Harley Benton?

[Nickfl]

I was looking at a 12 string acoustic and the site estimates the shipping at 75 bucks. I'm in PA. I ended up buying a Mitchell from Musicians Friend. 229 shipped on sale.

Dan

Their shipping cost for a single guitar used to be about 35 bucks and I believe they would ship up to two more without increasing the shipping if you wanted to really stock up. It's gone up because UPS has jacked their prices way up in the last year due to increased demand and assorted issues that we all are aware of.

Hopefully sometime in the foreseeable future prices will start to come back down and/or Thomman will find a better shipping partner than UPS. It looks like right now the only option they offer you is UPS express 2 day, which is part of why the cost is so high. I'm not sure what's going on there because I know that in the past the shipping from them definitely took longer than that in addition to being cheaper.

 

[Wound_Up]

Anyone know where their JB75-NA jazz bass was being made a few years ago? They all had a serial number in the format WSMxxxxxxx.xxxx, for example WSM1404A03.0534 is a actual serial for a JB75-NA.

I've seen the same format serial number on other guitars but never a mention of who manufactured it. I emailed Harley Benton and asked them directly but haven't heard back, yet.

Anyone have any idea?

I have a HB 335 alike, €142, I had to change the tuners, not saying they didnt work, but I was not happy with them, other than that's it's a lovely guitar. Also have HB 75 jazzbass which is a great guitar.

I also only use Thomann (HB makers and distributors) strings on all my guitars, bought a job lot of electric, bass and acoustic and have no problems with them, way less than €2 a set. Have to say I find the acoustic the best of them

Hey, does your 75 have a serial number on the back of the headstock by chance?

 

[Slann]

We've all seen a lot of videos checking these HBs out, and they seem well-made, play well, and are CHEAP. But think about the difference between running an Indonesian factory and an American factory. They both have the same CNC machines, which do most of the woodshaping (the rest done by VERY cheap labor; cheap but good!)so the differences are the wood itself (right type, aged, drying methods), and the hardware. Anyone can wind pickups, and I know there are differences claimed by very high-end mfgrs. here in the U.S., and electronics are easy to source (pots, resistors and caps).
So the cost of manufacturing is what we're talking about. You cannot manufacture a quality electric guitar in the U.S. for what it costs in Indonesia. I have a Fender '51, for instance, made in Indonesia, and it plays and sounds as good as my USA Fenders. And I DID pay more for that Fender label! If the HB people are focused on excellent QC, they probably make fine instruments.
I haven't played an HB, but for the money, they seem like a very good deal.

 

[wulfenganck]

I haven'r owned a Harley Benton guitar yet, but I've played some. They seem to have advanced in the last years.
I use a couple of their effects as well as one of their powersupplys for my pedalboaard and I have nothing negative to tell.
Thing is: even if you are one of those with bad luck and get something crappy, Thomann has an excellent return-and-refund-policy for 30 days.
I once had a dirt-pedal which started behaving obnoxious apparently half a year after the 30 days were done, so I couldn't send it back.
But then again - it was about 29,- Euro, so it wasn't a big deal to me.

 

[Daddydex]

Their shipping cost for a single guitar used to be about 35 bucks and I believe they would ship up to two more without increasing the shipping if you wanted to really stock up. It's gone up because UPS has jacked their prices way up in the last year due to increased demand and assorted issues that we all are aware of.

Hopefully sometime in the foreseeable future prices will start to come back down and/or Thomman will find a better shipping partner than UPS. It looks like right now the only option they offer you is UPS express 2 day, which is part of why the cost is so high. I'm not sure what's going on there because I know that in the past the shipping from them definitely took longer than that in addition to being cheaper.

I'll keep checking. I would much rather pay 15/20 bucks for shipping and wait a week or two.

Dan

 

[phaedrus]

Not a Harley Benton, per se, but my Chinese made Grote 335-style is incredible. Perfect finish, solid hardware, surprisingly good sounding pickups, and very comfortable neck. So good, in fact, that my tech (who did a fret level on it) bought one for himself. Kicker?......$169.00 with free Amazon delivery. I don't know how they do it.View attachment 805862

I got one of their single-P90 shallow jazzboxes for $160. It's shocking how good it is.

Small world, I have both of these myself. I loved the the 335 so much I turned right around and bought the jazz p90 model as well.

Absolutely fantastic fit and finish. Yes, there may be some mods or tweaks down the line, but they are fine as is.


Without meaning to start a flame war, I think the Grotes are a step, or two, above the Fireflys. (E.g. not microphonic) For these style of guitars anyways.

I do also have a Firefly Thinline Tele. I went a little hogwild this Christmas.


My guess is Harley Benton comes from a similar, or the same, factory as all the other Chinese made guitars.


Another brand looking at is IYV, they have some really nice semi-hollow jazz style and PRS style guitars.

However, they are made in Vietnam. Korean parent company.

 

[nojazzhere]

Small world, I have both of these myself. I loved the the 335 so much I turned right around and bought the jazz p90 model as well.

Absolutely fantastic fit and finish. Yes, there may be some mods or tweaks down the line, but they are fine as is.


Without meaning to start a flame war, I think the Grotes are a step, or two, above the Fireflys. (E.g. not microphonic) For these style of guitars anyways.

I do also have a Firefly Thinline Tele. I went a little hogwild this Christmas.


My guess is Harley Benton comes from a similar, or the same, factory as all the other Chinese made guitars.


Another brand looking at is IYV, they have some really nice semi-hollow jazz style and PRS style guitars.

However, they are made in Vietnam. Korean parent company.

View attachment 807385

I've never held a Firefly, although they look good on my computer screen.
The extent of my knowledge comes from @FenderGyrl who is here often, and seems to be a wizard at discovering off-brand gems, and working her magic to make them even better. She is responsible for turning me onto the Grote 335-styles. (for which she has my undying allegiance) For someone like me on a "self-imposed" budget, these low priced copies of major models makes it possible to play.....if not the "real thing".....at least a respectable facsimile of our Holy Grails.......

 

[tropicaldave]

I’m gassing for one of these.... most reviews I’ve read have been positive

(link removed)

I have one and I can't believe how great it is right out of the box. Plays great, sounds great, I adjusted the action a little but it really didn't need anything else. No fret buzz and does not need any fret work. Tuners are good and stays in tune very well. Finish is great and looks like a very expensive guitar. I really can't believe it's so cheap. Says made in Viet Nam on the neck. Plays and sounds like a much more expensive guitar.

 

[jayroc1]

https://roswellpickups.com/

Fender pickups are a house brand so take that how you will.

I'll take a Fender house pickup over Roswell any day. At least I know I can sell it if I don't like it. It would be near impossible to sell a Roswell pickup

 

[GFrank]

Harley Benton guitars? As good as Custom Shop, and will last a thousand years. Wait, or is that Squier guitars?

 

[FenderGyrl]

I've played some Harley Bentons that were pretty good guitars.
I've always wanted to get one. Just haven't found the right buy yet. Eventually I'll get one of their LP JRs though.

 

[nojazzhere]

I've played some Harley Bentons that were pretty good guitars.
I've always wanted to get one. Just haven't found the right buy yet. Eventually I'll get one of their LP JRs though.

I'd consider one of the Jr's too, except I already have a 1960 doublecut Gibson LP Jr....plus a 2009 PRS SE One (Paul's take on a Jr) so that itch is already scratched.

 

[Chipss36]

I personally cringe at buying anything from China....
All things considered.

 

[kodiakblair]

We'll they don't do it by paying wages where a worker can support a family of four in the western world.

Mexico is in the western world, hourly manufacturing costs there work out at $4.99, in China it's $6.50.

Anyone know where their JB75-NA jazz bass was being made a few years ago? They all had a serial number in the format WSMxxxxxxx.xxxx,

A few years back JB-75 and J&D jazz bass necks shared the same SN format. The J&D basses were being made by Young Chang at that time.

I'll take a Fender house pickup over Roswell any day. At least I know I can sell it if I don't like it. It would be near impossible to sell a Roswell pickup

The power of the logo eh.
Roswell supply pickups to Fender

 

[Tjeppen]

I have 3 hb's. One 12-string jumbo and a resonator guitar. Both came out of the box and didn't even need a setup. I bought a nylon string classical guitar with cutaway for about $50
and after a shave of the plastic bridge it plays "Willie"- worthy

 

[PapaBeef]

Ok. What I know is that Thomann has them manufactured in factories located in China, Indonesia, Vietnam and possibly Korea (not 100% on Korea).
I've heard that the Roswell pickups are the same pickups that were previously called Wilkinson pickups.
About a year ago I bought a PJ Bass I found on Reverb.
It was used, so I can't say for sure how much setup it had done by the previous owner. But I took it out of the box, turned it & plugged it in, and it was as good as any Fender bass I've ever played.
Not actually being a bass player, that's not saying much, except that if it was crap I'd know it was crap and I'd say it was crap.
A few months later I ordered an SG type guitar directly from Thomann.
I live in New Jersey, and the guitar shipped from Germany & was in my hands in about 2 days.
This guitar was from their B Stock. So I checked it out carefully when I unboxed it & found only the most minor cosmetic flaws where the binding meets at the corners of the neck.
Straight out of the box, all I did was tune it up.
Intonation was spot on & the action was fine with no buzzing or fretting out.
The tuners are Grover's, which are what I would have changed them to if they had been the typical unbranded garbage that usually comes on the inexpensive imports.
The pots and switch are fine so far.
The Roswell pickups are good enough that I don't feel any real need to replace them.
Depending what type of sound you're looking for, the pickups might not be exactly what you want. But they're not bad at all.
Construction is solid
Frets are nicely leveled and polished.
I had been looking at Epiphones, but they're about twice the price of the HB, even taking the shipping cost into account. And I actually found the quality to be comparable with the tuners and pickups and frets on my HB better than what I had experienced with the Epiphones.
I have no experience with any other HB models. But I wouldn't hesitate to take a shot with one.

 

[MarshallHeart]

FWIW Roswell Pickups are also a Thomann house brand so again take that how you will as well.

Roswell pickups=wilkinson pus

 

[That Cal Webway]

At Sturgis last summer, Harley became a super spreader- in a hardtail version.

Never symptomatic, but nevertheless, Harley do what Harley gonna do!

 

[kodiakblair]

I've heard that the Roswell pickups are the same pickups that were previously called Wilkinson pickups.

Roswell pickups=wilkinson pus

No, Roswell are not Wilkinson pickups.

The reason Lasse Thernoe ( Man in charge of the Harley Benton range) gave was the factories kept being supplied with fake Wilkinson pickups, teaming up with WSC Music put an end to it. With pickups coming from a single source they can tell at glance things are above board simply by checking orders, say Factory A is too supply 1000 Strats all they do is contact WSC Music and ask "how many pickups did Factory A order ?".

If the tally of pickups to guitars doesn't match, Factory A is in big trouble.

 

[jayroc1]

Mexico is in the western world, hourly manufacturing costs there work out at $4.99, in China it's $6.50.

A few years back JB-75 and J&D jazz bass necks shared the same SN format. The J&D basses were being made by Young Chang at that time.


The power of the logo eh.
Roswell supply pickups to Fender

View attachment 807539

Mexico is in the western world, hourly manufacturing costs there work out at $4.99, in China it's $6.50.

A few years back JB-75 and J&D jazz bass necks shared the same SN format. The J&D basses were being made by Young Chang at that time.


The power of the logo eh.
Roswell supply pickups to Fender

View attachment 807539

Most likely for their Squier line.