Another Harley Benton build

AustrianJohn

This build, a low cost Strat for my brother, started life as a Harley Benton kit.



After weeks of rattle can spray paint, sanding and polishing, it looked like this.



The pickups were replaced with a set of Iron Gear Pig Iron, which I must say are great value pickups. The push/pull on the tone control is the Gilmour mod that adds the neck pickup.



Here is the finished article (on the left) next to my Gilmour Strat build (for which I used a pre-finished body).



Getting a decent gloss finish proved really difficult - this must have been my third or fourth attempt. Even now it doesn't really bear close scrutinty, but from 10 feet away in a smoky jazz club it looks the real deal.

This is my fourth Harley Benton kit build, and I must say they're awesome value for money. Replace the pickups with Iron Gear (or similar) and you get a really nice guitar for under £150. If you're lurking on here and haven't yet built a guitar - go order a Harley Benton kit and just do it. It's great value and great fun. (But don't go for a gloss black finish on your first guitar - wood stain plus oil is far easier.)