K
Great Copper Top for the money
I bought this because I had severe GAS on p90 guitars. I first opted for the SC special one, but I just don't dig the mustard colour. This one is also way cheaper so it's was an easy choice!
It arrived within 3 days after ordering on sunday. Awesome!
The guitar looked great but out of the box there were some small issues. The setup was not great (although not bad) and there are a few little finish flaws. But hey, for this money you can't expect perfection.
Tuners are ok, not going to swap them because they hold tune just fine. They also turn smooth, the throw is a bit short, so when tuning just be really careful.
The nut is cut fine, it's plastic but I don't care. I put some pencil graphite in there and it's now smooth as any nut. EDIT: the nut was causing major tuning issues. Installed a graphtech nut and it holds tune very well. The tuners are really good enough.
Fretboard looks nice, was very dry an needed some oil.
The frets were a bit rough, needed some polishing with 0000 steel wool. Be sure to mask the pickups with tape when using steel wool!
There are a few high frets here and there. Nothing really disturbing. I've set the action on 2mm low e and 1.5mm high e. It buzzes a little, but can't hear it when playing on the amp. I do however want to try a fret level on this one to see how this goes. A guitar this cheap is a nice practise object. EDIT: I leveled the frets. It was my first attempt and I improved the playability. Still 2 or 3 frets that are a little higher. I might spot level them with the next string change.
EDIT: I don't know if the wood in the neck still thinks it's alive. I've done a second full fret leveling as 13 frets were again uneven. It's now completely level and plays great. Hope it stays this way, because I'm not doing a third leveling ;).
The pickups sound ok but not for me. They are ceramic of course and I don't like the boomy attacky sound of ceramic magnets. I ordered some alnico IV magnets to put in these p90's to see if they can sound the way I like them to sound. EDIT: the alnico IV magnets are installed. It didn't really change the tone much. I might go for some vintage voiced alnico 2 pickups. EDIT: A new set of p90's are on the way. A combo of A2 neck + A5 bridge with low output.
The pots are the cheap mini pots and they put linear pots in for the volume control. I like log pots better so I will swap them at one point. They do work fine though and they are not scratchy. I think I will buy Alpha pots, because CTS pots have too wide bushings. You need to ream out the holes and I'm not going to bother doing this :). EDIT: Yeah so I've grown to love linear volume pots... So much better volume control! Really the whole range from 10 to 1 is usable now, instead of most action happening from 10 to 7 on log pots.
The switch is cheap, but works fine, no need to replace.
Oh yeah one nice tip: when ordering I placed a remark asking if they could select a lighter weighing one for me. And they did! Mine weighs about 3.8kg (8.4 lbs) which is pretty lightweight for a Les Paul style!
Because the colour is more copper than gold, I also ordered black plastics for the pickups, switch and knobs. Looks awesome!
All in all I'm happy with the guitar. It's a love/hate relationship with this one. By far the worst HB guitar I've had, but I learned to level frets on this guitar and I dig p90's. I might sell it on later, but will definitely need a p90 guitar in my arsenal.
It arrived within 3 days after ordering on sunday. Awesome!
The guitar looked great but out of the box there were some small issues. The setup was not great (although not bad) and there are a few little finish flaws. But hey, for this money you can't expect perfection.
Tuners are ok, not going to swap them because they hold tune just fine. They also turn smooth, the throw is a bit short, so when tuning just be really careful.
The nut is cut fine, it's plastic but I don't care. I put some pencil graphite in there and it's now smooth as any nut. EDIT: the nut was causing major tuning issues. Installed a graphtech nut and it holds tune very well. The tuners are really good enough.
Fretboard looks nice, was very dry an needed some oil.
The frets were a bit rough, needed some polishing with 0000 steel wool. Be sure to mask the pickups with tape when using steel wool!
There are a few high frets here and there. Nothing really disturbing. I've set the action on 2mm low e and 1.5mm high e. It buzzes a little, but can't hear it when playing on the amp. I do however want to try a fret level on this one to see how this goes. A guitar this cheap is a nice practise object. EDIT: I leveled the frets. It was my first attempt and I improved the playability. Still 2 or 3 frets that are a little higher. I might spot level them with the next string change.
EDIT: I don't know if the wood in the neck still thinks it's alive. I've done a second full fret leveling as 13 frets were again uneven. It's now completely level and plays great. Hope it stays this way, because I'm not doing a third leveling ;).
The pickups sound ok but not for me. They are ceramic of course and I don't like the boomy attacky sound of ceramic magnets. I ordered some alnico IV magnets to put in these p90's to see if they can sound the way I like them to sound. EDIT: the alnico IV magnets are installed. It didn't really change the tone much. I might go for some vintage voiced alnico 2 pickups. EDIT: A new set of p90's are on the way. A combo of A2 neck + A5 bridge with low output.
The pots are the cheap mini pots and they put linear pots in for the volume control. I like log pots better so I will swap them at one point. They do work fine though and they are not scratchy. I think I will buy Alpha pots, because CTS pots have too wide bushings. You need to ream out the holes and I'm not going to bother doing this :). EDIT: Yeah so I've grown to love linear volume pots... So much better volume control! Really the whole range from 10 to 1 is usable now, instead of most action happening from 10 to 7 on log pots.
The switch is cheap, but works fine, no need to replace.
Oh yeah one nice tip: when ordering I placed a remark asking if they could select a lighter weighing one for me. And they did! Mine weighs about 3.8kg (8.4 lbs) which is pretty lightweight for a Les Paul style!
Because the colour is more copper than gold, I also ordered black plastics for the pickups, switch and knobs. Looks awesome!
All in all I'm happy with the guitar. It's a love/hate relationship with this one. By far the worst HB guitar I've had, but I learned to level frets on this guitar and I dig p90's. I might sell it on later, but will definitely need a p90 guitar in my arsenal.
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d
Lovely looking and playing LP copy
This is the second p90 style guitar I've bought. The other was priced higher but not close to this in terms of sound or finish.
My review is subjective and based on my limited experience of playing and owning guitars (2 years)
The pros
Great sound, warm, fat, great sustain, puts the higher priced p90 style LP copy I owned to shame
Great finish, lovely gold top, plays well.
The minuses
Few, strings feel cheap, they don't feel or look like the D'Addarios that come on other HB guitars. Please Thomann put good strings on all the HBs, there's nothing worse than having to immediately change the fitted strings
Minor quality control issue, my guitar had something loose inside rattling around, a screw or a part, didn't want to take risk of invalidating warranty so I rang Thomann to arrange a replacement.
A really nice guitar just a little disappointing to have to immediately return it as it was lovely to play
Update- July 2019 - I just bought another one of these guitars to replace the previous one which I sold (and regretted) comments pretty much the same. The one I just bought was B-stock and generally it was fine, a couple of the blemishes it was hard to tell whether they were just cosmetic or structural.
There was a small ding on the neck near the nut which I thought was a wood crack but seemed to be just a minor ding. At the side of the fretboard there was what looked like a crack which was filled during manufacture (the lacquer was covering it) On the back of the neck at the body join are some cracks in the finish. These I can live with, they seem cosmetic and for the B-stock price, they're fine, if any of them turn out to be more serious or worsen I'm confident based on previous experience that Thomann will make it right (they've been very good with warranty stuff so far).
There were also some other annoyances, dirty and dry fretboard. The low E and A strings don't align properly with the pick-up pole pieces on the neck pickup.
As for playability this new guitar is pretty much the same. The same awful cheap strings, frets needs a polish they are very scratchy (this is partly the strings too I suspect).
The retail price of 149 is 20 more than I paid originally in 2016, but it's not clear where the extra money is going, at 129 this guitar was a steal, at 149 with the same types of issues and the same cheap strings it's not clear where the extra money is going.
Overall HB guitars are good, but different models seem more consistently good than others. My 119 euro ST-62 was more or less perfect and has D'addario strings, this 149 euro guitar has far more issues. I think different HB models are made in different factories and therein perhaps lies the explanation for the QC variation between models.
That being said, for 109 euro I can live with the issues on my B stock SC-450 P90 GT
My review is subjective and based on my limited experience of playing and owning guitars (2 years)
The pros
Great sound, warm, fat, great sustain, puts the higher priced p90 style LP copy I owned to shame
Great finish, lovely gold top, plays well.
The minuses
Few, strings feel cheap, they don't feel or look like the D'Addarios that come on other HB guitars. Please Thomann put good strings on all the HBs, there's nothing worse than having to immediately change the fitted strings
Minor quality control issue, my guitar had something loose inside rattling around, a screw or a part, didn't want to take risk of invalidating warranty so I rang Thomann to arrange a replacement.
A really nice guitar just a little disappointing to have to immediately return it as it was lovely to play
Update- July 2019 - I just bought another one of these guitars to replace the previous one which I sold (and regretted) comments pretty much the same. The one I just bought was B-stock and generally it was fine, a couple of the blemishes it was hard to tell whether they were just cosmetic or structural.
There was a small ding on the neck near the nut which I thought was a wood crack but seemed to be just a minor ding. At the side of the fretboard there was what looked like a crack which was filled during manufacture (the lacquer was covering it) On the back of the neck at the body join are some cracks in the finish. These I can live with, they seem cosmetic and for the B-stock price, they're fine, if any of them turn out to be more serious or worsen I'm confident based on previous experience that Thomann will make it right (they've been very good with warranty stuff so far).
There were also some other annoyances, dirty and dry fretboard. The low E and A strings don't align properly with the pick-up pole pieces on the neck pickup.
As for playability this new guitar is pretty much the same. The same awful cheap strings, frets needs a polish they are very scratchy (this is partly the strings too I suspect).
The retail price of 149 is 20 more than I paid originally in 2016, but it's not clear where the extra money is going, at 129 this guitar was a steal, at 149 with the same types of issues and the same cheap strings it's not clear where the extra money is going.
Overall HB guitars are good, but different models seem more consistently good than others. My 119 euro ST-62 was more or less perfect and has D'addario strings, this 149 euro guitar has far more issues. I think different HB models are made in different factories and therein perhaps lies the explanation for the QC variation between models.
That being said, for 109 euro I can live with the issues on my B stock SC-450 P90 GT
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E
Great starting point but needs upgrades.
Everything was pretty much ready to go and played well out of the box. Great for beginners as is, but If your an experienced player and need something that meets your reliability needs for recording and gigging you will likely need to upgrade it.
A new nut. The one that comes is plastic and cut poorly. It looks cheap and feels cheep and slightly harms the intonation.
Better tuning machines as there is some minor slippage if subjected to agressive styles.
Some minor fret levelling, pretty good out the box only 1 fret was high and 5 mintues with a file and it all works with no buzz.
New pickups, the ones that come sound like p90s but are a little harsh and not very well rounded. Replace them with quality pickups and seat them at your desired height and you have magic.
Swtich has excessive play but works. Replacing it will something more sturdy and longer lasting would be a must. I doubt it could live through use as a killswitch for more than a day.
New pots and wiring, the mini pots do the job but dont add much to your sound or are helpful musically. Replacing with full sized pots and your caps of choice will have your pups reacting more how you want them to.
Only other issue is cosmetic. The tailpeice is not fully seated and instead of taking the time to seat it properly and raise the height they opted to just only partially sink it on one side. Not an easy fix if it bothers you but not exactly something that will affect performance.
If you want a cheap guitar you can upgrade to something playing and resembling something much more expensive then you can absolutely do it with this guitar. A couple of hours and another 200 to 300 on parts and you'll have a stellar instrument.
A new nut. The one that comes is plastic and cut poorly. It looks cheap and feels cheep and slightly harms the intonation.
Better tuning machines as there is some minor slippage if subjected to agressive styles.
Some minor fret levelling, pretty good out the box only 1 fret was high and 5 mintues with a file and it all works with no buzz.
New pickups, the ones that come sound like p90s but are a little harsh and not very well rounded. Replace them with quality pickups and seat them at your desired height and you have magic.
Swtich has excessive play but works. Replacing it will something more sturdy and longer lasting would be a must. I doubt it could live through use as a killswitch for more than a day.
New pots and wiring, the mini pots do the job but dont add much to your sound or are helpful musically. Replacing with full sized pots and your caps of choice will have your pups reacting more how you want them to.
Only other issue is cosmetic. The tailpeice is not fully seated and instead of taking the time to seat it properly and raise the height they opted to just only partially sink it on one side. Not an easy fix if it bothers you but not exactly something that will affect performance.
If you want a cheap guitar you can upgrade to something playing and resembling something much more expensive then you can absolutely do it with this guitar. A couple of hours and another 200 to 300 on parts and you'll have a stellar instrument.
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K
Needs some work
First of all a disclaimer, this guitar was playable as received but, it needs work to be a professional quality instrument. I'll start from the top on down. The tuners are Gotoh style keystone tuners, the ratio is 14:1. This is acceptable, no problems with them. Next is the nut, it was well cut, strings move smoothly while tuning. The strings themselves were no name brand 10's. I always use D'darios. Next the fretboard, as other reviews mentioned the black comes off on your fingers, after using lemon oil applied 2X this was not a problem. The frets were O.K. no buzzing but I polished them. The neck itself was perfect. Intonation was spot on. Hardware was good for this price point. Next the electronics. The pickup selector switch was wobbly, it worked but not what I would want on any guitar I was playing out with. Next the pots, they are mini, I don't have a problem with mini pots, but these had to be replaced, as the tone pots were either on or off, they did not taper the tone. As I was going to replace the pickup switch anyhow, I replaced the pots along with them, and shielded the cavities while I was at it. Next the pickups, I love them, the only thing I did was remove the foam backing and replace it with springs. They are the coolest sounding P90's that I've played, sort of hot but not a big 60 cycle hum associated with P90's. Last, but not least, the cosmetics. The gold top is flawless. The model shipping now has a dark back, I like it all, bindings are perfect.
In summation, for $50 U.S. and some hours work, I was able to bring this up to a high standard guitar. Could I have played it out of the box? Sure, but with the upgrades that I mentioned, it plays like a guitar 5X it's price point. Anyone who has been longing for a P90 Goldtop, this could be the one for you.
In summation, for $50 U.S. and some hours work, I was able to bring this up to a high standard guitar. Could I have played it out of the box? Sure, but with the upgrades that I mentioned, it plays like a guitar 5X it's price point. Anyone who has been longing for a P90 Goldtop, this could be the one for you.
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-t
My favorite guitar
I bought this for a friend as a retirement present.
The guitar sounds amazing. Really great for hard rock and blues. Even sounds better playing jazz than a 335. Love the bridge pick up. This thing just fills the room.
It feels like a real piece of gear. The neck is for sure an old school thick c. It brings a sense of power and presence without making it clunky. Smooth but solid. I really hope all the old school guitars HB makes have the “baseball bat” neck!
Honesty time:
The one I got was not gold. It was copper.
Luckily, it feels and sounds so good my buddy fell in love with it. Named it “penny”.
If you’re on the fence, don’t hesitate. I liked this one better than the American LP standards.
4 out of 5 stars
-O’Malley the Alley Cat
The guitar sounds amazing. Really great for hard rock and blues. Even sounds better playing jazz than a 335. Love the bridge pick up. This thing just fills the room.
It feels like a real piece of gear. The neck is for sure an old school thick c. It brings a sense of power and presence without making it clunky. Smooth but solid. I really hope all the old school guitars HB makes have the “baseball bat” neck!
Honesty time:
The one I got was not gold. It was copper.
Luckily, it feels and sounds so good my buddy fell in love with it. Named it “penny”.
If you’re on the fence, don’t hesitate. I liked this one better than the American LP standards.
4 out of 5 stars
-O’Malley the Alley Cat
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P2
Too cheap Thomann
Saw a lot of these being reviewed on YouTube so decided to grab one.
I wasn’t expecting much for the price so was was really surprised just how good this guitar is. It’s weighty without being too heavy and the neck is beautiful to play.
The tuners were swapped out for locking ones and a bone but was installed. Sounds great, holds tune perfectly. I’ve played far more expensive LP’s that are nowhere near this guitars quality. I’ve spent £40 on it and it plays like a £500 guitar. Way too cheap Thomann but I’m not complaining.
I wasn’t expecting much for the price so was was really surprised just how good this guitar is. It’s weighty without being too heavy and the neck is beautiful to play.
The tuners were swapped out for locking ones and a bone but was installed. Sounds great, holds tune perfectly. I’ve played far more expensive LP’s that are nowhere near this guitars quality. I’ve spent £40 on it and it plays like a £500 guitar. Way too cheap Thomann but I’m not complaining.
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諫
まず、この値段でありえないクオリ
まだ、届いて6日目だけど、音の良さはよくわかるかな。
ギターを長年やってきている50代中盤のおっさんです。Ibanez Jcutomやゼマイティスなどのハイエンド系ギターを多数コレクションしています。
カスタムショップ製のゼマイティスの音はいまいちでしたが、このHarley Bentonのギターは音いいです。ただ、音の抜けはどうなんだろう。
もうちょいあってもいいのかもだけど、レスポール系のギターの音って長いこと聞いてなかったというか、弾いてなくて今回購入したところもあるけど、ゼマイティスに比較してもそう見劣りする音ではないですね。フレットの処理とかもほとんど完璧でこの値段からすると本当に考えられないくらいの質の高さなのかも
ギターを長年やってきている50代中盤のおっさんです。Ibanez Jcutomやゼマイティスなどのハイエンド系ギターを多数コレクションしています。
カスタムショップ製のゼマイティスの音はいまいちでしたが、このHarley Bentonのギターは音いいです。ただ、音の抜けはどうなんだろう。
もうちょいあってもいいのかもだけど、レスポール系のギターの音って長いこと聞いてなかったというか、弾いてなくて今回購入したところもあるけど、ゼマイティスに比較してもそう見劣りする音ではないですね。フレットの処理とかもほとんど完璧でこの値段からすると本当に考えられないくらいの質の高さなのかも
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n
Well done HB!
It needed some work with the intonation.
I lowered the action a bit and raise the bridge a little, to reduce the angle with the strings.
The P-90 pickups are great. They blend harmonically.
The finish is awesome.
I am glad that I bought it.
This beauty inspires me to play.
Be brave and go for it!
I lowered the action a bit and raise the bridge a little, to reduce the angle with the strings.
The P-90 pickups are great. They blend harmonically.
The finish is awesome.
I am glad that I bought it.
This beauty inspires me to play.
Be brave and go for it!
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T
Surprising quality for the price.
The bones of this guitar...ie, the wood, general construction and finish...are very, very good. Odd to have an LP style guitar made from what looks like maple. Pale wood. But it's a comfortable weight, resonates nicely and seems well made. I like how the headstock is spliced onto the neck at the 1st and 2nd frets...no weak spot at the nut if it gets dropped.
Neck profile is abit odd. Chunky and thick and not unlike some real 1950s guitars lve played. First reaction is 'eewww'... but then you find yourself enjoying playing it. The upper fret access is much better than the traditional LP neck/body join.
The frets needed leveling and polishing and the fretboard was dry and grubby. But after doing the work and setting it up with a fresh set of strings it's lovely to play.
Hardware is cheap and cheerful but works.
Pickups are non-descript P90s and a touch dull, but l changed the volume pots to 1meg ones...an experiment as l happened to have a pair...and they now sound really nice. Classic goldtop P90 sound.
Good value if you don't mind a bit of tinkering and tidying.
Neck profile is abit odd. Chunky and thick and not unlike some real 1950s guitars lve played. First reaction is 'eewww'... but then you find yourself enjoying playing it. The upper fret access is much better than the traditional LP neck/body join.
The frets needed leveling and polishing and the fretboard was dry and grubby. But after doing the work and setting it up with a fresh set of strings it's lovely to play.
Hardware is cheap and cheerful but works.
Pickups are non-descript P90s and a touch dull, but l changed the volume pots to 1meg ones...an experiment as l happened to have a pair...and they now sound really nice. Classic goldtop P90 sound.
Good value if you don't mind a bit of tinkering and tidying.
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K
Almost perfect
This is absolutely insane value for money.
I now have 2 harley bentons, with more to follow. The other one is flawless but this one came with a couple of imperfections in the finish. Including a small chip in the neck binding, chipped paint around the neck pickup and a tiny crack in the finish round the bridge which can't actually be felt since its under the laquer.
I raised the issues with Thomann saying that I couldn't be arsed sending it back, but was there something they could do and they reduced the price to B-stock pricing, which as you can imagine at this price wasn't much of a discount, but it was still a nice gesture on their part.
I had some serious tuning issues with the original strings which were truly aweful, however, now that I have a set of D'adarios on there it seems to be very stable now.
So aside from some minor defects this guitar is absolutely fantastic. I love the sound from the pickups and the guitar looks and plays amazing.
I now have 2 harley bentons, with more to follow. The other one is flawless but this one came with a couple of imperfections in the finish. Including a small chip in the neck binding, chipped paint around the neck pickup and a tiny crack in the finish round the bridge which can't actually be felt since its under the laquer.
I raised the issues with Thomann saying that I couldn't be arsed sending it back, but was there something they could do and they reduced the price to B-stock pricing, which as you can imagine at this price wasn't much of a discount, but it was still a nice gesture on their part.
I had some serious tuning issues with the original strings which were truly aweful, however, now that I have a set of D'adarios on there it seems to be very stable now.
So aside from some minor defects this guitar is absolutely fantastic. I love the sound from the pickups and the guitar looks and plays amazing.
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