The Budget guitar series continues...

Рет қаралды 34,898

2 жыл бұрын

Decided to order Harley Benton TE-20 HH for its looks, I like the charcoal matte finish... one thing not so nice is the pickguard color... matter of taste, I know. Tuners are not very good, but they can be changed as easily as the pickups etc. I think for the price, it can become a good player after some tlc...

Пікірлер: 120

@gattaca9287 2 жыл бұрын

For less than 100 bucks, this guitar is amazing. I own the same, the main issue are the frets which are not thick enough so you can't put high gauge strings on it for drop C or drop B, pick ups are not bad but can be improved a lot, needs insulation too

@jukka9333 2 жыл бұрын

If you like tinkering with these guitars, and have some tools and experience, you could change the frets to jumbo. If something goes wrong, change the whole neck.... this is the fun part of these budget friendly guitars, not a big risk if you ruin something.

@wordsmith451 Жыл бұрын

@@jukka9333 I think there's also a bottom threshold though - once it gets cheap enough and I have to replace or fix enough things, it's no longer worth it. Might as well just get blanks and make a brand new one yourself. I'd rather spend $2-300 and get a good base to mess with. If I'm gonna get a sub 100 guitar I'm not changing anything beyond basic setup.

@jukka9333 Жыл бұрын

@@wordsmith451 I totally agree, that there is a limit to what you want to do with upgrading the bottom feeder guitars. I take them as a challenge and try to make them good players with spare parts that I have laying around. Or trade with my other guitars...

@wordsmith451 Жыл бұрын

@@jukka9333 have you checked out the new r-446 HBs? Metallic superstrats for 150. They look like fun.

@jukka9333 Жыл бұрын

@@wordsmith451 Yes, that model sure is interesting.

@MrRMB1 2 жыл бұрын

Great video, I like how you put it together! I have a few HB's and I really enjoy playing them. Most of the inexpensive guitars will have minor issues. That doesn't bother me at all. Even my sub $200 Kramer Barretta Special needed work. It's satisfying to make your own mods to them too.

@jukka9333 2 жыл бұрын

Thank you RBarbo! Good to hear you enjoy fixing issues with these guitars, like I do. It is satisfying, and very useful to learn to take care of your instruments.

@cameronhoward4031 Жыл бұрын

Having owned and owning many American and Asian guitars I'm blown away with the quality of this guitar. I've had it for about two months now and paid less than $200 for the axe,bag, and cable (the shipping was $50 but is included in the $200 total). I've replaced the tuners and am about to replace the pickups, although they aren't terrible. Just not great. HB is a better buy than entry Epi's or Fender IMO. Very solid.

@octopusdicks Жыл бұрын

Definitely looks way better with the black pickguard, nice job! Crazy as it sounds I actually own about 5 Harley Benton instruments now. It certainly wasn't on purpose, I have had a unique experience with Thomann and trying to get the correct guitar I initially ordered. I'm thinking about making a video about the whole thing just to warn people like myself who are in the US that Thomann will do whatever they possibly can to keep you from shipping anything back to them even when it's completely their fault. In any case, I do think these are great guitar to buy and mod for the price range. The "Custom Line" series of these electric guitars that include the Grover tuners, Alnico V humbuckers with coil tap, with a good bone nut are the ones I believe are the most worth getting.

@jukka9333 Жыл бұрын

Sorry to hear that you have problems with Thomann. I have kept every guitar (and sold some locally) that I have ordered, so no experience about their return practise. The guitars are good for modding for sure.

@breinhol Жыл бұрын

Have had mine a couple of months, the black pickguard is a great idea, might just do that with mine. Typical setup issues out of the box for me too, I replaced my pickups with a set of Bill Lawrence USA ones I had, night and day difference. My string trees are aligned, thats an unfortunate thing. All in all, a fun guitar to play and get your twang on.

@jukka9333 Жыл бұрын

Hi Bill R! Great to hear that you enjoy your HB like I do. Pickup change makes a big difference, I'm thinking that I might return the Kramer pickup back to where it came from and put that Dimarzio Transition to Tele...

@palm444 2 жыл бұрын

Much better with the black pickguard!

@masterwong3837 Жыл бұрын

I got the black HSS and it was almost flawless! In fact I love the tortoise pickguard.

@jukka9333 Жыл бұрын

Great! I'm the opposite, don't like tortoise but hey, that's just me.

@SteveMavronis Жыл бұрын

I ordered one today. I kinda like the reddish tortoise shell contrast but that flat black pickguard looks very nice. Do you think the paint will scratch off exposing the original?

@jukka9333 Жыл бұрын

Congrats, hope you will get a good one. The paint will stick if you sand the pickguard lightly, clean the surface well and use multiple light layers of proper paint (for plastic material).

@royrcf 2 жыл бұрын

I got lucky, my one arrived just needing the string adjustment. Like the colour change to the pickguard looks good.

@jukka9333 2 жыл бұрын

Congrats Rory! Enjoy your guitar!

@OnTheFritz602 2 жыл бұрын

What kind of paint did you use on the pickguard? Sounds pretty damn good for a budget guitar. I have the Ash version in semi-transparent white (Like a Mary Kaye) with single coils that I just swapped out for some higher quality A-5 wax potted Korean make pups, and a 4 way switch, CTS pots, shielded cavities, and compensated brass saddles. Just bolted the neck back on last night and fit a bone nut. Letting it settle in, and have only played it unplugged, so in a couple day's I'll let er rip! A/C died in the house last week and just had it replaced, the humidity was all over the map! (hence letting things acclimate)

@jukka9333 2 жыл бұрын

It is a car paint for bumpers, wings and other parts. Sticks really well on the pickguard and doesn't peel off as easily as some other rattlecan paints. You have a good Tele there! And it gets even better with the Alnico 5 pickups. I like A2 and A5 and have changed those in my low end pickups, improves sound drastically to my ears.

@jeromewagschal9485 Жыл бұрын

Great guitar and great job 🙂🙂 I'm thinking about getting one for me... May I ask which grit sandpaper you used to sand the pickguard ? The end result really looks great...

@jukka9333 Жыл бұрын

Thanks! I don't remember what grit it was, probably 600 or 800...

@f3ni_ 2 жыл бұрын

Looks dope ^^

@villusive 2 жыл бұрын

don't worry about the wrinkles my friend! awesome video

@jukka9333 2 жыл бұрын

Thank you 🙂

@klinkokos67 2 жыл бұрын

Nice guitar - and totally agree - the black pickguard looks way better than the turtois that was on it.... tnx for the video -KK - Btw: how do you record video with sound from BIAS FX? I'd never figured that out.

@jukka9333 2 жыл бұрын

Thank you for your feedback! Those sound sample videos I record with Mixcraft 9 playing through the Bias plugin, while shooting the video with my phone, then combine them in Windows Moviemaker. That's it.

@SixStringOverdose Жыл бұрын

03:14 wtf dude...

@jukka9333 Жыл бұрын

😁 The Brutal Way!

@ericdpeerik3928 Жыл бұрын

Good stuff! The pick gaurd was indeed a deal breaker colour. I recently bought a stagg ses-30bk at a pawnshop (with free crappy amp) and I'm flipping it to something I want. I bought this one, because it comes factory fitted with a bone nut, but I reshaped the head in to something more graceful. Next step is to replace all the white parts with shiny black parts, and paint everything else matt black with a satin finish (it plays better/faster). After that I will attack the more costly hardware, after I figure out which parts I want. I didn't paint my pick guard, because I'm afraid it will peal off. However, the 5 week delivery time on my new pick gaurd (and the fact you did it) is making me reconsider it 😂 Judging by some similarities in parts, I think Harley Benton uses the same Korean factory as Stagg does. Not sure.

@jukka9333 Жыл бұрын

Nice! Have fun with your project!

@user-ky3gm3gq2n 9 ай бұрын

Peel the plastic of the pickguard so you can enjoy your plastic pickguard 😃

@jukka9333 9 ай бұрын

Funny isn't it...

@pyratoothNL Жыл бұрын

Unbeatable for the price! Got one when it came out. The stock pickups are dark in their voicing for my tastes. Maybe if you drop tune it's better suited but I play standard. Be aware that the paint job is fairly thin. Be careful when you're restringing that you don't scratch it. Also the brige/string setup is s little fiddly to get in. I got black fingers from the "burnt" maple fretboard, sharp fret ends that needed a little filing and a slight crackle on the bridge pickup. But I replaced the pickups anyway with DiMarzios and it sounds great. Most important, it feels fun to play! It's not heavy and it doesn't feel like it's trying to get in your way.

@jukka9333 Жыл бұрын

Good to hear you enjoy your guitar! I played a Harley sc custom yesterday in our rehearsals for a gig. It is quite a lot heavier than Tele, so I'm going to take the Tele next time and test if it feels better, it too has Dimarzios also and the pickups are great.

@escalator9734 Жыл бұрын

just some unsolicited fyi, downtuning requires brighter pickups, on 7/8/9/n strings guitars with distortion you need to cut a lot of bass before the amp or it turns into a mud fest

@jukka9333 Жыл бұрын

@@escalator9734 makes sense, thanks for the tip!

@christiaandemarezoyens4720 Жыл бұрын

Great feedback on the guitar, thanks. Can I ask why you decided to only exchange the pups and not the pots?

@pyratoothNL Жыл бұрын

@@christiaandemarezoyens4720 I think I've only every changed pots once going from singles to HBs. I just tend to leave the originals in provided if they are the right rating for the pickup.

@coeycruz 2 жыл бұрын

Seems like a really nice budget guitar to mod (:

@jukka9333 2 жыл бұрын

Yes it is!

@simoneric8183 Жыл бұрын

Yes : I'm considering swapping maybe the neck pick up for a humbucker size P90 to fit in the space and real tuners.

@jukka9333 Жыл бұрын

@@simoneric8183 go for it!

@skylineXpert Жыл бұрын

Black pickguard. Dude thats one mean t-style

@jukka9333 Жыл бұрын

Mean Machine! And it plays so well that I am going to take it to our next gig.

@AlanCheong 2 жыл бұрын

sky high action and it has a QC passed sticker. I wonder what they actually checked during the QC.

@jukka9333 2 жыл бұрын

Add the buckle rash to it too! 😁

@Str1ng5 2 жыл бұрын

awww little baby doesn't know how to adjust action.... go buy a 400 dll guitar buddy

@SleepscapeSerenity 2 жыл бұрын

i got this guitar, stuck some spare EMG 81 and 85s in and some new locking tuners, sounds lovely now

@jukka9333 2 жыл бұрын

Yes, these are great for modding. This guitar definitely needs new tuners, the ones it has have a horrible turning ratio.

@victorribeiro2431 2 жыл бұрын

How to make an Jim Root Signature and spare thousand dollars.

@jukka9333 2 жыл бұрын

@@victorribeiro2431 I had to check the Jim Root, and lo and behold, these look quite similar! You are right, all Jim Root fans get your Harleys and MOD!

@SleepscapeSerenity 2 жыл бұрын

@@jukka9333 yeah Jim Roots sig was my inspiration. Mind you, had to file out the bridge pickup hole as it doesn't fit pickups or emgs with covers.

@jukka9333 2 жыл бұрын

@@SleepscapeSerenity I had to shorten the neck pickup screws to make it fit 😁

@alif499 2 жыл бұрын

some white pickups or pickup covers would make that guitar pop! great job on the mod!

@jukka9333 2 жыл бұрын

You may have a point there, Shafaet! I changed the pickups today, now the bridge pup is zebra...

@dairycowtv 2 жыл бұрын

@@jukka9333 That's cool!

@theguitarprofessionals8584 2 жыл бұрын

KILLER

@650thunderbird5 2 жыл бұрын

👍🏻👍🏻

@metalsalvo 2 жыл бұрын

Painting the pickguard really made it better.

@jukka9333 2 жыл бұрын

Yep, same kind of matte finish than on the body.

@metalsalvo 2 жыл бұрын

@@jukka9333 how did you find the right paint?

@jukka9333 2 жыл бұрын

@@metalsalvo Happened to have a can of paint and tested that.. and it was just right for the job.

@metalsalvo 2 жыл бұрын

@@jukka9333 that was lucky. 🤣 Would you use the same on the body if needed?

@jukka9333 2 жыл бұрын

@@metalsalvo Maybe, although it is meant for plastic parts. Don´t know how it would hold up on the body...

@alkyhauler8185 2 жыл бұрын

Latest stab at Black Sabbath Supernaut Harley Benton ST-20hh active SBK Mods: 1. Locking tuners 2. Bone nut 3. Roller string-trees 4. Speed knob (vol) 5. Full set-up (action, intonation, etc) 6. 11-52 NYXL's 7. Fretwrap 8. Perri's leather strap 9. Dunlop strap-locks kzfaq.info/get/bejne/Z7KBqNKCtLjRlXk.html

@jukka9333 2 жыл бұрын

Great, you really put some effort to that guitar.

@alkyhauler8185 2 жыл бұрын

@@jukka9333 It's an absolute weapon now lol, thanks!

@comradeautismo Жыл бұрын

@@alkyhauler8185 I have the same guitar, I haven't modded it much only did a string change and adjustment to the saddles and action. I have it setup in Drop B and I used custom strings ordered from Stringjoy, they are 11 - 58 (11, 15, 18, 26, 38, 58). I use it to mainly play stuff from Slipknot but dabble in other stuff here and there. It is a truly solid guitar for its price.

@katolecho Жыл бұрын

They have to do a tele version of it.

@alkyhauler8185 Жыл бұрын

@@katolecho They did.

@LushiFlipz Жыл бұрын

I have a strat for 70 bucks and its amazing the brand is clifton but like any guitar you need setup

@jukka9333 Жыл бұрын

Exactly, no matter what the value, the instrument needs a proper setup to you liking first. Then you can say if it is a keeper or not. Many budget guitars turn from total crap to nicely playing instruments after a setup.

@LushiFlipz Жыл бұрын

@@jukka9333 yeah and for effects i use my phone

@Str1ng5 2 жыл бұрын

the price is worth it

@VmShpman82 2 жыл бұрын

Dang ! 2 layers of plastic ? Insane. I've never seen that before.😲

@jukka9333 2 жыл бұрын

And all that protection for nothing

@Jesuswinsbirdofmichigan Ай бұрын

#120_Noooo_buttEyeHere_hansonsMMMMM_bop⚠️

@Uggelio 2 жыл бұрын

HB Man

@jukka9333 2 жыл бұрын

Yes sir!

@MaximusAdonicus 2 жыл бұрын

Damn, that red pick-guard was the whole identity of this guitar and a cool/only little distinctive detail! 😭

@jukka9333 2 жыл бұрын

If it would have been red, it would have reminded me of Wilko Johnson Tele and this ruining would not have been happened at all! 😁

@MaximusAdonicus 2 жыл бұрын

@@jukka9333 Welp, it sure looks red on the site and in your video! Or kinda like reddish orange lava thing! I dunno who dat dude or his guitar is, but I googled and u are right, very similar! Except the Wilko geetar is rather ugly, but this HB version is fine and actually the ONLY telecaster I've ever seen that looks decent!

@jukka9333 2 жыл бұрын

@@MaximusAdonicus it is tortoise shell, looks more like brownish to my eye, but anyway, these are a matter of taste. This Tele sure looks good in a different way than the traditional telecaster.

@MaximusAdonicus 2 жыл бұрын

@@jukka9333 Yes, tastes differ like flavors in a wine.

@gergnotsloh Жыл бұрын

First, it's more brown than red and second, the black looked 100 times better.

@jennaleigh-raine Жыл бұрын

Can do same for mine

@jukka9333 Жыл бұрын

Yes, you can do the same, it is not hard.

@DougHinVA 2 жыл бұрын

Cheap guitars do NOT come with all the details done by a luthier or good setup guy. They are cheap factory guitars.. see?

@margaretedwards1366 Жыл бұрын

Black pickguard. How creative.

@chaosandorderstudio 4 ай бұрын

Like your comment... Fool

@Barbarapape 2 жыл бұрын

Typical Harley Benton, damaged finish on the back, poor setup, cheap electronics. This sample would be going back asap if i received it like this. I like Harley Benton's but the entry level models suffer from far too many bad samples and need too much upgrading. I now only buy the Fusion models, they are well worth the extra outlay.

@jukka9333 2 жыл бұрын

I don't mind the aesthetic defects, but you shouldn't have to pay full price if there are flaws. That is why informed Thomann about the flaws and I got this with discount...

@claire6650 2 жыл бұрын

I received 2k guitar from ESP in worst condition, it also had a black satin finish similar to the one right here. Buckle mark on the back, sand paper mark on the front, even had a ding in the paint. was supposed to be brand new but looked like it had been played quite a few time.

@jukka9333 2 жыл бұрын

@@claire6650 that is bad for a 2K guitar. Did you send it back?

@ericdpeerik3928 Жыл бұрын

Okay there, Mr super elite. How many cars did you send back after they're not driving condition straight out of the factory? Everything that leaves the factory needs to be made use ready (check the car invoice, you paid for it). Given, most guitar players don't know how to do this (as with most drivers), but you can learn, or send it to a luthier. Your complaint is utterly irrelevant, as you basicly said you're willing to pay for the setup if you don't know you're paying for it 😐

@shawnawesome7770 2 жыл бұрын

Couldn't watch because of the wrinkles in your shirt.

@jukka9333 2 жыл бұрын

😁

@marceli155 2 жыл бұрын

fuck that guitars !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

@ericdpeerik3928 Жыл бұрын

OK, boomer

@SB-mb8fx 2 жыл бұрын

Boykott Chinese Products!

@jacobm804 2 жыл бұрын

Most of these are made in Indonesia.

@jean-jacquesperroux4654 2 жыл бұрын

Where was made your computer or phone you are using now to answer ? 🤪

@SB-mb8fx 2 жыл бұрын

@@jean-jacquesperroux4654 You are right. We can not boycott everything, it´s not possible. But there are more products made in PRC than you expect. You can make the difference and choose not to buy that cheap stuff. There is no use to buy cheap electrics or instrume nts from china

@carlh3048 2 жыл бұрын

@@SB-mb8fx So you're saying only boycott things that won't cause you inconvenience. That seems more like virtue signaling.

@SB-mb8fx 2 жыл бұрын

@@carlh3048 What? I was not saying this. Read again please.