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Post by LeoThunder on Sept 14, 2018 2:42:43 GMT
This guy is making a point for using Harley Bentons on tour, claims he's been doing it for two years and I see no reason to doubt him. He says they need the same set-up and care as any guitar, which makes sense.
I get annoyed at that recurring question, "could you gig with it?", as if there were something terrible waiting to happen to anything that doesn't have an established brand name on stage. You can gig with anything that still has an attached headstock (when do we get a Strandberg copy?).
That Burst on his ST-20 looks terrible, though.
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Post by spacelord77 on Sept 15, 2018 20:49:10 GMT
I convinced a recording artist (no saying hes name...) on HB guitars, he tried few of mine and got one.. He has 2 gibsons and a Epi LP Custom.. he has been visible on many metal festivals around Europe this summer again... said the HB keeps its tune better than hes Gibson Flying ****...
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Post by oghkhood on Sept 16, 2018 6:00:52 GMT
There's just no point asking If you fear having your HB break or die on tour, then go with 10 of them, that should be enough
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Post by LeoThunder on Sept 16, 2018 7:14:31 GMT
I wonder what people fear.
Classical orchestras re-tune in between pieces all the time. Proper stringing and lubricating solves most tuning issues. My ST-62 has the vibrato set floating and can take serious action on it without moving enough for my ears to tell the difference (no matter what Henning says without even trying it). The tuner shows very little variation. I used a pencil on the nut and put Vaseline under the string trees.
Truss rods work in all price categories. Soldered electronics don't fall apart. I never had a scratchy pot or switch on a HB and if it came to that, a touch of cleaning spray solves it for a long time. My Ibanez S came with a scratchy switch. Moving it back a forth a few times cleaned it.
So I don't know. If a guitar is good on a couch, it's good on a stage. Maybe they're afraid others could read the logo.
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608 posts
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Post by oghkhood on Sept 16, 2018 14:05:16 GMT
I fully agree to all your tuning stability tips. But having a guitar that holds the tune is just one part of the deal on tour. The axe will travel, get chocks, physical and thermical , and even chemical with beer and sweat . It will be played intensively , thus the frets will be worn to ordeal .... it can be stolen too
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3,457 posts
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Post by LeoThunder on Sept 16, 2018 14:16:59 GMT
I fully agree to all your tuning stability tips. But having a guitar that holds the tune is just one part of the deal on tour. The axe will travel, get chocks, physical and thermical , and even chemical with beer and sweat . It will be played intensively , thus the frets will but pu to ordeal .... it can be stolen too True, but how would a Harley Benton, or a Squier or Epiphone, for that matter, be less resistant to these things? It's wood, mostly maple or mahogany for the necks. It doesn't warp more than that of a Fender or Gibson when temperature changes. And if it does, it's part of the pre-gig set-up, like tuning. Only the new roasted maple necks have an advantage in this situation. Frets are the same material as most "professional" guitars. As to everything else, better ruin a Harley Benton with shocks, beer and sweat than anything more valuable and no thief will consciously pick that one. So when you think of it, gigging musicians should be the ones who use the cheaper stuff.
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Post by oghkhood on Sept 16, 2018 15:07:54 GMT
Exactly ! Considering overall robustesse and reliability, Yamaha, and then Ibanez are by the most appreciated by the pros as a workhorse.
But however : Big NO for the frets ! You're wrong on this accurate point. Frets material vary a lot in term hardness and resistance to corrosion. And because most resistant frets are the one that cost the most workforce to gear up when you make a guitar, it is evident that guitar industry will naturally tend to use the softer ones.
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Post by LeoThunder on Sept 16, 2018 15:20:40 GMT
I didn't know there were differences in fret material, apart from the obvious stainless steel everyone started raving about recently. But even then, if you wear out the frets of a 119€ ST-62, who cares? You just replace it.
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Post by Vincent on Sept 16, 2018 15:56:16 GMT
Yes I agree with oghkhood. It is my experience that budget guitars get inferior fret wire alongside the rest of the cheap hardware. They oxidize and become tarnished very quickly. Generally not so nice to play. They will polish up okay but pretty soon after they will turn again.
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Post by oghkhood on Sept 16, 2018 20:32:21 GMT
Leo, I never said anywhere that it would never worth the case to refret.... it is exactly what I plan to do on my CST24HB when will need it .... after many years. Notice also that a refret on a rosewood fingerbord with no binding is relatively cheap. But when it comes to a gibson style neck, or mapple it is much more expensive. And in the case of mapple fretboard, there is a risk that the luthier can't do a perfect job
But we are talking about using low priced guitars on tour. Aka, the worst conditions of use - by far - that a guitar can endure. And you would really be surprised how quick your instrument can get worn in these conditions
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Post by LeoThunder on Sept 17, 2018 1:37:42 GMT
But we are talking about using low priced guitars on tour. Aka, the worst conditions of use - by far - that a guitar can endure. And you would really be surprised how quick your instrument can get worn in these conditions The more I read about this, the more it looks like moving a pickguard, a bridge and a set of tuners from an ST-20 to the next is the way to go
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Post by oghkhood on Sept 17, 2018 6:00:00 GMT
Why not if the guitar sounds good. It can happen that a cheapo has some qualities of a much more expensive one ... and it hapen also too often that you pay for anything but what makes a good guitar
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Post by LeoThunder on Sept 17, 2018 6:20:38 GMT
Cost and quality are not always related. Sometime simpler solutions also bring better or at least equivalent results. Bolt on necks were unthinkable on fragile hollow body guitars but certainly not a quality compromise on solid body constructions. They were simpler, cheaper and more forgiving in many aspects. If badly angled, they could even be fine tuned afterwards, leading to better final quality at a lower cost.
A lot of cost also goes into vanity features. Putting diamonds on a guitar makes it better as a status symbol, not as a musical instrument. Elaborate tops made of rare woods do the same thing. They please the owner but if your purpose is to impress a crowd from a stage, Eddie van Halen stripes are probably better.
If the neck has the profile you like and the fretwork is flat enough for the action you want, I am certain any machine shaped piece of wood will be good enough for the stage in terms of musical qualities.
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dtjesus
Harley Benton Club Junior Member
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Post by dtjesus on Sept 18, 2018 7:48:37 GMT
If your plank of wood has an expensive brand logo and comes with a hefty price tag, it probably has some special magical powers. Such as shock absorbing qualities, self cleaning and healing over night on tour, fighting off gear burglars and constant AI driven retuning to pitch as you play. In some instances of sensing an inebriated player, these superior magical planks have been known to go on autopilot and play entire songs note by note making sure the show goes on while the player dozes off.
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1,110 posts
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Post by dodger on Sept 18, 2018 10:09:30 GMT
If your plank of wood has an expensive brand logo and comes with a hefty price tag, it probably has some special magical powers. Such as shock absorbing qualities, self cleaning and healing over night on tour, fighting off gear burglars and constant AI driven retuning to pitch as you play. In some instances of sensing an inebriated player, these superior magical planks have been known to go on autopilot and play entire songs note by note making sure the show goes on while the player dozes off. i needed one of these guitars on Saturday night. I had a rare day where I wasn't driving so had a few pints but was gigging from 2pm and at the third gig (at 9.45) was struggling to remember my name never mind the chords.
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