Benton Red Special

[mtglick]

Oddly, couldn't find a thread here about the Harley Benton Red Special clone (BM-75). Ordered one a few months back, arrived about a month ago. Really impressed with the construction on this thing. Performed a couple of mods, but had a lot more in mind and ultimately didn't end up going nearly as far as I thought I'd have to.

Only function items I ended up changing were the nut and saddles, threw new stainless steel in the bridge and added a titanium nut, then set it up. Changed the knobs for RS replicas, changed out the 5-way switch tip for something that matched the knobs. Other than that, it's as-delivered.

Neck is dead straight, frets are very well done, trem bridge is solid and sustains well. Pickups are solid, not the vintage units but still decent. It's not wired exactly like the RS, with the 5-way instead of the 3 pickup switches there are some configurations missing from the original, but it's a really solid take on the concept.

Definitely, um, recommended at the price.

 

[brookdalebill]

Groovy!

 

[Midgetje94]

I’m glad you shared this! I saw them and really really wanted it. But good luck finding a unpaid review. Or one from a site that I trust not to weed out the bad reviews

 

[mtglick]

I’m glad you shared this! I saw them and really really wanted it. But good luck finding a unpaid review. Or one from a site that I trust not to weed out the bad reviews

Ultimately, I figured if it was really bad, somebody would've complained loudly, and I decided I wanted one more than I was afraid of it being so bad I couldn't fix it. Like I said, was prepared to do a lot more than I ended up needing to. Nice little add on relatively short money.

 

[Fenderbaum]

Why isnt HB sued by other brands?

 

[nojazzhere]

Oddly, couldn't find a thread here about the Harley Benton Red Special clone (BM-75). Ordered one a few months back, arrived about a month ago. Really impressed with the construction on this thing. Performed a couple of mods, but had a lot more in mind and ultimately didn't end up going nearly as far as I thought I'd have to.

Only function items I ended up changing were the nut and saddles, threw new stainless steel in the bridge and added a titanium nut, then set it up. Changed the knobs for RS replicas, changed out the 5-way switch tip for something that matched the knobs. Other than that, it's as-delivered.

Neck is dead straight, frets are very well done, trem bridge is solid and sustains well. Pickups are solid, not the vintage units but still decent. It's not wired exactly like the RS, with the 5-way instead of the 3 pickup switches there are some configurations missing from the original, but it's a really solid take on the concept.
View attachment 880247
Definitely, um, recommended at the price.

How is the neck?......the "real-deal" Red Special is reputed to be 1 1/4" deep......so, VERY fat. I'd love to try that.

 

[mtglick]

How is the neck?......the "real-deal" Red Special is reputed to be 1 1/4" deep......so, VERY fat. I'd love to try that.

Not that deep. It's about 3/4" at the 12th fret. It's about 2" wide at the 15th fret, and around 1.7" wide at the nut. Radius is quite flat, feels kind of like a thicker, shorter version of a Ibanez Wizard neck--like if somebody at Ibanez tried to make a Les Paul without ever having seen one.

 

[Fretting out]

How is the neck?......the "real-deal" Red Special is reputed to be 1 1/4" deep......so, VERY fat. I'd love to try that.

Ha! I think you have a thick neck thing goin! It’s okay I have a “back of neck wear” obsession...

 

[mtglick]

Forgot to mention, the bridge is some kind of custom unit, as far as I can tell, or at least I've never seen one. It's multi-piece, there's a baseplate that seems to be hardened steel, a trem block screwed on that's just pot metal, and a solid chromed cap that's screwed onto the baseplate as well. The trem screws through the cap into the block.

 

[nojazzhere]

Ha! I think you have a thick neck thing goin! It’s okay I have a “back of neck wear” obsession...

I DO have a "thick neck thing" goin'. After many years of gigging and dealing with hand fatigue on slimmer necks, I don't want to fight it anymore. My fatback Warmoth necks are 1" depth from nut to heel, and make a big difference, especially on a longer gig.
Now.....what is this back of neck wear thing?.....

 

[stormsedge]

Huh...I posted about my BM-75 a couple of times in April...but, not a stand-alone post. In any event, a very nice guitar. I haven't changed mine...looks like this OEM:



The other came in the same shipment...B-stock SC550. Also very nice. No issues with either.

 

[mtglick]

Huh...I posted about my BM-75 a couple of times in April...but, not a stand-alone post. In any event, a very nice guitar.

Looks great. Can definitely recommend the modern stainless saddles over the original units, and if you're of a mind, the RS Conversions replica knobs are a great upgrade as well. Not sure the titanium nut did all that much, if I had it to do over again I might have just gone with a Tusq unit.

One thing I haven't quite figured out yet--the fretboard is supposed to be amaranth (per the HB site), but mine doesn't look like any purpleheart I've seen. Best color match is ebony, but the grain is somewhat more open than my other ebony boards. I'm honestly not sure what it is. Is yours similar?

 

[stormsedge]

Looks great. Can definitely recommend the modern stainless saddles over the original units, and if you're of a mind, the RS Conversions replica knobs are a great upgrade as well. Not sure the titanium nut did all that much, if I had it to do over again I might have just gone with a Tusq unit.

One thing I haven't quite figured out yet--the fretboard is supposed to be amaranth (per the HB site), but mine doesn't look like any purpleheart I've seen. Best color match is ebony, but the grain is somewhat more open than my other ebony boards. I'm honestly not sure what it is. Is yours similar?

I may have to look into saddles/knobs and a Tusq nut (or maybe bronze) in the future. As for the fretboard...mine is very dark in color compared to others. The grain is closest to a Gretsch I have with specs claiming a black walnut fretboard. The grain is fairly open. Noting that I probably would fail any "visually identify this wood" quiz .

 

[TX_Slinger]

Why isnt HB sued by other brands?

I imagine something this close is shadow licensed. They won't advertise it as licensed copy under the agreement but Brian May Guitars is receiving a per unit produced royalty. This isn't cutting into BM Guitars sales at all, yet they'll collect a few buck per unit. It's a win-win.