend a fair amount of time sanding the finish off so that I could re-stain them my favourite Mocha-Tea green. Also coated the pickup cavities with super-shield to negate RF getting to the circuitry as much as possible. Re-cut both of the neck templates to a non-clonish shape and generally had lots of fun building them. Both sound decent with new strings and no problems with the frets other than a general setup and filing. Could the pickups be better ... YES (maybe a future mod) and the electronics are o.k. but could be improved in the future. I still use my '73 Strat for recording and my Gibson Ripper for bass recording but as practice and added texture instruments both are great. Always love your projects. My next project will hopefully be a double neck kit but I'm waiting until I find a kit I like the look of. I'd like a twelve string guitar with a 5 string bass in a Ricki style. Not much luck finding that in a kit.
Chris, thanks for watching and the great kit project write-up.
I've have pretty good luck with my HB kits up to this particular one. Overall, everything was pretty good, but the neck had so many issue, it ruined the rest of the kit.
In the end, it really doesn't matter to me, as I just cut things apart anyway - as you know.
I'm really glad you had better experiences with your HB kits, and I expect most people will have good luck. I just drew the short stick on this one, lucky me!
A 12-sting with a 5-string bass, in a Ricki style. Hmm, that may be a custom build for you.
Hope you are doing well, take care!
Sorry to see you had so much trouble with this kit. I've had three kits (which I heavily modded) from Thomann so far - Tele, LP and PRS-style - and have had none of the issues you show in your video. Looking forward to seeing how you're going to save this one! 🙂
Nisse, thanks for watching.
This HB kit is the first time I've had so many issues with one of their kits, but it's good to show people that sometimes things go poorly.
The mod project is already underway, and I've cut away all the offending issues - literally.
Be safe and take care!
Yeah usually the kits don't have such huge problems. Which is surprising especially for the price. Seems he had bad luck.
good video sir!
idealmethod, thanks for watching, glad you enjoyed the trainwreck.
The upcoming mod series I'll put all the pieces where they belong, sort of.
Take care!
Thank you for your real and honest review. I’ll not be buying this kit!
Thanks for watching!
Glad you appreciated the video, but I don't want to scare people off. Kits can be hit-or-miss. This is my 3rd HB kit, and really the only bad one. Each kit has some little issues. But as you saw, this particular kit had a major neck and fret problem.
It happens, unfortunately.
Good luck with whatever your project may be.
Take care!
Hi, I think you need to stop calling yourself "not a guitarist" :) You're doing pretty good! Nice video. Cheers!
Marty, thanks for watching and the compliment. I appreciate both. Glad you enjoyed the video.
Be safe and take care!
I can't wait to see the mods... Planning to build one of the HB kits, probably the LP-style - I just don't like the bolt-on neck, though...
Stefani, thanks for watching!
I did an HB LP build and mod a couple years back. Maybe you've see my video series on that. I did glue the neck into the body on that kit, as I didn't care for the bolt on either. It went well and is still a favorite guitar of mine.
Be safe and take care!
Looks like you got a really bad one. I bought one (when bored in the depths of covid lockdown) from Thomann, a strat kit, and was pleasantly surprised. I mean it's not my favourite guitar and the parts are not surprisingly very budget but it went together easily and had none of the horrors your kit had. Like you say, it's the luck of the draw, but I'd have probably sent that back.
The secondary reason for buying a cheap kit was to practice some fret levelling on something that I wouldn't cry about if I messed it up - so from that point of view it worked out well. In the end I liked the assembled guitar enough to bother giving it a finish and, eventually, a few upgrades - tuners and pickups.
I agree with you that if I'd just wanted a cheap playable guitar then I would have probably purchased the very similar assembled and finished HB guitar for just a few euros more.
I have other HB guitars and generally the quality and value is really good.
Enjoyed the video, I always look forward to them.
Jacques, thanks for watching!
This was a bad one as you say, but I've been lucky in the past, no real issues before this. An LP and Tele style kits were good overall, no major issues.
Since I'm in the US, sending a lot back isn't as easy, and since I plan to cut it up anyway, maybe getting a bad kit is okay.
I'm glad you had good luck with your kit, and as you say, they are a good place to practice fret work, set ups, mods...no worries.
I've had a few HB guitars (not kits) and I agree with you, they are pretty good. Probably the biggest issue I've had with them are the cheap strings and a few bad tuners. Great guitars for my needs.
Thanks for the great comment, good to hear your story. Hope all is going well for you.
Be safe and take care!
Curiously, during your noise sample the English auto-generated subtitles read: "no no no no no no no" 😹
(check it out in the transcript!)
LOL, that is hilarious.
The auto-translator is such a damning critic, my last feeling is hurt!
Ai, even has it out for me, what to do.
I'll have to capture that and put it in a future video.
Thanks for letting me know, ah - I'm still laughing over this.
Hi john....I just know you're going to turn that into something special. With the turning one volume pot down and killing the volume completely, I had that happen to me once. The trick is to reverse the input and outputs on the volume pots. Also your playing is so much better than you give yourself credit for.
Jurgen! I just watched another if your GGBO22 vids this morning, project is looking great!
This kit will get simplified and corrected mainly. Trying a few new products (if they arrive), winding another pickup...trying to figure out what I can do on my kitchen counter and what needs to be in the garage.
Other challenges for me...I just realize I have a memory stick failing in my camera....and I thought I was losing my mind. Ha, technology is a wonderful thing when it works.
Be safe my friend!
@@theNextProject oh no kitchen bench work for me, death will become me
Happy wife, happy life.... us boys best stay in the garage where we are safe!
I wonder if they use the reject guitar parts in the kits. Sounds pretty good though. I am sure you will make a great guitar out of it.
Gary, thanks for watching!
A very good question you have there. I wonder.
Once I got it running, it did sound pretty good. Even with the really rough frets, I didn't have any buzzing. Sooo strange.
As I've started the mod project, I was pulling the frets and noticed that the hour or so of playing I had done started to level the frets. There was clear "wear lines" on the tops of the frets where things were rubbed smooth.
I think I'll be able to save it, and hope to try a few new things along the way.
Be safe and take care!
We have bought the same Kit. We had to buy a new bridge, new locking tuners, a new bone nut and of course new strings (as You said in another video, You have to buy such a kit in order to get such cheap strings).
I wish they would offer a kit where you could choose the individual components.
Hueffel, thanks for watching!
Sounds like you have a pretty nice MOD kit, well done!
I like your idea of an à la cart kit. Select the parts you want, add them to the shopping cart and enjoy the build.
Thomann would have access to all the parts, it could be done...but I won't hold my breathe.
I've started the mod process on this kit, trying some ideas and a couple new products. Kits are a fun place to experiment.
Be safe and take care!
There are shops (at least in germany: ML Factory) where you can buy the Kit without any hardware. However this lowers the price just 20 EUR... so as soon as you can reuse anything, go with the hardware.
Nice Channel. Wish i'd found it sooner.
Chad, thanks for watching, we've been waiting for you!
Don't take anything I do too seriously, I'm constantly trying things - a bit differently.
Always looking for a new approach or trick.
Just having fun and trying to share whatever I happen to be working on.
Be safe, take care!
@@theNextProject Built the Harley Benton Tele with my son. He had fun so he bought the Strat kit which were in the process of building now. Oh understand trying new things part. good stuff thx
I bought this kit around 2y ago, had none of those issues - a very good neck, all the holes drilled properly. Very sad if they went down with quality THAT much.
Tymofiy, thanks for watching!
Glad you received a good kit, and I was really surprised how bad this kit was - mainly just the neck issues.
The other HB kits I've had were pretty good overall.
I'm guessing it is a unique issue and not all kits will suffer the failures. Some are good, some aren't.
Take care!
Quite the contrary. In that last 3 years their QC really improved. I think he just had bad luck. Shit happens. You can't derive how their QC is without having a large enough sample size. One video is not enough. And he said himself the other kits were good.
interested to see what you have in mind for this, given the issues!
Andrew, thanks for watching!
The issues are all getting washed away, or routed away actually.
A silhouette will remain, but the finer features will all change...stay tuned!
Be safe and take care my friend!
@@theNextProject looking forward to it... be well dude
Shipping from Thomann is very expensive now and I don’t think it’s worth it anymore. That being said, the wood looks good and the guitar sounds good. Is it worth it? I don’t know… maybe, maybe not. It certainly looks like a good starting point. I wish you and Laura well.
Hey Mike, great to hear from you and thanks for watching!
I agree, shipping has gone up, and if anyone wants to order international from Thomann, they need to max out their order to make it worthwhile.
I typically purchase up to 3 guitars or kits, and a bunch of other little stuff. There was a single fee up to a certain point, but perhaps they have changed that since covid hit, idk.
This kit is already going under the knife, it will only resemble what it started as.
Thanks for the well wishes, and same to you and yours.
Be safe and take care my friend!
every time I think about ordering one of the kits , I found a video like this with all the flaws and be like - Nope , especially if they sell HB guitars painted and lacquered with less flaws or none for the same money
John, thanks for watching!
Good point about buying a finished guitar. You could play it until you're tired of it, know what you want to change, then dig in and make it your own.
I also look at pawn shops and goodwill, occasionally find a unloved guitar and then cut it up...basically a mod project.
In fact, I have a "by fender" Starcaster mod project on the near horizon.
Maybe that is the kind of project you're looking for.
Hope all is well, take care!
Enjoyable video, as always. Why do you not call yourself a guitarist? Your playing is just fine, man!
Tim, thanks for watching, and I'm glad to hear you enjoyed the video!
Well, you've heard just about the extent of my playing ability, and you'll probably hear the exact same things in the future.
I'm a 4-bar player - lol.
Thank you very much for the compliment, I'll keep doing what I can do.
Hope you are doing well, take care!
So sorry! I always buy 3 guitar kits at once, knowing, I will send 2 back. But if this would have helped here?
Moskito, thanks for watching!
Yep, 3 is the lucky number to order at one time. Shipping seems to favor this number.
I don't send HBs back, I just cut them up, it's a sickness.
I'm very, very sick it appears.
I just posted the first MOD episode for this guitar:
ruclips.net/video/0MmznGJZV9I/видео.html
Hope all is well, take care!
@@theNextProject As long as you are having fun... ;-)
As I am still planing to build an SG myself (but probably not with the HB Kit) looking forward to what you will do!
Good to hear you have a build planned. Should be a fun project.
This mod will be a "less is more" approach. Removing and streamlining.
Simple layout, limited controls, basic and beautiful (I hope).
If you need some layout plans for an SG let me know, i ran across a few the other day.
Take care!
@@theNextProject Your guitars are always beautiful!
Actually I like the 50s wiring quite a lot. Also my plan for the SG was a straight forward one. Completely Mahogany, staining and oiling, get rid of all plastic parts, nickel hardware, 50s wiring, low output humbuckers... I don't own any SG yet, this is why I want to basically do a classic design with a natural feeling.
Looking forward to your veneer. There I always require help, because I don't own a press, but some nice veneer is always a good thing on a guitar.
That's got to be one of the worse kits I've ever seen. Even the 2 kits I bought from China were much much better than that. Very disappointing
If you’re paying two bucks for assembly, I don’t think you can expect much in the way of QC. Heh.
Fun video to watch, though I’m guessing it was frustrating as all hell to make. The first kit I purchased was a pile of trash too. It’s both frustrating, and so disappointing to work on something only to find all the mistakes along the way.
Old Man Zen, thanks for watching!
Agreed, no budget for QC. I'm guessing they have a daily quota to meet, so unless it's visibly flawed, it goes in a box.
Surprisingly, I wasn't too frustrated, but definitely disappointed. I've had other bad kits, but not one this bad from HB. Oh well, it was bound to happen. I think it's also good to show when things aren't right.
Luckily, my original plan for this kit was to cut it up and modify. So, maybe that helped with my overall expectations.
If I had planned to just put it together and enjoy it, I would definitely be pissed. The neck issues really aren't something most hobbyists will be able to tackle either = its bad.
The mod series will launch soon and we'll all get to look at the issues, then wash them away.
Take care!
@@theNextProject You have the advantage of being able to fix a lot of issues that I don't have the experience to tackle. Even a ton of YT research can't prep you for everything when working with wood. Still, it's in tackling those horrible problems that I've learned a lot more about putting guitars together... so while I didn't pay for a working guitar... I did pay for a useful lesson.
@@oldmanzen6682 Very well put. The kits I work on are very much training exercises, or even extreme repair practice. I like having a chance to figure out how to approach issues when they arise - sometimes I cause the issue.
Kits are a good way to see and learn how things go together, and offer a lot of freedom to make it your own.
Thanks again for tuning in and the great conversation.
Take care!
been practicing i hear.
David, that is for watching. I wish I could practice more.
Hope all is well, take care!
Sorry I seemed to miss this one John. Well that kit turned out to be a piece of crap. It's not a huge issue for you since you'll be dumping a lot of it anyway but imagine that being bought for a kid or a hobbyist as a first guitar.......I would be contacting Thomann about it.
In fairness I have had a Tele kit from them and it was decent and I have a couple of their guitars which are good and are very playable. Anyway very interested to see what you do with it.
Hope the hurricane didn't cause you any serious trouble.
Hey Brian, all good and thanks for watching!
Agreed, it was a disappointment, but perfect for my evil plans.
I hope there aren't too many kits in this poor of condition, I would hate for someone to get a kit like mine and have major problems that aren't easily corrected. Yep, I would be a customer service call for sure. A new neck would have to be sent out.
I have their Tele and LP kits too, and like you say, they were pretty good. This was just a bad one that got out of the factory. I think it is good to show that not all kits are good, the bad ones get delivered too. Glad I got the bad one.
The hurricane came and went. I'm inland far enough that there was no issue, other than leaves and branches everywhere. Lights went out a few times...down to one beer... that had me worried, ha.
All good.
Hope you are doing well, take care!
@@theNextProject
The last beer......never a good place to be.
Good to hear you avoided the worst of the weather.
Don't be so modest. You're a guitarist.
Bahahaha!
Thank you so much.
I struggle greatly, and when anyone asks me to "play something", my mind goes blank and, well, it's not pretty.
I keep trying, and I'm having fun.
Thanks again!
For 85 bucks I figured how bad can it be... then I seen that it's every bit as bad as an 85 buck kit can be... hard pass.. think i'd rather make a guitar from scratch out of pallet wood!
This particular kit was mostly bad, almost entirely bad, almost.
The neck really was the main problem, which was problem enough.
I've had other HB kits and they were far better, pretty good actually. I've also had other brand kits and...you just never know what will be in the box.
Hope for the best, prepare for the worst.
Thanks for watching, take care!
Shocking. Ive had 2 good kits from HB, one Im still playing almost 2 years later. The neck and body on yours look trash. You have plenty of evidence, get on to their customer service. They, at the very least, owe you a new neck and body
thebeardeddread, thanks for watching!
I was shocked by this one too. Like you, I had 2 other HB kits that were mostly good, not mostly bad like this one.
It's all good, I want to show everyone that kits can go either way, not that it should but that it can.
I've already cut away most of the kit and the mod is well underway. Thomann does (did) have very good and responsive customer service in the past when I needed it, but I'm not worried about it on this kit. The finished mod will look reasonably similar, but very different at the same time.
Stay tuned and take care!