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ribbetingfrog

Show us your Harley Bentons

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Likes we have over on basschat, let’s see what y’all have!

i like me some cheap German fun.

 

This is my Te70 rosewood deluxe that i’ve Put a new neck on.

The original neck had a couple of issues so I bought a new neck off eBay and finished it with tru oil.

New neck needed a thorough shimming.

Thinking I might get some new tuners and a fancy bridge.

I figured the stars made me think of a Wild West Sheriff so it’s earned the name Sheriff Fatman as  I love a bit of Carter the Unstoppable Sex Machine.

7B84B67A-CCB3-4B3B-BAC9-07681C248443.jpeg

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Nice - that combination of the Western  US military star and a black Tele puts me in mind of Joe Strummer, Punk Rock Warlord. 

My HB MR Classic arrived recently, this is is being unboxed: 
image.thumb.jpeg.b1805f98dc97cc7cdb9d9963230b5f28.jpeg

 

Is it just me, or are some people on eBay going a bit mad with these? I've just seen one of the F-Offset-types HB on eBay with a start price not far off double what Thomann has them in stock for!

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3 hours ago, ezbass said:

Chancers!


I know! I looked to see if there was a way to report it to ebay, but no dice. Pretty sure they used to have something that said "price gouging" in their report categories. I would get it if it was a rare / oop colour, or they'd stopped doing them left handed or something, but the model colour and all is on the Thomann website for about £100 or more less than the start price there.... Hate the thought of someone getting caught out by that, especially some young kid saving up for a guitar, or somebody's granny or whomever. 

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So..... 

 

I cracked and ordered one of these beauties a couple of weeks ago. Should be shipped in September or late August: 

18099282_800.jpg

 

I really want one of the JA60CCs in blue as well - the blue one I'll mod with a trem. They're not in stock currently either - I'm trying to hold off in the hope that post 2023, they do the anniversary spec as a DLX model in the CC colours. I'm indifferent on the "upgrade" of the body from basswood to alder, and the locking tuners instead of the standard, but stainless steel frets is a huge plus imo. The difference in price, once you take out the £20 gigbag is about the same as the upcharge for ss frets alone I've seen elsewhere. This sort of spec applied as a "DLX" model would be great elsewhere too - would love it on a 50s-model Strat type with 21 frets. (Probably my little, odd quirk as a player. It's not a deal breaker per se, but I do have a very marked preference for a 21 fret neck, shorn of that little 22nd overhang. I almost never play above fret 15 anyhow.... ) Left handed, with the 25th style specs, 21 frets, and a (roasted) maple fingerboard, LPB body... I honestly would buy that over the Tidepool Player Series strat currently on my want list... 

I'm really keen on the matching J bass for this as well - let's see if I can clear some space out at home to justify it before end 2023. I know it's easy to get carried away with "budget" guitars, but for a hobby player, this sort of spec could really be the perfect sweet spot between stock spec and price. Of course, HB's 'factory to buyer via Thomann's operation' makes all the difference. One of the best things is how broad their left handed range is. I just looked at Squier's website by comparison, very limited range. A lot of the big names are the same. Ironically, as a general rule I've often found over the years that the "copy" brands cater better to lefties than the "originals". I'm actually quite excited, to a sad degree, to be able to buy an LE like this. My old american Strat, bought new in 1994, was a 40th anniversary year American Standard. The AS guitars right handed that year had, as with much of the range, a special logo badge added, but for whatever reason (shape, probably) it was not put on the left handed models that year - nor anything in its place. HB score for remembering the lefties here! 

 

Full review to come when this lands. I've gotten a little excited about the offset shape all over again after watching one of Iggy Pop's guitarists wielding a brace of Fender offsets on Saturday night... 


 

20230701_202847.jpg

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24 minutes ago, EdwardMarlowe said:

So..... 

 

I cracked and ordered one of these beauties a couple of weeks ago. Should be shipped in September or late August: 

18099282_800.jpg

 

I really want one of the JA60CCs in blue as well - the blue one I'll mod with a trem. They're not in stock currently either - I'm trying to hold off in the hope that post 2023, they do the anniversary spec as a DLX model in the CC colours. I'm indifferent on the "upgrade" of the body from basswood to alder, and the locking tuners instead of the standard, but stainless steel frets is a huge plus imo. The difference in price, once you take out the £20 gigbag is about the same as the upcharge for ss frets alone I've seen elsewhere. This sort of spec applied as a "DLX" model would be great elsewhere too - would love it on a 50s-model Strat type with 21 frets. (Probably my little, odd quirk as a player. It's not a deal breaker per se, but I do have a very marked preference for a 21 fret neck, shorn of that little 22nd overhang. I almost never play above fret 15 anyhow.... ) Left handed, with the 25th style specs, 21 frets, and a (roasted) maple fingerboard, LPB body... I honestly would buy that over the Tidepool Player Series strat currently on my want list... 

I'm really keen on the matching J bass for this as well - let's see if I can clear some space out at home to justify it before end 2023. I know it's easy to get carried away with "budget" guitars, but for a hobby player, this sort of spec could really be the perfect sweet spot between stock spec and price. Of course, HB's 'factory to buyer via Thomann's operation' makes all the difference. One of the best things is how broad their left handed range is. I just looked at Squier's website by comparison, very limited range. A lot of the big names are the same. Ironically, as a general rule I've often found over the years that the "copy" brands cater better to lefties than the "originals". I'm actually quite excited, to a sad degree, to be able to buy an LE like this. My old american Strat, bought new in 1994, was a 40th anniversary year American Standard. The AS guitars right handed that year had, as with much of the range, a special logo badge added, but for whatever reason (shape, probably) it was not put on the left handed models that year - nor anything in its place. HB score for remembering the lefties here! 

 

Full review to come when this lands. I've gotten a little excited about the offset shape all over again after watching one of Iggy Pop's guitarists wielding a brace of Fender offsets on Saturday night... 


 

20230701_202847.jpg

Was that the gig with Blondie, Generation Sex and SLF?

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4 minutes ago, EdwardMarlowe said:


Dog Day Afternoon - yes, that's the one! Great show. Buzzcocks and Lambrini Girls on the bill too. 

Excellent. I'm going to see SLF at Custom House Square next month, with Peter Hook & The Light and Glen Matlock on the bill.

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15 minutes ago, Crusoe said:

Excellent. I'm going to see SLF at Custom House Square next month, with Peter Hook & The Light and Glen Matlock on the bill.


That'll be great! Met Matlock at Rough Trade East a few weeks ago when he did a solo appearance / Q&A / signing. Lovely guy. He picked up on the accent and mentioned he would be doing this show. Naturally I made a complete tit of myself mumbling "you wrote songs that changed my life, thank-you." He was probably thinking "Bloody Pistols fans, I've done so much else!"

Edited by EdwardMarlowe
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Whoops.... accidentally found the HB25th Ann "loyalty sale" 25% off 25 products..... 

 

That DC Junior type on my list is now on its way to me. I'll have to save a little more for that 25th Ann series J bass....  (Next step will obs be to have a custom torty guard made up for it and play it loud... LAMF.)

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13 hours ago, Crusoe said:

New kid on the block

 

20230712_190218.jpg


Nice! Black Teles with a rosewood board always remind me of Joe's number one: 

JoeStrummerBellia.jpg

Joe's was, from memory, a 66 burst that he oversprayed black - body and guard both. 

I have half an eye on the HB 52 style Tele myself. Seems like it should compare very favourably to the Squier CV 50s Tele or the JHS Vintage 52 style model, but at a more easily justified price... 

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My loyalty sale HB DC Jnr. At £128, it cost less than I've seen tgem go for used.... I did wonder if QA might be a little more flexible at this reduced price, but the sole flaw I can find is that one of the screws on the back of the bridge is cery slightly angled. As with the MR Classic, the bridge feels a little cheap but perfectly functional; I'm not anticipating replacing it in the foreseeable. In the medium term, I want to add a totey guard for a Johnny Thunders vibe. I'm halfway tempted to switch the knobs for dice knobs as well. Overall, It's ridiculously impressive for the money. Great set uo out of the bix just needed tuning. Not a sniff of fretsprout or a sharp fret anywhere. This is what impresses me most at this sale price. Back when I started playing in 1991ish, the most basic, plywood Strat type cost more than this new (even without taking inflation into account), and wasn't always as good as this. I'd put it on a par with the Epiphone model. To really go a step up, I'd need to be looking at sonething like  Maybach or a Gibson; the problem with those is that it always felt inherently 'wrong' to me to take what is by design a simple, budget instrument and inflate it to "luxury" level. 

 

The one thing that I'd like to see Thomann do better is to get the TV yellow colour right. I *might* have paid full rather than sale price over this one for that (throw in stainless steel fretsand it would be a given), but all other things being equal, if it was just the colour I wouldn't replace this one with another for that, which auggests it's not really that big a deal.... 

 

Thomann dodo a small range of "tribute" guitars, basically unofficial quasi sig models.... if the MR Classic is a great base for a Johnny Ramone tribute, this and the Fat version should surely provide a great option for a nod to both Johnny Thunders and Mick Jones circa 1976/77 especially. 

 

One thing I'm really impressed with, as on the MR, is the neatness of the finish around the headstock, where the black facing meets the colour on the rear. 

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37 minutes ago, ezbass said:

Nice, I love a single pickup guitar and if that’s a P90, all the better. The colour seems to be more of an effort at a Tele like butterscotch blond, rather than TV yellow. Crazy VFM at that price.

 

Yes. Absent Thomann's size allowing them to deal direct with the factory then sell direct to their huge online customer base, I'd expect this to be in the £350 region that other, similar guitars retail at. It is somewhere between tv yellow and the blonde of my 71RI Tele. Like Fender did a version of tv yellow for themselves. 

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19 hours ago, YnJ said:

I'm might be a superstrat guy, I'm afraid. The EMG pick ups intrigue me, I'm not familiar with them


Hey, if they work for you, that's what matters - never apologise for your choice of instrument! :) 

When it comes to tying a new pickup-type, I'd probably be much more likely to go for it with a Fender or Superstrat type than  especially a semi, it being so much easier with the former to switch pickups in and out if what is in there doesn't work, or you prefer it to what you tried instead. 


 

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I try to look for something else that DiMarzio pick ups. I know more or less what a DiMarzio pick up sounds like, and I know that I like how a DiMarzio pick up sounds. I feel like all my guitars would end up sounding more or less similiar if I keep putting DiMarzio pick ups in them though

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