Any of you familiar with Harley Benton Guitars?

mjr

mjr

ADD -- blessing and curse
I found a fairly highly-rated 12-string from Harley Benton. $95, plus shipping (which is kinda steep at just over $70). Acoustic/Electric.

www.thomannmusic.com

🎸 Harley Benton D-200CE-12BK

12-String Steel-String Guitar with Pickup Design: Dreadnought with cutaway, Top: Laminated spruce, Back & Sides: Mahogany, Neck: Mahogany, Fretboard: Roseacer (thermally treated maple wood), Built-in pickup system with 4-band EQ, Colour: Black,...
www.thomannmusic.com www.thomannmusic.com

Any of you familiar with them? Have any of you played them?

I'm also looking at this one:
www.thomannmusic.com

🎸 Harley Benton HB-35Plus Black

Electric Guitar Style: Semi-Hollow with F-holes and mahogany sustain block, Body with arched top: Maple, Set-in neck: Canadian maple, Fretboard: Pau Ferro, Block fretboard inlays, Double action truss rod, Scale length: 628 mm, Fretboard radius: 305...
www.thomannmusic.com www.thomannmusic.com

And this one:
www.thomannmusic.com

Harley Benton ST-20MN CA Standard Series

Electric Guitar Standard series, Body: Basswood, Neck: Maple, Neck profile: Modern C, Fretboard: Maple, DOT fretboard inlays, 22 Frets, Scale: 648 mm, Nut width: 42 mm, Double action truss rod, Pickup: 3 ST style single coils, 1 Volume control, 2...
www.thomannmusic.com www.thomannmusic.com
 
Didn't realize Thomann is now operating in the US, I would say the shipping is reasonable! Laminated top, I wonder how long before the bridge (of a 12 string) pulls the layers apart? I've heard the name, but never played one. Definitely a 'beginners' guitar at that price. My concern over cheap guitars like that is that the intonation is off from the very start and you can never really get it tuned well. There's no truss rod cover on the headstock, but its possible that it can be adjusted from inside the body... if there is one. They are Asian-manufactured.

For the electrics, I'd probably go for a guitar from https://www.guitarfetish.com/ before a H-B, only because I know people who have used them, and other than needing a set up when new, are fairly decent for the low price.
 
It's sort of ironic that Thomann can buy guitars from China and then ship them all around the world, and still make a profit. It also shows that there Chinese guitar factories can turn out decent instruments that hold their own, and can avoid the endless complaints about counterfeiting. Thomann did the same thing with the fake SM57 and 58 mics - just ordered them with their own brand on, and sold them for what they are - decent sounding dynamic mics.

Over the years I've discovered that the Chinese will make whatever we want, at whatever price. So a guitar with decent woodwork and really nice finishes is perfectly possible and a decent price, but if you want less good wood, cheaper electronics and a basic paint job, they'll happily make those too and not lose sleep. Harley Benson was a sensible choice of name, with the right 'sound' - I suspect they order them in small numbers, assess them, and then order a few hundred. Great business model - sell what people want. The Gibson and Fender guitars probably don't ship in huge numbers as they are one to one guitars. Most people see a nice guitar they could not afford with a real Gibson label on it, so buy it for themselves, not to immediately sell to make a profit. They buy a counterfeit for themselves. Some, like the China Guitar Sceptic start by promoting them, then after a bit of legal pressure swap to telling people how awful they are. Funny that!
 
I play Frankenstein Peavey Raptor guitars l put together. Have no more than $40 invested in any one of them. On a lucky sale l might be able to get maybe $20 each? Pawn shops won't touch them. But l played a few HB guitars l thought about buying. They didn't suck. Pretty much every Gibson or Fender l messed around on at Guitar Center pretty much sucked. If my FrankenRaptors got stolen, l would probably look for a First Act in the $10 to $30 range. I might go $35 if it looked kinda fancy and was in great shape.
 
I have not played a Harley Benton guitar, but I have played guitars from other budget brands like Ibanez and Yamaha and they are usually pretty decent for the price. I would say that if you can afford it, you might want to consider spending a little more money for a better quality guitar, but if you're on a tight budget, Harley Benton guitars are generally pretty good.

--
Jason Hook. I enjoy remixing old songs using Audacity together with UnMixIt for vocal removal or isolation
 
TheSynthDev said:
I have not played a Harley Benton guitar, but I have played guitars from other budget brands like Ibanez and Yamaha and they are usually pretty decent for the price. I would say that if you can afford it, you might want to consider spending a little more money for a better quality guitar, but if you're on a tight budget, Harley Benton guitars are generally pretty good.

--
Jason Hook. I enjoy remixing old songs using Audacity together with UnMixIt for vocal removal or isolation
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I don't know that it's a matter of affordability. I've heard good things about them. At one point I was considering a Yamaha 12 string (APX700II-12 Thinline), and a Takamine 12 string (GD30CE-12). I could probably buy either of them right now. I just don't know if, right now, I want to drop that kind of money on them. I don't perform live, and just use my guitars for any home recording I do. My "most expensive" guitars in my "collection" are a Takamine GB7-C, and probably my 2014 Gibson LPJ.
 


Here is an example of me playing a box stock $90 First Act model 537. All l did was adjust the action. We are playing one of my original instrumental compositions. But l was able to pull off my hardest fastest licks as easily as could have done on any other guitar at any price. The volume is very low so you will need to crank up a blue tooth speaker to hear it. While First Act no longer makes guitars, l think all those Chinese made guitars come out of the same factory. That First Act had a very slim fast neck, pretty much identical to my Raptors.

But that was our old apartment in DTLA back in 2012. We dug the Tascam 388 out of a dumpster in 2009. The rest of the studio we pieced together from stuff we found as goodwill.

Sadly that First Act got stolen, but l found my first Peavey Raptor in 2013 at a pawn shop in El Paso for $35. Then l found a 2nd Raptor at goodwill by USC Village, also for $35. But I'm still on the hunt for another First Act to replace that one. We opened for the Coasters at the Vaucluse Lounge on Sunset Blvd and l got nothing but compliments on my tone, so there you go.
 


Here is another example of that First Act where you can see and hear it real good. The 3 of us were trashed the night we recorded this. Kind of our take on King Crimson "21st Century Schizoid Man. Nothing wrong with that guitar tone. Just a slab of wood with a neck on it. The HB sounds identical. All l am using for effects is a Digitech RP-250. As you can see in the first video that is it. The amp is a solid state Fender FM 212. No mic, just the direct out into the 388. That's it, but l spent hours tweaking the couple patches l used on the RP-250. In fact it took me weeks, but l got there 100%.

Like l said before, you don't need to spend much money to make great recordings anymore.
 
^^^ Cheap electric guitars are a totally different thing than acoustic guitars. Try out some acoustic guitars in different price ranges. IF you can't tell the difference, buy the cheap one.
 
mjbphotos said:
^^^ Cheap electric guitars are a totally different thing than acoustic guitars. Try out some acoustic guitars in different price ranges. IF you can't tell the difference, buy the cheap one.
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Not sure I follow. I can't (generally) tell the difference from one acoustic to another. Of course, I can't really tell the difference between new sets of strings from different manufacturers, either. But that's me.

The 12 string acoustic has many 5 star ratings on the website. And as I said in a previous post, I could probably drop more on a 12 string, but I don't know that I want to because I don't know how often I'll play it in relation to my other guitars.
 
mjr said:
Not sure I follow. I can't (generally) tell the difference from one acoustic to another. Of course, I can't really tell the difference between new sets of strings from different manufacturers, either. But that's me.

The 12 string acoustic has many 5 star ratings on the website. And as I said in a previous post, I could probably drop more on a 12 string, but I don't know that I want to because I don't know how often I'll play it in relation to my other guitars.
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Electric guitars: 90% of the sound is the pickups, player and amp. Acoustic guitars: 90% of the sound is the wood/construction and the player.

Yes, lot of 'glowing' comments, but many indicating a setup and new saddle are really needed. For the lowball price, it's hard to fault it, and if you can't tell the difference between 'fair' and 'excellent' acoustics, go for it!
 


There is nothing wrong with cheap Chinese acoustic guitars. Here l am playing a Fender Starcaster acoustic l bought at Sam's Club for $35. It was kind of a clearance but full price was $70. I worked on the saddle and had to dress a few frets but that was it. A friend brought over his brand new $1000 Takamine acoustic and the Chinese guitar smoked it in playability and tone.

The Takamine wasn't perfect either. I had to do an identical setup and fret dressing to get it in the same ball park. The nut was fine on both. Slight truss rod adjustment to get the necks straight. But in the end my cheap Chinese acoustic won the Rock Off.

A friend wanted my acoustic so bad he gave me $175 for it, which l thought was crazy. We went to the USC Goodwill and found a black First Act cut away acoustic for $25. I did the same to it and it played and sounded no different than the Starcaster.

I will say the Takamine had some very pretty inlay work. Finish was about the same, slightly better. In the end l still have a great acoustic and like an extra $75 in my pocket from where l started.
 
mjbphotos said:
Electric guitars: 90% of the sound is the pickups, player and amp. Acoustic guitars: 90% of the sound is the wood/construction and the player.

Yes, lot of 'glowing' comments, but many indicating a setup and new saddle are really needed. For the lowball price, it's hard to fault it, and if you can't tell the difference between 'fair' and 'excellent' acoustics, go for it!
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You are absolutely right. 90% of sound, acoustic or electric is in the neck. Which means the fingers / player. The other 10% is mostly pickups and setup. The humbucker single coil thing. High action and heavy strings give better tone, light strings low action give playability. I had to put brand new strings on the new Starcaster, but l used the cheapest Guitar Research strings they had at Sam Ash.

In all my 55+ years of playing, wood doesn't matter and the amp doesn't matter. As you said the pickups do.

There is an old story. Van Halen once opened for Ted Nugent, and Ted said to Eddy, if l had your rig l would sound just like you. So Eddy said go for it, and Nugent did his show on Eddy's rig. And guess what? Ted still sounded like Ted Nugent.

I used to have fancy expensive gear. Today l play the cheapest crap l can find. After shows people come up to me thinking l play exotic guitars and amps. Then see l play crappy Chinese guitars and crappier amps, and leave kind of puzzled. Because in the end l sound like me no matter what l play. One of the best amps was a crappo Gorilla amp l bought for $15 in a pawn shop. I ended up giving it to some kid if he promised to stay out of trouble, and he did.
 
mjr said:
Not sure I follow. I can't (generally) tell the difference from one acoustic to another. Of course, I can't really tell the difference between new sets of strings from different manufacturers, either. But that's me.

The 12 string acoustic has many 5 star ratings on the website. And as I said in a previous post, I could probably drop more on a 12 string, but I don't know that I want to because I don't know how often I'll play it in relation to my other guitars.
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Except your honest about it! And 99% of people cannot tell the difference between anything, especially when it comes to strings. I use the cheapest strings possible and leave them on until they break. After an hour l can't tell any strings apart.

When l pick up a new or strange guitar. I don't hear it for what it is. I honestly can't tell one acoustic from another. I just check it for certain things. Then l take it completely apart and rebuild it making it sound like what l want in the process. So when l am done it sounds Nothing like it did when l bought it. Of course you can't tear down acoustics very far, so all the change in tone is in the saddle and the nut. And the truss rod of course, which you adjust for tone, not action. Then dress the frets where needed.

So let's go the extreme. My wife was given an $8000 Gibson Custom Shop Les Paul Custom SG, and a '63 Vox AC-15 amp for her 26th birthday. I plugged it in and my God, it sounded just like George Harrison. That was the Holy Grail Mother of All Guitar Tones l ever heard. Just absolute guitar perfection. After a couple of minutes l put it down and said sorry guys, but this is over my head. Then l plugged in my $35 Raptor into my $20 Behringer amp and we jammed out. After the session people came up to me and said they could not tell the difference between the Gibson and the Peavey.

I thanked them but thought to myself, well l sure could. But after a minute l decided while that was the King of All Guitar Rigs, it just wasn't me. And l could never afford a rig like that, were taking $12,000 to $15,000. And even if l could l still wouldn't go down that road.

But in the end, nobody else could tell the difference. No shame in that.
 

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I don't know if this helps. But when l bought my StarCaster acoustic from Sam's Club. They had a display out and a $35 clearance tag. I told the girl l want one, and she went into the back and brought one and took it to the register. I didn't get to see or play it until l took it home. I was just happy to get a $35 guitar and it worked out just fine as you can see in the video.
 
So my 12 string came in! Took 4 days to get here from overseas, so that's not bad at all! I was tuning it and surprisingly broke one of the B strings instead of the high G.

So then I put a new set on, and I realized just yesterday that I wound one of the B strings backwards. So when I change them next time I'm going to have to correct that.

I haven't tried it plugged in yet, but it sounds good acoustically.

It came with two pickguards. I can pick which one I want to apply. It's got a black one and a tortoise shell one.
 
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