A splurge

Do I need another guitar? Of course not, but I ordered one anyway.

I have been hearing a lot about a value brand of guitars, Harley Benton. Many of the channels I watch on YouTube review them and frankly rave about them. The quality of materials, workmanship, and the levels of components included are top notch. No, not name brand pickups, or other cost adders.

The prices are ridiculously low for what you get. What I have mostly seen reviewed are Gibson SG styled guitars like this DC-DLX. Gibson does have a value brand, Epiphone, made in China (or Malaysia, it seems they, like most manufacturers, are looking to move beyond China for production) it is the budget friendly version of the USA Made SG’s that start at about $500. (A true and in the US SG standard will set you back at least $1800). The Harley Benton runs a bit over $250.

That is but one example. A standard Telecaster clone will go for a ridiculous price of $80. That is stupid cheap.

This morning I was watching the latest video by the AMAZEBALLS Cameron Cooper (give his channel a look and subscribe if you want to see amazing playing from this gifted player.) where he reviewed the Harley Benton 25th anniversary Super Strat style. This absolutely sick piece of gear sounds awesome, has a ton of features that would push the price of a Fender over $2K. Thinks like stainless steel frets, roasted maple neck, very tasty pickups with tons of tone, split coil humbuckers, locking tuners, TUSQ nut, and even binding on the body, something a Strat never offers.

The price, less than $400 (converting from GBP to USD). That’s a goddamn steal. You can’t get a good Fender Squire Strat for that price, and the Squires have bargain hardware.

I gravitated towards the Fusion series, Tele shaped body, hard tail, twin humbuckers the price? $369. As a comparison, I bought a Charvel Pro Mod So-Cal super strat last year for about $900. A fabulous guitar, made in Mexico, by Fender, the quality of the build, the fit and finish are amazing, and totally worth that price.

I will admit that I agonized over it. I was hesitant to order from Germany (HB’s WW Distributor is Thomann Music, a German company). Apparently this is a small reseller in the US, operating through Reverb, but the reviews were pretty harsh, basically saying to buy direct from Thomann. Still, the shipping would be ~ $85. Yikes, but it is what it is.

I finally did pull the trigger. In about 10 days it should arrive. From the reviews I have read and watched, the expectation is that it will come out of the box, well set up, and almost no adjustments should be required. I will of course take it to a local tech for a setup.

Do I need another guitar?

No.

But, for ~ $450 with shipping, it is too good to say no to.

I’ll do a full review once it arrives.

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