V is for FAILURE! Harley Benton ACTIVE V
Vložit
- čas přidán 28. 07. 2024
- I was really looking forward to trying this out... until I played it. Don't buy it as this Thomann Affiliate Link: www.thomannmusic.com/harley_b...
Buy another Harley Benton instead!!!
Like the tone? Get my free impulse responses here:
spectredigital.com/smg-2022-v...
Disclosure: This might be the last guitar Harley Benton ever sends me. No money has changed hands.
0:00 Unbox
1:58 First look
4:37 First Sound
7:51 Flawed Finish
9:14 Playability
12:09 Price Correction
12:53 Neck dive?
14:45 5 Star Review breakdown
15:58 Houston we have a problem!
17:32 Other guitars don't do this
19:46 The Bottom Line
About Spectre Sound Studios:
I'm Glenn Fricker, engineer here at Spectre Sound Studios. I love making records, and after doing it for sixteen years, I want to pass on what I've learned. On my channel you can find tutorials on how to record guitar, bass, real drums and vocals. There's reviews and demos of tube amps, amp sims, drums, mics, preamps, outboard gear, Electric Guitar, Bass Guitar, and plugin effects.
We've covered Moon on the Water, played Bias FX, given you the absolute best in Stupid Musician Texts, ranted & raved about bass guitar, and this channel is where The Eagle has Landed.
Everything you've wanted to learn about recording Hard Rock & Heavy Metal can be found right here on this channel!
I also respond to your comments & questions: The best make it into the SMG Viewer's Comments series of videos. Loads of fun, lots of laughs.
Thanks for checking out my channel & please subscribe!
Don't buy it as this Thomann Affiliate Link: www.thomannmusic.com/harley_benton_victory_active_sbk.htm?offid=1&affid=200
Are you sure you didn't get bstock or a "monday product"?
You should look at this way. You got a guitar for 130 bucks and it came with a free set of pick ups. lol Tear those things out and just put an EMG set in with solderless PCB kit. Any guitar that plays out of the box like that for that kind of money in my opinion is a good deal. I dont know what others charge to do a full fret level and set up but I doubt 130 bucks would cover time and labor. It can take an entire day to set up a guitar.
I bet there this an issue with bridge ground. Probably something stupid like that and is an easy fix. Or not could just be crap but worth checking that.
That affiliate link shows me $169. Weird.
Glenn! Read my comment ffs! Your price correction was a mistake. You had it right the first time. it's $169. It's important for you and your viewers to know that when you go to Thomannmusic "DE" (the german site) and change currency to US dollars, the price shown is INCLUDING VAT. Best way to avoid mistakes and know the true price for the US is to just always go to Thomannmusic "COM" (the North American site). They separated it into two domains to make it easier for Americans to know the price, but since search results usually gives us a mix of the DE site AND the COM site, it just adds more to the confusion. To add even more to the confusion their Mobile App defaults to thomannmusic "DE" which is why many people see a different price on Mobile than they do on PC. Rock on Glenn, love the channel! (if you don't believe me just look at the address at 12:14 it's thomannmusic "DE" and it's $229. Your affiliate link is thomannmusic "com" and it's $169).
I really admire that you talk about practicing and showing people that you can’t always play things perfect every time. Not very many people leave things like that in their videos.
Yeah, and while I don’t necessarily blame other guitarist CZcamsrs for doing it, since most modern music is produced to death and they’re just trying to live up to that “standard”, I love that Glen keeps it real.
Are there actually that many that edit mistakes out of their videos?
Makes no sense to me why some would, probably because I’m used to pros playing live.
Heck, even some of the biggest virtuoso’s make mistakes, they are just good at masking them up.
@@JoeBaermann Yeah, editing is the norm.
@@MrGoodwell Even when it comes to covers?
I mean, when I record a full cover of the guitar part of a song, it is one take and no clipping, the mistakes are what they are, and can’t really be ashamed of them either knowing how little time I used to practice most of the songs.
@@JoeBaermann yeah he can have a life🤔👍
I would’ve killed for a guitar like that in the early 80’s when I started. “Cheap guitars” have come a very long way.
He ends up panning it at the end with a "do not buy" warning.
@@voronOsphere Even as bad as this thing is, the guitars at the same price in the 80s were absolute trash.
Even in the past 10-15 years the difference is night and day for what you can get sub $200.
Like you said, they’ve come a long way, there are better “cheap guitars” out there now, including from Harley Benton themselves
I guess everyone has the potential to be a murderer. Your price is a cheap guitar ;)
As someone who loves cheap “rat rod” guitars, filing down fret ends is fairly easy and quick. A little practice and you could have minor fret issues fixed in an hour or so. Makes a lot of cheaper guitars extremely worth their money
I'm a bit of a spectrum case and little tedious repetitive things like that are very calming for me... I am seriously thinking I should start a service of fixing up all these imports... I mean for a brand new kid they aren't going to know how to set up an instrument they are meant to learn to play on... So if there isn't a player in the house already there is a niche for someone to do it and I'm sure I'd be cheaper than the rates of a luthier or tech. Realistically that's something I've thought about ever since all the hbs and ffls started showing up on here... As a player of twenty some odd years who remembers what cheap guitars were like in the 90s I lust after all of them but it occurs to me... The adjustments they tend to need are basic and easy enough and even enjoyable for me *now* ..... When I got my first guitar I wouldn't have known what to do... but tbh compared to what we had back then I doubt I'd have noticed the frets were sharp... I'd have been too shocked that I was able to even touch them at all. cuz up to that point my experience had been that I just about barely could on the guitars I had come across... The harmony I ended up learning on would have been better for archery than music.
With CZcams fixing fret ends and learning how to intonate is not hard. Worst part is the additional investment of equipment (again, not bad compared to traditional guitar costs) but once you have it it’s good for all your guitars moving forward. Went from scared shitless to touch a screw to installing pickups and fret polishing in under a year thanks to Know Your Gear, Glenn, and other YTbers. Kinda makes these finish them yourself to save 1/3 cost guitars a cool new standard. Every player should know how to do these basics! More I learned more I’ve played 😊
Winder if installing grounding tape in the pickup cavity would help... strings need to be swapped out most likely anyways.
my first guitar was a jackson, and the frets seemed almost like they were ignored, which sucked and ruined my experience for a few months because it'd cut my hand to the point where it'd start bleeding, i finally decided to get a sandpaper block and file it down, best decision of my life, put some seymour duncan invaders in it, changed the tuners because i think stock were like 5:1, went out of tune so quickly so i put 21:1 in and plays & sounds like an expensive guitar. i have a dave mustaine signature dean flying v and i prefer the jackson over it.
Unless they need leveled also! That takes much more time, skill and expensive tools to do at a quality I expect. Do something wrong and F up your guitar. Fortunately I do level frets and yes you are correct just ends takes maybe 30 min to 1 hour. Before you go away filing though to level check the neck break angle and make certain it is straight many are not. This has to be addressed before fret leveling as well as top nut correct height. Most cheaper guitars I have seen get these off. They can be corrected though it just takes time, tools and skill.
I love the fact that Glenn has worked in a production line for so long and so his assessment of production flaws is actually based on knowledge about production process and QC. Too many people have this all over the place approach, sometimes letting slip mayor things and sometimes obsessing about small stuff.
Hey Glenn. Fellow Canadian here. Even though I am not a Metal guy I have more than enjoyed your content and appreciate all the time and effort you put into your vids. Very refreshing to hear the no BS approach that you have. I am now 71 and having grown up in the 60s I am what I call part of the "dinosaur rock club". As a long time, guitarist I often think of how great it would have been to have access to someone like you back when I was starting out. Cheers mate
Thanks, Taylor!!
@@SpectreSoundStudios do you think a wireless transmitter would get in the way ( playing in the sitting position) ?
Hey Glenn, It’s likely that the guitar pickups were not correctly grounded to the guitar. The ground wire is usually soldered to the bridge spring claw and it could have fallen off during transportation. I wouldn’t be surprised if it was just loose in there waiting to be re-soldered.
Had the same problem with a jackson dinky JS22-7 after identifiyng the problem i returned it for a new one and the one i got was almost noice free
I thought so too. Might be a very easy fix. Usually maybe just the cable under the bridge.
Actives are usually not grounded to the bridge. It's the reason you won't get shocked by them.
Spring claw? There's no trem on that bridge 🤷♂️
I had a stop tail piece guitar with this issue. The exposed bit of wire sheered off when they pressed in the bushing. You'd never notice it without high gain. Sounds like that is what happened to this thing.
That V is giving me HEAVY Epiphone/Gibson Goth V vibes. I'm not typically a V fan but seeing them on the show lately has really made me consider them. As if Explorers aren't strange enough to sit in a stand 😅
I have one of the old Epi Goth SG's. Cool guitars!
@@fr.abbadon I've got one of the Epiphone Goth Explorers I've had since I was 16 (2002 ish) and I love that guitar so much. One guitar I'd never part with.
Man if you want a good inexpensive V get the Jackson RR series. I have one and it’s great for the money.
Like you, I’m not a huge fan of V guitars either. I just wanted one to have and I love RR but didn’t want to spend a lot.
@@GeorgeBonez I don’t have the RR series but instead I have a Js32t king V and it plays beautifully. Came perfect out the box. For it just having regular die cast tuners it stays in tune perfectly. I’ve had it for 3 years so far and I’ve only had to tune it twice, and that’s with me playing it almost everyday. The stock Jackson pickups are also pretty good and have a good ‘bite’ to them. For $330, it’s a very good V.
@@wayynnee that's a pretty nice lifetime on strings, as the joke must go, do you usually play bass?
Keep playing on camera GLEN! I love seeing people having fun on guitar that aren't professional prodigies. It's like you are saying, "Hey, you can have fun, too!"
Thomann describes Roseacer as "thermally treated maple". Just FYI because I had no clue either. Also at the time of this video airing, it shows $169 US for me. Thanks for the video Glenn.
They saw this video and dropped the price instantly
They probably raised the price so they could drop it for a "sale" price. Companies do that all the time, especially close to the holidays
The did not rise the price. Glen posted a screenshot czcams.com/video/kdkQ69sKJkg/video.html with the price in canadian dollars. You can see the canadian "currency" flag at the top of the screenshot.
@@frmov9237 Good eye! I was scratching my head at that exchange rate since, right now, 1 USD = 0.96 Euro.
That sounded way better than last time I heard you play it which was very recent. 👏
I start bangin my head every time I hear Painkiller and Lucretia
Painkiller for sure! Awesome tune!
For the price it's good starting point for a PROJECT guitar! I like the 70's style neck joint on it. But yeah if they can't get the ground hooked up properly I'd have serious issues with it. I thought I heard the ground noise when Glen was using his amp sims.
really interesting demonstration at the end of what's a normal level of humming vs excessive noise. like many who upgraded to high output pickups I sometimes wonder what should be expected.
Nice tight pick pattern, Glenn. You are really improving on the rhythm side of things!
I bought a Harley Benton bass this year and had the same issue with the frets, but after playing it a bit I realized it's not actually the edge of the frets but either a thin layer of residual laquer from the neck or maybe glue from the fret work, I played it for a couple of weeks and it was smooth without any intervention, I took it to a luthier and checked the frets and found no issue, he just calibrated it to my taste and all is good, maybe the guitar has something similar going on, Im also very glad you made this video because I am thinking of buying this guitar as a secondary guitar, cheers and FUG
YES turn it into a project guitar. Let's see the frets, tuners and a graphite nut like you said. Would love to see how it goes.
I saw the Jazzmaster version of this and immediately thought about swapping in EMG Retroactives and making it a budget Jim Root. Now that I know it doesn't completely suck, I might do it.
your playing's getting so much better lately!
Awesome review Glenn! Seems like they’re stepping up there game with those guitars.
Your price correction was a mistake. You had it right the first time. it's $169. It's important for you and your viewers to know when you go to Thomann "DE" (the german site) and you change currency to US dollars, the price shown is INCLUDING VAT. When you put it in the cart and put the address to US it automatically changes to Thomann "COM" (the same as the one in your "description" ) and takes away the VAT. Best way to avoid mistakes and know the true price for the US is to just always go to Thomann "COM" (the North American site). They separated it into two domains to make it easier for Americans to know the price, but since search results usually gives us a mix of the DE site AND the COM site, it just adds more to the confusion. Rock on Glenn, love the channel! (if you don't believe me just look at the address at 12:14 it thomannmusic "DE" and it's $229. The link in your description is thomannmusic "com" and it's $169)
Damn, I was really hype for the first two thirds of this video 😅😬 hopefully they bring out a version with EMG’s like how there’s 2 versions of the EX 84
I really wanted this one to be a winner.... however, I am glad you are giving it your 'honest' review. I used to own a Harley Benton LP style gold top years ago and it was horrendous. Mind you, just a year later, Harley Benton decided to step up their game and actually make quality guitars. That's just my luck, I guess. Maybe one day I will give HB another shot . . . but maybe not.
Your playing has improved so much over the years. Keep it up!
Thank you so much for your honesty. I wish I could have seen this before I bought it. Mine physically came in good shape and no fret issues. That buzz though!!!!! I'm taking a page out of your book. I'm going to upgrade the pickups no doubt. I have a set of Duncan Blackouts that are still in the box new. Perhaps that will be the way to go for me! And yes tuner upgrade as well! Again, I thank you very much!
I think it would be cool to do an upgrade video on that guitar with a cost analysis. - of course I said that before the noise issue. Would be interesting to see the wiring and pots.
Feels like a ground problem.
Rather than paying, you can get a sponge sanding block and do those fret ends yourself. Just take out or cover pick ups before doing it.
@@NubsWithGuns not if you know what you are doing, and there are enough instructional videos to help out. I have tools for frets but dealing with fret ends it works just fine. As long as you don't have a heavy hand.
@@B-Roc Most kids don't know what they're doing
And the general target of these guitars ain't "people who know what they're doing" for the most part, but mostly beginners to intermediate
I agree with the guy who said that doing it yourself may be more harm than good
@@B-Roc Besides, the guitar should arrive in the best condition possible
Flaws are completely acceptable, but this ain't it chief
@@RedNK I'm 14 and I made a Harley Benton build kit when I was 13, It turned out great
@@moonwalkerkop4479 Good for you tbh, I ain't putting that into question
I'm saying, as a general rule, people ain't that crafty nor reliable
But it's cool to read about some crafty kid out in here
I bought a cheap HB telecaster with the exact same grounding issue. Turns out the grounding wire to the bridge wasn't even connected to the bridge and the bridge itself was painted so a connection wouldn't even have been possible. A little scratching and wire stripping later and it was perfect. Very impressed. A little elbow grease was more than worth the cheap price. I can see how somebody that has no experience with working on guitars would be losing their mind.
This is some of the best guitar sounds I've heard from you, good job!
I've been looking at getting one of these to add to my Flying V collection. Thanks for the review.
To be fair, I've had a $2K guitar arrive with grounding issues because a solder joint came loose during shipping. I wonder if this could be a similar issue?
A solder joint coming loose is a flaw and the result of quick/sloppy work, though. It's exactly to his point -- you buy a new guitar, you expect it to work out of the box. If a solder joint came undone, it's because it wasn't properly done in the first place. (I've got years of soldering experience to say this confidently!)
@@soundman1402 I don't disagree, I'm just saying that sometimes even guitars otherwise known for high quality can experience these issues. If I knew the problem with this HB guitar could be easily fixed like this I'd still consider buying one.
@@soundman1402 And I've got 30+ years of soldering and would have to agree with your statement I still have cabels I made 25+ years and they still work as intended!
Damn! Your playing has vastly improved. Great work, Glenn! Love your fearless gear reviews too. There is something about the truth, isn't there?
Glenn, I was about to get this one, of all youtubers, great you did the review! I really hope a little maintenance gets it right!
Here is the thing: I fully expect little issues like spotty fret work and maybe electrical issues on a guitar this dirt cheap. I also have the skills and tools to fix just about everything on an electric guitar. As long as the structure and build of a guitar is fine, I don't mind to fix them up. Nowadays, with graphite rods in the neck and cnc-routers, the general structure of even the cheapest guitars is mostly pretty damn good. I just bought a used Jackson JS32 Dinky with terribly unlevel frets for a pretty great price. After I levelled, crowned and polished the frets, it is now one of my favourite guitars.
Daaaaaaamn Glenn your lead playing and riffing was on point in this video! You have to tell us what things you have been focusing on while you practice because you are improving at a lightning fast rate!
Glen is becoming too powerful... Soon he will be the artist, engineer AND producer
@@ReizokoRyu lol
Thanks for the review. I have one of those in cart at Thomann but was waiting for someone to do the review. Now I know what to expect 👍
Your playing has come a long way! Love it when you play!
V-shape and X-shape guitars are very prone to get dents and scratches in the lower pointy bits so even if didn't come from factory with a few, they will definitely get some of them within a year of use. Those guitars and basses with the "stealth" black finish look great to use as a platform for upgrades, IMO.
"Stealth" black satin finish looks good only on advertisements, in unboxing vids and in a shopwindow. It will start to turn glossy REALLY quickly and unevenly in the areas where it contacts your fatty and sweaty skin, and you can do literally nothing except for a total refinish or just polishing entire instrument to get a lame glossy black guitar. Also, the paint on cheap black hardware starts to chip off the contact/friction areas quite fast as well, exposing shiny bare metal with huge contrast to the remaining paint. Such choice of finishes is ok for a really expensive guitars with top quality hardware and paintjob which will be kept under the glass for the most of the time and dealt with great caution during the playing, yet when a cheap guitar for a rookie has all those options and even worse a V shape - it will definately look like a piece of junk in a year.
@@metalosaur Most satin finishes on guitars will suffer from the same, so no biggy for that price tag.
Hey Glenn, thanks for this honest review! Love the channel! Could you do some more Solar Guitars reviews? I read a lot about QC issues and this makes me think twice about getting one of them. Thanks in advance and keep the show going for years to come!
I like putting blue painter’s tape on the fret ends and sides of the board and over the pickups) take a sanding block to the tape over the fret ends and sand, only the fret ends will come through the tape and you can sand them down a bit without special tools. Not perfect and won’t get you nice round fret ends but does help with sharp edges. Like with all fret work a little goes a long way so don’t sand too much or too hard.
"Putting the pieces together" is actually a metaphor I use a lot for learning songs on bass. Usually I'll take any given measure (or set of bars), learn them individually, then see if I can connect them together. It's a ton of work, but it's so satisfying when it pays off. Build up your skill set one step at a time and take pride in every bit of progress you make, and you'll soon be having a blast on your chosen instrument!
Keep on rocking \m/
It sounds great. It looks great.. It makes me miss my Gibson Gothic V. I kinda would like this just to customize it they way i intended to with the Gibson.
Edit: i still think with the possible wiring issue, I'd be down to fix it.
Yes! I'd like to see what some changes would do to the guitar. Maybe a different bridge, graphtech nut and locking tuners can make ths guitar great. Also changing the electronics might be a good idea. My guess is, that the soldering for the groundwire broke and now the cable is toushing a potentiometer. If that's the case, then the humming issue is fixable.
Excellent review Glenn! I will say.. because you asked...I've bought several HB guitars..most were incredible for the price..one had a ton of noise out of the box..turns out it was a very simple wiring issue..easy fix..if you don't mind having to do some adjusting and have the know how I think HB guitars are absolutely great..If you are a complete beginner it can be majorly hit or miss
Do you think the sharp frets could have been from lack of humidity during shipping? It happens quite a bit
That V looks like a cool guitar for a beginner. The noise issue is maybe a bad wiring in the guitar, should be easy to fix.
Have you tried a Squier Contemporary Active Jazzmaster, really impressive guitars that sound and look very good! Maybe do a shootout against the Harley Benton JA, as both guitars seem to be very similar. The HB is half the price though.
Glenn's point is that a beginner guitar should not need modifications out of the box, as the average beginner doesn't know where to start in diagnosing these issues, much less fixing them. Doesn't mean that this guitar couldn't play & sound awesome for a guy with fret files & a drawer full of spare hardware & pickups.
I'll gladly pay twice as much if it means I get a playable guitar. Been burned by HB once already. "If it's too good to be true, it probably is"
@@justinturner653 Except the noise issue it looks way better than my first guitar, that cost twice as much. Maybe it was just a "Montagsstück" (means subpar manufacturing due to hangover from the weekend), as we call them in Germany. ;)
Shouldn't have to fix anything. You should be able to buy a guitar and have it work.
Yeah touching the strings and not getting a reduction in noise would indicate loose ground connection. Regardless, that sort of thing shouldn't slide
Hey, if the frets are leveled and low action is possible, THAT is what counts. Side-word can be done easily at home, rough edges I mean. Love that thing, but the shape I would definetly go for sth ergonomic.
To be frank, there's not a single guitar I ever owned that I haven't opened/modded the moment it got to my home... I don't mind doing maintainance or fixing factory flaws but this could just be me that got used to owning cheap instruments that inevitably come with issues so I guess I don't know any better. I don't consider cheap pickups or grounding issues a deal breaker anymore as it can be remedied fairly easily but there are people that are not used to or don't possess the know-how to do that kind of work on an instrument. I''ll probably order the Jazzmaster HB made alongside this V.
Its not about the know how. If I paid for something, I shouldnt be fixing it straight out of the box. Seting up to your specifications is something else, but fixing is straight disrespect to the customer.
HBs are great project guitars. IMHO, if the frets get sorted, throw in some locking tuners - you'd be able to gig with it without much trouble.
You forgot about spending $300 on new pickups
@@roji556 there's always the used market. You can score some pretty good ones used nowadays
I love your dedication to playing Priest riffs on every video I've seen ! Cheers!
Hey glenn, love your channel and your honest gear reviews. I wanted to ask you if you have tried the Sub-Zero line of guitars? I own a tele baritone from them and i absolutley love it. It would be awesome to hear your thoughts if you have tried any from that brand? I believe they are based out of UK?
Well I WOULD BUY IT either way!! The frets are not an issue for me. I will dress them myself, no biggie. I was already thinking on replacing the pickups with SD Blackouts anyways, which I have in several of my guitars. I DO find your review very helpful though. The rest of the guitar is just fine. For sure the price is for me the biggest selling point. Even after addressing the issue's it's still gonna be a good one. PS: Blackouts set comes complete with its own circuitry including the pots. SO gone will be the noise.
How did it go? Did the pickups change make the noise dissapear?
They beat the shit out of what we were stuck with in the 80's and 90's for that price. We were fortunate to get a Bullet Squire for that price that would stay in tune for longer than 2 seconds. I think that is just a dyed Maple fingerboard. I upgraded the tuners, pickup and replaced the frets in my HB, Gold frets are sweet!
I’m learning zeppelin and I’m three days in and am on bar 5 about 40 seconds into the song ! Man this is a lot tougher than I thought to sit there and practice lol😂
That being said , I love how much quicker I am getting when playing and with some pickup upgrades my epiphone 50s standard is just a dream to play .
I recently bought a Harley Benton TE-90FLT SB at pawn shop here in Cali. I was very surprised at the quality that Thomann put out. Didn't need are to do much set up on it to make it sound in tune. FYI, Harley Benton has a store on Reverb where you can buy a HB guitar in the USA in Maryland. At the same price. However, that V you can make it a project instrument even with that ground problem.
Great review as usual. Could the noise be coming from the crappy battery? (not sure if you changed it or even used it) In some of my active pickup guitars, they start sounding poor when the battery is about to give up the ghost.
I guess more on missing grounding/shielding. Or just poor electronics inside the active pickups. Which you couldn't fix without replacing them
valid point, who knows?
if there's no shielding in the cavity? might that be a reason as well?
Thanks for the review, I think I'll still get this guitar when it comes out in lefthand. I don't mind shipping it to a luthier, and even if I buy an EMG HET set and throw new tuners and maybe a Tusq bridge on it, I doubt I'll get a V with a non-floating bridge in LH that also doesn't look alike a damn ironing board (looking at you, Jackson JS32L RR) for the money I'll pour into it, at least in Poland where I live. We're talking like $600-$650 in total, including the cost of the guitar itself.
Watch the whole video before buying one
@@SpectreSoundStudios I did, the issue was the fretwork and noise - like I said, I still think I won't get such a pretty well built, nicely looking non-FR V in lefthand for the I guess $300-350 I'd have to spend on it after purchase.
@@derekdoesmusic6013 For a Flying V? I think you could just get away with getting any right handed Flying V and flipping it upside down. The cutaways are generally even on both sides, just have to watch for the pick up selector
@@DarthPew I'd also have to swap out the nut and the bridge, and I'd keep swiping the volume pot. I used to play a right-handed bass. Never again. Not to mention, I just checked Thomann - only like 2 V's without a floating bridge. I don't want a floating bridge.
@@derekdoesmusic6013 Fair argument. I am not a lefty player, and admittedly my knowledge of guitar flipping is very limited. I have nothing really more to add, I tried seeing what Schecter would have on offer, but all the lefty Vs I saw with a hard tail would be over €1.000… Good luck to you, mate
I have the strat model of this guitar st20 hh active sbk. I did need to bring it to a luthier to do some small fretwork i also changed the nut for one made of graphite, locking tuners, elecrics checked and a good jack plug. Now it really plays great and i am pretty happy about it
This is definitely awesome to see! Totally make a project glen! That's an awesome guitar! As far as cheap guitars and what you said of the manufactures not making enough to care about the finish? Yea, I play esp e2 series for a reason. At least on my horizon 3, yea a bit pricey (gibson territory) the quality, craftsmanship and playability really does prove itself.
Oh! Shield the wiring or swap out then ratty actives. Throw some knucks in it.
Keep on going Glen, you re getting better at guitar 🎸
Anybody can file/sand down the ends of those frets. I was worried about doing mine but picked up a $20 file set and did it myself. On a $169 guitar, it’s a perfect price point to practice that kind of stuff on.
Yeah I would expect to spen an hour or so on a guitar for that price. File fret ends, polish frets with a dremel and polish paste, check shielding in cavities and soldering on electronics. I have had to do this on guitars in the 1000$ range too.
If 169 is all you had it is not
If 169 is all you had, it's sitting in the couriers bonded warehouse til you pay the import charges.
At 169 you can't reasonably expect them to have spent an hours labour neatly rounding the fret ends. Somethings gotta give to churn them out at those prices. Better they got the frets levelled and sacrificed finessing the ends than vice versa, if they have to cut corners. DIY sandpaper can fix the worst of the ends. You're in a world of tools expense to diy level+crown.
@@PaulCooksStuff my 200 euro Harley Benton has perfect frets.
@@PaulCooksStuff Frets ends are simple to diy, why people would pay a luthiere 100+$ is beyond me. Same for general setup, soldering, finish work, everything you need to learn is on CZcams. It's very satisfying to learn and to shape your own guitar.
I'm glad I stayed with this until the end. I was ready to place my order.
Definitely looking forward to this pickup video. I may end up shouting at the screen, we'll see? I have an idea for a pickup comparison, I could wind 2 identical yet wildly different pickups to see just how much EQ range pickups have.
Other than the noise issue (which, admittedly, is hard to overlook) and the frets, i think that guitar is fantastic
Heres to hoping the noise was just a one time issue!
Also, another thing i noticed about that guitar which im suprised you didnt mention is the fact it has no fretboard dots. Sort of contradicts the whole "begginer market" thing
Probably has markers on fretboard edge.
@@thomasmoura yes i saw in the video it does, but point still stands
It's a ground wire they never connected to the bridge. I can tell already. The pickups are probably fine but definitely a ground issue
You don't see the dots on the front unless you are learning from another musician. You can't even see block inlays while playing
@@KelticKabukiGirl I can
Glen you're playing is getting so much better man, really starting to sound 100% proper!
I figured out the hum issue. I have the Jazzmaster version of this guitar. The problem is the paint on the bridge (or most likely the tailpiece on the V) is not conductive, so it can't ground. When I took off the bridge and touched the bridge ground wire, the hum stopped. So I sanded the paint off the bottom of the bridge so the wire could make contact with the bridge, and the problem was solved.
This comment deserves its own video.
Glenn alarmed me when he said his subscribers are flatlining. I normally watch YT without logging in, but in order to help out I corrected that and subscribed. I hope I have made a difference in 500,000 people's lives.
I think making it a project guitar would be pretty good for us to learn more about upgrades. Guitarists need to catch up to bassists after all.
For me it says $169 and I live in the US. Price fluctuation maybe?
With how the economy is rn, it probably is that.
How much of the static humming type noise should there be, what is acceptable and what is not?
It's always great to see you be honest about things like that.
Also, can you review a Squier guitar?
Should be next to nothing with humbuckers, active or passive.
You do have to watch your position in relation to your amp, though. If you're close, and/or perpendicular to the amp, they can hiss but that should go away if you move around.
Nice. I've got my eye on the blacked out active jazzmaster. Nice review.
More than likely the noise is caused by the bridge grounding wire not being connected properly, pretty easy fix though.
True but.. The idea here is a beginner may not know that or how to fix, the guitar should be playable to a beginner, in the 21st century these problems should not be there. ✌️
@@OliverSutton1962 of course, the guitar shouldn't have that type of issue no matter the price point. I only mentioned it because he said that the pickups were what was causing the noise and it simply not. Pickups only make that kind of noise if they are not grounded properly, regardless if they are active or passive.
@@mark5150ty Yes I see you are correct.
I was seriously considering buying this guitar. The price point was very attractive since I haven't been able to afford a new guitar in years. I don't really care about the paint job at a certain price point, neither do some people at insane price levels, I'm talking about those 'relic' guitars. In short, I decided not to buy the active v for one reason...the neck profile. I'll just stick with my 14 year old Schecter V, with passive EMG's, and the most comfortable neck ever. It's also never needed an adjustment. It came out of the box all those years ago infinitely playable.
Edit: The grounding issues wasn't surprising, neither was the 💩fret work. Clearly, dodged a bullet with this one. To be honest, what I really want is a PRS Mark Holcomb SE. Sucks ass to be poor af.
I thought I could hear some hummmmmm when he was trying to deaden the sound after he played. Definitely some ground issues but easy enough to fix
@@johnsguitarmusicanddemos If you want a 'project guitar's then I suppose it's a decent platform. Personally, I only own one short scale guitar which is a Les Paul. Otherwise, I prefer at least a 25.5 scale length, since it makes down tuning a stable affair.
Got mine today. The edges weren't sharp and were clean. Pretty rounded, too. MY issue was the nut. I'm definitely replacing that. It sounded and felt great, tho.
I completely agree with your "out of the box experience" reviews. Really, it's not your job to take off covers and start messing with grounds and wiring issues, regardless if it is caused by human errors or bad design/engineering. I don't like to make the time fixing stuff that should have been done right in the first place. Having said that, if I knew how to do the repairs, I'd do it. With noise that bad, it's probably more than just bad pick-ups. I'd rather pay a bit more to get better, so thanks for steering in the proper direction. I still have some time before I may have to buy something, so I look forward to more reviews.
Tbh, i have a 1000 euro LTD EC-407 and they forgot to hook up a ground wire
1000 euros for a series 400 LTD... the world went to shit.
@@woochyna right! I paid $950 for my E-II Eclipse w/case and $425 for my M1000 and H1001 back in 2017(store had them on the wall for a while and they wanted to move them quickly. Prices are insane now.
My name is Virgil, so by your title... shit. 🤣
thanks for the review, was looking for another cheaper guitar, have a Kramer striker (just started and thought it was a good starter and lefty), love it but going from one tuning to the next takes a bit of time and fiddling so wanted a nice hard tail. Hope they fix the pickup and other issues, looked promising
Impressive I can see that you improve yourself with your playing, careful with the tempo, keep the practicing going on
Dude…
You killed it on that guitar! Great playing!
I have to wonder if you opened up the electronics cavity if it isn't lacking shielding paint or tape... you're right that it's not our job to fix their problems, but I wonder if it's easily curable because some people wouldn't mind tinkering with it anyway so it might not actually bother them that much...
I'm pretty dam impressed with your guitar chops Glenn! You're faster than me!
Pretty sure that thing has a grounding/earthing issue. I had this exact issue today when I wired my Strats jack on backward. I would check the jack! Active pickups should never be that noisy I doubt there is an issue with pickups those things are bullet proof
Is it possible to fix at a repair shop/luthier?
@@ReizokoRyu if its what I suspect it is.....a signal wire touching a ground, you could identify and fix it yourself, but if you can't see any obvious exposed wires touching then yeah take it to a tech. It should take just 5 minutes to find the problem. Those are active pickups so they have a stereo output jack. Double the amount of wires gives it twice the chance of getting crossed up and shorting out. I think the jack has been twisted as they tightened it....very common problem!
@@murrayguitarpickups9545 awesome! Thanks!!
Nice, my brother asked me what guitar to get my 16yo nephew, I had him get the Harley benton explorer. My son is only 5 so I got him the jackson rr minion. Can't wait to see him play it
:edit after watching the rest of the video, honestly that doesn't surprise me for a guitar at that price point. I'd expect to have to take a guitar like that to a luthier on day 1 for a complete set up and fret job. (I do this anyway even for $1500 guitars.) I'd still get something like this for a beginner just starting out. 🤘
Love the content. In the future would you be able to do a schecter omen elite review i got a 7 string version and i love it.
Excited for that pickup video, Glen.
Next week, hopefully!
Great review and great playing
Bought the Strat model of this a couple months ago. Absolutely alot of bang for buck. Indeed, the tuners are a bit weak but overall, a great thing to take to open jamsessions and let everyone play on it because it was this cheap. Good workhorse for sure.
I never, ever expect anything from Harley Benton to arrive sans issues, so it's always wise to budget for a setup to address fret ends/levelling or whatever else might need to be bought up to spec. Locking tuners, a good setup, perhaps a tonepros bridge...? Definitely worth pimping out as a project guitar!
I read the title, then was confused about the video, but then the end caught me by surprise. It was like a roller-coaster of emotions there
Same, title was so confusing. And I was even more confused by the constant "WRONG" text flashing. Should've laid out the issues at the start of the video so we could have a more coherent viewing experience
Hi Glenn.
I have heard about the noisey HBZs but mine (HB Extreme 84 Progrssive) is indeed dead silent. Guess you just got a monday model. Thomann's service is absolutely brilliant. Send it back and they make it work. At least here in Germany. A guitar shipped over then great pond should be double checked.
Yeah, if you're in Germany I bet it's very easy to return. America? Good luck. You have to negotiate with someone who doesn't speak English as their first language, and HOPEFULLY they fill out the return sheet correctly, and actually label it a return. In my case, they labeled my return as a repair, and wanted me to pay the shipping BACK to Thomann to repair it, and then BACK to the US once it was "fixed". I said no, I wanted a return, they said "Oh well since 30 days have passed you aren't eligible for a return". Meanwhile I spent the whole 30 days telling them I didn't want a repair, I wanted to return the guitar and get a refund... I emailed day one as soon as I got the guitar, but since THEY messed up the paperwork, I had to resubmit my return request, which was technically outside of the return window (not by my fault, either)
Never had a chance to return it and I sold it to some poor sucker for $250 on Marketplace and I still feel like a complete fucking scumbag for that.
You crack me the F--K up!!! .62 year ol rocker here still banging wires on all kinds of ol school, an new sleds, AKA guitars.But I love the Buy or Fry it straight vine.Keep em coming,as well as just Rocking ..Good Job;)
I absolutely see where you're coming from. Though most of us here are more experienced players who would be thrilled to use this as a "project" the average beginner would be compelled either a. return it, b. learn how to wire, c. spend on taking it to a luthier, or d. spend on new pickups. All of these could affect the desirability to even continue learning depending on the person. What if 229 was all you had? Or you didn't have access to a soldering iron or wire cutters. It's like getting a new toy then finding out there's no batteries included smh.
i love that you're showing of cheaper guitar options but what is your opinion on the bases that thomann makes? Like the delux series
At SkunkWerx USA, we do EXACTLY what you have suggested to every single Harley Benton we import and sell. We have "The Better Benton", pretty sure even they know it, as we have sold more HB guitars on Reverb than Thomann has. See our feedback on Reverb, tons of happy repeat clients, because we do EXACTLY what we say we will: Make a good guitar even BETTER. Each guitar gets a full checkup for the basic functions, we repair broken pots, switches, fix ground issues, etc., (common) then we apply our FretWerx process, which includes a truss rod adjustment, frets rockered and leveled where necessary, ends hand rounded, fretboard edges rounded over, fretboard sanded smooth, neck heel sanded smooth, frets polished to jewel-like shine, fretboard treated, nut slots checked and adjusted if needed, neck seated in pocket, all hardware tightened, new EB Slinky strings 9's or 10's, stretch, tune to 440, stretch, tune to client spec, intonate, tune again, adjust bridge and pickup height to factory specs or better, tune, then play test both clean and high gain. 2.5 to 3 hours per guitar on average, but the results are stunning. We don't really do outside work, but we could help you with the skills you need to get the job done yourself. Offered before, never heard back, but we know you're a busy dude. Take care. Spanky
You can check us out here, extra 5% off to anyone who mentions Glen's channel. We will have the new JA Actives up tonight! : reverb.com/shop/skunkwerxguitars
When u pay under $200 for a guitar it’s basically not usually finished. The fret thing, action, truss rod and intonation aren’t usually there. I have always taken them straight to a setup tech. For it to be setup so well, if you have to file the fret ends then you still got a killer deal.
I have one and everything is fine with it. No issues at all. Maybe shipping was a bit rough.The great thing about Thomann is : You call, they send you a new one...
Hi Glenn, a few HB basses with major issues also ie tuning gears and distorting pickups. Any chance you could look into some budget 4-5 string basses?
Thanks for the channel, I’m not a metal fan but I enjoy the production tips, science and testing videos.
That's interesting as when I click the link in the description, it says $169 on the Thomann Music site from what I can see. Is it possible that the ground may have come loose due to some rough handling during shipping maybe?
I was wondering where the "failure" was on this since other than the frets and ding I didn't think the guitar warranted a failure score...untill the sound issue was discovered. Maybe it is a grounding issue or bad solder job on the pots. I definitely want a follow up to see what the issue was and if it required expert fixing or if a DIYer can fix the problem. I was really looking into getting it because it does look cool but I don't do well with guitar electronics lol
Somethings definitely wrong there. What I'm curious about is why it didn't have as much of an issue with the amp sim. The only thing I can think of is the input impedance on the audio interface is significantly higher than the fireball and either the pickups couldn't muster the current to drive the fireball or they shipped it with a faulty or expired battery that just crumbled under load.
Would it resolve the problem if I would just replace the pickups with EMGs but leave the original wiring?