Harley Benton modders: was it worth it?

mixolyd

So it comes the time of year that I'm being asked what I want for Christmas, and for the first time since I've been aware, there are apparently decent guitars out there that are sufficiently cheap.

I've never had a Fender style guitar so I'm wondering about going down the route of getting one of these Bentons with an eye to later installing better pickups and tremolo or whatever.

Has this plan worked out for you or would you have preferred to put that cash into a less cheap brand like Squier, Vintage or whatever?

Roland

The Telecaster kit was excellent value for money. OK I swapped the pickups and electrics, but it was a reasonable guitar before I did that. Certainly better value for money than buying something branded.

If you want a Strat shaped object, and can afford a little more, then @Travisthedog has one for sale.

JookyChap

I'm a fan of the HB ones, but if you are planning on upgrading pickups and hardware anyway, I'd be mightily tempted to talk to GSPBASSES and see what he has available, as it will be massively better.

Though yes, travisthedog's Strat is already done for you..best of both worlds is the pennies are available

mixolyd

Unfortunately I'm a lefty so most such things are closed off to me.  HB do have a pretty good lefty selection though.

WezV

As a bit of fun, they are fine.  They start to become reasonable with hardware and pickup changes but then loose the value for money.

Good if you wanted experience upgrading, modding, and getting the most from a cheap guitar.  

andyp

I'd agree with Wes.

I built a Tele (first kit I've ever built) and it was good fun and played well from the off. I've since changed the hardware and pickups and the value for money is now questionable I think. I basically doubled the outlay by going for Seymour Duncan pickups though, I don't know if I should've gone for a pair at the £60ish mark or what, but that wasn't what I really wanted to do. I did offset the cost by flogging some bits and bobs I had lying around so the pickup upgrade didn't really cost me anything, which made it worth doing for me... but if I sit and look at it as a £300 guitar then it's less of a bargain.

I learned loads doing this though and now I am quite happy tweaking and modding things and understand a lot more than I did before I built it. I absolutely love the neck on it too, satin finish and much nicer feel to play than any Fender or Squier models I've tried.

Overall I'm really happy with it but I'm having a problem getting the action set up as I want it at the moment. I've had to concede defeat and put it into a local shop for a setup as I can't get it any better and it's still too high for me to be truly happy with. They say they can sort it out for me, if they can get it a bit lower then I'll be delighted with the guitar.

Andy

Roland

andyp said:

I'd agree with Wes.

... but if I sit and look at it as a £300 guitar then it's less of a bargain.

... you have to think of it as the price of education

stimpsonslostson

I bought it as a bit of a laugh and to teach myself how to do the basics- set up, wiring and refinishing. The quality of the guitar that arrived was pretty good- very comparable to Vintage and Squier telecasters.
I learned a lot & have since been able to save money elsewhere- I rewired my SG Jr myself as the HB had given me the confidence & skill to use a soldering iron in a competent way.
I think that all in I spent under £200 and have a guitar I'll never sell- it's got sentimental value in addition to being a REALLY good Esquire. 

andyp

Roland said:

andyp said:

I'd agree with Wes.

... but if I sit and look at it as a £300 guitar then it's less of a bargain.

... you have to think of it as the price of education

Oh yes, completely agree on that.

The way it worked out for me being able to recoup some of the outlay by selling some bits made it a no-brainer to be honest. The only negative with the whole thing so far is that it's currently laid-up in the shop awaiting a setup...

I'm just a tad apprehensive that it won't resolve the high action, but they seemed convinced they can sort it out for me.

Chalky

I have bought Harley Bentons and for not much more than £100 they seem a bargain. But then I've also bought cheap Vintage-brand guitars for £60 secondhand, and they are certainly better guitars.

entee

I bought one the HB decoration pieces - a baritone that I made playable by fret levelling, changed the electrics and some of the hardware, just to learn from and I entered the summer challenge buying an SG custom - changed out all electrics, resprayed etc etc; again to learn more than anything. 
If you are after learning how a guitar works etc, HB are great bases.  I also have a GSPBASSES guitar which is infinitely better, and I have put what I learnt to good use from the HB into the GSP....

andyp

Sorry for the hijack, but I just wanted to add another post as I collected my Tele from the shop yesterday and spent a couple of hours playing it last night. They've managed to sort the setup and it's playing beautifully, I'm delighted with it.

It's been well worth it as a learning exercise and I've ended up with a guitar I love too. I know I could've spent a chunk less and had something 90% of what I have now though, but either way I'm really glad I've done it.

SteveRobinson

I bought a donor guitar but I haven't modded it yet. Soon though...

GSPBASSES

I’m sure I have a “B” grade left hand Strat some were in my work shop with most of the bits to build it. I’m not in the work shop till Tuesday, if it’s all still there I will let you know. 

GSPBASSES

I thought I had a left-handed strat body , but the only one I have has the out side profile routed, and the rear cavity routed for the tremolo. The only left-handed neck is I've got is quite a skinny made for a Floyd Rose. 

 I will most likely finish this left-handed body and make a proper neck for it sometime in the New Year.

mixolyd

GSPBASSES said:

I thought I had a left-handed strat body , but the only one I have has the out side profile routed, and the rear cavity routed for the tremolo. The only left-handed neck is I've got is quite a skinny made for a Floyd Rose. 

 I will most likely finish this left-handed body and make a proper neck for it sometime in the New Year.

That's cool, I've decided to put this xmas money into a pot for later, more ambitious spending: I'd rather avoid the risk of buying a Harley Benton that I might not like and may even be a bit junky.
 Good to know you do lefties so there is a higher quality option potentially out there if I fancy getting a strat nitro project going or (gasp!) a lefty offset!