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Post by guydio on Feb 16, 2016 16:21:29 GMT
Finally decided to order one- hope I get a good one! Once it arrives I'll decide wether to replace the pickups for something else. I have my eyes on the Iron Gear teSLA SHarks, or the Tonerider Alnico 2 classic PAF set. Bang for buck, I think they're pretty good, I dont want to spend double the cost of the guitar on BareKnuckle Peter Green/Mules etc or Bulldogs or OilCity ones which come out about £90-100 each, whereas the Toneriders and Iron Gear come out at £70 a set.
Has anybody with this guitar found the need to swap out the pups or are you happy as they come?
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703 posts
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Post by gullum on Feb 16, 2016 17:05:21 GMT
I have the same guitar and think the pickups are fine for the guitar, but I haven't used it in more then one song yet that was very minimal, so not sure if I'll need to change them, but so far they seam good for what I am using the guitar for
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Post by guydio on Feb 16, 2016 18:47:36 GMT
I've seen several reviews and I know that the pickups can take some power and sound ok overdriven or "dirty". I've just read a review stating that the pickups resistance values are Neck:9.45, Bridge:9.67. The PAF type alnico 2 pickups I was looking at were only neck-7, bridge 7.5 to 8.0 ohm. One thing I'm looking forward to is the natural sustain of the guitar due to having the centre block, similar to my old Epiphone Sheraton.
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Post by guydio on Feb 26, 2016 9:54:54 GMT
These appear to be in stock again, and my order I'd being processed. I ended up buying both the tonerider and the iron gear pickup sets in the end, and then seeing a chap in Australia making his own Peter Green sets he's on eBay and they cost about £100 a set. Hand made the old way and unpotted for character. Plenty to think about.
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Post by guydio on Feb 26, 2016 10:42:38 GMT
Just found sound clips on you tube under the name of d'urbano he's got some great tele sounds too
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Post by guydio on Feb 27, 2016 15:50:49 GMT
Well, the guitar is on it's way and will soon be in the hands of parcel farce. I must say in looking forward to playing the new cherry guitar, as with any new one (gear acquisition disorder). I'll see how it plays, but I intend to install new pots and Tesla sharks pickups.
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Post by guydio on Mar 1, 2016 20:39:53 GMT
Well, the guitar arrived intact-good start. Some imperfections in the binding, pick up covers have small dents (this seems common!?), neck pick up cover screw sticking up a few threads (hole not drilled deep enough), a couple of the tuners feel a bit sloppy and loose, strings were stained and rusty, the frets had been filed flat and left unpolished with flat spots all over them and very rough so as to grind on the strings. The jack input is loose and the cable wobbles about when inserted and shorts out now and then. The bridge was set too high giving really high action. The adjustment screw head had been distorted where somebody had forced it because it was jammed inside the actual bridge string guide section, instead of being free to move, it was jammed tight and I had to twist it out in my vice. I spent about four hours setting the thing up and correcting some faults. I've described my findings in an email to Thomman. I don't want to send it back, this would be the third guitar sent back if I do. It's sort of ok now. I know its a budget guitar, but some of the faults really are poor. I noticed as soon as the new shipment arrived at Thomman, B stock was available, possibly not even sent out to customers but too poor to sell as new? I hope others buying this guitar have better luck. I've just ordered a lemon drop lp450+ too, in just going this will be better.
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Post by kwis on Mar 1, 2016 20:56:00 GMT
What a shame thomman sends gear out in that condition! Bravo for correcting the issues...
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thunderbird
Harley Benton Expert
Less purchase, more practice
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Post by thunderbird on Mar 1, 2016 21:11:25 GMT
Well, the guitar arrived intact-good start. Some imperfections in the binding, pick up covers have small dents (this seems common!?), neck pick up cover screw sticking up a few threads (hole not drilled deep enough), a couple of the tuners feel a bit sloppy and loose, strings were stained and rusty, the frets had been filed flat and left unpolished with flat spots all over them and very rough so as to grind on the strings. The jack input is loose and the cable wobbles about when inserted and shorts out now and then. The bridge was set too high giving really high action. The adjustment screw head had been distorted where somebody had forced it because it was jammed inside the actual bridge string guide section, instead of being free to move, it was jammed tight and I had to twist it out in my vice. I spent about four hours setting the thing up and correcting some faults. I've described my findings in an email to Thomman. I don't want to send it back, this would be the third guitar sent back if I do. It's sort of ok now. I know its a budget guitar, but some of the faults really are poor. I noticed as soon as the delivery arrived B stock was available, possibly not even sent out to customers but too poor to sell as new? I hope others buying this guitar have better luck. I've just ordered a lemon drop lp450+ too. You are making me nervous
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Post by Deleted on Mar 1, 2016 21:13:01 GMT
Let me imagine things, assume if you like; When I worked as a salesman I would get to buy all the things we sold for the internal price icl.VAT so I would get things cheaper, much cheaper than the customer. This lead me to buy only those "high end" things and look down on the low end stuff. I assume its similar to Thomann salesman and even those working as guitar techs because they too get a special employee prices and it hurts thoer wallet less to lets say buy high end pedals and high end guitars. For them Harley Benton is something for beginners and not something they get much money for so why invest extra time and passion into it. I can understand this. I mean for someone to do a pro set-up just beofore shipping it to the customer takes TIME and TIME IS MONEY. We cant deny this. That said I still think we should be happy with what we get because in most cases we get decent if not even perfect instruments. Im probably the one here that moans most about fret buzz and truss rod issues and Im sure most people would not look into these issues in such affordable instruments. Thomann's great customer service spoiled me must say so I look into all tiny details ... What was it I wanted to say with this? I lost the point damn it Im getting senile
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Post by marit on Mar 1, 2016 23:05:23 GMT
It's a shame you've had a 3rd "bad" guitar. It's strange that most (let's stay positive) people get guitars that are set-up great and then some that are very poor. Is it to do with price range? Or is it just random human error. How was other people's experiences with this guitar? ^Che, you forgot about the shoulder moaning (I kid, I kid)
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Post by nappel on Mar 2, 2016 9:48:29 GMT
i have to say that i got 9 out of 10 guitars in excellent condition and with a good setup.
good setup,not perfect( it cant be perfect,everybody likes a different setup)
that beeing said i never had to do a fret job,it was always some little trussrod and bridge adjustments to get it low without buzz.
its a shame to hear what some people get.
did you order it B-stock maybe? never do that again if so
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Post by guydio on Mar 2, 2016 9:56:03 GMT
I know we're buying budget guitars and shouldn't be expecting Gibson or Fender custom shop quality, but Thomman need to address the quality issue as it's us the budget buyer making the most purchases. Sure, they might get one or two guys buying £4,000 boutique guitars but at the same time 10,000 guys like us on a budget spending £200, and going on to make other purchases next month and the months after. Come on Thomman don't lose sight of your market or let quality drop for the sake of a Buck.
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Post by guydio on Mar 2, 2016 9:59:09 GMT
i have to say that i got 9 out of 10 guitars in excellent condition and with a good setup. good setup,not perfect( it cant be perfect,everybody likes a different setup) that beeing said i never had to do a fret job,it was always some little trussrod and bridge adjustments to get it low without buzz. its a shame to hear what some people get. did you order it B-stock maybe? never do that again if so No, it wasn't b stock it was the new shipment that arrived. I wonder if it was prepped properly or rushed out to meet a deadline? I have found that the high end Benton guitars are probably OK and lower end you take your chance?
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Post by thitar on Mar 2, 2016 10:34:18 GMT
What I find weird is that the guitar is again on backorder until March 15th. Did they find a few old guitars lying around ?
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