Harley Benton JA 60 set up

[@herbstkindmusic]

Great video! Thanks! Taught me a lot about understanding my Harley Benton Guitar. I have a Les Paul imitation. First impression: Looks good, feels good and solid - luckily the fret level is good enough to leave it like that for now, and surprisingly no sharp corners. Little issue though, the corners at the high e string are filed a bit flat - so sometimes the string slides off (1 out of 50 times when playing somewhere 7th fred +). I found out that the saddle is in a slightly wrong position. So, new saddle ordered. The bridge is okay, 12th fred intonation luckily works! (a few tiny rough spots though) BUT! My problem is that the guitar doesn't stay tuned. Tune it, play a literally 2-3 chords, tune it again, again, horrible. I ordered a new pair of quality strings (the out of the box strings felt rather cheap) and the tuners felt really bad, so I ordered them as well. I really hope these two improvements will solve the tuning issue, perhaps no new bridge needed.

[@vw9659]

Always worth checking for unusual explanations when a common guitar won't intonate. Always use new strings of course. I know shops that lower the pickups every time before intonating - they feel the magnetic field can knock the intonation off. Worth a try. I've had guitars where the intonation did not change no matter how far I adjusted it. A closer look revealed the string was touching the bridge edge or an intonation screw (unlikely here I know). I have the JA 60 from another vendor. Similar issues - sharp fret ends. The TOM is crap as you found - now replaced with a roller bridge to avoid those nasty buzzy circlips. But the original one did always intonate.

[@SamDeeksRelovedGuitars]

Hi Tim - absolutely right. The fact that I deliberately wait until final re-stringing (with new strings) to intonate means that it's only THEN I discover this guitar wouldn't intonate. All of which makes it difficult to 'return to seller in original condition' since I've already done a complete set up on it, including fret levelling. On the plus side, right now apart from being fractionally off on the intonation it plays and sounds great... (for a left-hander!)

[@FingersOnAFretboard]

I wonder if the manufacturer specifies a particular gauge of string, and if deviating from that gauge, would we then have the intonation problems?( I realize that the bridge is probably in the 'wrong' place)Likewise, would using a different gauge (heavier/lighter) be closer to achieving a compromise of intonation? They've at least made the problematic rattle-prone Jazzmaster bridge more appealing with this!

[@SamDeeksRelovedGuitars]

Hi Fingers.... I don't think it could be that much different between gauges and I replaced with 10s the same as it shipped. As you can see from the vid (at least the end part) the saddles are all slammed up against the front edge and it's just about intonating. You're generally right though, the gauge, composition and condition of the string all do seem to have some impact on the length required for correct intonation of that string. It's not uncommon for budget makers to place bridges slightly out of position and - hard to believe - make their necks too long or short. An example just the other day was Dave's Chinese-made 'Riks' strat. I found that I had to push all the saddles way back off their 'default' marks to intonate so it occurred to me to measure the scale length (i.e. distance from nut to centre of 12th fret x 2) and lo and behold, it was 650mm instead of the standard 648mm of most strats.

[@ricardohollisio]

Hello Sam another great video. I have one of these guitars. Out of the box it just needed a set up and also the G string nut slot wasn't cut deep enough. The nut material was so soft that after just a few strokes of the nut file it went too low. I managed to save it with the superglue nut powder trick but I have never known a nut material so soft. My question is I notice that you, and a lot of other luthiers, intonate the strings using the harmonic against the fretted note on the 12th fret. What is the advantage of doing it that way against playing the open string against the fretted note on the 12th fret? Thanks, Richard.

[@SamDeeksRelovedGuitars]

Hi Richard - thanks! You're right the nut is like cheese...but it cut well enough to leave it alone. If the nut works and I can get the 1st fret actions I'm after then I tend to leave it be - particularly if it's finished / fitted nicely. The difference tonally between bone and this plastic when the sounds coming out an amp....well I'd be willing to bet £5 almost nobody could correctly identify the difference if I recorded 10 chords, 9 with the guitar with a bone nut and 1 with the guitar with its original nut. To win you'd have to identify the plastic cheese nut 5 times out of 5 (and I'd rearrange the order its in each time obviously) :-)

[@ricardohollisio]

Thanks Sam. I managed to get the bridge to intonate on mine but I play with very heavy strings, 11s in this case and as a rule of thumb heavier strings tend to make the saddles move further away from the neck to intonate. I'm wondering if this is the reason that mine just about managed to get there. I do think the bridge is misaligned though as they should be set up for the thinner strings which they supply with the guitar not my cables.

[@katiesheridan8779]

Great video Sam what guitar tuner app are you using ??

[@leewetherelt8925]

Is that a Westone concord 1 in the background?

[@SamDeeksRelovedGuitars]

Yes it is Lee - well spotted. Or it was lol. 3 years ago nearly!

[@Iggytommy]

Why are Roswell an improvement on Wilkinson pickups?

[@SamDeeksRelovedGuitars]

Because the 'hive mind' says so Iggy... funny that, I find myself thinking the same thing. I'm not enough of a pickup connoisseur to be able to tell the difference between them and I'm charitable enough to believe that there are people who might be able to....and those people seem to say they're an improvement. Tenuous, innit? :-)

[@Iggytommy]

I really depends on what Wilkinosn pickups we're talking about. The really cheap Wilkinson pickups have ceramic bar magnets, but the rest of their range are vintage correct with alnico magnets and are higher priced to buy as after market pickups.

[@KarlSheridan]

Same question as below Sam what’s the app ?

[@SamDeeksRelovedGuitars]

Hi Karl .. and Katie - I use 'iStroboSoft' from Petersen Tuners for the iPhone.

[@KarlSheridan]

Sam Deeks thank you so much Sam will check it out, by the way we both love your videos keep up the good work 👍🏼