Upgrading/Modding Everything on a Harley Benton TE-52 for Under $300
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- čas přidán 7. 03. 2021
- I upgraded every single thing on my Harley Benton TE-52 for under $300 and love how it came out. Nothing at all is sponsored in this vid, but below are links to all the parts and where I got them if that's something you're interested in.
Please subscribe if you're into guitar and comedy vids, and check out my project souping up a cheap 70's Les Paul Copy (Part 3 coming soon, just waiting on one more part to come in!): www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0Fp4...
I'm on Instagram: /
And Twitter: / adam_newman
And yes, I'll be back on the road doing comedy as soon as this pandemic is over!
Thanks for watching!
Oh, and the blemished HB was donated to Silverlake Conservatory in Los Angeles. Great org started by Flea! Check 'em out: silverlakeconservatory.org/
The mods:
Hipshot locking staggered tuners: www.amazon.com/Hipshot-Grip-L...
920D T3W-C Control Plate: www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...
Fender Pure Vintage Tele Pickups: www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...
Graph Tech Black TUSQ XL Sleek String Trees: www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...
Wilkinson Bridge w/ Brass Saddles: www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08...
Graph Tech Black TUSQ XL Nut: www.sweetwater.com/store/deta...
Raw Steel Switch Tip: ruttersguitars.com/steel-swit... - Hudba
Exactly what the CZcams Guitar Community was lacking! The only thing better than modding cheap guitars is modding cheap guitars with humor and profanity. Really enjoyed it Sir.
Thanks from a new subscriber,
joe
Hell yea! More cussin' and fartin' with guitars on the way!
I just got mine. April 2021. I am stunned. No plans to upgrade but the quality of the build would lend itself to this, no question.
You know what? That knob isn't silly. It matches the guitar really well and actually looks really cool.
I agree, I just thought $30 was a little silly!
@@AdamNewmanComedy I can understand that, but badassness needs completeness.
dude, this was funny .. entertaining AND useful.
The perfect opposite of boring YT videos.
Legit !
Loved this video, and your way of making the review interesting. Keep on rocking!
Excellent! This is exactly the upgrades I want to do with this guitar after I order it later this year.
I love the use of old school CZcams music through this video.
haha, iMovie, baby!
Upgraded my TE62CC LPB with Fender Yosomite Pickup's, Mojotone wiring harness and ABM brass compensated saddles....sounds totally awesome, I'll get round to replacing the nut and tuners a little later.
Bought the same guitar. Once I saw this video I did all the same mods minus the pickups. My pickups actually sound really good but in time I will probably switch them out. This video was immensely helpful. Thank you good sir.
Can't even tell you how cool I think this is - as a dude just messing around with too much free time over the pandemic. Thanks for sharing!
so here we are 3 years later.
And they're about to release some Tom DeLonge style guitars, which they are probably gonna want like $300-400 for.
Bought the ST-20, and made my own for like $200 all in.
SD Pickup - Graphite Nut - Gotoh Locking Tuners
The only thing the new ones might have over this thing is the Flamey Neck and Lumenlays.
Excellent resulting guitar, and very entertaining to boot!
Awesome man, i have same guitar and thinking of upgrading glad found your vid. Yah you right all tones has almost exact sounding😆
Love it! More like this!
On the way, baby!
This video had me cracking up the entire time!!! 🤣
Ive been reading about these guitars, I like the vintage style tuners would work? Everything else seems to fit fender aftermarket upgrades. Was there any problem fitting the wilkenson bridge? Thanks, great video by the way
Really enjoyed this video. Also your humor.
Best video on modding I've watched in a long time. Thanks for the laughs as well! New Subscriber.
Thank you and welcome!
is there a flat bridge plate option you could link that works for this guitar?
Enjoyed your entertaining approach to the build, actually watched it twice, make some more 👍
Thanks! Got a couple in the can, coming soon!
super entertaining video much better than the average yt. subbed
Between the fart and the "clean as fuuuuck" *hip thrust to close drawer*, you are now my favourite guitar modding youtuber. 😂
Thank you and welcome!
I have an Indio Telecaster which I bought brand new with a nice softcase for 89.- I did the same thing to it. I also reshaped the neck and rounded the edges of the fretboard and reshaped the headstock to make it look like a Tele.. I put active EMG tele pickups in mine.And it kills! Oh and I also replaced the strap buttons LOL
I don't know what's loose in your brain but you have a great sense of humor and your video is very informative and useful 👍😀🎸
14:34 Haha... yep that kind of videos make fun.
Greets from Austria 👍🏼
Sounds great....Wicked guitar for the money...I've just got to convince my wife that I need another guitar....😁
It’s better to just ask for forgiveness after you get it. Just tell her it’s only 149 dollars. You could spend that on coffee from Starbucks in a week and a half.
Don’t mention the 60 bucks for shipping. 😀
if you gotta ask your wife to spend sub 2 hundo, that's a yeesh and a half where im from
Mark
You don't need to convince her mark..buy it and hide it under the bed.and if one day she's calling your name loudly just run🤣
@@wyattsdad8561 🤣
Love the editing on this video lol
Damn your funny, and educational. thank you.
Shielding would have been nice!
I was shocked how much those string trees cost, I just drew some in CAD and sliced them for 3D printing in carbon fibre imprenated Nylon and they would cost me 6 cents each to print although I would give them a PTFE clear coat where the strings fit but that would be next to nothing in terms of additional costs
How's the low frets intonation after the nut change? The graphtech nut is supposed to have a radius of 9,5" and Thomann says this guitar's radius is 13,7"
The original had vintage tuners, right? The square ones in a row. Did these just fit in there? I am waiting for a TE 62 and looking to upgrade tuners but only found a vintage looking locling tuners which I dont quite like. What model did you use? Did the screw fit in?
I went through all of this in detail in the vid! Have fun with it!
Nice video. I've replaced the string tree on my Strat but used the Graph Tech supply screw. I had to drill out the original hole using a 3/32" bit to accept the larger screw size. Hey, I'm about to mod my TE-20 HH SBK replacing everything too. Question about the output jack hole: Looks like you removed the outer plate. Do you really have to? Could I pull the new jack through from the control cavity using a wire hook and screw on the hex nut from the outside to secure it?
Oh man, I did this over a year ago, so I don't really remember what it was like in there. Possibly! Either way, taking off the plate and putting it back on was super easy and won't be a huge time suck. Good luck with it!
19:52 Dragonaut by Sleep!
Sounds awesome man, have to get me one of these soon.
I'm just flattered you watched that long into the vid!
The Last two times changed tuners I had to buy 10mm drill bit. But Grover's were being installed. Thanks brother
This is funny,, but brilliant.. I just did the same kinda mods on a Kramer Baretta Special. Like your style and format ....Cool.
Mods with pinch of fun and humour. Good. I am in 😜 👍
Dude you are a super random guy, but i really loved the video. Funny and useful, thanks
Harley Benton are great guitars in my experience. I've had quite a few- currently have a TE- 62 in seafoam green and GS mini Taylor acoustic copy. If you don't have one (or 2) buy one.
Looking good..🎸
Great video man. What is the name of that nifty little tool you used to mingle the new tuners in? I just got a HB TE-52, really impressed with it but looking to swap out the tuners as the current ones are pretty stubborn to turn. Thanks!
A reamer! It was like $8-$9 on Amazon.
Try oil.
Great video. Now it's almost Christmas. I've just wrote to Santa for this HB te-52. It's your fault. Thanks a lot :)
Nice video bro, do more
Working on it!
Great video ,awesome restyling,thanks,grazie. The guitar is fantastic !
I bought a HB tele 52 5 months ago and for its price it's a very very good guitar ,i like especially the neck pickup sound . Anw ,after 2months after i watched this video... i 've deciced to renew the guitar. New brass saddles fender, new pickups Vintage tele 64,new pots(cts 250k),new fender 3 vie selector,new bone nut made by my luthier ,new graph tech string trees ,new gotoh tuners! now ,in my opinion and also of my luthier and some friend who is a better musician than me🤣, the HB tele 52 sound better than the tele fender player plus ( almost 800 euros) and can compete with tele vintera and fender tele am performer. Greetings from Italy,ciao
Hell yea, have fun!! It's gonna be great!
This dude is the best guitar CZcamsr I swear. Mostly cause he's got my exact since of humor.
Hell yea! Poo poo, pee pee.
Hey Adam, thank you for this video! It was fun. Would you consider making a video about the TE-20 HH model? That's what I have and I'd like to see what you do and use for upgrades.
If I had unlimited resources, I'd love to! I'd probably do a lot of the same stuff, but throw in some 500k pots and some Pearly Gates humbuckers or maybe something super high gain depending on my mood.
Hello, I was wondering if a standard fender tele neck would fit this body. I tried looking for neck pocket dimensions, but I couldn’t find measurements anywhere. Could you please help me answer this question by sending neck pocket measurements for this guitar? Thank you
I imagine you could call Thomann and they'd let you know!
I bought all the parts you put in your HB te-52 and I was putting the pickups in last night, but the neck pickup won’t fit into the pick guard. Did you have any problem with it fitting in yours? Also the control plate doesn’t seem to be the exact shape as the cut out for the pick guard. I’m gonna try to reuse the old control plate and swap the switch and pots and put the new shit on the old plate.
Everything on mine fit and lined up great. If you need to tweak the pickguard for either thing to fit, though, I'd probably bust out the Dremel or some sandpaper to open up the hole or reshape the plastic a bit.
@@AdamNewmanComedy okay so that new plate is slightly different. It definitely doesn’t fit the cutout in my pick guard without filing so I ended up reusing the original plate that came with the guitar. The holes in the orig plate for the pots were too small but! I ordered a couple of those reamers and easily enlarged the two holes. So thanks for that little tip on getting a reamer. I
Did need to use a rat tail file and enlarge the cutout for the neck pup, just a little. I used a pair of dikes and notched the switch shaft. Shit it was hard to press on after that and it ain’t gonna come off without prying it up really hard. I got the new pups all wired up too. I even bought copper shielding tape and shielded all the cavities. I’ll string it up and do the new nut this week.
Thanks for making this vid
You are a very amusing presenter of guitar knowledge. It's good to hear that you are also using as a gauge of intimacy, how comfortable you are to Fart in a person's presence. I mean, how else do you know such a thing? The Farts are the most accurate, by far. So overall, very impressed, and would watch more of your content.
I'm new to your channel. Thanks for sharing 🎸
Thanks for being here!
What'd you use to polish the frets?
Music Nomad Frine Fret Polishing Kit - got it from Sweetwater for like $18, it's great!
Why didn't you use the copper taping to cover all the openings for the tone pickups, controls, etc?
Cause that stuff always sticks to my penis
good job ...
if the nut isn't flat bottomed can be fit ?
I don't anything about anything! I just Google and CZcams and try stuff.
Everyone likes a weathered reliced guitar. A few dings KEEP the guitar if it still plays 😂😂😂
Where did you find that metal selector switch knob.
Chop chop
Rutters Guitars!
@@AdamNewmanComedy thanks man!!
Fender 4 way switch would be fun too. Gives you series switching on an added position. Only 22 euro here so probs 20-25 freedom currencies.
3:46 ayyy that's Ichika!
Dude you are hilarious. Definitely my kind of people. How hard would you say this project is? I modded the shit out of a cheap ML for a high school project. I didn't do the soldering though. I do have basic soldering skills just have
not done it since high school. I would like to do something like this but I'm afraid of getting balls deep into and then realizing it's being my skillz.
Soldering for something like a telecaster is super basic. If you're gonna fit a new nut, that's definitely the part that takes the most practice. The rest is very easy as long as you can intonate your guitar (also super easy and there are lots of instructional vids on CZcams).
Sounds great and twangy but fat like a real Tele good job Adam! And you're far from stupid you modded your entire guitar! I doubt I could do that ,if I tried it would resemble a f..king set of bag pipes lol!
I'd honestly be really impressed if you could mod a guitar to resemble bag pipes!
Driving just over an hour to Thomann next weekend to get my te 52. Will make sure it has no dents like your first one. Was ridiculous
ah whats a tele without any dents ;)
The black and brass Wilkinson would spice up the look of it.
I'm digging what I got, but that would look cool!
Mine responded to bridge selection, no problem. Something wrong with his.
I have a question!
you miss the router, the wood the new fret and some StewMAC tools to cut the body and the new neck ;)
Try sanding the headstock to look fenderish. Easy to round the headstock and get rid of hardly benthole look.
Totally! I also kinda like having a cheap-looking guitar that sounds like a custom shop Fender!
That's a lot of balls for a guitar
Thought you fitted a Black top nut?
On your video at 18.09 it shows a wight top nut???
OpS sorry my mistake
10/10 for saying your neighbour’s a dick…. Then eventually playing loud anyway 🇬🇧✌️
Surley you would be better off to just buy a better HB guitar and upgrade the pick ups to your choosing as some of the better models already have better hard wear. I can think of two that could be considered are:
Harley Benton TE-25TH Firemist £229
American alder Body, Roasted Canadian figured maple, Fboard: Dark laurel, White dot FB inlays, Matching headstock, Graphite nut, 22 stainless steel frets, PU Roswell TEA-B AlNiCo 5 Vintage (bridge) and Roswell TEA-F-CR AlNiCo 5 (neck) single coils, Wilkinson WTB deluxe bridge with compensated brass saddles, Engraved locking machine heads, Chrome hardware Your chosen PU £110.
Grand total £339.
Harley Benton Fusion-T HH Roasted FBB £325
Shaped: Nyatoh body, Neck modern C, Roasted Canadian maple, Fboard: Roasted maple, Ivory Dot fingerboard inlays, graph Tech TUSQ XL nut, 22 Med Jumbo Blacksmith SS frets, PU, Roswell LAF-B-CR alnico-5 (bridge) and LAF-N alnico-5-CR (neck) humbuckers, with push/pull function for coil split, Wilkinson 50IIK 2-point tremolo, WSC staggered locking DieCast tuners. Your chosen PU £110.
Grand Total £430.
thanks you video was cool!
Fuck this was fun. Thanks dude
why didn't you shield it when you had it opened helps big time with hum.. Great job anyway..
I thought about it, but wasn't having any problems with hum, even with my apartment's old wiring...
Hey do you still play this guitar? Shoot mine is my favorite electric guitar. haha
The only thing I wish is that it was a little lighter. But it plays and sounds frikken amazing after changing everything like you did here
I do! I love it! I have a friend who want to learn guitar, though, so I think I might pass it on.
@@AdamNewmanComedy hahaha yeah I do too. it’s a good guitar man! So one night I compared it to my neighbors squire classic vibe. Its like the same thing. Except mine sounded hella better because of the pickup swap. His classic vibe is a liiiiiite bit lighter. It’s enough to feel the difference but it’s damn close to the same weight. I have a real nice Mexican strat to play as well as my Gretsch collection and dude, the TE52 is the one that gets played nightly. Ha so funny that the cheap ass Chinese guitar sees all the playtime. I put a new bridge on mine that is the ashtray type but the sides of the ashtray bridge are cut back. I like to play some Dick Dale shiz and with the standard bridge my pick would hit the sides sometimes and it would throw me off. This new one makes it free and clear.
The pickups on the HB should be adjustable
To sound different?
So I keep going back to this vid because I’m gonna mod my te-52. I ordered all the shit you put links to except for the nut and tuners. I think the tuners are okay for now because they stay in tune and I added a few drops of oil to them and they are definitely smoother now. And I ordered a bone nut because I’m an old fuck now that was born in 70 and I’m kinda old school. There’s nothin better than good old cow bone for a nut. That other shit can sound a bit too jangly for me.
I was wanting to know if it was difficult wiring the new pickups to the new control panel? Is it pretty self explanatory on where to solder the wires?
Not at all difficult - both the wiring harness and the pickups came with super simple diagrams showing where to solder each wire. This would be a great first soldering project for anyone.
@@AdamNewmanComedy ok thanks brotha
@@AdamNewmanComedy dude those pickups sound frikken good! That was a good little tip, putting those in. The soldering and wiring shit was super easy too. I would’ve never have done all that unless I saw ur vid. Fender should be kissing your ass. I’m sure more peeps will see ur vid and
Install them too. This Harley Benton is my favorite guitar as of now. I like it better than my Mexican strat. and my Gretsch’s.
Anywhooo thanks for making the vid.
✌️
We will watch anything on twitch. Also, live interactions with your online audience could be fun! Or disastrous. Or fun 😂
I'm up for any way it goes!
Why don't you shield the cavities?
Are you planning to change the Jack plate too?
Dude in your demo we hear more your strings than your amp!!
But still a good video and a new subscriber on your channel! Mazal tov!
1. Good question! I could have/maybe should have, but honestly not getting much noise as is.
2. I changed the actual input, but don't see any big advantages of changing the actual plate - let me know if I'm wrong, though!
3. I know. Downside of having a ding dong upstairs neighbor. I'll try going through a DAW in the future - I'm new to this!
4. Thanks, man! Shalom!
You are not wrong@@AdamNewmanComedy, actually there's no advantage of changing the jack plate by a jack socket cup except an obvious Fenderish style that will perfectly match with you great tuners and your fantastic pickups
Are the new pick ups substantially better?
Yes!
the vid ur dfriend sent u is one of ichika nito's- coincidence cos I was watching that exact video before this:)
I have the Harley Benton te 20 hh. I love this guitar I want to make the best upgrades possible on it but I can find no information on which pickups and such to buy or upgrades needed. money is not important I want this guitar to be all I can make it to be. please anyone in the comments or Adam can you help me. i play a blues style and love it for Albert Collins style playing. I asked my guitar tech and he said it was fine way it was he was not trying to sell me stuff I did not need which was no help at all. any ideas would be so appreciated . he did do a setup and evened the frets out etc for me which did improve it a lot but still something is missing I need help thanks! should I email Thomann and ask them I buy all my guitars from them now.
I love the shirt!
אוי וויי
Hey how is that new bridge? Do you think it’s an important thing to change? I looked it up and it didn’t look like it has slots, do the strings stay in place like they should? I guess it probably would, but I’m just curious.
Was it worth it to replace the tuners?
I screwed up with some steel wool and blew through the poly finish on the back of the neck so I sanded off all the finish on the back of my neck.
Then I stained it with golden oak and cherry finish to match the color of the fretboard, then I did three coats of boiled linseed oil. Then I wet sanded the neck with a mixture of the boiled linseed oil mixed with mineral spirits. I used 2000 grit wet or dry sand paper. It’s the smoothest neck I’ve ever felt now.
So now I wanna modify some other stuff on it. Like a new nut, pups, and possibly the bridge and tuners. The tuners kinda seem okay tho and the bridge seems ok too but just wondering if it would be worth changing.
Fully up to you if they're worth changing! If you're happy with the tuners as they are, keep 'em! I wanted locking tuners, an upgrade from the plastic nut, and brass saddles on the bridge (the strings stay in place great - just like an old Telecaster, but I'm sure the tone change is minimal. But I think the brass looks nicer). That neck sounds cool!
@@AdamNewmanComedy okay man. Hey it sounds like you do comedy in so cal,
A guy I went to school with does comedy in out there. Greg Baldwin, do ya know him? I think he’s pretty well connected in the comedy world.
@@wyattsdad8561 I do not! Big scene out here, though.
@@AdamNewmanComedy yeah he’s gotten to open for some pretty big names. He just opened for Bill Burr recently. I see his shizz on Facebook. I’m proud of him.
subbed after the fart great work lmao
I'll try to keep it up ❤
How is the weight?
I've been up and down over the pandemic.
- How is the weight?
- Yes.
4.5 kg.... it weights more than a Les Paul!!!
I like swearing. Subscribed.
fuck yea
But will it chug???
I know I will
Is that so heavy like people say?
Yes! Heaviest guitar I've ever owned (including non-weight relieved Les Pauls). It's gotta be at least 10 lbs.
@@AdamNewmanComedy wow! Really don't like heavy guitars. Is it the HB TE-62 lighter? And what about the tuners you put up, are they locking tuners? Cheers ☺️
Just giving yourself unnecessary hard work. I got that HB TE 52 just as it is like other of their guitars. If you're sure of your creative power, they got excellent sounds already. Believe it! 👍
Hard work? I had fun and I like how it plays and sounds more now! Glad you're happy with yours as is, though!
Funny and informative, subscribed! Cheers from Russia!
Do you remember the weight of these two teles? Just how heavy are they?
This one's 9lbs 13oz after the mods
Learn how the nobs on 52 teles work
righty tighty?
Not gonna put shielding in the cavities?
No and you can't make me!!!
I'd watch a Twitch stream. Woud be nice if your face doesn't go offscreen all the time, though.
You misspelled Downgrading!
hahahaha!!! mod the fuck outta er. your aweome
LoL
bought a HB LP a month ago really impressed. really thinking of a TE now ,,, thanks
Am I late for the party?!
There is an :L: in SOLDER lol
You commenting from the UK?
@@AdamNewmanComedy Yep, unless you spell it different its anoying lol
Great swearing and shouting i love it but its too scary for me and thrashing your telecaster fantastic!. Your guitar is really awesome now great!.
You shouldn’t do a tone comparison video if you can’t record the guitar sound. The actual string sound is higher than the amp sound. The video was interesting, but I still can’t tell the difference between the two setups
one good, one bad!
@@AdamNewmanComedy 😂
why didnt you check the playablity and most important aspects of the first harley..who gives a shit if there is a ding or scratch..these things will come over time anyway
I did, it's all in the review video. Would you buy a car with dings and dents just because they would happen anyway? I wouldn't. Also, Harley Benton has discounted blemished guitars, as do most retailers.
@@AdamNewmanComedy yea you are right about buying a brand new guitar that is already damaged, but I thought this video was going to be more about playabilty and mods..
Modern tuners on a vintage guitar???
It's a 2021.
What's the point of buying a guitar when you're going to change everything? You're nuts!
Fun, joy, Cost-effective, reason to make a vid, Experimenting, Learning, etc.