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Post by Deleted on Jul 9, 2015 15:58:27 GMT
EDIT on Sept 26th 2015; recorded on Reaper via Behringer U-Phoria UM2 My new Harley Benton SC 550 Paradise Amber Flame with AAAA flame maple top, alnico Wilkinson zebra pickups, D'addario 10's strings, Wilkinson tuners, all custom, body and neck Mahogany . Amp is Kustom PH2012R, multi pedal Digitech RP70. Camera is a cheap Canon hence the thin sound (if I cranked up the bass EQ it might have been better recorded but hey ... its a cheap camera). The guitar + amp sound great in real life. The guitar's maple top looks very yellow in this video but for real it looks very much amber, more of a light Ocher so please refer to the Thomann web page for real color photo www.thomann.de/gb/harley_benton_sc_550_paradise_amber_flame.htm EDIT; here is another sound check where camera is placed infront of the amp for better sound
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Post by Deleted on Jul 9, 2015 17:49:33 GMT
SC 550 PAF has 2 x Wilkinson WHHBZSL alnico zebra humbucker pickups. So they are Alnico and not ceramic as NAppel said in another thread Check on the Thomann web page. They do bite a lot and can be overwhelming when playing on your own. I mean to say that it is much more pleasant to play the L-450+ because they sound warmer, duller but nice when playing on your own. Im guessing that the SC550 pups are much better suited when needing to cut through the drums and other instruments in the band situation (never played in a band so assuming from what I've read).
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Post by doofus on Jul 10, 2015 6:23:16 GMT
Nice demo Che, The SC550 looks & sounds amazing, Well played.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 10, 2015 7:06:39 GMT
Cheers man I think I know why this video sounds so harsh now that I listened to it again; When I shot the L-450 and Kustom amp videos I had the camera right in front of the speaker, maybe some 5cm away from it. This time I had the camera on top of the amp and it was likely picking up lots of room noise because in truth even though this guitar has hot pups it sounds good through me Kustom amp. Might try to make another take next week.
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703 posts
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Post by gullum on Jul 10, 2015 9:16:21 GMT
Really nice looking and sounding guitar
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Post by Deleted on Jul 10, 2015 10:21:53 GMT
Indeed but out of 3 reviews so far on Thomann 2 are very negative. The only positive is by me and mind you, I am a beginner when it comes to electric guitars so the other lads might know better. So maybe we dont get much for 249 Euro but the AAAA flame top and maybe better pots and swictch.
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703 posts
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Post by gullum on Jul 10, 2015 10:39:36 GMT
to be honest what I want when I buy a guitar is a nice look and good playing feeling. The l-450 + sounds and looks good but it's amazing to play on. the FV 430 looks dam good and grate to play on, the sound is not so good but with only putting the Duncans in it sounds like a real metal guitar when I've replaced the rest of the hardware and electronics I'm sure it going to be one of the best metal guitar I ever owned. The r-458 is crazy grate to play on and looks mega sexy it sounds grate but the pickups are made for an 8 string with thicker neck so the high strings are lower volume then the low strings, so a pair of duncan are going in there too, but I don't play much solos so I could easily live with the stock pups. The 5 HB I have have 2 things in common They look dam good and are really grate to play on, sound seam to vary, but that can be done something about. What I think people that give negative reviews about HB are forgetting is they do not get a Gibson for the €100-200 they pay so they are disappointed
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Post by Deleted on Jul 10, 2015 10:43:50 GMT
I am only concerned that the neck cut out is done on a very dry wood, because if not that neck cut might twist the neck in time and man that would be a disaster so I honestly hope they have chosen well dried wood. All the rest can be modded as you say. But it is a great guitar as is in my opinion.
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Post by mike on Jul 10, 2015 11:15:20 GMT
What I think people that give negative reviews about HB are forgetting is they do not get a Gibson for the €100-200 they pay so they are disappointed Couldn't agree more, I own a Fender USA strat and a Brian May Guitars Red Special and to be fair they are better guitars than my 3 HBs. They did however cost 7 times more than my HBs so you would expect that. The point is that my HBs aren't 7 times less of a guitar, not even close. They are all really nice to play, look really great and sound good. In fact I tend to pick them up to play just as often as my more expensive ones. Of course if money is no option then buy a Gibson, in fact, buy me one as well What you are getting with a HB for the money is fantastic, certainly better value for money in my opinion than a Fender or Gibson (and Squire or Epiphone for that matter). The one area that can let HB down is the quality control (I'm not sure if this may be the source of some of the bad reviews), thankfully thier return policy works well and the support staff are good so this can be overcome.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 10, 2015 12:11:50 GMT
What you are getting with a HB for the money is fantastic, certainly better value for money in my opinion than a Fender or Gibson (and Squire or Epiphone for that matter). I agree. What I am questioning here is the SC 550 and whether is was better to have bought a S-600 and a L 450 P90 for just a bit more money. I wonder if this SC 550 is being sold for this amount only because of the AAAA flame top which is nice but not the only thing I am after. The strap locks are crap, the tuners are the same as on the L-450+ (unbranded), the bridge is of lesser quality (according to NAppel) and the neck had far more issues than my L-450+ But yes the guitar looks awesome and Im sure I will spare 50 Euros to send to local Luthier to set it up professionally. I want this guitar to be tip top. I just looked at the neck joint and found out it is made from 2 piece wood which is better because this way the neck has less chance to twist if cut this way
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Post by nappel on Jul 11, 2015 19:22:11 GMT
SC 550 PAF has 2 x Wilkinson WHHBZSL alnico zebra humbucker pickups. So they are Alnico and not ceramic as NAppel said in another thread Check on the Thomann web page. They do bite a lot and can be overwhelming when playing on your own. I mean to say that it is much more pleasant to play the L-450+ because they sound warmer, duller but nice when playing on your own. Im guessing that the SC550 pups are much better suited when needing to cut through the drums and other instruments in the band situation (never played in a band so assuming from what I've read). Yeah, i said that because officially these pups doesnt exist. you ( or i...) can only find them on the JHS site and there is this "Open coil style Humbucker with a higher output than the WVC. Harmonically rich with tight lower frequency response. Special windings with CERAMIC magnets give good highs without sounding thin. Nickel silver backing plates complete this high quality pickup" so,yeah...alnico says Thomann i personally still think they are ceramics in it. They are talking about an "AAAA Maple top" which is wrong too. Thomann got their specs wrong a lot,mate (yes) nice playing ,che
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Post by Deleted on Jul 11, 2015 20:07:37 GMT
Why do you think the AAAA maple top is wrong? It is muc more flame than the AAA top on my L-450+
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Post by nappel on Jul 11, 2015 20:14:50 GMT
because its not a AAAA Top. its a AAAA Veneer glued ON TOP of the maple top. im pretty sure about this.
thats the regular procedureon guitars in that price range.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 11, 2015 20:17:23 GMT
Oh I see That is fine by me because that veneer is only for the looks anyway.
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Post by nappel on Jul 11, 2015 20:18:25 GMT
absolutely,friend!
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