Is this £400 guitar a Harley Benton with new neck and knobs?

Chalky

This is described as a "Telecaster Thinline style custom guitar" but it looks very Harley Bentonish to me...what do you HB connoisseurs reckon? Inspiration for the modding challenge to add profit in the absence of Thomann goodies?

http://m.ebay.co.uk/itm/161602885860?nav=SEARCH

GazLion

Yup its a cheapie. Look at the ferrulls in the back and is it me or does the 2 piece join look wonky?! 

hobbio

It's very similar to my Harley Benton, that's for sure. If it really has been made by a luthier then for some reason it's been modelled on a £120 guitar.

Here's mine:



Here's his:

XWulfhere

The ferrules are not straight and the join is not on the centreline.

Chalky

The bridge looks the same and crucially the drill holes for the vol, tone and switch are in the same locations.

Sassafras

Crikey! They've even started counterfeiting Harley Bentons now. Will those Chinese stop at nothing? 

stimpsonslostson

So £300 for a flame maple neck & some fancy fret marker dots? Seems legit.

I've already reshaped the head on my te52… time to cash in ALREADY?! I've not even started on the rest of my modding plan!

usedtobe

I don't think they will - no..!

BigMonka

Sassafras said:

Crikey! They've even started counterfeiting Harley Bentons now. Will those Chinese stop at nothing? 

Based on the advert apparently they won't - now the mass production factories are even 'custom making' guitars.

I'm also a bit confused by the "custom shop" neck plate which looks like the Fender custom shop logo but mysteriously doesn't say Fender.

Chalky

Maybe the seller should win the 'Ingenuity' prize in the Fretboard 2015 Modding Challenge? Or maybe the "Brass Neck Prize"! )

Maynehead

Well to be fair if you bought a HB and a new flamed maple neck with new tuners and SD pickups... then took it to a tech to put it all together, you'd probably end up shelling out more than £400.

Chalky

Perhaps it was built by a mystery luthier whose name can never be spoken...

rossi

hobbio said:

It's very similar to my Harley Benton, that's for sure. If it really has been made by a luthier then for some reason it's been modelled on a £120 guitar.

Here's mine:



Here's his:

Dare I ask how heavy it is please.?

xmrchi

Im not sure how to play a 5 string guitar so I will give that a miss.

GuitarMonkey

It's ideal for Rolling Stone riffs

daveyh

On the eBay guitar the centreline of the vol is level with the front of the bridge, on the HB it isn't.

Chalky

Good point @davey - so I'm either I'm wrong about the alignment or the tolerances on HB bridge positioning are huge

Chalky

Aw shucks - the bridge saddles look different too. So I was wrong :-h

underdog

Still say it's a made in China mass produced body though.

WezV

underdog said:

Still say it's a made in China mass produced body though.

this.

its really not that far out from the HB, that vol may have moved but is too close to say its something different  was probably built by the same factory to a higher price point  (nicer quilt)  

 the bridge is definitely the same type too, i just brought one with the different saddles from china - delivered for less than £6

ab2014

@Hobbio

How's the HB Tele quality? that guitar caught my eye on Thomann