Not sure about better but it's great , it's about what works , I've played a lot of guitars , but my old epiphone lp clasic is up there with the pest of em

I don't think anyone should have a floating trem unless they have a tech and multiple guitars. Those things are just a nightmare to deal with. Personally I'd recommend: - Two humbuckers - 22 or 24 frets (never buy anything with 21 if you like rock music and have any aspirations to play lead--I can't tell you how many solos require a 22nd fret bend, especially if you like Metallica) - Easy upper fret access. Look at low end Ibanez RGs (RG421s are great for the money and more playable than guitars several times their price from some "reputable" brands) - Fixed bridge (tuning stability, and let's be real, any cheap guitar with a trem is just going to go right out of tune if you do anything more than a slight vibrato) For a first amp, the Positive Grid stuff is really good. I have the Go and the Mini for when I'm traveling. You could also read this post as "don't buy a Squire Strat Pack." That was my first guitar and amp, and all of these things were huge issues. Spend a little more to get what you actually need to play what you want to play. If you don't, you may end up quitting something you very well could have loved.

£179 , for a beginner , it’s a superb guitar .

People who say that the Harley Benton sounds better than the Gibson are looking for a completely different sound a Gibson Les Paul has a Gibson and Les Paul sound. That’s what makes it special!! if you want Metal guitar, match it up with a Jackson or any of the other companies. Gibson is Gibson! Period.

Another thing I've noticed has become a bit of a trend, at least with metal players, is playing heavier strings with lower tunings. I guess people finally figured out that you can go pretty far with string gauges before you actually break anything. I went from just a 12-60 in C std, to first a 64, then to a 70 and then to an 80. With lower tunings you can go quite heavy and still be comfortable, and you actually need to go quite heavy to keep the thing in tune if you play hard.

The fact that I started on an acoustic but I didn't make that many excuses to not play it...

It looks like you are using the neck pu on the benton and the bridge in the gibson. Bridge pu usually has a thicker sound, and the benton sounds a bit thin. Generaly, I'd say the cheap guitar is a good modding platform and with different pu's it could come closer to the gibson.

how many vids is he gonna make on this guitar XD

if you could only use a single fucking pickup position for a test

Neck picup vs bridge picup Gibson wins yah cheat

Get an epiphone

Lighter strings are not a new trend, it's the heavy string trend finally coming to an end.

It all sounds the same when you have the gain up that high 😂😂

They will have to pry my Friedman 4X12 from my cold dead hands, it pushes more air and sounds warmer/fuller than my 2X12s. Couldn't agree more that cab-less stages are all drums and lacking in the guitar dept. It seems FOH engineers are anti-guitar these days.

Bro first guitar is with neck pick up and second one with the bridge pick up, thats why second one sounds thiner otherwise they would sound even closer

As a man now screaming through his 30s, my back thanks me every gig for not hoofing a 4x12 up the stairs at a gig because the lift is broken. I love my 2x12. But what I've found on wattage and massive cabs is that sound engineers are really appreciative of it. Massive heads only really start cooking at higher volumes anyway, I once took a little LC-15 to a gig with my HK Tube-Factor in front. Created a massive wall of guitar, which may have been a little much for a pop gig! With the mids - man, I spent some of the 00's in the Aussie death metal scene. Nary a mid was heard. EMGs are kinda fun, but I've gone back to mid-output pickups after something Ola said - he likes the amp to do the work with a cleaner signal, and I wholeheartedly agree with that! The Retro 70s in some of the HB models are super smooth and full of life - something I always thought the 81/85/80s had an issue with.

Play on the same pickup

Tbh I think we should stop telling beginners to stay away from 8 strings. I think a guitarist who started on 8 would have such a fundamentally different way of approaching the instrument from what we’re used to and would have a really unique style.

I don't think it's in the sound, it'd be wood quality, hardware, workmanship, on top of.... Other stuff

Through a $5000 rig a gamecube would sound great af too

Don't enjoy playing offsets. They look cool but hard to play classical style with the guitar between your legs

Why are you using the neck on the HB and the bridge on the Gibson?

I really like your vibe

I can definitely hear

Great Thin Lizzy T

1. EMG's I only tried once and they're definitely not my cup of tea. Give me old school passive pickups any day. 2. 4x12's just don't make much sense these days unless you're in a bigger band. Smaller gigs, vertical 2x12's just make much more sense and they still look cool. 3. Scooped mids is something I just never got. 4. I think higher wattage amps are coming back because after the trend of lunchbox amps, people are realising their benefits in terms of tone. And I also noticed how on my MT15's lower wattage setting, the sound turns to mush really quickly as i turn up the gain compared to the full power setting. A JCM800 studio for example sounds really shrill if you don't crank up the master volume which is what they're designed to do. So I practically dime it and regulate the volume with an attenuator. That way I can reap the benefits of pushing the tubes without pissing my neighbours off. 5. I actually prefer high output pickups for the reason you mentioned. I prefer to get a high gain sound by pushing the input with the pickups and maybe a pedal for a solo boost. I find that you get less electronic hum and noise that way and retain note definition. The PRS Tremonti Treble and Bare Knuckle Pickup Alnico Nailbomb are great high output pickups for boosting the mids and not too harsh sounding.

Love my two full Marshall stacks!

im thinking of getting a jackson js22 blk ah for a first one, is it good? ill mainly play metal

got a Les Paul as a kid the weight dug into my shoulders and it was really uncomfortable while standing

I’ll tell you right now….. my 50’s gold top sounds thicker and richer. Has a ton of sustain. I’ve played a ton of guitar and I would pay the 2,500 over and over for my guitar. It’s 12.5 pounds of rock and roll!

The Gibson pickups do sound a bit clearer but it’s not a huge upgrade. And to be honest, you could buy the same pickups that the Gibson has for a fraction of the difference in price and it would sound almost identical 👍

A 100w Marshall JCM 800 2203KK, two Marshall JCM 800 4x12 cabs, Les Paul with 81/85's, and nothing in between is all I need, and it rips!!! The way metal was meant too be. I'm Loud n Proud, and I won't get rid of any of it.

I will live and die with my 10-46 Ernie ball rock n roll pure nickel strings. Amps always sound better than pedals.

Love my Zakk Wylde active EMG's.

Love benton

Do you think one dsy you'll use the same pickup selection and be more respectable

It’s not like 2000$ better

does it have stereo in? it doesn't look like it. that's a deal killer for me...

Friedman BE-OD is awesome: It has it's own tonal character (and Friedmans sound I think is the best version of Marshall growl I know), but it perfectly blends with the sound of growling tube amp and your guitar, and you can easily dial it in or out of soundscape. It just expands your tonal palette without taking anything out or masking sound of your gear. I didn't know such perfect OD/Distortion pedal existed until I bought it. (Actually I first bought Mooer 012 preamp for my mini pedalboard. Decided to try BE-OD after being impressed of it's sound.)

1. EMG isn't going anywhere, they're wildly popular. 2. 4x12 cabs aren't going anywhere. They push more air and sound better and look cooler. 3. Scooped mids will always be a thing. 4. Wattage will always be king, especially if the higher wattage version of an amp has better sounding transformers. 5. High output pickups will also always be a thing.

Gibson for me has a richer thicker sound, the Harley Benton sounds thinner

very mind blowing, such a very nice heavy metal tone.. the riffs you made very awesome really love it.. seems to sound like my favorite metal band lamb of god.. pretty awesome demo man.. i love it🤘🔥

Use whatever you want.

Just want to point out there's no way the HB has a AAA grade maple top, the wood alone could cost more than the guitar is worth. So it's a laminate top for sure. I do have a Gibson and love it, but must admit...for the price the HB does look and sound the part. A few customisations and I'm sure it won't sound too dissimilar to the Gibson. Only thing I would say though is the Gibson probably and should have better sustain and I'd like to think feels better in the hand when playing. I've never played another Les Paul that compares to the feel of a Gibson yet, not sure if its the nitro finish or just the craftsmanship, it's just been my experience. Every time I've done a blind test, I know which is a Gibson. But the HB seems to be a very close second, better than Epiphone it seems.

You do understand that the "Watts" of a guitar amp have nothing to do with the preamp, right? And that "high gain" has nothing to do with power amps anymore, right? In the days of yore, when guitar amps didn't have separate pre-amp and power amp volume controls, think Plexi, you had to crank the single output volume knob to overdrive the power amp tubes and get a buzzy tone. To increase the amount of distortion, things like volume booster pedals and "pre-distortion" effects (think Tube Screamer) were added in front of the overdriven power amp. Since overdriving the power amp section of a 100w tube amp like a Plexi for distortion resulted in quite a significant racket, usually annoying everyone around, eventually amps with lower Wattage power amp sections were created, so that the power amp would tip over into distortion earlier, without making the neighbourhood crumble. Over time, more and more pre-distortion circuits were added before the power amp stages, therefore titled "pre amp". Pre-amp stages can contain all sorts of things to mangle the guitar signal, including input gain, EQs and FX loops - but most prominently they're used for pre-amp distortion. Distortion that is imparted before the output power amp stage. The guitar input signal gets highly distorted in the pre-amp stage already, so there is no more need to crank the output power amp stage anymore for distortion. And that's the way it is until today. Pre-amp stages are responsible for distorting the guitar signal and "crafting the sound", whereas power amp stages are merely left in so the amp can "make the signal loud". That's it. They no longer serve the purpose of distortion. Why do you think things like a Mesa Triple Rectifier have three power amp stages with a total of 150W? Those 150W are not "sound shaping preamp gain" or something, those 150W are clean headroom, so that the amplifier can be cranked up to insane levels on-stage ... here's the kicker ... WITHOUT ADDING RELEVANT DISTORTION TO THE SIGNAL. Because the power amp stage is no longer the stage that imparts the distortion. The pre-amp adds the distortion, or pedals before it, and the effects loop adds things like delays and reverbs. Post distortion, pre (power) amp. The power amp's only job is then to make everything louder, as clean as possible. Ergo: the higher the Wattage, the cleaner the sound at louder levels. Your pseudo argument that a 150W amp is a high-gain amp and distorts the FX loop when its power amp is cranked is total nonsense, sorry. A 150W amp doesn't have 150W so you crank the output until it breaks up, and then try to add distortion in front in the hope to leave the room with your hearing still intact. A 150W amp has 150W so that you use as few Watts as possible of them, delivering the signal that goes into it as clean as possible. A Mesa Recto is not a "drive the power amp into distortion" amp. It's a "use the preamp for distortion" amp. Also, "high Wattage" has absolutely nothing to do with high gain. A power amp's Wattage is in zero relation to the amount of gain a pre-amp op-amp can add to a guitar signal. (At least for any amp that is not a single volume knob Plexi style amp.) You could have a clean pre-amp with a +10 dB gain stage go into a hefty 200W power amplifier, or a high-gain (!) pre-amp with a +200 dB gain stage play into a 1W power amplifier. Apples and oranges. No connection. Different things entirely. Things like a Triple Rectifier have so many Watts so they keep all that headroom (which you say you like?) clean and available when the amp has to be turned up VERY loud, like on stages. Since people at home usually don't have entire venues to fill, and thus people at home are unlikely to play at comparable volumes as on a large stage, a play-at-home practice amp can have a MUCH lower wattage with a LOT less (!) headroom, because it won't ever get cranked up all the way. If you want to find out what "headroom" means, take an amp with a variable power soak in it, switch it down to 1W or lower and crank the (power amp) volume up all the way until you get a loud enough signal. See how much of that "headroom" you have before things get distorted and thin and farty. Then switch the power soak off, and play at full 20W or whatever the play-at-home amplifier has, but turn the (power amp) volume all the way down. THAT is going to be what "headroom" is. It's the same when studio engineers power their 20W Yamaha NS10m's with totally overkill 200W+ power amplifiers. The less amplification the power amp circuit has to come up with, the less distortion and noise it will introduce into the signal. HEADROOM. Powering 20W NS10m speakers with a 5W power amp would be the equivalent of overdriving a practice amp. No headroom, lots of noise and distortion. So no, a high-Watt amplifier like a 150W Mesa with several dedicated pre-amp distortion units and volume knobs is NOT meant to have its power amp overdriven. And in contrast to what you claim, a small practice amp cranked up at a low wattage will very much introduce a lot of noise and distortion into its effects loop signal, whereas a yuge behemoth like a Mesa will be as clean as a whistle. If you use it correctly.

Fucking lol’d at uploading inappropriate photos to your band mates receiver. Good video!

Why are you playing the Harley Benton on the neck pickup though?

Jeff Watson of Night Ranger fame

Ngl as a bassist, I started off with a Thunderbird bass no regrets even if it is considered a funny shape, it has paved the way for me and got me going as a bass player but yeah playing other basses feels weird

Been using Kemper stage with 2 Kemper Kabinets with 5150 EL34 profile past several years never have had an issue with equipment, always cuts and can be heard, and always have people coming up after gigs asking how the hell my tone sounds so good! I can bring all my gear into venue in one trip. Keep it simple.