marc2211
Tele-Afflicted
So I have wanted a TV Yellow Double Cut for ever. There is something about them. I've had a Gibson SG with p90's which was nice, but it just wasn't the same.
Ideally I've wanted a DC with a 60's style neck as I generally don't like the fat 50's version. I couldn't get one from Gibson nor Epiphone, and didn't want to pay 2k for a Maybach, so back in 2020 I bought a Gibson LP Special in TV Yellow to see if it would scratch the itch... it was a diaster from the start.
The neck was *huge*, the finish was awful (the binding on the neck was totally uneven and looked like it had been scraped with an axe), the pickups were so dark as to be unusable - Gibson agreed and offered to fix it under warranty, but despite *really* trying, I didn't like the guitar and sold it. Genuinely it was never worth even close to the 1400Euro I paid for it, it was a real disappointment.
I sold my last p90 guitar last year (50's Tribute SG), and although didn't miss it, I did miss the p90's.
Fast forward to last week - I have had my eye on a Harley Benton DC for about 3 years, but figured it really couldn't be any good for less than 200Euro! It was in my basket for ever, but I could never bring myself to buy one. I saw they released the 'fat' version with a thicker neck and stacked humbucker, with the 'classic version' with the 60's neck and single p90 on backorder... I figured I didn't want to miss out.
I watched a lot of YT videos all saying that this guitar was a hidden gem, and worth 4 times the price, an ideal modding platform if you wanted to... and I clicked buy. It came in the post today and I am *not* disappointed at all! At first glance it's fantastic!
Brilliant build quality (perfect, not a scratch on it), decent equipment (Wilkinson tuners, decent bridge) and amazingly playable out of the box (suitably low action, no buzzing, playable up the neck). It's also crazy light! I've not had a chance to play plugged in much, but the p90 is night and day better than the Gibson one in the Special with the p90 chime and definition. The fret board feels like ebony, really tight and dense, smooth with no grain/pore marks at all, it's nicer than all the Pau Ferro I've seen recently.
Genuinely I am amazed, the hype so far is proving true. For 195Euro!!
It really does throw into question how Gibson could have charged seven times more for the lemon of a guitar they sold me, or indeed for any type of 'LP Special' guitar.
The only thing I'd change so far is the nut. It has a nut made out of the same material that Gibson uses, a white artificial material, so I'll change for a bone nut at some point, but this is purely personal preference.
Wow.
Ideally I've wanted a DC with a 60's style neck as I generally don't like the fat 50's version. I couldn't get one from Gibson nor Epiphone, and didn't want to pay 2k for a Maybach, so back in 2020 I bought a Gibson LP Special in TV Yellow to see if it would scratch the itch... it was a diaster from the start.
The neck was *huge*, the finish was awful (the binding on the neck was totally uneven and looked like it had been scraped with an axe), the pickups were so dark as to be unusable - Gibson agreed and offered to fix it under warranty, but despite *really* trying, I didn't like the guitar and sold it. Genuinely it was never worth even close to the 1400Euro I paid for it, it was a real disappointment.
I sold my last p90 guitar last year (50's Tribute SG), and although didn't miss it, I did miss the p90's.
Fast forward to last week - I have had my eye on a Harley Benton DC for about 3 years, but figured it really couldn't be any good for less than 200Euro! It was in my basket for ever, but I could never bring myself to buy one. I saw they released the 'fat' version with a thicker neck and stacked humbucker, with the 'classic version' with the 60's neck and single p90 on backorder... I figured I didn't want to miss out.
I watched a lot of YT videos all saying that this guitar was a hidden gem, and worth 4 times the price, an ideal modding platform if you wanted to... and I clicked buy. It came in the post today and I am *not* disappointed at all! At first glance it's fantastic!
Brilliant build quality (perfect, not a scratch on it), decent equipment (Wilkinson tuners, decent bridge) and amazingly playable out of the box (suitably low action, no buzzing, playable up the neck). It's also crazy light! I've not had a chance to play plugged in much, but the p90 is night and day better than the Gibson one in the Special with the p90 chime and definition. The fret board feels like ebony, really tight and dense, smooth with no grain/pore marks at all, it's nicer than all the Pau Ferro I've seen recently.
Genuinely I am amazed, the hype so far is proving true. For 195Euro!!
It really does throw into question how Gibson could have charged seven times more for the lemon of a guitar they sold me, or indeed for any type of 'LP Special' guitar.
The only thing I'd change so far is the nut. It has a nut made out of the same material that Gibson uses, a white artificial material, so I'll change for a bone nut at some point, but this is purely personal preference.
Wow.
