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Post by john on Oct 15, 2016 14:18:15 GMT
Great guitar I love mine. Not 100% sure but around at 5 minutes Nick shows the pick ups and it looks like he's got the same problem as me with the screws not being fully seated. No biggie, it's a do someday job and doesn't affect anything.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 15, 2016 16:07:16 GMT
Screws or no screws I like the sound of this axe. Will be mine at some stage next year!
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Post by john on Oct 15, 2016 22:19:27 GMT
Oh yes, they look dreadful john, like a monkey has whacked them in with a hammer. What's going on there? Screws too long? No idea DefJef, maybe drilled shallow, I don't know. Disappointing thing is I mailed Thomann about this month's back but looks like they're still putting em out. The screws are proper monkey metal and as soon as you try to adjust the head eats itself. I'm just going to rip em out with a prybar and start again.
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Post by john on Oct 15, 2016 22:21:24 GMT
Screws or no screws I like the sound of this axe. Will be mine at some stage next year! Buy one papache, great sound but not too good on QC.
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Post by llauma on Oct 17, 2016 0:39:12 GMT
I just bought the sunburst version of the Harley Benton TE-90FLT. Here's a few thoughts about it.
First of all. The TE-90FLT's as well as the new signature strat copies seems to be manufactured at a different factory than the older HB's. The first giveaway is the switch to Roswell pickups. The other is the quality of the neck. The roswell pickups in the TE-90FLT sounds amazing. I wouldn't use them for metal but for everything else they're top notch. I would definitely rate them above the Wilkinson pickups.
The bad thing with the "new" manufacturer is the quality of the necks, especially the quality of the frets. The other Harley Bentons I own has flawless necks. The fret ends are perfectly smooth. This one's not quite as good. There were quite many sharp fret ends. I smoothed them out so it's not really a big deal for me, but it's definitely something Thomann should relay to the manufacturer. The other issue with the neck is that the glued on fretboard and the neck aren't really level where the neck meets the body. At least this is the case with my guitar. With proper manufacturing method and QC this shouldn't be an issue with any guitar. The "other" HB manufacturer shows that it's possible even at this price range.
The positive surprise I got aside from the sound of the guitar was the fact that the copy I received had a wonderful 1 piece ash body. The sunburst and the rest of the paint job is really nice. The strange thing though was that the action was as high as it could possibly be. Thomann claims that they do QC but the guitar played like crap before I adjusted the truss rod and the action. Thankfully I could easily get a very low action without any fret buzz. I actually ended up raising the action as it got way too low for my preference. Yet again, not an issue for me, but people without any knowledge of how to setup a guitar will end up disliking it.
The issue with the pickup mounting screws other that them being way too soft is probably that the head of the screws are too big for the cavities in the pickup so they end up being raised above the pickup instead of being slotted in the cavities. I'll see whether I can change them and get a better fit. I understand that every dime counts when you make a guitar in this price range but there's a limit on how low you can go. The pickup mounting screws were actually damaged when I got the guitar. If they get damaged at assembly then the quality must be too low.
To sum it all up. I still really love this guitar. It needed some adjustment but nothing major. I guess most people can do it. If not then there's plenty of how to tutorials on youtube. The best part of fixing a poorly adjusted guitar is that you'll end up loving it even more when you notice the huge improvement you make. I actually like it more than the Fender MIM Cabronita that I've tested a few times at my local guitar store.
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DefJef
THBC Moderator
Due to musical differences I've decided I can't work with myself any more.
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Post by DefJef on Oct 17, 2016 8:37:08 GMT
Another one with lousy screws hey, llauma ? Perhaps its a 'feature' like the hiss on my Blackstar amp. Certainly Thomann's own website model had similar issues. Look at the bridge pickup on this one or, if you need a zoom in check out the website images TE90FLT: I think it's something to do with the placement of those screw holes on the very rounded edge of the pickup cover. Compare it to a TV Jones Magna'Tron. Then again I'm glad were not being asked TV Jones prices. Harley Benton are just offering us another chance to get to bond with our instruments again by digging into them and setting them up ourselves.
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Post by llauma on Oct 17, 2016 9:43:47 GMT
I think it's something to do with the placement of those screw holes on the very rounded edge of the pickup cover. You might be right. It's a bad design of the pickup cover. You might get it better seated with some work but never perfectly.
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Post by llauma on Oct 17, 2016 11:52:17 GMT
Seems to me that the wrong shaped screws are being used. I feel they should be more like the traditional Fender shaped countersunk head like this: What are yours like? I'm on to Roswell about it. They're like B.
F would probably fit better. The main issue I have with the screws is the fact that they're slightly damaged so they're a bit sharp. Normal smooth screws wouldn't really be an issue for me.
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DefJef
THBC Moderator
Due to musical differences I've decided I can't work with myself any more.
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Post by DefJef on Oct 17, 2016 12:33:59 GMT
Thanks for that llauma . Yep, B is clearly wrong with no countersunk underside. At least F types would be better replacements. We'll see what Roswell say and then forward our findings to Thomann.
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