Harley Benton guitars

BillDL

menamestom said:

Anybody tried the P90 Goldtop or TV Yellow Special?

I haven't tried the harley benton single cut special in TV yellow, but I do have the double cut junior with one dogear P90.  They are essentially the same guitar apart from the obvious shape difference and the fact that the special has two soapbar P90s.  First off, the colour is more mustard than proper Gibson TV yellow, but you're not buying a Gibson so it doesn't really matter.

The fretwork was good and only a couple of the ends were a little rough and needed rounding off.  They were very level and only two frets above the 12th were a tiny bit high.  It was still playable but I like my frets perfect.  I was able to get them down to height using only P400 wet & dry paper and a metal fingerboard protector and then a fret eraser.  The frets are large and high and it takes a bit of getting used to, although the budget "badass" style bridge does have a lot of adjustment for intonation.  The volume and tone controls work well.  The neck is neither skinny nor thick and would suit most people, as long as you like a high gloss finish.  The fretboard is Amaranth wood which is very hard and quite dense wood.  It's very dark and I suspect it has been stained.  It was a bit dry but I've oiled it three times and it looks and feels good.  There are very fine longitudinal pits in the fingerboard wood when it's dry and I believe that if you don't oil it those lines might start widening into fine splits.  The tuners have a nice feel to them and are quite positive with minimal slop.  Obviously not relevant to the soapbar P90 variant, the dogear P90 on mine was too low and I had to buy pack of shims from @Alegree and use one to jack it up to optimal height.

The downside of this guitar, and the one you are looking at shares the same hardware, is the budget badass style bridge that is much the same as the one at the top of this page.  It uses fairly small diameter Philips head screws for the overall distance adjustment from the posts.  Philips head screws get chewed up very easily, especially soft metal ones.  Thicker Allen socket screws are better, but bridges with those usually cost more.  On my guitar to get enough reverse distance on the saddles for good compensation the bridge has to be adjusted back to where the studs are about half way along the wings of the bridge.  That means the screws holding it back there are screwed in quite a distance, resulting in quite a lot of the screw being on the stud side. As they are quite thin screws they will very likely eventually start bending under the string tension.  I easily solved this issue by hacksawing short lengths off a piece of round metal (from an old fly-tying vice), filing a slight "U" into one side, and sliding them into the space between the bridge studs and the back end of the rounded inner part of the wings.  I now don't need the screws, the sustain is a lot better, and I have saddle adjustment in both directions now.  It would probably have been easier to look for a better quality badass bridge with thicker adjustments screws that had Allen sockets, but I'm a cheapskate.

I love this guitar.  It's light, small bodied, feels great to play, and sounds really good.  I also think i like the mustardy colour to proper TV Yellow.

roberty

@BillDL I got one of these bridges for mine, popped right on, intonation just right, no complaints

Stop Bar Tailpiece for Epiphone Les Paul, SG,ES, Dot Guitars - Nickel https://reverb.com/item/32043450-stop-bar-tailpiece-for-epiphone-les-paul-sg-es-dot-guitars-nickel?utm_source=android-app&utm_medium=android-share&utm_campaign=listing&utm_content=32043450

BillDL

I've used a couple of them also.  I have also swapped between the lightning bolt one in the Reverb listing and the standard one with tune-o-matic type saddles on my wee Hofner Shorty.  On the guitars I've put those bridges on I haven't have to wind the adjustment screws almost all the way in though, so there hasn't been as much of a length of screw through on the "inside" against the posts keeping the bridge back.  I don't know if it's my heavy handed playing on this DC Junior copy with higher frets than I normally play on, or if the bridge studs have been positioned too far forward on the body, but I prefer to have a minimal amount of screw from the post to the bridge.

menamestom

Thanks for the info @BillDL !

The Goldtop I'm a little concerned about the weight and also the pickups are ceramic, so leaning towards the special.  
I'm actually planning on getting the Gibson but stock is limited so thinking about a stop gap guitar for a bit of fun, something I can leave at the rehearsal room.  I shouldn't be too concerned about minor things considering the price.  No Doubt the Gibson has minor things at £1300!

If I get the HB or even perhaps Epiphone 2nd hand, I'll probably refinish in Nitro, that more washed out TV yellow/TV white like the Gibson Custom.  Not becuase it's essential, just after a project now I have a small workshop....

roberty

Ah okay. I must have got lucky because I popped it on and it was fine off the bat. I haven't really noticed anything about it. I'll take a closer look when I change the pickup

roberty

@menameston the fretboard of my 2020 Gibson LP Special SC is rough as a badgers arse but apart from that it is perfect. I moved the caps to make it 50s wiring and popped an aluminium wraparound on but these changes were for my own amusement really. It is lightweight and the mahogany has a big fat grain

menamestom

roberty said:

@menameston the fretboard of my 2020 Gibson LP Special SC is rough as a badgers arse but apart from that it is perfect. I moved the caps to make it 50s wiring and popped an aluminium wraparound on but these changes were for my own amusement really. It is lightweight and the mahogany has a big fat grain

Nice.  I'd have one arriving imminently if Thomann hadn't put their stock date back 3 weeks.

The Fretboards don't look great in the photos, a bit light and dry looking but that can be addressed.

How do they intonation and hold tune?

I know you don't buy a les paul special if you want impeccable intonation, but are they generally okay?

roberty

menamestom said:

roberty said:

@menameston the fretboard of my 2020 Gibson LP Special SC is rough as a badgers arse but apart from that it is perfect. I moved the caps to make it 50s wiring and popped an aluminium wraparound on but these changes were for my own amusement really. It is lightweight and the mahogany has a big fat grain

Nice.  I'd have one arriving imminently if Thomann hadn't put their stock date back 3 weeks.

The Fretboards don't look great in the photos, a bit light and dry looking but that can be addressed.

How do they intonation and hold tune?

I know you don't buy a les paul special if you want impeccable intonation, but are they generally okay?

Honestly it's fine. I have zero issues with intonation and stability. Mine was good to go out the box, I think I tweaked the truss rod and that was it. Wraparound bridges intonate closely enough for me to not notice the difference

I tried an Earvana nut once and it was so in tune I couldn't get used to it. I think there's a degree of tuning compensation in your fretting hand while you play

roberty

If you're fussy about intonation and you want to keep the look there's these Mojoaxe stealth compensated wraparounds:

BillDL

roberty said:

Ah okay. I must have got lucky because I popped it on and it was fine off the bat. I haven't really noticed anything about it. I'll take a closer look when I change the pickup

In context with what I was describing with me having to push my badass bridge rearwards a fair amount to get good compensation, I have noticed something that might interest you and I have created a new discussion in the "playing" topic area:

https://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/227676/strange-changes-with-compensation

Dave_Mc

menamestom said:

I shouldn't be too concerned about minor things considering the price.  No Doubt the Gibson has minor things at £1300!

That's a very good point! I'm not a Gibson hater (I've got an SG and really like it, and when I was trying acoustics a few years back, some of my absolute favourites were Gibsons), but it does feel a bit weird that to be considered "not a Gibson hater" you often have to overlook flaws which- if it didn't say Gibson on the headstock- would be unacceptable on £300 guitars!

Of course- those flaws often don't make it a bad guitar. And, as I said above, when you find a good one... but it does also feel a bit weird, at the prices they charge, that you have to "find a good one"! Also it can sometimes be difficult to find a good one- I'm in Northern Ireland, for example. A lot of the time the shops here- if you were lucky!- would have one in stock. "Finding a good one" is pretty hard if you don't have any of those mega-shops nearby which stock dozens of the same model...

roberty

I installed the Pig 90 yesterday but the output is really low. The hum is still quite loud, about what I'd expect. It is measuring 21k after the output jack and also 21k on the pickup wire itself so I think I installed it okay. My soldering skills are pretty good. Maybe it has been demagnetised?  I have a couple of A5 mags in the drawer fortunately

edit: I have an audio probe so I will probe the pickup wire itself

roberty

So the guy I bought it off had sent the Pig 90 to BKP for refurbishing before selling it. They think they flipped one of the magnets by mistake when doing that. They told me to send it in so they could flip it and repot it, and the eBay seller has refunded the postage. Happy days. Quite looking forward to having the HB DC up and running. It's a great guitar, surprises me each time I pick it up

roberty

Bare Knuckle sent the Pig 90 back. It had become demagnetised somehow. They kindly swapped the black hex screws for normal nickel ones at my request and gave me a courtesy phone call when they had completed the job. Amazing service

I've lost one of the knobs, it's doing my head in lol

I costed the whole thing up:

Guitar	155
Bridge	15
Pickup	75
Pickup Shims	18
CTS Pots x2	15
Cap	4
Pickguard	20
Switchcraft Jack	4
Total	306

Easily into Epiphone money now

I'll see how it goes but I might get the whole thing refinished in nitro one day. I'm not a fan of slippery satin finishes and it would be quite a fun/funny thing to do. It's a great guitar, I don't feel like any area is compromised at all

Rocker

Dave_Mc said:

menamestom said:

I shouldn't be too concerned about minor things considering the price.  No Doubt the Gibson has minor things at £1300!

That's a very good point! I'm not a Gibson hater (I've got an SG and really like it, and when I was trying acoustics a few years back, some of my absolute favourites were Gibsons), but it does feel a bit weird that to be considered "not a Gibson hater" you often have to overlook flaws which- if it didn't say Gibson on the headstock- would be unacceptable on £300 guitars!

Of course- those flaws often don't make it a bad guitar. And, as I said above, when you find a good one... but it does also feel a bit weird, at the prices they charge, that you have to "find a good one"! Also it can sometimes be difficult to find a good one- I'm in Northern Ireland, for example. A lot of the time the shops here- if you were lucky!- would have one in stock. "Finding a good one" is pretty hard if you don't have any of those mega-shops nearby which stock dozens of the same model...

No harm in contacting Waltons in Blanchardstown, Dublin. They usually have a number of Gibsons in stock, take the Enterprise from Belfast....

Dave_Mc

Rocker said:

Dave_Mc said:

menamestom said:

I shouldn't be too concerned about minor things considering the price.  No Doubt the Gibson has minor things at £1300!

That's a very good point! I'm not a Gibson hater (I've got an SG and really like it, and when I was trying acoustics a few years back, some of my absolute favourites were Gibsons), but it does feel a bit weird that to be considered "not a Gibson hater" you often have to overlook flaws which- if it didn't say Gibson on the headstock- would be unacceptable on £300 guitars!

Of course- those flaws often don't make it a bad guitar. And, as I said above, when you find a good one... but it does also feel a bit weird, at the prices they charge, that you have to "find a good one"! Also it can sometimes be difficult to find a good one- I'm in Northern Ireland, for example. A lot of the time the shops here- if you were lucky!- would have one in stock. "Finding a good one" is pretty hard if you don't have any of those mega-shops nearby which stock dozens of the same model...

No harm in contacting Waltons in Blanchardstown, Dublin. They usually have a number of Gibsons in stock, take the Enterprise from Belfast....

Yeah the last time I was in they did have a few... I was trying acoustics so I'm not sure how many electrics they had, but they had a fair few of the acoustics.

skunkwerx

I imagine the HB flying V I ordered will be here in the week.

If it’s half as decent as everyone else's HB’s seem to be, i’ll shit on my own chest. 

skullfunkerry

skunkwerx said:

I imagine the HB flying V I ordered will be here in the week.

If it’s half as decent as everyone else's HB’s seem to be, i’ll shit on my own chest. 

I'll pay good money to not see that!

skunkwerx

skullfunkerry said:

skunkwerx said:

I imagine the HB flying V I ordered will be here in the week.

If it’s half as decent as everyone else's HB’s seem to be, i’ll shit on my own chest. 

I'll pay good money to not see that!

Haha I completely forgot I even wrote that  

SpiritOfTheAge

I'm using this one for a disco/funk band I'm rehearsing with hopefully you can see the fun in it, I've posted it before (probably in this very thread). It'll divide the crowd I'm sure. I've swapped the bridge for a less chunky alternative and also the tuners as I prefer the style of these. I really like this guitar :-) 

edit - oops cropped out the machine heads :-)