This is not just a guitar review, this is a perfect example that if someone knows how to play and mostly knows how to record, they really do not need expensive equipment to make awesome sounding music.
@@beefnacos6258 I don't really know much about these software amp sims, but he said he's using something that's also budget friendly, and not plugging it into a crazy expensive rig
The thinking process is usually that if the guitar is the weakest link, you know it's its fault if it doesn't sound good. This is a situation where I can see both sides and don't really have a horse in that race. That being said - with the quality of today's amp sims, is it THAT far off?
Not sure what the implications of ordering from outside of Europe are (both shipping and returning), but as someone that lives in Austria (next to Germany) I can say that the free shipping and the fact that you can just send it back if it wasn’t what you expected, makes this brand the best budget choice out there (again, from my pov)
Would love to see you do a mod project with this and hear your thoughts after doing pick ups, tuners and probably upgrading the nut. I know you don't typically do that. But to see what you would do personally would be cool.
I did exactly what I did with the Harley Benton SC-1000 Progressive with the same active pickups. A gorgeous white guitar! I gutted the whole thing except the bridge and tailpiece, built a wiring harness, added Entwisle neodymium pickups and replaced the tuners.
I got the same guitar back in March. So far I upgraded it with Seymour Duncan Nazgûl/ sentient set and Grover tuners. Unfortunately, I couldn’t use Fishman fluence sets because there wasn’t enough room for the wiring. Also fender pick guards don’t fit/line well on the guitar. But overall I’m happy with it going to upgrade the bridge and nut.
@@UNTroy56With the Fluence set, there's minimal wiring, much like the EMG sets out there. You can use the single volume push-pull pot for voicings, and it would control both pickups. If you're in the New England area, I'd be happy to take a look at it for you, if you ever wanted to make the switch.
Dude...your playing is constantly going next level. I'm really digging your voice that you've curated on the instrument. I'm pretty hyped on the posssibility another instrumental album under your real name. At the very least an ep. Big ups on ya. Whatever you're doing keep it up. It's working for ya.
Ahh thank you so much. I ironically started writing as soon as I did the rebrand. It was such a weight of my shoulders and I immediately starting feeling creative again!
If the strings (which act like antennas) aren't grounded properly, you will get noise with a gate absent no matter what you plug into. The V and Jazzmster clones had a string grounding issue that was due to a painted bridge, blocking conduction.
Few days ago i got Harley Benton JA60CC Seafoam Green, it is 50$ more than this guitar and frets, neck and whole setup in general was amazing, better than on 600-800$ guitars i tried in stores, i know my guitar is not really for metal i just wanted you all to know what you get for 50$ more haha. I hope we get those EMG J masters soon so i can put them in this guitar and btw love your channel Ray!
Harley Benton blew me away with their stuff. I picked up the SC-1000 progressive and holy crap its a monster. Although I'm pretty sure I have some grounding issues because when I plug into my interface I can faintly hear a near by radio station lmao
Was not expecting the Mariana's Trench riff, you earned a sub! haven't quite pulled the trigger on one of the HBs yet but this review certainly helped me come closer to a decision.
Maaan. Glad to see you discovered HB guitars.I got my first one about 5 years ago and haven't looked back. I have 6 of them now, 4 guitars and 2 basses, and it'll be hard to not buy HB because of the budget factor.
The noise issue on these guitars was traced to the earth (ground) wire not making electrical contact to the hardware because of the anodized coating. If you get a noisy guitar, you may have to take the bridge off and sand off some of the coating underneath, so it makes good contact with the metal.
So the stratocaster is actually good, but the other 2 (the v and the jazzmaster) is bad when it comes to the noise problem. But you can fix that problem with those other 2 models.
Hey man, quick question: How should we address you after your rebranding? Is Ray still an acceptable nickname or was that just a nickname online? Great video btw. I totally agree with your findings on the cheaper Harley Benton guitars. I bought a cheap one, like, 6 years ago and that thing was close to unuseable. But by now the quality is on a different level. I have an Amarok and that thing plays faaar above its pricepoint
Hey I appreciate your question! At this point I’m fine with whatever anyone wants to call me. Raymond used to be my first name and Charles was my middle name so I gave myself Xander. I feel what would be that most logical thing would be to call me Xander as that is now my first name, but like I said I’m fine with whatever. Thanks again for your question and thanks again for your time. I’m thinking about getting an Amarok down the line!
That noise issue is quite interesting because just this thursday is played a school gig where one of the guitarists played this exact model and there was a huuuuuuuge static noise and our mixers had to mute him every second he didn't play. Could be just that specific guitar but I would keep that in mind. And I can say for sure that it wasn't the amp because we had another guitar going to that amp during the gig.
Guitar models aren't a monolith. That guitarist might have got a bad egg where the wiring wasn't done well, while the one in this video had correct wiring. Quality control is one of the first things to go with budget brands like HB so the inconsistencies make sense. The good news is that bad wiring can be fixed in literally seconds if you know how to use a soldering iron. Personally, I'd take bad wiring over fret/neck issues any day when it comes to cheaper brands.
@@INeverWanted2010 I agree with this but I know for a fact that he was a beginner and many guitars in this price range are meant for beginners who most certainly are not able to fix a bad wiring ext. And that would be another trip to a guitar store to get it fixed and so on. But yeah bad wiring is always better than like a twisted neck or something like that
@@INeverWanted2010 all of these models are having this problem.. theres been wiring issues at the hb factory. same is happening with the new V. its not a 1 off thing
Hey man, love your content. I bought a Harley Benton JC66 (Fender Jazzmaster copy) for $165 and I absolutely love it. The quality control is amazing, trapezoid inlays and my frets meld into the binding on the neck perfectly. The guitar please beautifully, the tone sounds just like a Jazzmaster and it has p90 pickups too. Harley Benton makes copies of already existing guitars. They do not make student level guitars, most guitars you buy from HP are going to be very good. And if you spend over $350, you are going to the next level of guitars and they are going to be even better. How you been gets a bad rap mostly from people who don't own Harley bentons. I have three at my house right now and my dad and my brothers both play them as well. It's not my only guitar, but I play it a lot. And to top it off it came out of the box set up and ready to go. I didn't have to adjust the neck or the string height or anything. That was a very pleasant surprise.. well, enjoy your guitar, it sounds great. You are getting better and better every time I watch your videos, it's noticeable.
The grounding issue is due to powder coat where the ground goes to the threaded inserts of the bridge. You just need to pull the insert and scrape off the powder coat. The ground must reach the string saddles so need to remove the coating so there is continuity from the strings back to this ground wire.
Your playing always blows me away, man, you always seem to get better and better with each video and I love it. Take care, man, and happy holidays from Canada
It’s time my friend to celebrate your an inspiration. I love your playing . Bro you have almost63 thousands of subs your amazing I love you ….❤🤘🏻⚜️🍺👊🏻🤪
Hi Ray. Great review on the Harley Benton. Since you’re on the topic of reviewing “budget” guitars, I hope you can make a review on the Squier Contemporary Telecaster RH. It would really help people who are planning to get their first guitar or someone who cannot afford to purchase high-end guitars. Thanks Ray! More power to your channel! And Happy Holidays!
If you want a Harley Benton guitar that is amazing for the money you need to grab the new guitar max signature guitar. This thing is not only beautiful to look at it shreds. The Tesla pickups in this thing are way better than I thought they'd be. I had planned on swapping them out for something else but definitely no need . It's basically a fusion III with a reverse headstock and Tesla pickups.
I have this guitar it is great. Bit of a set up and locking tuners and it’s a killer guitar for price. Mine has no sound issues either. It actually plays better than some more expensive guitars I have owed after a set up, string change and fret polish. Wish I had this stuff around when I started playing. Great playing btw
Keep doing what you did with the Mesa. Not enough youtubers do it that way. Most of the demos are over produced and you can't really hear what the guitar or amp really sounds like. Keep up the great work Ray
GREAT DEAL for about $100, loved the clean intro-ish jam you did at the 12:59 mark man. You should check out the Sawtooth ES series (Michael Angelo Batio brand), gifted my bud one for XMAS. Came right out of the box completely and perfectly set up. I was skeptical at 1st but it's a great guitar, so much so I'll be getting my self one of the higher end models soon.
With you being an EMG artist, are you going to swap out the pickup's. It sounds good now, but with EMG's it will sound alot better. I love your channel. Waiting on new music man.
Killer demo jam. Personally I have fun working on guitars as long as it’s not wood working. I can dress the frets and dial in my preferred set up. I love upgrading as well. HB is very much my cup of tea.
I have 2 HB’s an ex-84 that came with emg’s plays like a beast!! Love it and then I have their take on the LP junior I use it for punkrock stuff and I can beat the shit out of that thing. Did I i have to fight the setup? Yes on the junior the ex (explorer) it perfect
Hey Ray. Thanks for checking the grounding. I'm not likely going g to ever own one of these guitars. It just shows that you care and listen to your fan base. That being said, I wonder if HB has already fixed the issue on all the models they ship out or if you got lucky and got a good one. Or did this particular model never have the problem. We've all seen Glenn's video with the V. And there was adrew baenas video but I do not remember which model he had. But both of those were in fact quite noisy guitars.
AFAIK only the Victory and JA active had that issue, both of which were recent models. This ST model uses the same hipshot-style bridge than the JA but is an older model so at some point they changed that particular part and perhaps ST-20HH actives that were manufactured together with the JA active faulty models "could" have the same grounding issue, but if were part of an older batch then likely won't.
At 9:34 That sounds like it could be a riff off of Breaking Benjamin's "Dear Agony" Record. Love BB BTW so that's definitely a compliment. I can just hear Ben's voice over that.
Having watched Glen Fricker's video on the Harley Benton SBK range that were giving the noise problems it was the black paint on all the hardware that was preventing the grounding & causing the issues. Simply removing the paint from specific areas or swapping the black screws for chrome/gold was able to fix the problem.
Hey Ray. I bought a tele-style Harley Benton guitar about a month ago. Same matte black finish as yours. It was my first HB and honestly, it’s not bad at all. I paid $84 plus shipping for it. And for $84, it was amazing. I did have to set it up though. Like yours, action was way high, intonation was way off, crappy tuners, etc. So, I set it up, replaced the tuners with some locking ones, and it was totally playable. I do not care for the pickups, at least the bridge one. So I did order a humbucker to replace it with. I have a feeling that will make a huge difference. Anyway, just thought id offer up my experience with HB. Peace!
Ngl, my harley benton ex-84 came with a pretty bad setup. Action was a mile high, fret board was very dry and frets were scratchy. That being said what really helped was tightening the truss rod and straightening the neck a little more, as well as lemon oil and fret polishers, plays like a dream now.
I built a guitar almost exactly like this one!!!! But I put Dimarzio pickups on mine.....I plan to upgrade by installing 2 small switches for single coil action on the pickups.
thinking of picking one up because it’s so affordable and it comes in a lefty set up which is always a pain in the ass to find. Thinking of using it to build on maybe 🤷🏻♂️ at the price why not right.
The source of the issue in those SBK models is the paint used in the bridge pieces, not the pickups, electronics or the amp. Models released before they added the JA and Victory active SBKs (such as that guitar you got there) didn't have the issue, but batches of guitars that were built around the same date as those models do seem to have the same grounding issues with the paint acting as an electric insulator. Unfortunately unless Thomann goes through every single unit from those faulty batches and either remove them from stock or correct the flaw, there are gonna be more consumers with the noise woes.
If you like finding guitars and guitar brands, have you tried SX? I used to have one of their LP shapes when I first was getting started (I forget what they called it) and it was pretty decent given the price.
Thanks for the in depth review! You definitely answered a lot of my questions. Looks like a decent base to mod or try things on. Any idea if a set of locking Fender tuners would drop in?
@@raytorvalds3699 I don’t know if this is the right or wrong way, but I didn’t drill for those. Once the hole fit, I pressed firmly into the wood and then when I tightened down the tuners, they set fine. The pins are so tiny, it didn’t seem like it would matter as long as they were flush on the headstock.
@@jburdsinfuse I would say it's not ideal. You could potentially crack the wood with that method. But hey, it worked for you. I use part of your method. I tighten them until the pin makes a slight impression and then I drill it, using the impression.
I would have thought the TE style guitar would be been closer, if only because of the shape. A blessing they sell it lefty as well Edit: didn't realise how recent this video was and Jim sig has changed.
Cool vid dude. I’ve got a lot of guitars but I am tempted by HB. Love the stripped back aesthetic. They just really really need to tighten the QC as a matter of importance!
nice review. I also bought my hb as a b-stock for 109 euros and it arrived perfectly processed. the fretwork is better than my fender player strat. the pu are not emg, but they shoot and all for the price! no matter if tube or transistor, mine is quiet and looks damn cool.
It was never about a tube amplifier. It was about the amount of gain, no gate. I own the jazzmaster version, it had that particular issue, had to sand the paint down and I remedied it.
Great video Ray. HB doesn't get enough credit. I own a fusion Tele and I always say if you get a HB ....change the pickups to have an elite tier guitar ( if you go for a higher end model that is) regardless their cheaper offerings are not dogshit as many think. They're really good guitars especially in the hands of the right player.
i was gonna buy one of these and decided to mod an old squire of mine and plan on callin it HBK... all jokes aside some 85 87s in that would be a pretty cool active strat
Part of the noise problem could be bad grounding from the black paint on the hardware, preventing the strings from reaching ground. SpectreSoundStudios did a vid on it and how to fix it :)
Cool looking guitar, great playing....the intonation being so far out of wack could be from the lower turning.... if it was set up for E standard that drop C might have something to do with it. Just a thought.....keep up the killer videos man!!
Not gonna lie man. You make every guitar sound killer. Since you getting more into floyd guitars i really recommend getting an ibanez rg. Or an rgd. An rgd is made for droptuning. They have longer scale length maybe something for you??
It’s a fuzzy sound, but not bad at all. As a complementary guitar to add character to a recording if you’re quad tracking, it’s perfect. You just record two L and R tracks with a better guitar then the same with this Harley Benton and get them X panned…some interesting results for sure.
They are cheap. I drunk bought a guitar for my buddies birthday. It was decent, but after it was in storage, the neck really warped. He did tell me after moving from the desert, it’s ok now. Maybe you and Agufish can do some Harley Benton stuff together. He helps design or gives professional input on some models.
I have two Harley Benton guitar's, a SC 450 Plus that is the split coiling humbuckers. Great guitar,but did have to do some work to it. But for 200 bucks with shipping and a hard case..who cares it's a great player....then I bought the Fusion III HSH with roasted Maple Neck..out of the Box it a great player,and the neck is like silk!!!! paid 500 something with shipping and a hard case..that is to Michigan..now that was in 2018..soo shipping might be more now...will I buy more from Harley Benton...Hell Yes..for the price,even with buy upgrade pickups,you are still below 600 bucks..they are a great platform for up grades for a great player that can get beat up if you gig.
It's good guitar! I can say! Is it the best guitar in the world? No! Is it perfect? No! But it's pretty fucking good! And those pickups are very good. Not EMG good, but good. Amazing quality guitar for this prize!
I have the same one and its amazing! no grounding issues for me either I've got some new string that closely match Jim's set so I can have it as a dedicated slipknot/downturned guitar
Pretty sure you got a different model than the one that has the issue. Might want to double check and recheck. Harley Benton JA-20HH Active SBK is the one with issues. The V version as well. Good to know the problem is NOT with the Model version you are holding:)
If I think about what we could get back in the early 90’s for that amount! We could get cheap and really bad guitars man. If I had got that guitar i 92 when I pick up a guitar for the first time I would have been stoked
“Es el indio y no la flecha” But HB makes some great stuff for the price. I have 3 HB instruments (2 I’m still amazed by the value, the bass not so much because it’s the cheapest and it’s actually not great haha but gets the job done)
Am I the only one that digs Ray’s purple flannel shirt and with that blacker than black guitar makes me think Stay Emo Ray 😂 I hear no clarity to those pickups and isn’t that the point of active PUs string separation and note clarity ? It sounded good on the djent-ish open e or whatever you said you were tuned to but chords turned to mush . I had to do a lot to set up my Kramer Baretta Special but I expect that on 200 dollar ish guitar, you could still take it to a shop if you didn’t know how to set one up and for 60- 100 get it set up and a lot of these budget guitars would still punch above their range if you can get into a playable guitar for less than 300 bucks that’s pretty reasonable, I still think probably the Ibanez GIO straight out of the box would be hard to beat for a starter guitar. I’ve always hated to think about the number of kids that were really excited to play and finally got a guitar for Christmas and their parents not knowing any better bought them a “starter pack” and whoever sold it to them failed to mention the importance of a setup then the kid thinks playing guitar is impossible because he got something with jacked up action and the truss Rod was way off and maybe he could’ve been the next Eddie or Dime but instead did something else because his beginner guitar had no set up on it. The shop that I used to visit and annoy the owner and people working there when I started playing in the 90s re strung every import before it went on the rack and at least put the truss Rod and action in the ball park and he would still match musicians friends prices ( he didn’t like to but he would ) and I understand why he had an hour labor and his cost of a new set of strings in it now that was probably 15 dollars total for him but at the lower end guitars 15 dollars is a lot of profit if you’re only marking it up 75 to 100 dollars. At least everything in his store was playable right off the shelf and IN TUNE that shop has been gone a long time now but I’ll never forget it he had all the cool Jackson’s and Ibanez Gibsons, and Fenders and he would let 13 year old me try anything I wanted to , the only guitar I remember that was sorta untouchable was some kind of Gibson Burst reissue it was in a glass case and was like 5,000 in the mid 90s so I wasn’t too broken down I couldn’t get my grubby hands on it but he’d let me check out pointy Japanese guitars until my heart’s content. Now the last music store in my hometown is getting ready to close for good and it’s been around a long time they have always sold guitar gear but also piano and orchestra instruments too in fact all the middle school band kids rented their instruments from them and even though I never bought anything big from them, I’m still sad I can’t swing by and check out a brick and mortar guitar store five minutes from my house and grab some strings and picks
