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Post by shane on Apr 26, 2020 22:41:25 GMT
Hello all, I’m new to this forum. From Winnipeg Canada.
I have a question, we don’t see many HB guitars here and I have heard they are quite well built. I am interested in ordering a HB-35 left handed from Thomann and using it for a modding platform, all new electronics, pups, hardware.
My questions are, is the quality of the guitar worth it? Would it be a guitar that will last for many years or many weeks? How would it compare to an Epiphone Sheraton ii or an Ibanez as93 once upgraded?
Thanks for any feedback! Much appreciated!!
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3,457 posts
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Post by LeoThunder on Apr 27, 2020 10:02:44 GMT
Would it be a guitar that will last for many years or many weeks? Guitars don't crumble with time. At least not within a short one. Wood will return to dust in a 1000 years, obviously. Either they are made of well fitting parts or they are not. The only thing that could really move badly with time is the neck and I don't recall reading such stories with Harley Benton.
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Post by hallon on Apr 28, 2020 23:16:20 GMT
Hello all, I’m new to this forum. From Winnipeg Canada. I have a question, we don’t see many HB guitars here and I have heard they are quite well built. I am interested in ordering a HB-35 left handed from Thomann and using it for a modding platform, all new electronics, pups, hardware. My questions are, is the quality of the guitar worth it? Would it be a guitar that will last for many years or many weeks? How would it compare to an Epiphone Sheraton ii or an Ibanez as93 once upgraded? Thanks for any feedback! Much appreciated!! I have the HB35, I can recommend it, however, not sure how it measures against the Sheraton, but it does sound great. Check out my youtube page where I did a quick review of the HB-35 , and also, in another clip, I played it side by side with a real Gibson 335, and many preferred the HB rather than the Gibson if you read the comment section below the video.
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47 posts
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Post by barnsleyboy on Apr 29, 2020 22:41:03 GMT
Hi Shane, Sorry for long post, but here is my 1st experience with buying an HB-35 and Thomann. Back in February I ordered a vintage burst HB-35, a set of strings and a stand. This gave a small discount as opposed to ordering the items separately. I paid £159 instead of £160.38. Ok, so it was only £1.38 saving but every little helps! When it arrived the guitar had quite a number of issues: theharleybentonclub.proboards.com/thread/3974/new-hb-35-send-backIn hindsight I should have returned the whole bundle, but as I just wanted to swap the guitar, I kept the stand and strings and returned the HB-35. The expectation being that Thomann would inspect it and send me back a new pristine guitar! Thomann agreed that the guitar was not in a good way and refunded the cost of the guitar minus the discount (£147.62). Quite a number of e-mails were sent to Thomann trying to make them understand that as I just wanted a replacement guitar, they should have just sent one out or refunded the original cost of the guitar so I could re-order it myself. (Don't expect instant replies from your customer service representative, they must be dealing with thousands of calls, so there is at least a day lag in any communication!). The upshot of this is that I have lost the benefit of the discount. I decided that I would re-order the replacement in Black to hopefully avoid any blemishes in the burst finish, and just for good measure I asked Thomann to check the guitar prior to dispatch to make sure that it was OK and wasn't damaged (particularly that it didn't have any damage below the scratch plate). This added an additional week on to the delivery time as it had to be sent to their "quality service guitar department". I think their quality department must have been shut, because when I got the guitar it had noticeable scratches near the scratch plate and the jack socket was loose and wobbled around. Another e-mail to Thomann who offered 20 euro price reduction if I wanted to keep the guitar. I accepted this as I was fed up with the whole communication issue. That was the bad bit. The good bit though is that you get a lot of guitar for your money and I would say that it is at least on par with Epiphone build quality at a fraction of the price. The pots and hardware on mine seem fine. Do yourself a favour and replace the clunky toggle switch with a switchcraft one - 1000 times better. The jack socket I've replaced with a pure tone one, which is awesome. Ditch the strings and oil the fretboard. My frets were scratchy so needed a polish. I'll get a decent fret job done on it when I have the cash, but at the moment it is fine for what I need it for. I'm tempted to try changing the pickup magnets for some Alnico II's which will save a bit on pickups. If I were to go for replacement pickups, Tonerider are excellent and really good value. No problem with the tuners on mine but others have complained. Make sure the strings don't stick in the nut slots and they should be fine. A professional set up and fret dress although expensive, is well worth the money. It feels wrong to spend 2/3rds of the cost of the guitar on getting it set up properly, but it is like night and day when you get it back! I was a little disappointed with the colour of the original vintage burst - it wasn't the nice rich amber colour on the website pictures, quite frankly, it was Orange - a very cheap and nasty looking orange! The black looks way better, and if I can get the scratches out with some kind of magic scratch remover then I'll be a very happy chappie! Perhaps someone on here can recommend a suitable product? In conclusion a great guitar for the money as long as you get a good one. Don't rely on Thomann to inspect the guitar - they must be sent straight out of the factory in the far east with the Thomann QC label already attached! Although annoying, my experience hasn't put me off the brand. I have my eye on a couple of other models, a tele and a DC junior clone which may make an appearance in the future! Hope this helps!!!
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Post by shirojiro on May 2, 2020 14:04:32 GMT
I have a HB 35 Pro in Lemon drop/burst, and I love it. I got it off of Reverb. There are some really nit-picky finish blemishes that are really hard to find, but otherwise, it is a really nice guitar, and for the price, it is really superb.
The one thing that I don't love about it is the fretboard is very light in color. I don't know what kind of wood it is, but it looks like light pau ferro. It almost looks like California Redwood.
The pickups are surprisingly good, but the Pro comes with the Roswell Alnico V. I think some of the other versions come with ceramics, but I have heard that those sound pretty good as well.
The action on mine is super low. It is really easy to play. I actually might raise it a bit as I tend to pick a little aggressively.
The neck is thicker than the one on the Epiphone ES 335 Pro that I had bought (and returned). IT doe not make it harder to play. It is just a different feel. The Epi was $400 on sale, and I could not justify the 2x price difference in the guitars, and I like the flame and Lemon burst finish of the HB 35.
I was very leery of purchasing a budget brand guitar, and I suspect there is a bit of variation in quality, but I suspect that overall, the QC from Harley Benton in general is pretty good. Most of the reviews I read about their guitars, and specifically the HB 35 have been very good.
I love mine, and I'm glad I took the risk of buying it.
Hope this helps.
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Post by hallon on May 3, 2020 11:12:37 GMT
I have a HB 35 Pro in Lemon drop/burst, and I love it. The one thing that I don't love about it is the fretboard is very light in color. Maybe you have the same wood as I have on my cst24 hb, it is called Jatoba, and even if I agree, I also prefer a darker wood, it is not a super big deal for me. The fretboarrd on my hb 35 is pretty dark though.
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strummer
Harley Benton Club Junior Member
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Post by strummer on Dec 3, 2020 8:53:04 GMT
I've had mine for two months now, and I have no complaints, other than it's already time to put on a new set of strings.
Am debating whether to put on the usual Elixirs, or try some HB coated strings, which are 1/4 the price.
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Post by hallon on Dec 4, 2020 0:16:03 GMT
I've had mine for two months now, and I have no complaints, other than it's already time to put on a new set of strings. Am debating whether to put on the usual Elixirs, or try some HB coated strings, which are 1/4 the price. HB makes coated strings similar to Elixirs?? Didn't know that. Might be worth checking out
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strummer
Harley Benton Club Junior Member
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Post by strummer on Dec 5, 2020 7:22:38 GMT
HB makes coated strings similar to Elixirs?? Didn't know that. Might be worth checking out Yep, you can get them here: Coated strings
At EUR 3.88, they cost only a fraction of what Elixirs cost.
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Post by hallon on Dec 5, 2020 11:29:13 GMT
HB makes coated strings similar to Elixirs?? Didn't know that. Might be worth checking out Yep, you can get them here: Coated strings
At EUR 3.88, they cost only a fraction of what Elixirs cost. Thanks man, interesting!
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strummer
Harley Benton Club Junior Member
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Post by strummer on Dec 5, 2020 18:54:13 GMT
Well, just put on a new set of HB coated strings. It will be interesting to see how they sound and hold out. I mentioned the guitar to my wife, and she said: 'It sounds like you really like that ' Harley Bently'.
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strummer
Harley Benton Club Junior Member
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Post by strummer on Dec 8, 2020 19:23:12 GMT
The HB coated strings don’t feel coated. On Elixirs, I can feel the coating. The HB coated strings feel like normal steel strings to me. Maybe someone sent me the wrong package?
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Post by hallon on Dec 8, 2020 20:41:50 GMT
The HB coated strings don’t feel coated. On Elixirs, I can feel the coating. The HB coated strings feel like normal steel strings to me. Maybe someone sent me the wrong package? Can you feel the coating on elixirs, You are joking, right? Does the package look like it should? Does it say coated on the package? Do they sound good? Interesting to see if they can last as long as elixirs
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strummer
Harley Benton Club Junior Member
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Post by strummer on Dec 9, 2020 12:05:28 GMT
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