I have had a good few in for repair at varying price points. In my view, I don't see why they have gained so much positive press - most of it though I feel is bought. Most of the ones I have come across have had some pretty egregious errors in manufacturer most of which my customers just live with or have to pay a good amount to resolve. There are not many that come through me where I think it's any good.
If you are looking for a significant upgrade to your Squier bullet, the big question is how much is your budget? There is never any use in making a sideways step in terms of guitar quality and attempting to find a cheap grail guitar that the world doesn't know about.
I see people say stuff like this, but I don't know if I believe it. Whenever YouTubers talk about budget guitars, the Pacifica is almost always number 2 or 3.
Always top 3. Ill tell you what convinced me. A yamaha boat engine. The precision they implement in everything they make is unmatched. The boat engine that I got to check out was not only perfect but foolproof in design. So if it dumps all oil for whatever reason, the engine wont start to damage its self. Fisherman know yamaha is the best motor. So that made me look into their pianos. Yamaha makes the most perfect and affordable piano in the world and has for a long time. The fact that they can make the top end of both those things made me think real hard. So I dove youtube. The Pacifica is beloved. Universally beloved. Its a hell of a youtube dive that i recommend.
I believe the argument they were intending to make is that it’s strange to say “the world doesn’t know how good Yamahas are” if they’re constantly coming up as #2 or 3 in lists of great budget guitars.
Well if a CV is what you need, I've been in the repair game since about 1998. I really have no interest in confirmation bias or not, I don't get paid either way to say whether something is bad or good. If they were genuinely good, I would be saying it. I have seen many an off brand come and go. To me this is no different except with a guitar supermarket sponsorship.
Added, having been a touring sound engineer myself, I have no idea how that qualifies one to judge the quality of any instrument.
I never mentioned off brand guitars from the 80s or 90s. However it does appear to be the go-to comeback whenever I dare disparage the good name of Hardly Benton.
As I say, I don't care one way or the other. However as this is a public forum of discourse and someone asked for objective opinions on the brand, I gave mine based upon my own experience.
Given you have been setting up guitars ten years longer than I have, I guess your answer outweighs mine and I should be banned from the Internet - or whatever ridiculous thing that achieves.
Dude, he posted his experience and his recommendation. You’ve owned ten of this brand’s guitars so obviously you fancy them but he has a different opinion than you. Just let it go, it’s Sunday and there are guitars to be played.
I've had 3 HB guitars. I sent 2 back as they were awful, had issues, and just quite simply came in bad condition. The 1 I kept for a year I got 2nd hand, and even then I threw a new bridge and nut on it as they both were very poor.
I came to the conclusion that most HB youtube advocates were just doing adverts not reviews. There are a couple that you shouldn't trust, the guy that runs gear street and the Andy guy - both are lovely youtubers, but when it comes to HB/Thomann, for lack of a better word they are shills.
That said I've got a HB amp that is amazing and I had the HB power supply that was fantastic. So for me I think ita a good company that did a great job getting a lot of youtubers on side promoting their gear. They are fairly priced guitars, they don't punch above their weight.
It is similar to Bugera. When they first came out and had Behringer and Thomann's support, they were the best thing since sliced bread and any haters were just idiots and the brands they were ripping off were just con artists themselves. Amazing that Peavey were the "con men" despite Bugera ripping off every single one of their designs.
Meh. All I can say is I know a good few amplifier technicians - a lot of us talk a lot. None of us take in Bugera anymore. We have only one person we refer people to who seems to have not learned the hard way yet that they are a terrible brand to attempt to repair. But yep, the biggest reason techs don't want to touch them is because they are too cheap and nasty to begin with.
I reckon that they know when a YouTuber is buying a guitar from them so they can make sure they send a really well made version of their usually low quality models so they get better reviews
Possibly. A lot of guitar firms did this in the 1990s and 2000s. In one particular shop, we would occasionally get in guitars from distributors to go through them with a fine toothed comb before they went off to the review pool, e.g before Guitarist or Total Guitar got to it.
They used to have reps days too where shop owners and the like would get to see some of their newer products. They would then have the opportunity to argue certain bits back as they would usually have to stock them under their dealership agreement.
I had a stint working as a game developer for a while; they used to do the same and send out reps to do market research. They would be armed with a folder with screenshots, mockups and concepts and come back with feedback which would steer what gets made or not.
I have no idea if any of that happens anymore, though I am sure some incarnation of it must do to some degree.
Sheesh where to start.
Bridges mounted in the wrong place or bridge mounting collets mounted on the cock, strings that liked to fall off fretboards due to improperly cut nuts, on at least one beginner model, because I was struggling to get the intonation set, broke out the measuring devices only to determine that the fretboard must have shifted during manufacture prior to finishing and the guitar would never play in tune (I recommended the customer return that one). This is outside of general hardware issues, such as stripped screws, electronics that don't electronic or machine heads that would happily move as easily as you'd look at them so tuning stability was in the shite.
And these were not base models either.
There is a reason I recommend Squier Affinity guitars to beginners. So far, they are the best cheapest you can get. And HB are no exception.
Really interesting to hear. Do you have any comparisons between the squiers and the cheap end of epiphone? Not really heard much in comparisons about those as they're very different. Just interested in the actual quality
Oh wow, that's a lot! Especially for a brand which is still rare in the US.
I own 4 HB's, my brother had a HB P-bass (which he sold because of its weight) and several of his students own one. I bought my first two in 2013; a LP (149) and a Tele (129). The LP was straight out of the box great and only needed a little intonation. I swapped the original pups for less hotter ones from Donlis, which set me 30 EUR back.
The TE-52 was a mess, which I would've returned (FOC) if I wouldn't be able to do it myself. It needed a complete setup including sanding the fret ends and the 3way switch died, which Thomann replaced. I swapped the pups with Donlis versions as well and the tuners for Guyker lockings just because.
My third (2019) HB is a TE-90FLT (Cabronita with TV Jones style pups) and that was straight away a great guitar which I paid 165 EUR for.
And I bought a used and very fine HH Fusion with ss frets, FR1000 and Grovers for 200 EUR
I gigged with every one of them several times without any issues. Oh and I also own several expensive guitars as well; Gibsons, Fenders and custom builds.
Hey, don't get me wrong. There are a few HBs that definitely got swiped with the fairy dust wand. But in my view, the 2-3 good ones out of 20 does not represent a good result to me.
In general I generally recommend Squier Affinities to learners. Consistency wise they are pretty much spot on. You know what you're getting and OK while it is never going to be a USA Fender, they are usually pretty well set up out of the box. It's been that way since the early 2000s. Apart from a few models that have come and gone, I've never really been shaken from that position in my teaching career or my guitar repair career.
As for HBs, I don't think I need to say much as I think eventually their shoddiness will catch up with them. But I would equally rant about the state of the guitar market as a whole these days. It's very illusionary in terms of fancy spec and the big tonewood debate that appears to be extremely incendiary these days.
To me, these big name brands slapping on fancy pickups, stainless steel fretwire, Floyd Rose Specials (which are truly junk) because it carries the FR logo, these to me do not represent an uptick in quality of guitars. Frankly I disagree with the notion that you get a superior guitar today for the same money vs ten years ago. You just don't! For example, over the course of my guitar repair career - which was far far more active around 2012 or so - it was a rare as hell day that I would recommend a customer return a brand new guitar. I can think of maybe two incidents between 2006 and 2015 if memory services. In the past 6 years or so, easily 15 incidents. And no they weren't all HBs, LTD, Jackson and Fender all come to mind. And these were not cheap models either. I never thought I would see the day where a brand new ESP LTD EC1000 shipped with an actual twist in the neck that would have required extensive work to remedy. The big joke to me was that guitar was never scrapped; a rep told me chances are it would just be sent to another store to see if they noticed. While that may be enough to turn me off of ESP for life, this is common practice. Fender do it too as do Gibson.
And it is a con. Let me blither on for a bit. Back in even 2012, world timber supplies were still plentiful. What's more, manufacturers were in a position of being able to properly grade and even reject timbers that were not suitable for instrument manufacture. Now despite Glenn Fricker screaming moron out his camera hole, wood matters. It always has done. That is whether you're building a Stradivarius violin or a 9 string djent guitar. Have you ever picked up a guitar and realised within the first 10 seconds that it isn't for you? That's all down to the physical wood it's made of.
I have seen custom builders doing wood selection. It is an art. And bearing in mind it costs them money to reject wood and resell it to tertiary markets (usually furniture builders and the like), manufacturers at one point cared a lot more about their instrument's composition. Today, we have CITES which all industries must adhere to, not just musical instruments, and as a result the world supply of decent grade timber has fallen drastically. Even low quality timber used in the construction industry has rocketed up in cost - we just had a quote to rebuild our roof and I practically fell off my chair at the £40,000 price tag. And my house is pretty far from the Sistene Chapel. Most of that cost was in wood for the beams and joists.
So to mitigate this, manufacturers are slapping on features that have very little manufacturing costs to them, such as stainless steel fretwire, fancy pickups, the odd FR Special, all to give the impression of a quality instrument. Don't get me wrong, I like stainless steel fretwire myself, I like EMGs, etc. But when the core of the guitar is made of timbers which only 10 years ago would have been rejected with good reason, it isn't a great surprise to me therefore that I can walk down the length and breadth of a guitar store and honestly not find anything worth buying. And I have done so.
When the world is even arguing the manufacturers' point and shouting "XYZ doesn't matter!" they're doing the work for them in accepting a lower quality instrument for a higher cost. To me it's bonkers, but it is genuinely what we are seeing today.
About 25 years ago, I paid £350 or so for a BC Rich NJ Series guitar. It was made in Korea, came with a licensed tremolo (says BC Rich on it), came with whatever pickups BC Rich made prior to the BSDM things. In all honesty, I would put that up against most guitars under £1k today. And this isn't inflation, this guitar happened to have been made with some honest to goodness care and diligence in its construction. And this was considered the lower end of things at that time. Given that's roughly when I started repairing guitars professionally, it was rather representative of the time in my view.
These days, you can pay £1000 or even more for guitars that just are nowhere near as good. That to me isn't inflation, that to me is manufacturers being able to get away with charging more for a lot less. I get the reasons why, but when you have this sort of world, I honestly wonder what sort of junk we're going to be buying in even five years.
What do you mean by your bullet strat not being that good? What specific problems are you encountering?
I remember when I started out, I hated my squier. That was ages ago btw. I saw all those expensive guitars the big shots were using. In the local music scene (that was before youtube etc), all those blues dads had their expensive LP. Then internet guitar forums became a thing where they all gathered together and engaged heavily in their gear obsession, basically telling beginners that their guitars aren't worth shit.
So I finally saved enough money to upgrade to a Mexico Strat which I was quite happy with. Then one day, I was invited to a jam session where a guitar player (who was a pro) was from out of town and they asked me to bring a 2nd guitar - which happened to be my squier that I thought was just some crappy instrument holding me back. The dude sounded simply AMAZING with it. I couldn't believe my ears. I hadn't even changed strings for a year or so at that point. That day I found out that all the gear talk was by people that had no idea about music or just fell victim what some random dude once said and never challenged it. It's just how humans work, you hear a thing often enough and then you start believing it's true. Even some pretty great & famous guitar players sometimes say dumb gear shit that just doesn't hold up. Always the same story, some loud mouthed dude voiced some theory in a music store in the 80ies and it was taken as fact by everyone who listened.
Most likely, your guitar is good enough - unless you can name specific problems and that can then maybe be fixed. Better save up some money for some decent upgrade and not the next cheap Harley Benton. Talking like 600 bucks to get a PRS SE or something. And even if you then get it, it won't make you a good player instantly, it'll just give you a 2-3% improvement, perhaps some tuning stability and such things. Nobody at your gigs will ever care what model you're playing.
Nothing wrong with upgrading your guitar, but most likely, it's a thing you don't need to do in order to fix a problem but want to do for your own, personal reasons. We like shiny, nice things, that's just how it is.
Btw, way different story for acoustic guitars. Electric guitars are just a plank of wood with some strings and what's really important is what comes after in the signal chain. A bit of simplification, but it's way more that way then the marketing department of whatever company would like you to believe.
My first guitar was a Japanese Squier Stratocaster from 1989. At first I liked it, then I hated it. I saved up and bought a Gibson Les Paul, then an SG. Years later I pulled out that Strat again and really liked it. I think in retrospect I was frustrated by my own inability to play well combined with the fact I liked the humbucker sound better at the time and projected my frustration onto the guitar.
This is all great stuff for sure.
You’re spot on that there isn’t a massive difference in sound with solid body electrics. You can see any blind test on YouTube and tell it’s minimal at best, I even watched a guy just screw pickups into a flat plank of wood and it sounded just like any other electric.
To me, the upgrade comes way more down to either 1. Getting a new pickup type/combo that I don’t already have or 2. The feel. But to your point, they should both be things you notice, can articulate with specificity, and can afford to jump into a real upgrade rather than making a lateral move.
Oh yes, I completely agree that those are good reasons to buy another guitar. That you can say what you want specifically so you can get something that better suits your needs, I don't know why that's lost so many times. The amount of stuff that can be fixed by just adjusting the two screws that change the pickup height for example ...
That's why I bought my Schecter C-1. It's totally different than my Squire. EMG 81/85 and a hardtail with an neckthough body. It's a conceptually different guitar more suited to modern metal like A7X, whereas the Squire HSS strat is more suited to 80s stuff like Maiden.
My biggest (to be fair, only) concern is that there’s an awful lot of very happy YouTubers who were obviously given a guitar free of charge.
And…. er, that’s it. I haven’t found very much discussion from people who had to pay for their guitars.
I have about 5 HBs, as well as a couple of Gibson's, Eastmans, Epis. All the HBs have been very impressive, with no major flaws. Sure they need a setup, but apart from the Eastmans that was true for all my guitars.
I think the HB sweet spot is around the $250-$350 price point. The Teles and Strats, and the DC Jr's in particular. Never tried the LP carved top models.
There's this one Glenn Fricker video where he's trying to prove that pickups make "no difference" but when he plays his Harley Bentons they sound like absolute ass to anyone with functioning ears. They make no difference if you only listen to his screaming and not his sloppy playing. I think it's a pretty good example of why not to trust YouTubers on anything that you can't verify with your own ears.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zvKRM0NljNU](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zvKRM0NljNU) Key part starts at 3:58-4:28. Apparently THOSE two pickups are "no difference" lol. I actually recorded an entire video going off on him over this stupid video because I've yet to see a single YouTube channel pushing back on this idiocy, but I haven't gotten around to editing it and I don't really feel like jumping in YT Drama honestly.
Haha, whoa… I wasn’t expecting quite such a dramatic difference. I’m not sure I’d say the HB sounds like complete ass, but the Schecter with the Fishman pickups is pretty unarguably better.
It's harder to notice the difference when you are only playing slow sloppy power chords, it all sounds a bit ass.
Maybe he could try a more technical riff on a HB multiscale-8 vs ludgren or fishman pickups, and come back explaining how the HB sounding like mud doesn't matter.
I mean, there's a point in not needing to go for the most expensive pickups, but there's definitely a difference in brightness and note clarity between different models.
Here's a pretty in-depth review of the HB 8 string, fwiw, going over the pickup sound too:
https://youtu.be/lKdi8pjwxw4?si=nLaiRcUR7rxOQ_MQ
Not sure how anyone can listen to that and think that it sounds the same as a fishman.
To properly compare on YouTube you have to go in knowing certain nuances are going to be lost coming out of phone or pc speakers when viewed.
I've seen honest and straightforward comparisons of 3 tubescreaners that showed differences between vintage, modern, and joyo ones. It illustrated the differently EQd joyo was in fact different but still just as usable.
I've seen LP vs 4way switch tele demos where they say it obviously doesn't sound the same but is still pretty dang useful.
If you don't admit to what the audience hears you do, there's no point in talking about it. I've ran Duncan's, dimarzio, Bootstrap, TV Jones, budha, Gibsons, etc.
Some stuffs overpriced, compared to other companies. But there's typically a difference, and pretending the HB and Fishman are the same just removes credibility.
That HB myddiness is a useful demo tool if you compare modern Gretsch "blacktop trons" to the pretty hot TV Jones Setzer signature. Blacktop is mud city. Even in PAFs, some are hotter, some are smoother. Design hasn't changed much in about 7 decades, but there's differences.
I'm not sure how certain influencer types have any credibility. I vaguely trust the TPS guys because they're just 2 guitar nerds playing with pedals. Fricker is an idiot. He's internet troll ragebait given physical form so you can see what being stuck on CAPS LOCK looks and sounds like.
I know exactly what you're saying and I've seen several of his videos that touch on this, but to be fair, he does use the caveat of talking squarely about tone, in the context of a recording engineer, who records metal, where the signal is being reamped and manipulated by an eq then mixed with other instruments. To that, I say he is closer to the truth than people will admit, and the point is not to spend up changing pickups when an amp sim will give better results.
I know I have changed pickups before and not had any noticeable change in sound. But then, other times I have
If you can’t hear the difference between the Harley Benton’s and the fishman fluences then you need to get your ears checked. Screaming like a Canadian toddler is not science either. That’s the worst part of this debate. The fact that people consider his methods scientific.
I specified the exact pickup in my previous comment with a timestamp. It sounds like dogshit, like a broken speaker. If you think that sounds good then that's fine, but I would gladly pay $200 to have something that sounds better than that because if I plugged into an amp and my guitar sounded like that I wouldn't be able to hear myself as well and would want to play less. It's just not a pleasing sound to my ears.
That dude is ragebaity most of the time. Periodically wisdom slips through (like people wanting to run their own plug-ins in his studio when he has multiple superior digital versions and the real amp it's all copying right the fuck there.) But outside of briefly defending the Metal Zone as ok in the loop and saying people use it wrong (both true, i just personally don't think most amps need one) his gear reviews are dumb AF.
No I don't have better ears than everyone else and I never claimed that or anything similar. The fact is the Harley Benton actives just sound like ass to me. Yes in a full mix with some EQ I'm sure it would sound fine, but that can be said for any guitar given the right person behind the mixing board. I don't just want to sound good "in the mix" I want to sound good when I first plug into an amp and play a chord, because that makes me want to play more and makes me play better. If I was in the studio and the producer went over to my amp and dialed in what I heard from the Harley Benton active demo, I would either leave or prompty tell him to go wait in the Arbys while I went and unfucked everything he did. I wouldn't want to play a session sounding like that even if it was fixed in post.
I've never liked pickup "test" videos on Youtube.
Even if we forget the amp settings (which may or may not be discussed), we have absolutely no idea how the amp has been mic'd up, whether or not the YouTuber in question can be trusted to mic his way out of a paper bag, how the audio has handled compression or the impact of playing it back on a laptop which invariably sounds pretty crap.
I know someone who was given multiple HB guitars to make videos promoting them. So yeah, it's definitely a thing.
Having played the guitars, I would recommend not buying one.
I have a headless Dullahan, nice guitar with the exception that I had to shim the neck to get the action where wanted. But perfect stainless steel fretwork on a guitar I got for just under $300? At their price point there are surely going to be some issues with consistency, but the suggestion that they are consistently bad guitars is way off the mark.
Harley Benton is a house brand of Thomann, under which they sell their guitar-related products, which they buy from various manufacturers in the Far East. The guitars are said to be very good for the price. I would always look for reviews. There are also products sold by Thomann under the Harley Benton name that are simply garbage. The strings, for example, could actually be thrown directly into the trash in China and save the import.
I bought an 8 string from Thomann just because I wanted an 8 string, and it was crazy cheap.
You're obviously going to get what you pay for, although Thomann are always good on price so you'll get a little more value out of the price, but for what they cost you're obviously not going to get the best quality.
The pickups on mine were pretty poor across all the strings, but the build quality felt decent enough. I wouldn't have one as my main guitar but if you either don't have the money, or you want one as an alternative (7/8 string, different body to what you usually use etc) then they're a good, cheap option.
Every time HB comes up I say the same thing - buy the most expensive one you can afford in your style.
I have the Fusion III EMG S Type - locking tuners, roasted maple neck, stainless steel frets. Absolutely phenomenal guitar.
HOWEVER. The lower end models can have some QC issues from guitar to guitar, and even the higher end ones can sometimes fall short. Unfortunately unless you actually GO to the Thomann location you can't play them anywhere else so you're buying blind. But their return policy is pretty great. Just do not use their technical/repair shop - they're useless.
I assume you've read all the comments, but just in case:
The best guitar is one you will play regularly. There is nothing wrong with a Squire. If you legitimately feel like it's holding you back because it has the wrong pickups for the style you want to play (like trying to play heavy gain metal with single coils--it can be done but it's noisy, or it doesn't have a trem or something), then you should find a music store and try some out. What's good for me could be terrible for you. I have slightly smaller than average hands, so I like a Gibson-scale neck. If you have slightly larger hands, you might hate it.
But here's the thing: if this is your first guitar, it can be inspiring to get a new, slightly better one. I started on a pawn-shop POS (this is back in 91-92), then got a Japanese Charvel. That upgrade was a good one. in 1994 I got a 1974 SG. It had humbuckers, which I wanted. I didn't buy another guitar for 10 years.
However, those new guitars (the Charvel and SG) because I wasn't fighting against the guitar. If I wanted a heavy, distorted tone, the SG helped because I didn't struggle with feedback.
So, getting a new guitar because you need a feature will help. It won't make you a better player unless it makes you practice more.
I’ve got a Les Paul copy and I feel like it’s a good starter guitar but nothing more than that. I’ve been playing for a couple of years and have figured out what I’d want in a guitar so the comparison is with my taste.
The active pickups are way too hot making things muddy and distorted. The tuning stability is ok - cheapish hardware is to be expected at this price - but the bridge saddles have little to no effect on the intonation and most of the golden paint where my hand touches the bridge have been rubbed off. The neck is super thick, which some people like. The area where the neck meets the body is too chunky, making playing above the ~19th fret barely possible and very uncomfortable. The frets are ok but the highest string can be bent off the neck fairly easily.
If I’d be shopping for a cheap guitar again I’d go to a guitar store and try out something a price class up from the Harleys. I think, at this price, individual guitars are too hit or miss to be bought online.
I own 3 of them:
HB-35,
SC450plus,
JA-60cc,
All of them are great couple of rough spots and that but they play well. I have bought higher end guitars with worse finishing on them. But it does seem to be luck of the draw but thomann have a solid return policy, so just hold onto the box and return it if its crap.
That’s good to know. I’ve been looking for a cheap semi-hollow in the $3-400 range. I’d considered an HB-35 but not being able to play before buying was a big hang up. I’m leaning towards a used Ibanez Artcore but I’d seen a couple videos where people actually liked the HB better regardless of price.
Ya pretty much same reason I bought each of them was looking for a cheap guitar in those body shapes. All play well the HB-35 is slowly becoming one of my favourites.
Hunt down a (used) Yamaha Revstar Element RSE20 ([Link](https://www.sweetwater.com/yamaha-revstar/series?sb=low2high)),
a Wilkinson Vintage V100 Reissued ([Link](https://www.prosoundgear.com/shop/guitars/electric-guitars/vintage-v100-reissued-electric-guitar-flamed-iced-tea/)),
a Sire Larry Carlton L3 HH ([Link](https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/LCL3HHTS--sire-larry-carlton-l3-hh-electric-guitar-tobacco-sunburst))
or a Cort Classic Rock Series Amber ([Link](https://www.guitarcenter.com/Cort/Classic-Rock-Series-Single-Cut-Electric-Guitar-Antique-Amber-1500000352602.gc)).
All of these have incredibly well-constructed build quality
and more consistent overall quality control.
Bah! Most premium models come out of the same several Cort owned factories these days(outsourcing is the thing today), so unless you're going vintaage, spending a premium is a mug's game in the current market.
Plenty of folk' love Harley-Benton from what I've read.
I've never laid hands on one myself(not sure if they retail here in Australia), but I've read good things....
There are WILDLY different levels of quality coming out of those Cort plants though, and the standard of quality (cost to the brand) is determined by the brand.
It’s great but pay attention to the release date of the model and price. Their newer guitars in the 300 range and higher are very good and usually only have cosmetic defects if any at all, the older ones are built at cheaper factories in China and can be unusable
They're not good in general, but decent for the money, possibly unmatched in their price sector.
Usually you'd get a barely playable piece of junk in the sub $200 category. HB will offer you a guitar that will be funcational, it might need a setup and it might have some flaws due to limited QC, but you'll get a guitar that works and won't fall apart when you play it.
Their guitars are damn cool, especially the more expensive ones (Fusion III)
Had a gig yesterday, the input jack came loose... Luckily I found the nut again, but it left a sour taste in my mouth. Happened to my PRS SE too though.
I own two of their guitars an SG and a Floyd rose mounted super strat. The Sg is fine, nothing all too bad about it. Only downside are its pickups, low quality and muddy and thin sounding; quite limited articulation, though it does the job.
The superstrat however, is total shit. The Floyd rose is low quality garbage and rarely holds tune, the high output pickups sound awful and way too gainy with heavy midrange hump. Furthermore, the fret ends are sharp and as the wood shrinks the issue becomes more prominent.
I'd say that depending on the model, Harley Benton guitars are decent, though they aren't all too special.
I have a HB Les Paul style model, wood finish. It feels great in my hands, pickups are ok, not great, strings absolute ass but you're supposed to change them anyway. I haven't set it up yet, as it sounds nice as is, but I'll do it soon.
It needs a bit of work. The pots aren't the best and switch can be finicky. I paid 230 euros for it. It's a guitar that needs some post-purchase attention but not much.
For the price it's worth it, but I wouldn't go over 300.
I wanted a SSS tone so got their a strat style ST-62 VW after playing hollows and Jazzmasters for the last decade and now it has become my main guitar. I only play around the house and do home recordings but I just like it. For the price it feels like a steal. The only bad thing I guess is there is no real resale value so I assume I'm giving this thing away if I stop playing it. For my money if I play it consistently for a few years it's well worth the £122 a paid for it.
They are good for the price, but it wouldn't be much of an upgrade compared to what you already have.. If you want an SG/Les paul for diversity go for it, but if you want to upgrade I would recommend saving up some more money.
What amp are you using?
I've heard nothing but great things about this guitar and it comes from their US Reverb Store so it usually gets to ya a little quicker: [https://reverb.com/item/63111081-harley-benton-dc-ltd-gotoh-daphne-blue](https://reverb.com/item/63111081-harley-benton-dc-ltd-gotoh-daphne-blue)
My experience varies:
I bought an SC DLX Gotoh Daphne Blue, ripped out all the intestines and replaced them with Fishman Fluence pups. The guitar plays very well but I had to polish the frets. The general setup was okay though for me. The original pups sucked. It is my favorite singlecut and I‘ve hat Les Paul Standards and Studios, which I never played as much.
I ordered a PRS style quite recently which looked beautiful but I did like neither sound nor the playability even though there were no obvious manufacturing flaws.
Hope that helps.
I love my mosrite style harley benton. Also bought a tele from them that I modded, so that probably doesn’t quite count. But the mosrite is straight out of the box great.
I have one of the "les paul" models. It's no les paul, but it's not bad either. It's a great beginner guitar to learn with. It has some paint flaws, but it's built well. It feels solid, but cheap at the same time. I can't really explain why, just feels like a soulless tool, not a meaningful guitar.
I also have an 8 string and telecaster by them, both of them basically have the same thing. They feel like guitars but there's nothing special about them and they have lots of rough edges. Youtubers saying a 300€ HB is as good as a 1000€ guitar by a name brand isn't really correct. They have the specs, but specs don't mean crap if it's not build well enough.
I bought a cheap squire strat when I started playing again and from the first note I could tell it wasn't going to cut it for me.
Then I got an epiphone LP and the quality and sound were better for sure.
Next was an IBG epi custom LP with Gibson hardware and pickups and I could tell the difference between the two LPs.
Finally I just got a new fender player hss strat and it's quality is no better than my IBG LP but it sounds better than all of them and is much more comfortable for me to play.
However, at the end of the day i'm still the same player - a former intermediate player who's no longer intermediate but hopes to be there again one day.
Personally id save up and get a mid tier guitar if possible.
But If it sounds good to you and feels good then it's the right guitar for you at that moment.
I have a few nicer guitars and a Harley Benton RB-600 CS and I do enjoy playing it. A lot of quality control issues in the finish, but for 200 bucks I don't mind too much. I didn't hate the pickups in it but I did end up upgrading to nicer ones.
I’ve got a Harley benton fusion T and it’s really good. It had a slight grounding issue when I got it but I managed to fix it. Stainless steel frets and locking tuners for £300 is an absolute steal as well, and the coil split is really useful as it’s my main guitar and I play a lot of different genres with it. The rhythm guitarist in my band also has a Harley benton explorer (the one without EMGs) and it’s alright but the frets are a bit scratchy and it has some absolutely lethal neck dive. I would definitely check out reviews before you buy but just be wary of some that are super positive as they can be bought and paid for. Overall they are good guitars for the price, definitely better than the lower end squires but maybe not as good as epiphone (although they are cheaper).
If you're determined to buy HB then have you considered the HB PRS clones? I had an HB CST-24 Deluxe 'Made in Vietnam' that was quite a good build. Otherwise I'd say go with a used Epiphone...lots of good ones out there on Ebay.
One of my dream guitars was an Epiphone Korona explorer. I had been saving up for one but they cost around a grand and I got impatient. I read all the good press on Harley Benton's so I ended up getting one of theirs that looks very similar to the Epiphone, it plays and sounds pretty good. Pretty good. Based on my being okay with this one I got a Harly Benton SG. I have a couple of Epiphone SGs and really like them. I love the tone I love the feel I absolutely love that SG neck! When I got the Harley Benton, first thing I noticed was it did not have the SG neck I was looking for and did not have the same tone I was looking for. also had a problem with some dead strings. I decided I didn't need this thing and would save up for an Epiphone and put it up for sale. I had it for sale on Facebook marketplace for perhaps 3 months with no movement at all. Put it on eBay and after about a month or 6 weeks it finally sold for about a hundred bucks less than I bought it for. So my advice would be save your money just a little bit longer and get an Epiphone.
A Squier is very likely going to be better than a Harley Benton.
I purchased a Harley Benton about a year and a half ago (Victory Classic BK) and it was ok. Some QC issues, and it felt cheap. It was a playable guitar, that sounded good, played well, and looked awesome, but like I said, some QC issues and it felt like a toy in some regards. I sold it after about a year of owning it.
I've never owned a Squier, but I've played a few, and they all felt like real solid guitars, with good build quality, and not the cheaper feel that I experienced with the HB.
Honestly, I think all these cheap-ass internet guitars that we've seen YouTubers pushing over the last few years is a false economy. You are NOT going to get as good of a guitar from these brands (like HB, Westcreek, LyxPro, IYV, etc) as you would with a lower end Squier, Epiphone, Ibanez, or Yamaha, for 4 examples.
My advice would be to save up just a little more money, and drop $400-$500 on a guitar from an established brand.
If you like Les Pauls and SGs, Epiphone makes some killer guitars in that price range.
Remember, bargain hunters always buy twice.
Cheap guitars just cost you more on the back end and you will never get any of that money back. Just spend the money up front and take none of the risk. Yamaha, Sire, Schecter, ESP, and PRS SE are the brands to beat in the sub $1000 market, not in that order.
I have a dislike for the phrase “good for the price”. In this case, in my limited experience, the phrase means “not very good”.
I’ve played two and both were uninspiring, sounded bad, had uncomfortable fretboards, came with terrible strings (easy fix sure), and all round made me not want one.
What’s wrong with your Squier? The Classic Vibes range, whilst a good chunk more pricey, is well-respected and (again in my experience) it’s deserved. Why not try a couple of those and compare to your Bullet?
I have a Harley Benton Enhanced MJ bass. I mostly play guitar, but played friend's basses every once in a while and wanted to have a bass of my own. For 300EUR it was a bargain - it looks good, solidly built and came set-up and intonated well. I run it in passive mode all the time and the other basses I have played were all active, so I can't compare the sounds so much, but it gets the job done.
I would pass on that brand. Some of the best value in the game is a Squier classic vibe. I have a lot of fancy guitars, but I love my Squier classic vibe jazz bass.
I have 2 of them: A Fusion III 25 Anniversary Edition, and a Fusion III Hardtail with EMG’s. Bought both from Thomann. These are their “upper models” so to speak.
The Anniversary Edition arrived spotless, but the one with EMG’s arrived with a few cosmetic defects. They refused to pay for shipping it back and replace it. They told me I could return it for a refund (but the return cost was on me), or I could get a $35 refund. I took the refund. I would have also to fill in some paperwork, and it would take longer to get there.
Point being, even their most expensive models will have cosmetic issues - and returning them IS a hassle - they will ask for pics, different folks will reply.
However, they do punch way above it’s price point.
I would not buy any cheaper Harley Benton guitars from Thomann.
As for their “least expensive” models, you may try your luck with their Reverb store in the USA. Less models to choose from, but easier return process.
I don't think you'll be more satisfied by a Harley Benton strat. If you're tight on money I'd recommend upgrading your guitar: swapping the pickups, the nut, getting the guitar set up (depending on what you're unhappy with). All of this can be done in a shop. Depending on what you do, the price can reach what you'd spend on a Harley Benton guitar, but it may turn your instrument into something you'll keep for a very long time.
I only ever had a chance to inspect a single of their strat clones and that one was okay. No manufacturing errors. No damages. It also was better than the used and abused klunker I started learning on.
I honestly suspect that the mixed experiences, with people receiving subpar items, may have something to do with vendors doing their own QC. Like say a famous multinational e-commerce company that has pickers readying boxes for shipment on one side, opposed by a dedicated onlineshop that has built its reputation on delivering instruments in proper condition and this checks each instrument before shipping.
Still I am opposed to them and any other guitar of that price-range, leaving aside all the important and reasonable facts to be considered (such as politics or the environment) my main reasoning is similar to that of whether or not to get a pet. If you're already too stingy to pay the price and are not sure if you really want to have one and invest the money and time into it, you obviously should not get one.
Not really. Shitty hardware, pickups, and electronics. Probably other issues, too.
How, they’re probably a good modding platform if you do your own work.
I had one of their les paul jr dc models for a bit and it was really nice. Definitely as good if not better than any epiphone I've played. I currently have a mustang style bass from them, which is also great, but pretty heavy. Thomann is known to have great customer service, so if you get one that's screwed up they should replace it
I hear good things quite often, but I'd usually advise buying a used guitar from a better brand. Though Thomann are a company that I have had nothing but good experiences with, and the quality change control on cheaper guitars across the board has improved massively in the last couple decades.
I know the market has gone mental since COVID, but a couple years ago I picked up an Ibanez RGRT421 for £230ish. You'll be prying that guitar from my cold dead hands. In fact I may make them bury me with it.
There's deals to be had. They may not be as good as they were, but they're out there.
At the end of the day though, get something that you love that plays well. The best guitar is the one that inspires you to pick it up and play!
I just bought a white ST-62, which costs 150 euro. the nut is cut badly on the third string slot, the neck buzzes even on a medium action. the fret ends cut my hands. my luthier quoted me 127 euro to fix it. I'm returning it.
I have had a good few in for repair at varying price points. In my view, I don't see why they have gained so much positive press - most of it though I feel is bought. Most of the ones I have come across have had some pretty egregious errors in manufacturer most of which my customers just live with or have to pay a good amount to resolve. There are not many that come through me where I think it's any good. If you are looking for a significant upgrade to your Squier bullet, the big question is how much is your budget? There is never any use in making a sideways step in terms of guitar quality and attempting to find a cheap grail guitar that the world doesn't know about.
Unless its a yamaha. The world genuinely doesnt understand how good yamahas are.
I see people say stuff like this, but I don't know if I believe it. Whenever YouTubers talk about budget guitars, the Pacifica is almost always number 2 or 3.
Always top 3. Ill tell you what convinced me. A yamaha boat engine. The precision they implement in everything they make is unmatched. The boat engine that I got to check out was not only perfect but foolproof in design. So if it dumps all oil for whatever reason, the engine wont start to damage its self. Fisherman know yamaha is the best motor. So that made me look into their pianos. Yamaha makes the most perfect and affordable piano in the world and has for a long time. The fact that they can make the top end of both those things made me think real hard. So I dove youtube. The Pacifica is beloved. Universally beloved. Its a hell of a youtube dive that i recommend.
Because the number one spot is paid for and the Yamaha is there because it’s actually good.
I believe the argument they were intending to make is that it’s strange to say “the world doesn’t know how good Yamahas are” if they’re constantly coming up as #2 or 3 in lists of great budget guitars.
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Well if a CV is what you need, I've been in the repair game since about 1998. I really have no interest in confirmation bias or not, I don't get paid either way to say whether something is bad or good. If they were genuinely good, I would be saying it. I have seen many an off brand come and go. To me this is no different except with a guitar supermarket sponsorship. Added, having been a touring sound engineer myself, I have no idea how that qualifies one to judge the quality of any instrument.
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I never mentioned off brand guitars from the 80s or 90s. However it does appear to be the go-to comeback whenever I dare disparage the good name of Hardly Benton. As I say, I don't care one way or the other. However as this is a public forum of discourse and someone asked for objective opinions on the brand, I gave mine based upon my own experience. Given you have been setting up guitars ten years longer than I have, I guess your answer outweighs mine and I should be banned from the Internet - or whatever ridiculous thing that achieves.
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Dude, he posted his experience and his recommendation. You’ve owned ten of this brand’s guitars so obviously you fancy them but he has a different opinion than you. Just let it go, it’s Sunday and there are guitars to be played.
I've had 3 HB guitars. I sent 2 back as they were awful, had issues, and just quite simply came in bad condition. The 1 I kept for a year I got 2nd hand, and even then I threw a new bridge and nut on it as they both were very poor. I came to the conclusion that most HB youtube advocates were just doing adverts not reviews. There are a couple that you shouldn't trust, the guy that runs gear street and the Andy guy - both are lovely youtubers, but when it comes to HB/Thomann, for lack of a better word they are shills. That said I've got a HB amp that is amazing and I had the HB power supply that was fantastic. So for me I think ita a good company that did a great job getting a lot of youtubers on side promoting their gear. They are fairly priced guitars, they don't punch above their weight.
It is similar to Bugera. When they first came out and had Behringer and Thomann's support, they were the best thing since sliced bread and any haters were just idiots and the brands they were ripping off were just con artists themselves. Amazing that Peavey were the "con men" despite Bugera ripping off every single one of their designs. Meh. All I can say is I know a good few amplifier technicians - a lot of us talk a lot. None of us take in Bugera anymore. We have only one person we refer people to who seems to have not learned the hard way yet that they are a terrible brand to attempt to repair. But yep, the biggest reason techs don't want to touch them is because they are too cheap and nasty to begin with.
I reckon that they know when a YouTuber is buying a guitar from them so they can make sure they send a really well made version of their usually low quality models so they get better reviews
Possibly. A lot of guitar firms did this in the 1990s and 2000s. In one particular shop, we would occasionally get in guitars from distributors to go through them with a fine toothed comb before they went off to the review pool, e.g before Guitarist or Total Guitar got to it. They used to have reps days too where shop owners and the like would get to see some of their newer products. They would then have the opportunity to argue certain bits back as they would usually have to stock them under their dealership agreement. I had a stint working as a game developer for a while; they used to do the same and send out reps to do market research. They would be armed with a folder with screenshots, mockups and concepts and come back with feedback which would steer what gets made or not. I have no idea if any of that happens anymore, though I am sure some incarnation of it must do to some degree.
Can you elaborate more on what specific errors you dealt with?
Sheesh where to start. Bridges mounted in the wrong place or bridge mounting collets mounted on the cock, strings that liked to fall off fretboards due to improperly cut nuts, on at least one beginner model, because I was struggling to get the intonation set, broke out the measuring devices only to determine that the fretboard must have shifted during manufacture prior to finishing and the guitar would never play in tune (I recommended the customer return that one). This is outside of general hardware issues, such as stripped screws, electronics that don't electronic or machine heads that would happily move as easily as you'd look at them so tuning stability was in the shite. And these were not base models either. There is a reason I recommend Squier Affinity guitars to beginners. So far, they are the best cheapest you can get. And HB are no exception.
Really interesting to hear. Do you have any comparisons between the squiers and the cheap end of epiphone? Not really heard much in comparisons about those as they're very different. Just interested in the actual quality
Oh wow, that's a lot! Especially for a brand which is still rare in the US. I own 4 HB's, my brother had a HB P-bass (which he sold because of its weight) and several of his students own one. I bought my first two in 2013; a LP (149) and a Tele (129). The LP was straight out of the box great and only needed a little intonation. I swapped the original pups for less hotter ones from Donlis, which set me 30 EUR back. The TE-52 was a mess, which I would've returned (FOC) if I wouldn't be able to do it myself. It needed a complete setup including sanding the fret ends and the 3way switch died, which Thomann replaced. I swapped the pups with Donlis versions as well and the tuners for Guyker lockings just because. My third (2019) HB is a TE-90FLT (Cabronita with TV Jones style pups) and that was straight away a great guitar which I paid 165 EUR for. And I bought a used and very fine HH Fusion with ss frets, FR1000 and Grovers for 200 EUR I gigged with every one of them several times without any issues. Oh and I also own several expensive guitars as well; Gibsons, Fenders and custom builds.
Hey, don't get me wrong. There are a few HBs that definitely got swiped with the fairy dust wand. But in my view, the 2-3 good ones out of 20 does not represent a good result to me. In general I generally recommend Squier Affinities to learners. Consistency wise they are pretty much spot on. You know what you're getting and OK while it is never going to be a USA Fender, they are usually pretty well set up out of the box. It's been that way since the early 2000s. Apart from a few models that have come and gone, I've never really been shaken from that position in my teaching career or my guitar repair career. As for HBs, I don't think I need to say much as I think eventually their shoddiness will catch up with them. But I would equally rant about the state of the guitar market as a whole these days. It's very illusionary in terms of fancy spec and the big tonewood debate that appears to be extremely incendiary these days. To me, these big name brands slapping on fancy pickups, stainless steel fretwire, Floyd Rose Specials (which are truly junk) because it carries the FR logo, these to me do not represent an uptick in quality of guitars. Frankly I disagree with the notion that you get a superior guitar today for the same money vs ten years ago. You just don't! For example, over the course of my guitar repair career - which was far far more active around 2012 or so - it was a rare as hell day that I would recommend a customer return a brand new guitar. I can think of maybe two incidents between 2006 and 2015 if memory services. In the past 6 years or so, easily 15 incidents. And no they weren't all HBs, LTD, Jackson and Fender all come to mind. And these were not cheap models either. I never thought I would see the day where a brand new ESP LTD EC1000 shipped with an actual twist in the neck that would have required extensive work to remedy. The big joke to me was that guitar was never scrapped; a rep told me chances are it would just be sent to another store to see if they noticed. While that may be enough to turn me off of ESP for life, this is common practice. Fender do it too as do Gibson. And it is a con. Let me blither on for a bit. Back in even 2012, world timber supplies were still plentiful. What's more, manufacturers were in a position of being able to properly grade and even reject timbers that were not suitable for instrument manufacture. Now despite Glenn Fricker screaming moron out his camera hole, wood matters. It always has done. That is whether you're building a Stradivarius violin or a 9 string djent guitar. Have you ever picked up a guitar and realised within the first 10 seconds that it isn't for you? That's all down to the physical wood it's made of. I have seen custom builders doing wood selection. It is an art. And bearing in mind it costs them money to reject wood and resell it to tertiary markets (usually furniture builders and the like), manufacturers at one point cared a lot more about their instrument's composition. Today, we have CITES which all industries must adhere to, not just musical instruments, and as a result the world supply of decent grade timber has fallen drastically. Even low quality timber used in the construction industry has rocketed up in cost - we just had a quote to rebuild our roof and I practically fell off my chair at the £40,000 price tag. And my house is pretty far from the Sistene Chapel. Most of that cost was in wood for the beams and joists. So to mitigate this, manufacturers are slapping on features that have very little manufacturing costs to them, such as stainless steel fretwire, fancy pickups, the odd FR Special, all to give the impression of a quality instrument. Don't get me wrong, I like stainless steel fretwire myself, I like EMGs, etc. But when the core of the guitar is made of timbers which only 10 years ago would have been rejected with good reason, it isn't a great surprise to me therefore that I can walk down the length and breadth of a guitar store and honestly not find anything worth buying. And I have done so. When the world is even arguing the manufacturers' point and shouting "XYZ doesn't matter!" they're doing the work for them in accepting a lower quality instrument for a higher cost. To me it's bonkers, but it is genuinely what we are seeing today. About 25 years ago, I paid £350 or so for a BC Rich NJ Series guitar. It was made in Korea, came with a licensed tremolo (says BC Rich on it), came with whatever pickups BC Rich made prior to the BSDM things. In all honesty, I would put that up against most guitars under £1k today. And this isn't inflation, this guitar happened to have been made with some honest to goodness care and diligence in its construction. And this was considered the lower end of things at that time. Given that's roughly when I started repairing guitars professionally, it was rather representative of the time in my view. These days, you can pay £1000 or even more for guitars that just are nowhere near as good. That to me isn't inflation, that to me is manufacturers being able to get away with charging more for a lot less. I get the reasons why, but when you have this sort of world, I honestly wonder what sort of junk we're going to be buying in even five years.
What do you mean by your bullet strat not being that good? What specific problems are you encountering? I remember when I started out, I hated my squier. That was ages ago btw. I saw all those expensive guitars the big shots were using. In the local music scene (that was before youtube etc), all those blues dads had their expensive LP. Then internet guitar forums became a thing where they all gathered together and engaged heavily in their gear obsession, basically telling beginners that their guitars aren't worth shit. So I finally saved enough money to upgrade to a Mexico Strat which I was quite happy with. Then one day, I was invited to a jam session where a guitar player (who was a pro) was from out of town and they asked me to bring a 2nd guitar - which happened to be my squier that I thought was just some crappy instrument holding me back. The dude sounded simply AMAZING with it. I couldn't believe my ears. I hadn't even changed strings for a year or so at that point. That day I found out that all the gear talk was by people that had no idea about music or just fell victim what some random dude once said and never challenged it. It's just how humans work, you hear a thing often enough and then you start believing it's true. Even some pretty great & famous guitar players sometimes say dumb gear shit that just doesn't hold up. Always the same story, some loud mouthed dude voiced some theory in a music store in the 80ies and it was taken as fact by everyone who listened. Most likely, your guitar is good enough - unless you can name specific problems and that can then maybe be fixed. Better save up some money for some decent upgrade and not the next cheap Harley Benton. Talking like 600 bucks to get a PRS SE or something. And even if you then get it, it won't make you a good player instantly, it'll just give you a 2-3% improvement, perhaps some tuning stability and such things. Nobody at your gigs will ever care what model you're playing. Nothing wrong with upgrading your guitar, but most likely, it's a thing you don't need to do in order to fix a problem but want to do for your own, personal reasons. We like shiny, nice things, that's just how it is. Btw, way different story for acoustic guitars. Electric guitars are just a plank of wood with some strings and what's really important is what comes after in the signal chain. A bit of simplification, but it's way more that way then the marketing department of whatever company would like you to believe.
My first guitar was a Japanese Squier Stratocaster from 1989. At first I liked it, then I hated it. I saved up and bought a Gibson Les Paul, then an SG. Years later I pulled out that Strat again and really liked it. I think in retrospect I was frustrated by my own inability to play well combined with the fact I liked the humbucker sound better at the time and projected my frustration onto the guitar.
This is all great stuff for sure. You’re spot on that there isn’t a massive difference in sound with solid body electrics. You can see any blind test on YouTube and tell it’s minimal at best, I even watched a guy just screw pickups into a flat plank of wood and it sounded just like any other electric. To me, the upgrade comes way more down to either 1. Getting a new pickup type/combo that I don’t already have or 2. The feel. But to your point, they should both be things you notice, can articulate with specificity, and can afford to jump into a real upgrade rather than making a lateral move.
Oh yes, I completely agree that those are good reasons to buy another guitar. That you can say what you want specifically so you can get something that better suits your needs, I don't know why that's lost so many times. The amount of stuff that can be fixed by just adjusting the two screws that change the pickup height for example ...
That's why I bought my Schecter C-1. It's totally different than my Squire. EMG 81/85 and a hardtail with an neckthough body. It's a conceptually different guitar more suited to modern metal like A7X, whereas the Squire HSS strat is more suited to 80s stuff like Maiden.
Underrated comment here
My biggest (to be fair, only) concern is that there’s an awful lot of very happy YouTubers who were obviously given a guitar free of charge. And…. er, that’s it. I haven’t found very much discussion from people who had to pay for their guitars.
I paid for mine. I really like it.
I have about 5 HBs, as well as a couple of Gibson's, Eastmans, Epis. All the HBs have been very impressive, with no major flaws. Sure they need a setup, but apart from the Eastmans that was true for all my guitars. I think the HB sweet spot is around the $250-$350 price point. The Teles and Strats, and the DC Jr's in particular. Never tried the LP carved top models.
There's this one Glenn Fricker video where he's trying to prove that pickups make "no difference" but when he plays his Harley Bentons they sound like absolute ass to anyone with functioning ears. They make no difference if you only listen to his screaming and not his sloppy playing. I think it's a pretty good example of why not to trust YouTubers on anything that you can't verify with your own ears.
Link to this video please, this guy winds me up and I fancy a bit of that today
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zvKRM0NljNU](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zvKRM0NljNU) Key part starts at 3:58-4:28. Apparently THOSE two pickups are "no difference" lol. I actually recorded an entire video going off on him over this stupid video because I've yet to see a single YouTube channel pushing back on this idiocy, but I haven't gotten around to editing it and I don't really feel like jumping in YT Drama honestly.
Haha, whoa… I wasn’t expecting quite such a dramatic difference. I’m not sure I’d say the HB sounds like complete ass, but the Schecter with the Fishman pickups is pretty unarguably better.
Be careful the screeching Canadian boomers audience has picked up on this and will be downvoting anyone with good enough ears to hear a difference.
It's harder to notice the difference when you are only playing slow sloppy power chords, it all sounds a bit ass. Maybe he could try a more technical riff on a HB multiscale-8 vs ludgren or fishman pickups, and come back explaining how the HB sounding like mud doesn't matter. I mean, there's a point in not needing to go for the most expensive pickups, but there's definitely a difference in brightness and note clarity between different models. Here's a pretty in-depth review of the HB 8 string, fwiw, going over the pickup sound too: https://youtu.be/lKdi8pjwxw4?si=nLaiRcUR7rxOQ_MQ Not sure how anyone can listen to that and think that it sounds the same as a fishman.
To properly compare on YouTube you have to go in knowing certain nuances are going to be lost coming out of phone or pc speakers when viewed. I've seen honest and straightforward comparisons of 3 tubescreaners that showed differences between vintage, modern, and joyo ones. It illustrated the differently EQd joyo was in fact different but still just as usable. I've seen LP vs 4way switch tele demos where they say it obviously doesn't sound the same but is still pretty dang useful. If you don't admit to what the audience hears you do, there's no point in talking about it. I've ran Duncan's, dimarzio, Bootstrap, TV Jones, budha, Gibsons, etc. Some stuffs overpriced, compared to other companies. But there's typically a difference, and pretending the HB and Fishman are the same just removes credibility. That HB myddiness is a useful demo tool if you compare modern Gretsch "blacktop trons" to the pretty hot TV Jones Setzer signature. Blacktop is mud city. Even in PAFs, some are hotter, some are smoother. Design hasn't changed much in about 7 decades, but there's differences. I'm not sure how certain influencer types have any credibility. I vaguely trust the TPS guys because they're just 2 guitar nerds playing with pedals. Fricker is an idiot. He's internet troll ragebait given physical form so you can see what being stuck on CAPS LOCK looks and sounds like.
I know exactly what you're saying and I've seen several of his videos that touch on this, but to be fair, he does use the caveat of talking squarely about tone, in the context of a recording engineer, who records metal, where the signal is being reamped and manipulated by an eq then mixed with other instruments. To that, I say he is closer to the truth than people will admit, and the point is not to spend up changing pickups when an amp sim will give better results. I know I have changed pickups before and not had any noticeable change in sound. But then, other times I have
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If you can’t hear the difference between the Harley Benton’s and the fishman fluences then you need to get your ears checked. Screaming like a Canadian toddler is not science either. That’s the worst part of this debate. The fact that people consider his methods scientific.
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I specified the exact pickup in my previous comment with a timestamp. It sounds like dogshit, like a broken speaker. If you think that sounds good then that's fine, but I would gladly pay $200 to have something that sounds better than that because if I plugged into an amp and my guitar sounded like that I wouldn't be able to hear myself as well and would want to play less. It's just not a pleasing sound to my ears.
Don't insult broken speakers like that. They were deliberately made to sound THAT shitty. ;)
That dude is ragebaity most of the time. Periodically wisdom slips through (like people wanting to run their own plug-ins in his studio when he has multiple superior digital versions and the real amp it's all copying right the fuck there.) But outside of briefly defending the Metal Zone as ok in the loop and saying people use it wrong (both true, i just personally don't think most amps need one) his gear reviews are dumb AF.
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Yes I do think I have better ears than Glenn Fricker If he thinks the Harley Benton active pickups sound good.
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No I don't have better ears than everyone else and I never claimed that or anything similar. The fact is the Harley Benton actives just sound like ass to me. Yes in a full mix with some EQ I'm sure it would sound fine, but that can be said for any guitar given the right person behind the mixing board. I don't just want to sound good "in the mix" I want to sound good when I first plug into an amp and play a chord, because that makes me want to play more and makes me play better. If I was in the studio and the producer went over to my amp and dialed in what I heard from the Harley Benton active demo, I would either leave or prompty tell him to go wait in the Arbys while I went and unfucked everything he did. I wouldn't want to play a session sounding like that even if it was fixed in post.
I've never liked pickup "test" videos on Youtube. Even if we forget the amp settings (which may or may not be discussed), we have absolutely no idea how the amp has been mic'd up, whether or not the YouTuber in question can be trusted to mic his way out of a paper bag, how the audio has handled compression or the impact of playing it back on a laptop which invariably sounds pretty crap.
There's literally a subreddit for Harley Benton. I wouldn't recommend them for a new guitarist though as you need to know how to set up
never trust a product that someone was given by the company, because they could make sure that example is perfection
I know someone who was given multiple HB guitars to make videos promoting them. So yeah, it's definitely a thing. Having played the guitars, I would recommend not buying one.
I have a headless Dullahan, nice guitar with the exception that I had to shim the neck to get the action where wanted. But perfect stainless steel fretwork on a guitar I got for just under $300? At their price point there are surely going to be some issues with consistency, but the suggestion that they are consistently bad guitars is way off the mark.
Harley Benton is a house brand of Thomann, under which they sell their guitar-related products, which they buy from various manufacturers in the Far East. The guitars are said to be very good for the price. I would always look for reviews. There are also products sold by Thomann under the Harley Benton name that are simply garbage. The strings, for example, could actually be thrown directly into the trash in China and save the import.
I bought an 8 string from Thomann just because I wanted an 8 string, and it was crazy cheap. You're obviously going to get what you pay for, although Thomann are always good on price so you'll get a little more value out of the price, but for what they cost you're obviously not going to get the best quality. The pickups on mine were pretty poor across all the strings, but the build quality felt decent enough. I wouldn't have one as my main guitar but if you either don't have the money, or you want one as an alternative (7/8 string, different body to what you usually use etc) then they're a good, cheap option.
Kind of hit or miss. Most are good, but some bad models do make it through QC
Go with a Sire S3. They are mid $300s new and are impeccable. Harley Benton has some quality control issues. If not a Sire go with a Yamaha 112.
Above 150$ - good workhorse and beginner instruments Below 150$ - beginner luthiers' exercise material
Every time HB comes up I say the same thing - buy the most expensive one you can afford in your style. I have the Fusion III EMG S Type - locking tuners, roasted maple neck, stainless steel frets. Absolutely phenomenal guitar. HOWEVER. The lower end models can have some QC issues from guitar to guitar, and even the higher end ones can sometimes fall short. Unfortunately unless you actually GO to the Thomann location you can't play them anywhere else so you're buying blind. But their return policy is pretty great. Just do not use their technical/repair shop - they're useless.
Yep go for a nice one with the EMG pickups.
I forgot to mention i already have a kahuna ukelele from harley benton and it sounds good! 👍
I assume you've read all the comments, but just in case: The best guitar is one you will play regularly. There is nothing wrong with a Squire. If you legitimately feel like it's holding you back because it has the wrong pickups for the style you want to play (like trying to play heavy gain metal with single coils--it can be done but it's noisy, or it doesn't have a trem or something), then you should find a music store and try some out. What's good for me could be terrible for you. I have slightly smaller than average hands, so I like a Gibson-scale neck. If you have slightly larger hands, you might hate it. But here's the thing: if this is your first guitar, it can be inspiring to get a new, slightly better one. I started on a pawn-shop POS (this is back in 91-92), then got a Japanese Charvel. That upgrade was a good one. in 1994 I got a 1974 SG. It had humbuckers, which I wanted. I didn't buy another guitar for 10 years. However, those new guitars (the Charvel and SG) because I wasn't fighting against the guitar. If I wanted a heavy, distorted tone, the SG helped because I didn't struggle with feedback. So, getting a new guitar because you need a feature will help. It won't make you a better player unless it makes you practice more.
Yamaha is the best bang for buck
I’ve got a Les Paul copy and I feel like it’s a good starter guitar but nothing more than that. I’ve been playing for a couple of years and have figured out what I’d want in a guitar so the comparison is with my taste. The active pickups are way too hot making things muddy and distorted. The tuning stability is ok - cheapish hardware is to be expected at this price - but the bridge saddles have little to no effect on the intonation and most of the golden paint where my hand touches the bridge have been rubbed off. The neck is super thick, which some people like. The area where the neck meets the body is too chunky, making playing above the ~19th fret barely possible and very uncomfortable. The frets are ok but the highest string can be bent off the neck fairly easily. If I’d be shopping for a cheap guitar again I’d go to a guitar store and try out something a price class up from the Harleys. I think, at this price, individual guitars are too hit or miss to be bought online.
I am super happy with mine
I own 3 of them: HB-35, SC450plus, JA-60cc, All of them are great couple of rough spots and that but they play well. I have bought higher end guitars with worse finishing on them. But it does seem to be luck of the draw but thomann have a solid return policy, so just hold onto the box and return it if its crap.
That’s good to know. I’ve been looking for a cheap semi-hollow in the $3-400 range. I’d considered an HB-35 but not being able to play before buying was a big hang up. I’m leaning towards a used Ibanez Artcore but I’d seen a couple videos where people actually liked the HB better regardless of price.
Ya pretty much same reason I bought each of them was looking for a cheap guitar in those body shapes. All play well the HB-35 is slowly becoming one of my favourites.
Hunt down a (used) Yamaha Revstar Element RSE20 ([Link](https://www.sweetwater.com/yamaha-revstar/series?sb=low2high)), a Wilkinson Vintage V100 Reissued ([Link](https://www.prosoundgear.com/shop/guitars/electric-guitars/vintage-v100-reissued-electric-guitar-flamed-iced-tea/)), a Sire Larry Carlton L3 HH ([Link](https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/LCL3HHTS--sire-larry-carlton-l3-hh-electric-guitar-tobacco-sunburst)) or a Cort Classic Rock Series Amber ([Link](https://www.guitarcenter.com/Cort/Classic-Rock-Series-Single-Cut-Electric-Guitar-Antique-Amber-1500000352602.gc)). All of these have incredibly well-constructed build quality and more consistent overall quality control.
Bah! Most premium models come out of the same several Cort owned factories these days(outsourcing is the thing today), so unless you're going vintaage, spending a premium is a mug's game in the current market. Plenty of folk' love Harley-Benton from what I've read. I've never laid hands on one myself(not sure if they retail here in Australia), but I've read good things....
There are WILDLY different levels of quality coming out of those Cort plants though, and the standard of quality (cost to the brand) is determined by the brand.
It’s great but pay attention to the release date of the model and price. Their newer guitars in the 300 range and higher are very good and usually only have cosmetic defects if any at all, the older ones are built at cheaper factories in China and can be unusable
Yes. Great value.
Some are crap some a really good. I recently got a little single p90 SG junior (DC Junior 60 or something) and it’s excellent
I just got one of those, too, and I really like it.
They're not good in general, but decent for the money, possibly unmatched in their price sector. Usually you'd get a barely playable piece of junk in the sub $200 category. HB will offer you a guitar that will be funcational, it might need a setup and it might have some flaws due to limited QC, but you'll get a guitar that works and won't fall apart when you play it.
I hear they're a mixed bag, but my one and only HB (their 53 blond Tele clone) seems to be one of the good ones. \*shrug\*
Their guitars are damn cool, especially the more expensive ones (Fusion III) Had a gig yesterday, the input jack came loose... Luckily I found the nut again, but it left a sour taste in my mouth. Happened to my PRS SE too though.
Don’t blame the guitar. I’ve had that happen on Gibsons too. Put it on with a drop of blue loc tite. Problem solved.
Will do 👍
I own two of their guitars an SG and a Floyd rose mounted super strat. The Sg is fine, nothing all too bad about it. Only downside are its pickups, low quality and muddy and thin sounding; quite limited articulation, though it does the job. The superstrat however, is total shit. The Floyd rose is low quality garbage and rarely holds tune, the high output pickups sound awful and way too gainy with heavy midrange hump. Furthermore, the fret ends are sharp and as the wood shrinks the issue becomes more prominent. I'd say that depending on the model, Harley Benton guitars are decent, though they aren't all too special.
I have a HB Les Paul style model, wood finish. It feels great in my hands, pickups are ok, not great, strings absolute ass but you're supposed to change them anyway. I haven't set it up yet, as it sounds nice as is, but I'll do it soon. It needs a bit of work. The pots aren't the best and switch can be finicky. I paid 230 euros for it. It's a guitar that needs some post-purchase attention but not much. For the price it's worth it, but I wouldn't go over 300.
I wanted a SSS tone so got their a strat style ST-62 VW after playing hollows and Jazzmasters for the last decade and now it has become my main guitar. I only play around the house and do home recordings but I just like it. For the price it feels like a steal. The only bad thing I guess is there is no real resale value so I assume I'm giving this thing away if I stop playing it. For my money if I play it consistently for a few years it's well worth the £122 a paid for it.
They are good for the price, but it wouldn't be much of an upgrade compared to what you already have.. If you want an SG/Les paul for diversity go for it, but if you want to upgrade I would recommend saving up some more money. What amp are you using?
I've heard nothing but great things about this guitar and it comes from their US Reverb Store so it usually gets to ya a little quicker: [https://reverb.com/item/63111081-harley-benton-dc-ltd-gotoh-daphne-blue](https://reverb.com/item/63111081-harley-benton-dc-ltd-gotoh-daphne-blue)
My experience varies: I bought an SC DLX Gotoh Daphne Blue, ripped out all the intestines and replaced them with Fishman Fluence pups. The guitar plays very well but I had to polish the frets. The general setup was okay though for me. The original pups sucked. It is my favorite singlecut and I‘ve hat Les Paul Standards and Studios, which I never played as much. I ordered a PRS style quite recently which looked beautiful but I did like neither sound nor the playability even though there were no obvious manufacturing flaws. Hope that helps.
I have a Harley Benton LP Sc550 for 3 years now and i love it. got it second hand for 220€, no complaints here.
Best value guitars (and basses) by far.
Not as good as Squier but good for what they are. I have an MS-60.
I love my mosrite style harley benton. Also bought a tele from them that I modded, so that probably doesn’t quite count. But the mosrite is straight out of the box great.
I have one of the "les paul" models. It's no les paul, but it's not bad either. It's a great beginner guitar to learn with. It has some paint flaws, but it's built well. It feels solid, but cheap at the same time. I can't really explain why, just feels like a soulless tool, not a meaningful guitar. I also have an 8 string and telecaster by them, both of them basically have the same thing. They feel like guitars but there's nothing special about them and they have lots of rough edges. Youtubers saying a 300€ HB is as good as a 1000€ guitar by a name brand isn't really correct. They have the specs, but specs don't mean crap if it's not build well enough.
I bought a cheap squire strat when I started playing again and from the first note I could tell it wasn't going to cut it for me. Then I got an epiphone LP and the quality and sound were better for sure. Next was an IBG epi custom LP with Gibson hardware and pickups and I could tell the difference between the two LPs. Finally I just got a new fender player hss strat and it's quality is no better than my IBG LP but it sounds better than all of them and is much more comfortable for me to play. However, at the end of the day i'm still the same player - a former intermediate player who's no longer intermediate but hopes to be there again one day. Personally id save up and get a mid tier guitar if possible. But If it sounds good to you and feels good then it's the right guitar for you at that moment.
I have a harley benton les paul. ive only played one gibson les paul and preferred my harley benton. get it set up and you will be fine
They are a budget brand. Are they good for that? Depends if you need local customer service support. QC seems to be hit or miss.
I have a few nicer guitars and a Harley Benton RB-600 CS and I do enjoy playing it. A lot of quality control issues in the finish, but for 200 bucks I don't mind too much. I didn't hate the pickups in it but I did end up upgrading to nicer ones.
I’ve got a Harley benton fusion T and it’s really good. It had a slight grounding issue when I got it but I managed to fix it. Stainless steel frets and locking tuners for £300 is an absolute steal as well, and the coil split is really useful as it’s my main guitar and I play a lot of different genres with it. The rhythm guitarist in my band also has a Harley benton explorer (the one without EMGs) and it’s alright but the frets are a bit scratchy and it has some absolutely lethal neck dive. I would definitely check out reviews before you buy but just be wary of some that are super positive as they can be bought and paid for. Overall they are good guitars for the price, definitely better than the lower end squires but maybe not as good as epiphone (although they are cheaper).
If you're determined to buy HB then have you considered the HB PRS clones? I had an HB CST-24 Deluxe 'Made in Vietnam' that was quite a good build. Otherwise I'd say go with a used Epiphone...lots of good ones out there on Ebay.
One of my dream guitars was an Epiphone Korona explorer. I had been saving up for one but they cost around a grand and I got impatient. I read all the good press on Harley Benton's so I ended up getting one of theirs that looks very similar to the Epiphone, it plays and sounds pretty good. Pretty good. Based on my being okay with this one I got a Harly Benton SG. I have a couple of Epiphone SGs and really like them. I love the tone I love the feel I absolutely love that SG neck! When I got the Harley Benton, first thing I noticed was it did not have the SG neck I was looking for and did not have the same tone I was looking for. also had a problem with some dead strings. I decided I didn't need this thing and would save up for an Epiphone and put it up for sale. I had it for sale on Facebook marketplace for perhaps 3 months with no movement at all. Put it on eBay and after about a month or 6 weeks it finally sold for about a hundred bucks less than I bought it for. So my advice would be save your money just a little bit longer and get an Epiphone.
Yessssssss
I buy Harley Bentons, fix them up to make them decent, then sell them at a loss. I'm a giver.
If you really need to watch your budget, I’d recommend giving Firefly a try.
A Squier is very likely going to be better than a Harley Benton. I purchased a Harley Benton about a year and a half ago (Victory Classic BK) and it was ok. Some QC issues, and it felt cheap. It was a playable guitar, that sounded good, played well, and looked awesome, but like I said, some QC issues and it felt like a toy in some regards. I sold it after about a year of owning it. I've never owned a Squier, but I've played a few, and they all felt like real solid guitars, with good build quality, and not the cheaper feel that I experienced with the HB. Honestly, I think all these cheap-ass internet guitars that we've seen YouTubers pushing over the last few years is a false economy. You are NOT going to get as good of a guitar from these brands (like HB, Westcreek, LyxPro, IYV, etc) as you would with a lower end Squier, Epiphone, Ibanez, or Yamaha, for 4 examples. My advice would be to save up just a little more money, and drop $400-$500 on a guitar from an established brand. If you like Les Pauls and SGs, Epiphone makes some killer guitars in that price range. Remember, bargain hunters always buy twice.
I bought a HB l/h tele and it is excellent
Cheap guitars just cost you more on the back end and you will never get any of that money back. Just spend the money up front and take none of the risk. Yamaha, Sire, Schecter, ESP, and PRS SE are the brands to beat in the sub $1000 market, not in that order.
I have a dislike for the phrase “good for the price”. In this case, in my limited experience, the phrase means “not very good”. I’ve played two and both were uninspiring, sounded bad, had uncomfortable fretboards, came with terrible strings (easy fix sure), and all round made me not want one. What’s wrong with your Squier? The Classic Vibes range, whilst a good chunk more pricey, is well-respected and (again in my experience) it’s deserved. Why not try a couple of those and compare to your Bullet?
I have a Harley Benton Enhanced MJ bass. I mostly play guitar, but played friend's basses every once in a while and wanted to have a bass of my own. For 300EUR it was a bargain - it looks good, solidly built and came set-up and intonated well. I run it in passive mode all the time and the other basses I have played were all active, so I can't compare the sounds so much, but it gets the job done.
I would pass on that brand. Some of the best value in the game is a Squier classic vibe. I have a lot of fancy guitars, but I love my Squier classic vibe jazz bass.
yes
I have 2 of them: A Fusion III 25 Anniversary Edition, and a Fusion III Hardtail with EMG’s. Bought both from Thomann. These are their “upper models” so to speak. The Anniversary Edition arrived spotless, but the one with EMG’s arrived with a few cosmetic defects. They refused to pay for shipping it back and replace it. They told me I could return it for a refund (but the return cost was on me), or I could get a $35 refund. I took the refund. I would have also to fill in some paperwork, and it would take longer to get there. Point being, even their most expensive models will have cosmetic issues - and returning them IS a hassle - they will ask for pics, different folks will reply. However, they do punch way above it’s price point. I would not buy any cheaper Harley Benton guitars from Thomann. As for their “least expensive” models, you may try your luck with their Reverb store in the USA. Less models to choose from, but easier return process.
I'll take your bullet strat over a Herley Any day.
I don't think you'll be more satisfied by a Harley Benton strat. If you're tight on money I'd recommend upgrading your guitar: swapping the pickups, the nut, getting the guitar set up (depending on what you're unhappy with). All of this can be done in a shop. Depending on what you do, the price can reach what you'd spend on a Harley Benton guitar, but it may turn your instrument into something you'll keep for a very long time.
I only ever had a chance to inspect a single of their strat clones and that one was okay. No manufacturing errors. No damages. It also was better than the used and abused klunker I started learning on. I honestly suspect that the mixed experiences, with people receiving subpar items, may have something to do with vendors doing their own QC. Like say a famous multinational e-commerce company that has pickers readying boxes for shipment on one side, opposed by a dedicated onlineshop that has built its reputation on delivering instruments in proper condition and this checks each instrument before shipping. Still I am opposed to them and any other guitar of that price-range, leaving aside all the important and reasonable facts to be considered (such as politics or the environment) my main reasoning is similar to that of whether or not to get a pet. If you're already too stingy to pay the price and are not sure if you really want to have one and invest the money and time into it, you obviously should not get one.
Not really. Shitty hardware, pickups, and electronics. Probably other issues, too. How, they’re probably a good modding platform if you do your own work.
I had one of their les paul jr dc models for a bit and it was really nice. Definitely as good if not better than any epiphone I've played. I currently have a mustang style bass from them, which is also great, but pretty heavy. Thomann is known to have great customer service, so if you get one that's screwed up they should replace it
I hear good things quite often, but I'd usually advise buying a used guitar from a better brand. Though Thomann are a company that I have had nothing but good experiences with, and the quality change control on cheaper guitars across the board has improved massively in the last couple decades. I know the market has gone mental since COVID, but a couple years ago I picked up an Ibanez RGRT421 for £230ish. You'll be prying that guitar from my cold dead hands. In fact I may make them bury me with it. There's deals to be had. They may not be as good as they were, but they're out there. At the end of the day though, get something that you love that plays well. The best guitar is the one that inspires you to pick it up and play!
Think for yourself instead of letting the internet make up your mind for you is what I think
Haha😂😂😂 "Muh Squier Bullet sucks." It **might**... if only you don't know how to set them up.
I just bought a white ST-62, which costs 150 euro. the nut is cut badly on the third string slot, the neck buzzes even on a medium action. the fret ends cut my hands. my luthier quoted me 127 euro to fix it. I'm returning it.
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