Harley Benton Les Paul style kit

AustrianJohn

I've just completed the build of a Harley Benton Les Paul style kit. Overall, I'm very happy with the result which represents fantastic value for money.

However, there is one minor problem. The bolt on neck is raised compared to a real Les Paul, and is at a different angle. The edge of the neck binding should be level with the top of the body, but is between 0.5 and 0.8 cm higher than this. Has anyone built this kit and experienced similar issues with the neck? Is it worth trimming the underside of the neck so that the fit is similar to the original Les Paul?

Adam_MD

Can you show us a better angle of the neck/body join?

AustrianJohn

The guitar kit at the top and my Les Paul Studio below.

WezV

Its just because its bolt-on and it looks like they have gone for zero neck angle

you could trim and angle the bottom, or the neck pocket, but you need to make sure the strings still end up at the bridge at the same place so it can be a tricky job if you have not done it before

personally, for the rpice of the kit and the fact it will still be bolt-on I would just live with it

AustrianJohn

WezV - thanks for your comment.

I built this (and a Tele before it) to learn a bit about building guitars before trying something more complex. So, for the experience, I probably will trim the angle at the bottom.

I just wondered if anyone else had done this before and had some words of wisdom for me (like "don't do it"!).

WezV

you will also need to plug and redrill the holes in the neck as they will all be at the wrong angle, and make sure the screws are not too long before you put them back in

I would probably alter it by deepening and angling the neck pocket rather than the neck itself - but it all depends on the thickness of wood  you have available on both parts

Jetfire

Did it come painted like that? Lovely finish!

AustrianJohn

Jetfire said:

Did it come painted like that? Lovely finish!

No, all my own work. Thanks!

bingefeller

Looks great.

AustrianJohn

I decided to make the adjustment by sanding the base of the neck. The slight change in angle thankfully wasn't enough to force me to fill and redrill the holes. After adjustment intonation and action are fine (as before).

Phil_aka_Pip

Glad you got away with it

FWIW the "after" pic looks a lot neater

Chalky

Agree - fine work!

RaymondLin

Nice work !

hotpot

That's a great looking build, very cool work around with the neck.

Octahedron

What pickups did you use?

AustrianJohn

For now it has the original Harley Benton electrics. The pickups are ok (actually very good considering that the kit cost about the same as a single Gibson humbucker!), but the pots are rubbish (1 and 2 is off, 3 through 10 is on - with no discernible change as you turn the volume knob). I'll play it for a while and decide what needs to be upgraded - so possibly go for Jimmy Page wiring and a set of classic blues humbuckers.

AustrianJohn

I eventually got fed up with the pick-ups that came with the kit, so replaced them with Iron Gear Dirty Torque and Blues Engine humbuckers, connected with Jimmy Page wiring using push-push pots. I took the opportunity to replace most of the mechanical components with black ones, and stained the back black.





I used push-push rather than push-pull pots as an hour into a band practice my fingers are too sweaty to get a good grip on a pull pot. There are various pictures on the internet of very neat wiring for the Jimmy Page setup. My wiring, however, looks a bit like a sheep's entrails - but, much to my surprise, it worked first time. The variation in sound options that this setup gives you, combined with the Iron Gear pick-ups, is impressive. I love the tone of both pick-ups with split coil, in series and reverse phase (i.e. all pot switches in out position).




The black covers I bought annoyingly didn't quite fit. Having adjusted the neck pocket (see earlier post) so that the neck angle is similar to a real Les Paul, I can't quite get the intonation absolutely perfect. But that's a big job for a small gain, so can wait.