The Most Unexpected Guitar Scam (Hardluck Kings)

We don't take kindly to (alleged) scammers around here.
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[@sixstringtv1]

These kinds of videos take a long time and a lot of effort, and this one doesn't have a sponsor. So if you want to support the channel, do your gear shopping using these affiliate links 🙏🏼🙏🏼 Thomann thmn.to/thoprod/104573?offid=1&affid=2069 Sweetwater sweetwater.sjv.io/y2xaEv

[@OrbitalDeathRay]

Music Is Win catching strays

[@sixstringtv1]

Always

[@phylumofdoom]

Did I miss a video about music is win? I've heard it referenced a few times lately and feel I missed something.

[@phylumofdoom]

@OrbitalDeathRay: Yeah, I heard it in this video. I just didn't know if there was a whole video where he had explained his dislike in more detail.

[@travisspaulding2222]

@@phylumofdoom I'm not a fan of the channel, and I think the guy is kind of douchie, but he gives a lot of gear to people, so I don't go in on his channel myself. In the end, I feel like he is a net good for the guitar community, even if I can't make it through any of his videos, lol.

[@GENXJOPLIN]

I don't mind him. His opinions are well thought out and he's a great player. Some of his videos are pretty awesome

[@alexgrunde6682]

See, if I had a company called hard luck kings and I wanted to give my customers a title, I’d just call them Kings, it’s right there!

[@Darkseidx]

Hell at least Princes.

[@sixstringtv1]

Somehow seems better than what they actually went with, yeah

[@sauce_aux]

That would be way too “woke” for that entire demographic 😂

[@sangpenikam7]

I somehow imagined that it’s supposed to be called “Rad Bastard” but some old dude got it mixed up and it officially became “Rat Bastard” instead 😂

[@tomfoolery342]

Seems that the company has fallen on some....wait for it.......wait.... for it........"HARD LUCK"! 🤣🤣

[@ElvesvsShinyRocks]

Insert CSI Miami meme here.

[@Vortigan07]

ba-dum-tum...tshh!

[@totalbullion5882]

More like the customers did and by the name alone they knew what they were in for 🤣

[@ChrisTopherBunnell]

It seems this guy is the "King" of "Hard Luck".

[@MatthewBaron]

Don't worry... The Blues Lawyer is looking into this. Stay tuned.

[@jasonjkruger]

HLK is the Affliction of guitar brands

[@brianaiken1196]

What about spear guitars? Remember them?

[@sole__doubt]

I saw someone with a skin tight Affliction shirt at the grocery the other day. I bet you can picture the guy without having seen him. Typical Affliction fan, lol.

[@brandonharris9160]

I heard someone say that about Schecter lol

[@MuscleCarLover]

Ah yes, 2010. When the guitar choices for a beginner were either Squier or firewood

[@JacubWhite38]

Within the last week 60 Cycle Hum talked about why they don't like Hard Luck Kings and now I'm seeing this. Sounds like a real winner brand

[@luke8026]

And i sent them the ad ;)

[@warhoofd74]

Maybe s bit coincidental

[@WREDog]

I used to see their ads all the time back when I had a Facebook account. Thought about getting a bass out of curiosity until I saw they were charging about $50 to make it playable. Not surprised to see they were shady.

[@MrPhins]

Wait, so these people thought their $250 HLK was actually made in the USA and not just a drop shipped pos from China rebranded for Harley riders with chain drive wallets? Oh, that's gotta hurt 🤣 At least they got a cool tshirt to model at the Ed Hardy conventions.

[@sixstringtv1]

😂😂

[@daniellowry660]

I remember carrying those guitars in the shop I worked at. They sent us a prototype bass with a custom color specifically for my boss. The finish felt like the kind of paint you paint your house with. Needless to say we didn't sell very many and stopped carrying them fairly shortly after

[@totalbullion5882]

Who would buy from a company called "Hard luck" ? That's like buying from a company called "Tough S#it" 😂

[@Mr.Goldbar]

As a fellow Goldstein, I must say we're not all like that XD

[@sixstringtv1]

🤣🤣

[@Themonist]

Honestly, looks like you are.

[@sole__doubt]

Ive been playing since the late 80s and I and none of the people I jam with have ever heard of Hardluck Guitars.

[@TurkeyEyes6690]

I see one at a friend's house while back was explorer copy seemed decent, the guy though t was usa I had point out just Saif designed

[@buttermybuns9529]

The fact that you’re wearing an Obscura shirt and you look exactly like Rafael Trujillo is hilarious.

[@sixstringtv1]

😭😭😭

[@Snowsound93]

Watching this while drinking a beer and wearing my pantera shirt. I would say walk on home but your already there.

[@coreycann6751]

😂

[@Mike-rw2nh]

As a paying customer, Mr. Beato has interesting channels, but his perma-peddled products are dog shit.

[@fusionfan6883]

@@murphyman104What on earth are you talking about???

[@flapjack413]

That company had the energy of a 1980's thirteen year old edge lord from day one.

[@thedavidshreds]

This video is you at your best, man.

[@MrPokemaster0324]

I bought one a few years back because it was cheap and people hyped them up. What I got was a piece of junk guitar with so many problems. They advertise a low price but then charge you for a case and a set up, but nothing is even set up. My guitar had a ton of cracks in the finish and some other dings. I called them and Mark yelled at me and blamed UPS. Maybe it was UPS, but the guitar had cracks under the clearcoat, and it was in a hard shell case that was blemish free, and it was well packed. Major fret issues as well. Waste of money. He refunded me a few bucks of my order but that’s it. It’s not an awful sounding or looking guitar. But it’s definitely bottom of the barrel quality.

[@fistinair1979]

Remember when they claimed that they would do fret work and setups on each guitar before shipping them out? Hilarious. The amount people try to resell them for us also pretty comical.

[@jaretselwyn4509]

I bought an HLK Spider as a mod project. I gutted the electronics and put in aftermarket pickups. Sounds and plays decently. But at ~12lbs., the thing is heavy AF.

[@gamingwithmrgvil3511]

I've got one of those. Plays fantastic but by far the heaviest guitar I've ever owned.

[@RudyAyoub]

This is actually wild

[@sixstringtv1]

😩

[@wagonet]

You got great content. Great video. Never heard of this company.

[@MichaelThomasOflaherty]

sounds like a wealthy guitar scammer seeing as Mark is in real estate

[@allyourbasearebelongtous2191]

Weird Pantera hate aside... Good video man.

[@sethgross3904]

It’s not his fault, the boarder-line neck-beard is inhibiting clear thought.

[@johnnysully2689]

It's probably just mild Virtue Signalling, tbh.

[@preston2636]

​@@johnnysully2689na he legit hates pantera. He's never had pussy

[@justsomedude5727]

Hardluck kings is the most cringe brand name ever, it sounds like FFDP's in-house brand.

[@infinidominion]

Brass knuckle crown ✊👑

[@TheCadegoodspeed45]

Lol ever heard of BC Rich? Haha

[@justsomedude5727]

@@TheCadegoodspeed45 That's a guys name at least.

[@countzero5150]

​@TheCadegoodspeed45 it's just short for the founders name, Bernardo Chavez Rico, and was actually a great brand that made high quality guitars... once upon a time.

[@infinidominion]

@@TheCadegoodspeed45 you aint lumping BC Rich in here

[@xenon23601]

I knew Darrell or Dimebag back to when he was maybe 18 or so. Hearing Pantera mentioned still gets me. He was always a great guy and really believed he would make it but I did not see it coming back then. Now I will be a bit sad.

[@patrickmartin2575]

Wow...I have had a couple of those (still have the Lady Luck (Explorer clone).

[@daemonspudguy]

"Would you like some scams with your scam?" - this channel.

[@SamanthaMiller-hr2pf]

i got one of these guitars second-hand for like 50 bucks, idk if it was the previous owners fault or it came fucked up but the pickup selector doesn't really work; i have to press down and hold on it for the bridge pickup to work

[@flapjack413]

I wonder when that photo of Kirk Windstein was from. He's been a Solar signature artist for at least a couple years now.

[@kellybrincks]

I’ve never heard of this company

[@shallmann]

The HLK guitars I've bought over the years all played fine. One had some sharp fret ends, a bit of filing fixed that. The single coils in their tele and strat style guitars didn't sound bad; just rather unremarkable. I replaced them all. The humbuckers in the LP, Firebird & Explorer style guitars actually sounded pretty good to me. I did replace several of them, just for the sake of variety. I wouldn't describe them as mediocre at all, at least the ones I have. They compare favorably to Epiphones and Squiers IMHO. The finishes were what set them apart, flame and quilt tops, others with neon green or orange. All that being said, yeah, pretty dirty way to go out. Screwing honest people trying to buy your products.

[@TheMoneyMakingMentor]

How do I know you are not scamming me? lol.

[@JayceAllanGuitar]

Always was curious about these guitars but never bought one because didn’t care for the looks and the price was a bit high for what you were getting. Stayed with brands like Harley Benton and Firefly. I’m sure there’s more to this story. Will be interesting to see how it plays out.

[@funksaves]

similar story with the brand "bolt guitars"

[@JaFoste_Studio]

Wow, I had been considering trying one of their guitars for a few years, now. So glad I didn't.

[@tomislavplaysguitar]

That obscura shirt is fire btw! I have two of their shirts. Really love Steffens band

[@PoorManPerformance]

Love the shirt ❤ and your videos. Always a good day when you post a new video.

[@travisspaulding2222]

Does Germany have milk stores? I'm kind of intrigued, lol.

[@jimihendrix991]

nope

[@marvintimke3978]

Why would anyone need an entire store, only for milk?

[@travisspaulding2222]

@@marvintimke3978 I don't know. He was the one who said something about milk stores, lol. I'd never heard of one, lol.

[@ColtsfaninVegas]

I have a Hardluck Kings Bossman Les Paul Copy. I bought it new at Sam Ash. I assume the company is falling on hard times because the most major vendor (Sam Ash) they have is going out of business. I am happy with the guitar, plays like a demon. The only complaint I have on the guitar is the fretboard wood. It doesn't take treatment very well.

[@lhmmhl1]

Goldstein..?

[@Dennisrader-ff9gv]

Every single time.

[@sauce_aux]

Don’t buy guitars from California real estate brokers

[@lordlemmun5216]

dude i am literally playing my hardluck kings tele as we speak. my dad bought a telecaster as well from them so we could mod it right when everything started to go down. the scam wasn't initiated yet, and thats why we bought from them. i feel so ashamed to love this guitar now even though it is a brilliant instrument. sucks that he won''t get his tele though.

[@MickyFig]

I contested my "purchase" and had to provide everything I could get a hold of and I FINALLY got a refund back to my card. Took a while and I was starting to wonder, but FINALLY! Never heard squat back from that, well I'll be nice, that asshole!

[@wisterialosenge2546]

kinda of sounds like the guy might have died or gone to prison or something. kind of hard to refund peoples money or otherwise wrap up loose ends in those situations.

[@infinidominion]

Or he bounced to Thailand

[@Blindwolfmg]

Where do you buy snowflake repellent?

[@elfappo9330]

I bought one of their guitars for like 150 bucks and it's not the worst instrument i've ever owned, at least :)

[@games_are_good]

Walmart guitar in 2010: $100, Epiphone Les Paul LP in 2019: $150

[@fry9700]

They always looked like cheesy, low-quality imported stuff to me anyway. By the way, the conservative hero/liberal hero was hilarious, and very accurate.😂

[@uncle_komrade]

I was JUST thinking of HLK this morning, and to catch this video is so strangely welcome. I saw HLK advertising many many years ago, and almost saved up enough to buy one, but never pulled the trigger after my dad assured me my strat was enough. He was right, and to see how F'd I would have been makes current me laugh at 13 year old me and how damn naive I was.

[@SticksAandstonesBozo]

You can get amazing fender and les Paul copies for such little money it boggles my mind anyone on earth buys any of there garbage brands or supposed boutique brands

[@blue.5058]

Sounds like the deal with TTM guitars, which is even sketchier. You just HAVE to do a video on them.

[@sixstringtv1]

I already have

[@jasonjkruger]

Bro, calling Andrew Wang "friend" in the message killed me

[@heavenly4058]

I almost ordered form them to

[@ViviSectia]

I don't think they even designed them. I'm sure that I've been seeing those same designs and finishes for years on Aliexpress.

[@everlastingred3088]

Suprised Ratt hasn't used that one for their fans

[@GregMerritt-ws8tq]

I swear it looked like they were trying to imply that Kirk Windstein is a proud rat bastard.

[@sixstringtv1]

They absolutely were, they pushed that shit really hard

[@voodooviolinist]

I bought one for my brother as a gift. What a piece of crap. It’s absolute junk.

[@PikkaBird]

This seems like a Walmart knockoff of the BRJ Black Friday debacle from years back.

[@tedmich]

Having avoided the FB cesspool, I have never heard of these guys. I own several Carvins/Kiesels/Warmoth and I'm very happy.

[@chrissgardiner]

I had never heard of these guitars until I started seeing them PLASTERED all over my local Facebook Marketplace.

[@Andrew-Richardson]

I’m a 3x purchaser of their guitars. Haven’t bought one in a few years now. The Flying V was garbage. The Strat and tele were decent and okay quality. If you adjusted it to your liking. You can find better through legitimate guitar makers. I talked to Mark before about an order the guys a liar and a douche.

[@stonkpuppets6393]

Those shirts will be $300 on eBay in a year from now

[@ricdale7813]

I have friends that bought HLK guitars. Every one of them was Junk. Loose and broken hardware, Horrid Electronics, Iffy at best hide glue and finish work, sharp af fret work,etc.... You get what you paid for......Junk.

[@CCHPOUNDER420]

I only ever considered ordering something from them once and it was just a hardcase for 50 bucks. I decided against it because i didnt want a case with the hardluck king branding lol

[@BallisticKnifeJesus]

I will truly miss the HOSS ads

[@effectosis742]

Wow that was a great video...

[@EpictheEpicest]

HLK seemed to have interesting offerings, like a 5-string Flying V or explorer bass and unusual finish colors, but the construction and materials always looked so poorly designed, their claims of being "designed in the US" always seemed sketch to me.

[@DrMurdercock]

he will not like when guitar YT comes. He will move to Iceland when guitar 4 chan comes....

[@Seven7Pain1]

its on i got your back on this one he should fill orders then shut down not filling already paid orders is stealing and all you got to do send his name and the info you found to the fBI internet scam site he will be investigated and force to pay it all back plus jail time

[@chrisadams628]

Hold up, they started in 2010? I thought they were an early 2000's company.

[@markdeloria20]

I purchased one of their "Outlaw" (Flying V) guitars about 8 years ago... I'm not in their "cult" mentality, but for what I paid (about $280usd including shipping), it's a decent guitar. Maybe I got lucky with it. Too bad for the customers (and OEM factory) that got scammed.

[@alanmartinez1025]

I have a Lady HLK Guitar lol I got it like 10+ years ago. Very cheap feeling guitar but played pretty good.

[@pigxstix]

Doesn't sound like a scam, sounds like someone hit a significant problem in their personal or professional lives and found themselves in a position to not be able to fulfill their commitments and is handling it poorly. Scams are different, they are designed to deceive, like you said 14 years isn't evidence of that. But something happened. People should just do the chargebacks and get their funds and this brand will likely just disappear forever.

[@fladification]

I mustache you a question: did you look in the mirror before shooting this video?

[@sixstringtv1]

I sneezed halfway through shooting and it did that 😩

[@izzy9ji]

Always been a hard pass!

[@Skippymcdingus]

They've gone under actually, good riddance

[@MrCarsandguitars]

I bought one of their tele clones in like 2015 or so wjen they wrre having a 99 dollar flash sale. Bought it as a mod project. Its exactly what you would expect for the price lol. Kinda wish i had bought a squier instead.

[@theenchilada1525]

I actually bought one back in 2017. $160 and ita pretty mich ok.

[@stonkpuppets6393]

I have a HLK Jazzcaster

[@narrowonflow]

bro u dont know that.. my dad is coming back for sure... its only been like 15 yrs

[@richardvirginia3037]

Much like TTM guitars

[@auntjenifer7774]

😂 @ 8:08 . I love Yoshi's island !

[@zaltuguitar]

I bought one of their "showroom" guitars. Looked like it was one that didn't get sold. The build of The guitar was complete genetic garbage. Everything about it was sub par. Only paid 150 us so I didn't feel too.ripped. Their ig page used to show clips of the guitars getting set up. Looked like it was done out of a storage unit, really just screamed unprofessional

[@dddd717]

The milk store????

[@youropionmattersnot]

I like and buy used Fender guitars. Nothing else matters.

[@ChrisHopkinsBass]

They should change their name to EdgeLord Fail Queens

[@googaboogaloo]

I always thought they were a cringe brand.

[@guitarhoarder5426]

Thank god they're gone! Those guitars were GARBAGE...

[@DragDealer]

Came for the newS, left coz of the news kid 😂😅

[@tonepilot]

What are the fanbois saying now?

[@Darkseidx]

Shitzinpants limited edition.

[@lordvampyr]

Fuck yea obscura!

[@Wufffles]

American politics suck, I hate the culture war, I just want to be gay and happy

[@mwoodlarks3121]

America needs to get off the right-wing reactionary train before it's too late.

[@Wufffles]

@@mwoodlarks3121 facts, it's getting scary tbh. I'm in canada and it's DEFINITLY leaking over here

[@JacubWhite38]

@@mwoodlarks3121 For real. The right is currently pushing for a candidate that shits themselves in court and they're proud of the fact that he's in diapers. It's terrifying

[@pitmezzari2873]

Be gay and miserable like everyone else.

[@daemonspudguy]

​@@mwoodlarks3121I'm becoming more and more scared for my safety where I live as a non-binary in Southeastern Ohio, so I cannot agree more.

[@TonisGuitarHangout]

It is a little offensive to throw in Mark Wahlberg in this exposion tbh. He has nothing to do with the topic and his legacy in music shall not be sullied with your words about another Mark. Please remember Marky Mark brought us hits like: music for the people, you gotta believe or good vibrations. How dare you bringing in his name and soil it with this filth! 🤢🤢😝

[@sixstringtv1]

🤣🤣

[@Blindwolfmg]

Those guitars are junk

[@0Artilary0]

>Goldstein Oy Vey...

[@lillian5724]

❤❤❤