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Post by ricky1954 on May 28, 2020 11:20:04 GMT
@coldwar1977
Hi there
Glad to hear your experience of the Chinese made HB guitars. I am not saying for a moment that Chinese made is crap. Only that I have had a bad experience with Chinese guitars myself.
I think that Chinese manufacture has come along in leaps and bounds over the last decade +. Look at all the items that are made in China. Nikon and Canon cameras. Computers, electronic equipment, guitar amplifiers from a number of great names, guitars from great names also, Celestion guitar speakers, to name but a few items that are subcontracted to China.
The good thing about Thomann is you can send anything back within the 3 day period if you are not satisfied. This may be inconvenient but at least you are covered. also from what I have gathered Thomann give a 3 year guarantee on the guitars. Given that I will be buying a HB35 guitar from the made in China range. I will let everyone know what it is like.
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Donut
Harley Benton Club Member
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Post by Donut on May 28, 2020 13:04:04 GMT
Why would Thomann do this and start making unattractive rubbish like the Chinese version shown above ?. It's not about country of manufacture so much as it is precision of specification, quality control and trust in the supplier. Thomann don't seem to be that great at the first 2 and completely trusting Chinese suppliers is sometimes a gamble. Chinese manufacturers have a habit of cherry picking (or even reworking) a pre-production version to get production approval but then when it comes to full scale production, producing goods of a much lower standard. I'm pretty sure the first few months of Chinese business school is on how to lie to customers.
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marcel
Harley Benton Club Junior Member
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Post by marcel on May 28, 2020 13:34:53 GMT
Hmmm I am curious what I will receive tomorrow....I ordered the SC custom LH black matte which was again on stock at Thomann last friday
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Joe
Harley Benton Club Junior Member
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Post by Joe on May 28, 2020 19:01:06 GMT
I had to talk to Thomann exports yesterday and at the end I asked about what was the country of origin on the last shipment on the 22nd
They person said that the SC 550's and the CST24 varieties are still Vietnam. The basses are china.
Joe
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derekm
Harley Benton Club Junior Member
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Post by derekm on May 28, 2020 19:51:10 GMT
Hmmm I am curious what I will receive tomorrow....I ordered the SC custom LH black matte which was again on stock at Thomann last friday I've got an sc custom in ocean flame coming tomorrow, will have to see what I get...
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Post by mace on May 29, 2020 9:27:37 GMT
I just got a SC550 and it's made in vietnam!
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Post by Deleted on May 29, 2020 10:50:38 GMT
Weird. I bought mine only three months ago and it's made in China.
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Post by blindwilly3fingers on May 29, 2020 11:03:04 GMT
I think it was said on an earlier post/thread that the same model is made in different countries?
I don't know if anyone has sought a definitive answer from Thomann? Tbh I don't know the country of origin of a couple of my HB's.
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Post by mace on May 29, 2020 12:12:39 GMT
Weird. I bought mine only three months ago and it's made in China. It's the paradise amber one if that makes any difference.
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marcel
Harley Benton Club Junior Member
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Post by marcel on May 29, 2020 13:37:59 GMT
Hmmm I am curious what I will receive tomorrow....I ordered the SC custom LH black matte which was again on stock at Thomann last friday Just half an hour ago, the guitar received; it is "made in Vietnam"with recessed buttons. Unfortunally the 3 way switch was stuck (switch is loose ) at arrival, called Thomann and did send pictures, now have to wait......... update.......they will send a new switch after the weekend. :-)
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derekm
Harley Benton Club Junior Member
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Post by derekm on May 29, 2020 16:32:50 GMT
Arrived today, so far so good, Vietnam made, a bit of crackle from tone pot so may have to investigate that..
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Post by ricky1954 on Jun 2, 2020 22:45:47 GMT
Hi everyone.
I promised that I would share with you all my experience of my first HB guitar from Thomann.
I have just received the Harley Benton CST-24T P90 Paradise Flame today 02/06/2020. Looks a bit like a PRS with P90s and a decent Wilkinson Trem.
I did contact Thomann after I placed my order of the guitar and asked if it was made in Vietnam or China. I was told it was made in Veitnam. I won't be knocking modern Chines guitars after receiving this....but I have only had 2 Chinese guitars in my life and both were crap. If Thomann had have come back and said the guitar is made in China I would have cancelled my order. HOW WRONG I WAS. PLEASE READ BELOW.
Well it turned up a day earlier than expected and I opened the box in about 2 minutes flat as we do. First impressions. Lovely looking guitar. I had a good look over it and was very impressed at the construction and finish of the guitar.
I make high end guitars. Mostly build nowadays as the parts I get from Warmoth USA are top of the tree and you see what you get before you buy. It's hardly worth the trouble of working from bare wood when necks and bodies are made this well from top quality wood. Quite expensive, but they are the best. The import duties and VAT are a real bummer. Hope this changes if we are going to have a trade deal with the USA.
Given that I take so much trouble to make or build a guitar, I would like to share my experienced opinion with you on this HB Chinese guitar.
I have to say that I was impressed with what is being supplied by Thomann / Harley Benton. The only thing that was not right was the set up. The action was high. The intonation was way out and on my guitar they have installed 2 neck pickups. I'm not complaining as I know Thomann will sort this out. I don't want to send the guitar back as it is fine apart from the wrong pickup in the bridge position. I will ask for a correct pickup and return the one that I have. Anyhow after I had set it up it plays very well. Like all new guitars it needs to be played and settled in.
I would hope that Thomann would pay a bit more attention to the setup of their guitars. There are a lot of people out here that can set their own guitars up and just as many who don't know how. I think for those that don't know how Thomann could charge a nominal fee like £25.00 for a good set up. I didn't have to do much to get this guitar to play well, but you have to know what you are doing. It wasn't pleasant to play out of the box. It would likely have put a buyer off if it were picked up in a guitar store environment. After a quick set up is was really nice. I haven't quite finished with what I will do to this guitar. BTW You don't have to change the pickups they sound really nice even though I have a wrong one in the bridge position.
What I will do is check the neck and frets and dress them in the same way that I do when I finish my own guitars. The tuners feel OK but they are not in the league of the high end tuners that I use. I like Gotoh, Schaller, Grover USA and Duesenberg hardware. Duesenberg hardware is really top dog stuff. Their tuners are designed so that you poke the string through the tuner. The string comes out of the back of the tuner at he back of the headstock. You can then trim off the excess string at the back of the headstock and then wind up the slack. You don't get any sharp string edges to harpoon yourself on. Very tidy design. They are not cheap but they are not silly expensive either.
The woodwork, finish and fretting on this guitar is done really well. The icing on the cake is it looks beautiful as well. I know it is only a flame veneer but I have no problem with that.
The body is 4 piece. The neck is 3 piece. The neck has no scarf joint. Not that I have a problem with scarf joints. When they are done well they are very stable. Given the price of this guitar @ £222.00 including delivery to the UK I really cannot complain. It sounds great through my various valve amps. I have some cracking valve amps to test these things on including an original 1959 beige Vox AC30, a 1965 Fender Princeton and a 1969 Fender Champ. the guitar sings through all of them. I really like the P90s, they are so versatile. This guitar will sound better when it has settled. I don't know about all of you out there but I test guitars without plugging them in. I like to know what the guitar sounds and plays like with just it's own resonance. This guitar needs to be played and settle down for that to be tested properly.
In a nutshell. I have had and still own some incredible guitars dating back to the early 60s. Gibsons. Fenders JV original Jap Stratocasters etc and I will tell you now. I have had some expensive guitars that don't play as well as this HB. None of you will believe me when I tell you that I had an original 1963 3 tone sunburst Stratocaster. I sold it for cheap many years ago as it was crap. I know what I am doing with guitars and I couldn't get this thing to work. It was just a horribly out of tune piece of wood. This HB is better. It plays in tune and is comfortable and easy to play.
I will do some mods on the HB. I will update you all with my honest opinion if what I do has made a genuine improvement. My feeling is if it don't need it.....don't waste your money and do it. Watch this space.
PS: My opinions are just me. I don't endorse any brands. It is just honest opinion. If you send me crap I will unload on you. The bottom line is the HB guitar I have received although not perfect has real potential to be a fine playing and professional instrument.
I do feel for the punters out there that have had a bad experience. I saw a video on here earlier from a guy that had received a shocking example of a Harley Benton. If he had have kept that guitar I would have offered to fix it for nothing more than him sending it to me and the return postage. I would have turned that guitar into a gem. I really did feel for him.
Regards.
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Post by calebz on Jun 9, 2020 8:15:56 GMT
I finally took the time to check the conuntry of manufacture of my 3 HB guitars.
SC-Custom - Vietnam SC-Jr - Indonesia Slider Lap steel - Unmarked/Unknown (might be stamped internally somewhere. It's the only one of the three I haven't taken apart)
Of the three, the build quality of the SC-Custom is the best, by far. The fretwork was 99% perfect. The binding is 100%
The other two, while perfectly playable, suffer from some combination of haphazard build issues and crappy parts. To be honest, I buy HBs expecting a certain amount of that and neither of them fall outside the scope of my expectations. The SC-Custom was just better. (It was even better after gutting the electronics and darkening the fretboard)
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Post by tlass on Jun 9, 2020 8:38:12 GMT
I finally took the time to check the conuntry of manufacture of my 3 HB guitars. SC-Custom - Vietnam SC-Jr - Indonesia Slider Lap steel - Unmarked/Unknown (might be stamped internally somewhere. It's the only one of the three I haven't taken apart) Of the three, the build quality of the SC-Custom is the best, by far. The fretwork was 99% perfect. The binding is 100% The other two, while perfectly playable, suffer from some combination of haphazard build issues and crappy parts. To be honest, I buy HBs expecting a certain amount of that and neither of them fall outside the scope of my expectations. The SC-Custom was just better. (It was even better after gutting the electronics and darkening the fretboard) Hey, Could you let me know how you darkened the fretboard? Thanks
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