Did I Mess Up My Harley Benton Mod ?! | Guitar Tweakz

[@jinbyun]

Hey Kris, I have a little hypothesis for the split, but it's a bit long so please bear with me. You probably know about pickup impedance, and know that passive bridge humbuckers have around 8~10kohm of it, which is due to addition of two 4~5k ohm coils in series. By putting a 2.2k ohm resistor between the coils, you give the 'hot' coil to choose between 2 paths for going to ground. One path is the 2.2k resistance from resistor, and the other is the 5k resistance from the "canceled coil". The easiest path to ground is the 2.2k resistance, but due to the resistance, some of the currents (negative current, since we are going to ground) will also go to the 5k path, resulting in partial split humbucker. Now, let's talk in the sense of the fluence pickup. My understanding is that their impedance is ~2k, meaning each coil will be around 1k. Do you see the picture? This time, 2.2k will definitely be a more resistant path to choose, thus more negative current to ground will pass through the 1k ohm "canceled" coil, making it more 'hot' than we would want. So to make the prs mod work with fluence, I think you should use lower value resistor, maybe 500 ohm instead of 2200 ohm. I had a similar experience by splitting a neck filtertron with 1k ohm resistor. It also didn't change much. So I think you should try with a lower value resistor. This is a hypothesis, so I may be wrong, but I am going to try a lower value resistor with my filtertron and thought maybe your fluence pickup has similar problem. I hope this is the solution, but I am not 100% sure.

[@famtoonen18]

PS, I've seen Jonathan Koh is also in love with his sparkling Fusion iii. 🥰🥰🥰 I still play my sparkling fusion ii daily, while it now has to compete with a HB Aeolus and a 2004 US standard blonde stratocaster.

[@denis_kleshchev]

I'd swap that push-pulls with push-pushes, they are much easier to use. It's really tricky to pull the knob fast in the middle of the song, but pushing is easy. And there are 10 way strat style switches. Sounds scarry but it's not :) it is a regular 5 way switch which you can additionally switch up and get five more positiins. You literally can make all routings in the world with it

[@fedest]

Hey Kris, I think the issue with the resistor trick, is just what you mentioned at 11:40, I remember the manual saying that the voice selector cables are just electronic switches and carry no signal (and thus may share a contact point at a switch). But! If you are still feeling experimental, there are some solder pads on the back of the pickup to select what is the active coil for voice 3. These are 3 pads in a row, where one of the outer ones (depending on the coil you want) is bridged to the middle one. I'd assume this middle one is connected to ground when voice 3 is selected, so maybe replacing this bridge with a resistor does the trick 🤓 Additionally, there is another solder pad for South Coil Out (intended for HSS or HSH combinations with single coil fluences); might be possible to wire that one to ground (with a resistor) and get the (partial) split with the North Coil as the active one, in voices 1 and 2.

[@SG-js2qn]

Very, very practical to just change the way you think about using single coils via coil split.

[@karlstolz]

I just used the same pickups but with other split settings - I have 3 push-pull pots (this is HB550) and one of them switches voice1-voice2 on both pickups, but coil-split voices are separately on 2nd and 3rd push-pulls, so I can have all possible HH/SS/HS/SH variations, some of them sounds interesting. In all combinations humbucker can have voice1 or voice2. Additionally by fluence classic there are soldering pods on backside that allows to select which coil will be "single coil" in voice3.

[@devnull5109]

I have a guitar with the same pickups, and have been in the same scenario as you Kris! I've been meaning to do the same mod, and glad to see your very helpful video showing how to do it! Thanks a lot for the video

[@frantisca]

Hi Kris: that was the mod to make ! Now you have the tones you want with the vol pot down. As for the split, you are right: circuit boards don't function like passive pickups but, on the other hand, you get a few advantages with the Fluence pu's: 2 voices, no hum, plus the coil tap, even if there is a slight vol drop (easy to compensate with the vol knob). Kudos for your soldering: very neat ! Cheers

[@donald-parker]

I've got Fishman Fluences on one of my guitars, and one of the things I like the best about them is the "single coil" voice. Compared to any other PU's I've had, they don't seem to suffer with a huge volume loss. I do like the idea of modifying the voicings the way you did. I've never been a big fan of push/pull pots - they just feel awkward to me. If I was building a guitar from scratch, I think I would be more inclined to put little 3 way mini-toggle switches for each PU so I could mix any voices I wanted, and visually see at a glance what is selected (and less likely to push a push-pull pot accidently). I suppose you could use a mini-toggle to replace the big "F-style blade switch" too. Cosmetically it would look nice - just 3 mini-toggles in a row. - 1 for PU selection and 2 to control the voicing for each PU. Kind of hard to mod your "sparkle" guitar like this, but easy to do on a guitar where the blade switch is mounted in a pickguard. One thing I might use a push pull pot for is to disconnect the battery for the active PU when pulled. Anyway - good episode!

[@dscataglini]

I would have set it up differently. The volume knob would have switched voice 1/2 just for the neck, the tone knob would have switch the voicing for the bridge, and re-introduce the switch in that hole in between the knobs to activate voice 3 (split coils). I don't know if it's possible to split only 1 of the pickups. If that's possible I'd make the switch a 3 way switch. No split, Both split, only neck split. That to me would make more sense. That way if you want you can have all the combination you want

[@Exsomos]

I did the same mod to my Harley Benton CST24T, made an definitely noticeable difference. You can also experiment with what resistors that you use and that will change the tone of the single coil "tapped/partial" or whatever people are calling it this week. I see that it is common to use different values in the Neck vs the bridge. I feel, for me, that it helped bring the Single Coil "Tone" closer to a nicer kinda vintage type tone, and for me, and the choice of resistors that I used, which were different values for the Neck and Bridge pickups, made a noticeable difference, and IMO an improvement.

[@johnpacino4491]

I'd buy passive HB and passive single coil for the neck And maybe add pickguard to cover the neck pickup cavity. Something like tele style.

[@ericcarpenter3263]

I don’t have a lot of guitars, but my favorites have all been modded. I love tinkering with them. I have a PRS SE that I’ve modded to death and same goes for my Les Paul Special. Mostly electronic changes, but they were rather bland before. Keep modding brother, you may never get it exactly where you want, but that’s half the fun.

[@KrenarCilkuGuitar]

Out of topic, that PJD behind you is beautiful man! Gotta revisit the video you did for it!

[@KrisBarocsi]

That‘s awesome! The guys at PJD really know what they’re doing. I love that St John. 🔥🔥

[@mountainman8775]

I really liked the jam at the beginning of this, the guitar is sounding great in a really vintage way

[@KrisBarocsi]

Thanks a lot man! I tried to go for that good old Opeth drive sound in the intro. Cheers

[@jameswilson3554]

@ 608 that awesome riff is jamming...dude..do somthing with that music. Excellent video 2 thumbs. I hear what you mean in the tone. Sounds great both ways .....

[@OneMomentFromForever]

Definitely use a trim pots, but I wonder if you could also use some kind of cap/treble bleed on the trim pot to make the treble frequencies stronger in coil split too

[@franky-161]

DIY'ing stuff is so nice, keep on!

[@yellowdudewithedibleshorts]

That PAF game chills man.... Isn't it possible to route the voicing selection to a 3 points toggle switch? and just go with normal pots (not push-pull ones). I'm not familiar with fluence wiring, but to me that's the most confortable way of dealing with coil splitting on my guitars.

[@T.m.K]

Hi Kris, thank you. I don't know how others, but I like watching your videos twice. First I'm wondering what interesting content you have done, second - how you playing. By the way, I want to thank you, because you encouraged me to make a small mod in my Tele. With your advice, I bought CTS pots vol and tone, made the change myself ( that was for me first ever ). After change - much much better, longer-range where I can control the tone in guitar. And neck pickup gets alive, before I had a filling that was a little bit muddy. Generally, I'm very happy after a change, the sound is crispier. Tele with 2x humb. Big thank you !!! 👍

[@KrisBarocsi]

Tomek, that’s awesome!! So glad to hear that. Enjoy your tele. 🔥

[@T.m.K]

@@KrisBarocsi Thank you, I really do !

[@stephanematis]

Kris, I think it would be cool if you approached perhaps Frank Falbo, the guy who got Fishman into this pickup technology, and perhaps speak about the kind of options you could have in modding. Would be a cool interview IMO PS Yes, the same Frank Falbo who thought up the SD P-Rail, Liberator and owns Falbo Guitars

[@PooNinja]

Could ya add a tiny trim pot so you can adjust the resistance to the perfect bleed for your taste? Will the do a Floyd version of the sparkle? 🤞🏽🤞🏽🤞🏽

[@TheAxe4Ever]

Sounds awesome to me. And this may sound silly and overkill, but if you want the split coils tone to have a bit more oomph, maybe just kick on a dedicated transparent boost pedal ever so slightly boosted when you pull the tone pot for split. Maybe? Maybe not. Or, like you said, just accept it for what it is. Personally, I would just go with a really good set of passives. Then your mod will work. I’m a huge fan of passives anyway.

[@KrisBarocsi]

Yeah, the boost pedal trick would definitely work. Honestly, I don’t think I’ll use the split too often so I’m not worried about that. Haha! I’m also a passive pu player but on this guitar I really wanted something else. And I love the tones I have to say. 👌

[@danielflintknapping]

Good stuff! Maybe in the future you could some mods on a HSH if you feel like it. Would be really interesting!

[@horschy4856]

Cool Mod with the resistor. I will try this on my HSS-Type 👍 First lesson while try soldering? AHH, it's hot! 😂

[@LeifPalmin]

I got a black one, original. Love it.

[@fredericadda]

Great problem-solving skills !

[@fraenkiboii]

You modded this guitar so much, it's about time for HB to finally make you a signature model. The Kris Sparklocsi! Edit: Oh and I did a similar thing with an HSS Strat. I wanted to use a 500k volume pot, which would have made the single coils way to bright, so I added a resistor to them.

[@normanperkel139]

Kris, you could make a broom sound amazing!

[@lukaslmguitarcorner]

First! Haha, finally able to say it. Looking forward to watching the video

[@KrisBarocsi]

You fast! Real fast! ⚡️ Enjoy the video.

Super cool video!!! 🤘🏻🤘🏻🤘🏻

[@MichaelMacherey]

How about to use a third potentiometer as a flexible resistor, instead of a fixed resistor, to figure out if a different resistance will do the job?

[@Worlds_Worst_Guitarist]

I was feeling the same way about the Neck Voice 2, but the other way round. I had Voice 1 as main, and 2 on Pull. But never liked the Voice 2 Neck Sound, kind of ....... useless (?) i guess 'cause that sound loses its Attack in some kind of way. That's why i pulled it out of my Bernie Marsden and put the Stock Pickups back in. But guess what: i'm going to put the Fishmans in again, and this time i will just don't wire the Neck Voice 2 at all (!) so i have Neck Voice 1 in both options.

[@gingataff]

I'd use a 5 way superswitch and have P1: Bridge voice 1 - P2: Bridge voice 2 - P3: Both pickups voice 3 - P4: Neck voice 2 - P5: Neck voice 1

[@valgrathblak]

In Flames!

[@KrisBarocsi]

YESSS! 💪

[@omgnerv]

oh pls I need this model as a FR version

[@voxelraster]

I think the pickups need a new guitar on them!

[@tomfoolery2082]

Playing clean country to blues n southern rock with an sg and tele + bassman and marshall in wet dry , is the fishman set something ud recomend? They sound great from here . Thx iv learned a lot from ur vids .

[@ab036]

good stuff.

[@hadleymanmusic]

Their tiger striped fusion 3's ? I wonder if I can get a black n white?

[@famtoonen18]

Yes Kris, you are a madman and should have listened to me. Prails with a triple shot ring on this guitar..... I have my neck in P90 and bridge in rails single coil. The middle position is 🥰. Just kidding, you are not a madman, but I will not swap my prails with fishmans yet. 🤣

[@KrisBarocsi]

Haha! Yeah I have to say those P Rails are insanely good. Maybe in an other project guitar… 🤩

[@famtoonen18]

@@KrisBarocsi looking forward to see that project. Keep going mate, love your vids.

[@kmichaelp4508]

Make it simple slick!😬

[@iridios6127]

Harrison, you must to build a dark matter reactor into a guitar !! ))))

[@KrisBarocsi]

😂 on it.

[@ravelitschimo]

Kris I like you, but the changes are too much for me. The original back looked much better. For the hole 🕳 you could use a screw with a flat round hat or a led button. So you know exactly how much energy your battery got. The battery cavity is fun 🤩 but there are easier ways. At the end the guitar sounded 33% better for me. And the original looks like 2000 €

[@rayzorback88]

"Ouch, it's HOT!" We guitarists are masters of the obvious.🤣

[@rofflestomp684]

You have so many tone optimizations it's nuts. If you want a specific sound, you wasted a lot of time. Science! Learn the new ones, have fun. Have a nice nay.

[@jamesonpace726]

You are indeed a mad man, but in the best possible way...!

[@KrisBarocsi]

Haha! Fair enough. I stopped worrying about it a long time ago. It might be silly but it’s a lot of fun tweaking stuff every now and then.

[@jessed682]

First mistake was getting a harley benton anything Nice riffs tho

[@davoskazooga]

the color of a guitar player's beard should always match the finish of the guitar he's playing at any given time.

[@KrisBarocsi]

Check ✅

[@iann8733]

I have this model of guitar and hate how the trem doesn't really dive all the way. Have any tips on how to fix this?

[@KrisBarocsi]

The cavity for the tremolo block is probably too narrow for a full dive. You could visit a tech and ask if they can change it (or grab a dremel and try it yourself) but I’m not sure if this tremolo type is the right one for divebombs. Haha! Mine keeps the tuning with semi-subtle trem bar usage but that seems to be the limit. It wouldn’t work as stable as a Floyd for full dives I‘m afraid.

[@mountainman8775]

It‘s not a cheap mod, but Jonathan Koh has a video where he installs a vegatrem for divebomb craziness on this model. To my ears the vegatrem also improves tone and sustain, though there‘s nothing wrong with the sounds here I do prefer the tone of vegatrem over Wilkinson personally. Here‘s the video of the vegatrem install, but don‘t tell Kris about it! kzbin.info/www/bejne/pIqoiqilnZuUnMU

[@iann8733]

@@mountainman8775 Dude the vegatrem just drops right in?!

[@mountainman8775]

@@iann8733 As I said, not a cheap mod, but if I were a rich man I‘d buy it in a flash because it sounds good on this model, which is the most important thing for me. If you look at JK‘s video he does a little rout, but it‘s a very small amount and could be done with a file. With tremelos I‘d always contact the company to make sure it‘s a 1 for 1 with the Wilkinson 50IIK 2-point tremelo, that way you’ve got peace of mind. But yes it‘s a drop-in mod.

[@mountainman8775]

@@iann8733 *Wilkinson 50IIK 2-point tremelo

[@hadleymanmusic]

Its called obcession

[@b10t3rr0r]

I would just remove all the other mostly useless electronic stuff and make that permanent setting.

[@adrian_V99]

No, you simply started off with a defective product.

[@KrisBarocsi]

Hmm. I’m not sure why you would say that? Do you mean the pickups? This work perfectly. Or the resistor? I measured it, also flawless. This pu design just doesn’t allow this coil-split trick, because it’s way more complex than a traditional humbucker. Cheers!

[@mountainman8775]

He believes guitars should be expensive

[@GraniteSoundtrack]

Soldering is hard enough with only two hands, I bet doing it and thinking of camera angles is tough. Thanks for torturing yourself for our sakes.