How good can a Les Paul Junior-inspired import under $200 US possibly be? I decided to find out and share with the group what I’ve found.
First, brief background. As a teen in the late seventies, I had a jamming buddy whose brother had a stable of Gibson guitars. We were not allowed to touch the Explorer, the LP Standard, the Flying V - - but he treated his cherry-red, single-P90 Les Paul Jr. as a beater and allowed us to use it in our jam sessions. I’d owned only humbucker-equipped guitars, and the Junior, in addition to feeling great in the hands, had something special about it. I knew nothing about the construction of various pickup types, but, unbeknownst to me, I was experiencing P90 love - - the fatness, grit, and growl of this early pickup design - - for the first time.
For years, I kept my eyes open at pawn shops, but no Juniors ever appeared. I played an Epiphone that was interesting and affordable but didn’t excite me. The Gibsons were priced far beyond what I could pay. Recently, having had a very positive experience with an inexpensive ES-335 knockoff, I started looking at Harley Benton offerings. And there, I saw it: a cherry red mahogany single-cutaway with one P90 in the bridge. The price, at $175 US, seemed too good to be true. I felt certain it was, but some internet reviewers seemed favorably impressed. I figured, what’s to lose? I ordered mine.
The double box from Thomann arrived a week after I placed my order on the website. The guitar was well protected and there was no damage evident. Weight came in just under 6.5 lbs. I noticed a few things immediately. The finish, a transparent satin, was pretty, though there were some areas where the sheen was inconsistent and had light scratches. The action was visibly high, and the white nut - - said to be graphite - - was without a doubt the roughest I’d ever seen or felt. The strings sat deep in their slots, and every angle was sharp. No contouring whatsoever. The amaranth fretboard was dry and dull. The neck was very nicely crafted, with an excellent scarf joint, medium-jumbo frets well shaped and finished, vintage Wilkinson Deluxe tuners, and a very comfortable slanted neck joint (glued/set). The body is a four-piece, with nicely executed and subtle joints in the mahogany grain. You can find good pictures here. But here are a couple of quickies:
A fan of chunky necks, I immediately was impressed by the profile, which is somewhere between a Fender modern “C” and an Allparts fatty. I measured thickness at 0.858 in. at the first fret and 0.990 at the twelfth. Radius at the heel is 14”. My left hand glided over the satin finish. The two control knobs moved smoothly and with a nice, viscous resistance. The face of the peghead is matte black with the tasteful Harley Benton logo. The truss rod adjustment is at the nut. I noticed that the height of the strings above the P90 poles was far greater than I’ve been accustomed to seeing.
I set to work addressing the obvious shortcomings. The strings, a 10-46 set, were of the “never in tune” variety, but I decided to use them for the setup and change to Ernie Balls later. The bridge, a Tune-O-Matic wraparound type, is adjustable for position, height, and per-string intonation. I found that no attempt had been made to set a reasonable action or intonation. I needed about an hour to move the bridge assembly back and achieve good intonation and string height approximating Gibson factory specs (3/64 in. at 12th fret). At that point, I found to my pleasant surprise that the nut, though rough, had finely cut slots. String height over the first fret was good. I rounded the bottoms of the slots with a few light strokes with nut files. Using a light touch, I found no buzz working my way up the neck. The truss rod needed no adjustment.
Opening the tight-fitting control plate, I found two Alpha pots, stamped “Made in Korea.” No pot value was visible, though I assume they are 500k. The cover is shielded, and the control cavity is shielded with paint. The soldering is neat and the wiring nicely done.
It took about 30 minutes with a file and Dremel tool to bring the nut into decent shape. I addressed the slight finish imperfections with a wipe of satin polyurethane. When it dried, a very light touch with 0000 steel wool had the results I wanted. Lemon oil brought out lovely grain and deep colors in the fingerboard.
I took off the frankly awful factory strings and put on my Ernies, and I plugged directly into my Quilter Mini Reverb 101 with all the knobs at the noon position. I set the guitar knobs wide open and hit an open E chord. I was rewarded with the unmistakable warmth, smoothness, and rich sound of a good P90. I ran some scales and found the neck pleasant, even superb. Turning up the gain at the amp, the Roswell pickup entered sizzle-land, producing superb sustain and clean distortion - - the only way I know to describe it. Personality galore. Putting a Marshall OD pedal into the chain, I was rewarded with nothing short of superb blues screaming and harmonics, with excellent sustain. Overall, spanky and hot, but clear. Playing with the volume and tone controls, I found them to be very responsive and smooth. Cleans are warm and full. The absence of hum is intriguing - - noise is surprisingly low. Perhaps the use of shielded wire contributes to this.
The verdict? Once again, I come away thinking that imports are delivering greater value than they have a right to. When a guitar under $200 has this fine fit and finish, is aesthetically pleasing, and feels and sounds this good, it is a “shot over the bow” at guitars costing several times as much. Other reviewers have indicated they may use a shim to raise the pickup and perhaps choose a different bridge. I won’t rule out the shim, though, really, using the knobs on the guitar and amp produces a nice spectrum of tones. Adding the overdrive pedal unleashes a little monster. The Roswell P90, selling alone for less than $30 US on the Internet, has surprising character, which I am in no hurry to change.
Is my hankering for that old Gibson Junior fulfilled? I think that, at least for a while, it is, and surprisingly so.
First, brief background. As a teen in the late seventies, I had a jamming buddy whose brother had a stable of Gibson guitars. We were not allowed to touch the Explorer, the LP Standard, the Flying V - - but he treated his cherry-red, single-P90 Les Paul Jr. as a beater and allowed us to use it in our jam sessions. I’d owned only humbucker-equipped guitars, and the Junior, in addition to feeling great in the hands, had something special about it. I knew nothing about the construction of various pickup types, but, unbeknownst to me, I was experiencing P90 love - - the fatness, grit, and growl of this early pickup design - - for the first time.
For years, I kept my eyes open at pawn shops, but no Juniors ever appeared. I played an Epiphone that was interesting and affordable but didn’t excite me. The Gibsons were priced far beyond what I could pay. Recently, having had a very positive experience with an inexpensive ES-335 knockoff, I started looking at Harley Benton offerings. And there, I saw it: a cherry red mahogany single-cutaway with one P90 in the bridge. The price, at $175 US, seemed too good to be true. I felt certain it was, but some internet reviewers seemed favorably impressed. I figured, what’s to lose? I ordered mine.
The double box from Thomann arrived a week after I placed my order on the website. The guitar was well protected and there was no damage evident. Weight came in just under 6.5 lbs. I noticed a few things immediately. The finish, a transparent satin, was pretty, though there were some areas where the sheen was inconsistent and had light scratches. The action was visibly high, and the white nut - - said to be graphite - - was without a doubt the roughest I’d ever seen or felt. The strings sat deep in their slots, and every angle was sharp. No contouring whatsoever. The amaranth fretboard was dry and dull. The neck was very nicely crafted, with an excellent scarf joint, medium-jumbo frets well shaped and finished, vintage Wilkinson Deluxe tuners, and a very comfortable slanted neck joint (glued/set). The body is a four-piece, with nicely executed and subtle joints in the mahogany grain. You can find good pictures here. But here are a couple of quickies:
A fan of chunky necks, I immediately was impressed by the profile, which is somewhere between a Fender modern “C” and an Allparts fatty. I measured thickness at 0.858 in. at the first fret and 0.990 at the twelfth. Radius at the heel is 14”. My left hand glided over the satin finish. The two control knobs moved smoothly and with a nice, viscous resistance. The face of the peghead is matte black with the tasteful Harley Benton logo. The truss rod adjustment is at the nut. I noticed that the height of the strings above the P90 poles was far greater than I’ve been accustomed to seeing.
I set to work addressing the obvious shortcomings. The strings, a 10-46 set, were of the “never in tune” variety, but I decided to use them for the setup and change to Ernie Balls later. The bridge, a Tune-O-Matic wraparound type, is adjustable for position, height, and per-string intonation. I found that no attempt had been made to set a reasonable action or intonation. I needed about an hour to move the bridge assembly back and achieve good intonation and string height approximating Gibson factory specs (3/64 in. at 12th fret). At that point, I found to my pleasant surprise that the nut, though rough, had finely cut slots. String height over the first fret was good. I rounded the bottoms of the slots with a few light strokes with nut files. Using a light touch, I found no buzz working my way up the neck. The truss rod needed no adjustment.
Opening the tight-fitting control plate, I found two Alpha pots, stamped “Made in Korea.” No pot value was visible, though I assume they are 500k. The cover is shielded, and the control cavity is shielded with paint. The soldering is neat and the wiring nicely done.
It took about 30 minutes with a file and Dremel tool to bring the nut into decent shape. I addressed the slight finish imperfections with a wipe of satin polyurethane. When it dried, a very light touch with 0000 steel wool had the results I wanted. Lemon oil brought out lovely grain and deep colors in the fingerboard.
I took off the frankly awful factory strings and put on my Ernies, and I plugged directly into my Quilter Mini Reverb 101 with all the knobs at the noon position. I set the guitar knobs wide open and hit an open E chord. I was rewarded with the unmistakable warmth, smoothness, and rich sound of a good P90. I ran some scales and found the neck pleasant, even superb. Turning up the gain at the amp, the Roswell pickup entered sizzle-land, producing superb sustain and clean distortion - - the only way I know to describe it. Personality galore. Putting a Marshall OD pedal into the chain, I was rewarded with nothing short of superb blues screaming and harmonics, with excellent sustain. Overall, spanky and hot, but clear. Playing with the volume and tone controls, I found them to be very responsive and smooth. Cleans are warm and full. The absence of hum is intriguing - - noise is surprisingly low. Perhaps the use of shielded wire contributes to this.
The verdict? Once again, I come away thinking that imports are delivering greater value than they have a right to. When a guitar under $200 has this fine fit and finish, is aesthetically pleasing, and feels and sounds this good, it is a “shot over the bow” at guitars costing several times as much. Other reviewers have indicated they may use a shim to raise the pickup and perhaps choose a different bridge. I won’t rule out the shim, though, really, using the knobs on the guitar and amp produces a nice spectrum of tones. Adding the overdrive pedal unleashes a little monster. The Roswell P90, selling alone for less than $30 US on the Internet, has surprising character, which I am in no hurry to change.
Is my hankering for that old Gibson Junior fulfilled? I think that, at least for a while, it is, and surprisingly so.
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Sometimes adding a second guitar to an order doesn’t raise the shipping charge. Just sayin’)
