Harley Benton TE-90FLT Review Quality?

[@GearZombie]

Do you have a Harley Benton??? If you do what has your experience been? Do me a favor and like and subscribe!!!

[@paulevans9036]

I have two. Both have been excellent quality and have been really great value of money.

[@alkyhauler8185]

I'm on my 3rd one. If you can do basic setup they are a diamond in the rough. kzbin.info/www/bejne/pHzIc6WNrZ11hpI

[@alkyhauler8185]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/najYfqifpJ2ge6s

[@alkyhauler8185]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/bYa5mWeffcR8pck

[@terrycooper2309]

I bought the orange blast. QC on mine was good. I don't hate the pickups either 😀. £159 uk pounds delivered. What's not to like? Buy one.

[@nicolafrancesconi8375]

What you have is NOT a grounding issue and NOT a quality control issue. Non wax potted filtertron pickups are microphonic, and microphonic pickups produce that effect.

[@jordimateubartroli951]

The best thing you can do is buy second hand, like I did: I got it cheaper and the previous owner did all the necessary setup 😂 (he even got the nut addressed for heavier strings by a luthier, which I liked). But I think they are easier to get in Europe.

[@anastasialopez1154]

For a child's first electric guitar, you don't want to go all out and then they lose interest. you don't want to get something unplayable, that they think its impossible to learn the guitar. This guitar was a good choice and the kid loved the color. The tuning keys were the weak point for me. I immediately took it to my guitar tech and he put some good tuners on it, set it up with 9s for smaller hands and the guitar is a solid guitar now. It looks great and sounds great. The fact that it even intonates and stays in tune makes it easily worth the price.

[@alkyhauler8185]

I had the same pickup mounting screw issue with my TE-90FLT. If you can work a phillips screwdriver it's not really an issue.

[@GearZombie]

Not really an issue especially since i'm going to change the pickups out, but it's kinda like the Van Halen no brown M&M's thing.. If something that obvious is over looked what DID they actually catch.

[@alkyhauler8185]

@@GearZombieThe filtertrons are what made me buy this guitar. What are you replacing them with? But I agree on the QC issue no doubt. Luckily I can work a screwdriver...

[@alkyhauler8185]

@@GearZombie I managed to make mine sound ok with a screwdriver lol...kzbin.info/www/bejne/eYrNoXeIqch3idE

[@GearZombie]

@@alkyhauler8185 I am going to throw some TV Jones Power'Tron's in there, so still staying with the filtertrons but some good ones that shouldn't be as microphonic as these ones.

[@alkyhauler8185]

@@GearZombie Those are awesome pickups. They also cost more than the guitar. A roll of $10 foil tape will eliminate the harmonic issues. Just replacing the pickups will not...

[@4unkb0y]

if for some crazy reason you wanted to swap the pickups, P90-style pickups "should" pretty much drop right in, they're "usually" the same size as FilterTrons. YMMV...

[@gmmovie4898]

Hi, I own some really expensive guitars and one Harley Benton Tele 52 that I use when I’m traveling. I bought this guitar only for this purpose but I have to tell you that I play this HB very often even when I’m at home. I do love this guitar. It’s confortable to play with. The mics are not bad but I prefer my Fender’s custom shop single coils. After buying this HB I decide to stop buying expensive guitars. Except the quality of the mics and lockers (you can easily upgrade a guitar) I can’t feel the difference when playing. I only see the difference on my bank account 200€ instead of 4000€…

[@GearZombie]

I generally don't play really expensive guitars. I had several and I just recently sold a bunch that I never really bonded with. I had a great Les Paul and a PRS CE and a Taylor that were all fantastic instruments, but my super strats get the most play. And I got into some really cheap guitars for a while. I have a donner tele that I paid something silly like $169 for new and I love the thing, pickups are good and tuners are even decent. I recently picked up a Chibson and the build quality is actually nearly as good as gibson, all the hardware is trash but it is giving me a project! Thank you for taking the time to comment!!

[@frankperricone2065]

About a year ago I bought there Goth Thunderbird bass. I was experimenting with C# tunning with other basses and as a bit of an experiment I bought the Thunderbird, fret ends were not great but like you said you can feel them. Action was to high for me a little bit higher then 2 mm so it took 2 days to tweak truss rod and put thicker gauge strings for tension 50-110. When changing strings cheap plastic nut fell off, put a graph- tech nut and up graded the tunners. Before I got it was thinking about upgrading the pups the Rosswell active pups are not bad, I still might put EMG'S in it but want to finish some other projects. It was about the same price as you $175 nice gigbag and shipping was roughly $265, I'm happy. Just got one of there cheap Telecasters the TE-62 Surfgreen roasted maple neck, fret ends were about the same I fixed that. Same thing with action, 2 days of tweaking and got the action down to were I like it. Both intonation was almost there, again a little tweak. Tunners are better then the Thunderbird. $133 plus shipping and the same quality gigbag there cheapest on both and they are not bad, definitely better then a dust cover, a week in and I'm happy. Just because I want to I am going to put a 6 saddle bridge, it came the old fashion way 3 saddles, 2 strings per saddle and put in a graph- tech nut in and may put a stacked Humbucker in it and a coil split in the bridge. The shipping went up, from about $63 to $82 for a smaller guitar and lighter then the bass. I was a little mad that the shipping went up, but so has everything, thanks Brandon, and it came in 5 days after ordering to N.Y. ordered on a Friday afternoon and came Tuesday afternoon. Like you say, for the money and you can set up your on guitar and do some simple changes and I think it's a good buy. I am really a bass player and more particular about my basses then guitars, I know what a decent bass and guitar from a peice of crap and it's a good buy.

[@bambuccioromano824]

Quality control on Harley Benton products is only done by customers, unfortunately. Receiving an okay guitar is just a matter of luck. The prices are good and everyone tries their luck.

[@drmaawenz]

QC is crap, I fixed the errors myself, since I didn't want to be worse off, in case I would get a replacement in a worse condition. Tuners are most for show, needs to be replaced.

[@douglaspate9314]

Not true

[@TheRafared]

Have one in green blast. The pick ip screws were also poorly installed and the slots were stripped. Plus the pickups were sitting very tilted. I took thr scratch plate off and the cavity underneath was very unevenly routed including several big chunks of wood left in place. I'm not keen on the fretboard material, it looks a bit grubby. However it plays and sounds good. I replaced the nut with a Graphtec version and have made an oxidised aluminum custom pickguard for it because the plastic one was cheap and flimsy. We are lucky in Europe that Thomann do free shipping on everything over 200 Euros.

[@jasujokelainen5073]

Why you replaced graph tech nut with the graph tech nut?...

[@benoitdufresne3288]

I just received the same guitar and mine too had a few protruding pickup screws. I bought that guitar for the pickups combination and the belly carve. I ditched the neck ( can't stand reverse headstocks) and used my '52 re-issue Fender Hotrod neck instead. Did you notice you got a flame maple neck (lucky!)?

[@BenjaminKanarek]

Thanks for this review. Great playng and performance! I own 8 Harley Benton guitars and am so pleased with most of them. Not as crazy about their 12 string electric. But it's great when you want that 12-string sound. I love the Roswell Filtertron pick-ups.

[@GearZombie]

Thank you for the comment!! I ordered a new set and I'm interested to see how they perform. I do see myself trying another harley benton however, the overall craftsmanship is good enough for me which was the important part, electronics can always be replaced!

[@BenjaminKanarek]

@@GearZombie Indeed!

[@BenjaminKanarek]

@@GearZombie The Roswell Filtertron pick-ups are licensed to other top-branded guitars as well.

[@christoguichard4311]

Those things are SO easy to sort. Literally...minutes. 😒

[@Warrnan52]

Did you put TV jones pickups in it yet?

[@GearZombie]

I did not. They have just been sitting! I think i'll revisit this guitar over the weekend!

[@Theintruder100]

I've just received the exact same blue burst model it sounds ace just needs a little tic i reckon, i bought a td-40 a couple of months back and it feels more of a quality guitar than this one and it was cheaper. I did notice one of the backplate screws missing and one of the strings was laying ontop of its string tree. The action could be better and the scratch plate just looks cheap and nasty. The tuners were ok not too stiff and it stays in tune pretty well, the volume pot is crap its either on or off it seems. I have not gigged it as yet so we will see how well it holds up, I've gigged the td-40 and its great. I have more expensive guitars but i wanted a couple of guitars that wouldn't break the bank for the style of music I'm playing at the moment. So basically i would change the volume and tone pots,the pickguard maybe the tuners, lower the action and i think it would be a great little guitar.

[@timmcgowan5253]

might mini humbuckers fit?

[@SUPER8_GUITAR]

did you ever install the tv jones?

[@peachmelba1000]

Check out KDH's latest video (which is part 2 of his saga with the same model of HB). You got a better one than did he lol Edit: Nope lol you got the same exact problem. Microphonic p'ups. Wait until you hear what Thomann's response to KDH's exchange request was. I'm subbing btw. You in Canada?

[@GearZombie]

Hey!!! Thank you for the sub! I saw his video today and commented on it. The thing he didn't cover is they are filtertrons which can be more susceptible to noise but, one thing I did different is I demoed mine running my amp direct. He was actually using an amp and cab which actually made his situation worse and also what most people will do! I got my new PU's for mine today and i'm going to work on a new video but first I am going to film like he did with an amp and cab, I bet mine is every bit as bad as his. Sucky thing is, I like that guitar, looks cool and feels good enough. But if someone without knowledge got it they wouldn't know what to do!! BTW Not in Canada, midwest.

[@Leo_ofRedKeep]

@@GearZombie These pick-ups are normally fine but I know they are just screwed in the body over a spring in a piece of foam. Seeing that these are not properly screwed in (high screws) I wonder if this is what allows them to vibrate and become microphonic. Maybe just tightening them would solve the issue - It might require drilling deeper holes in the body.

[@MojoDudeX]

Thoman`s QC is a lottery

[@GearZombie]

I'm kinda finding that with just about everything anymore. You have no idea how many EVH Wolfgangs I sent back before I gave up.

[@joeblankenship377]

Seems like ya gotta spend at least $300 to expect any kind of quality control. These guitars are pretty cool looking, but it would suck to get it out the box and be disappointed right away.

[@douglaspate9314]

59C

[@WholeLottaBulldog]

Hb is an interesting one for me; I see their value in the slightly more expensive ones (neck throughs, emgs, stainless frets, etc.) But these cheap ones are little more than landfill imo. Loved the review man, good to have you back.

[@GearZombie]

Thank you for watching!!! It's good to be back!!! Honestly, the only real problem with this IMO are the cheap pickups. Sharp fret ends happen and the rest seems solid. But I dunno. My new PU's showed up today. I hope this thing rules after I get it done????

[@WholeLottaBulldog]

@@GearZombie look forward to seeing how the new pickups improve it. Good stuff brother.

[@christoguichard4311]

Landfill??? Let me guess...youre 14? 😒

[@tihomirmatkovic7184]

@@GearZombie what model of TV Jones tho? im thinkin of gettin te90flt and get a set of TV Jones myself XD

[@GearZombie]

@@tihomirmatkovic7184 Hey! I actually traded some emails with TV Jones and told them what I was going after. They were happy to help and they recommended for me the Power'Tron Neck and Power'Tron Bridge so I ordered them. Keep in mind I am more hard rock so these are supposed to get dirty while still retaining the Filtertron sound. They just got here and I haven't had a chance to wire them up yet. Check back in a bit and we'll see if I can make this Harley Benton scream!

[@AVM-Music]

I own two Benton’s, both bought used so can’t comment on their direct qc That being said: I have recently dealt with Thomann, the unboxing is here kzbin.info/www/bejne/opK3q5Woe55-aKs

[@yeoldefoxeh254]

**middle pickup**

[@kengyang1908]

Skol,,,it plays like the Vikings,, unpredictable sometimes it's good n then always fall short

[@GearZombie]

SKOL!!!!!! And a perfect description of the Vikings and the Harley Benton!!!