You should look at this way. You got a guitar for 130 bucks and it came with a free set of pick ups. lol Tear those things out and just put an EMG set in with solderless PCB kit. Any guitar that plays out of the box like that for that kind of money in my opinion is a good deal. I dont know what others charge to do a full fret level and set up but I doubt 130 bucks would cover time and labor. It can take an entire day to set up a guitar.
I bet there this an issue with bridge ground. Probably something stupid like that and is an easy fix. Or not could just be crap but worth checking that.
Glenn! Read my comment ffs! Your price correction was a mistake. You had it right the first time. it's $169. It's important for you and your viewers to know that when you go to Thomannmusic "DE" (the german site) and change currency to US dollars, the price shown is INCLUDING VAT. Best way to avoid mistakes and know the true price for the US is to just always go to Thomannmusic "COM" (the North American site). They separated it into two domains to make it easier for Americans to know the price, but since search results usually gives us a mix of the DE site AND the COM site, it just adds more to the confusion. To add even more to the confusion their Mobile App defaults to thomannmusic "DE" which is why many people see a different price on Mobile than they do on PC. Rock on Glenn, love the channel! (if you don't believe me just look at the address at 12:14 it's thomannmusic "DE" and it's $229. Your affiliate link is thomannmusic "com" and it's $169).
I really admire that you talk about practicing and showing people that you can’t always play things perfect every time. Not very many people leave things like that in their videos.
Yeah, and while I don’t necessarily blame other guitarist UA-camrs for doing it, since most modern music is produced to death and they’re just trying to live up to that “standard”, I love that Glen keeps it real.
Are there actually that many that edit mistakes out of their videos? Makes no sense to me why some would, probably because I’m used to pros playing live. Heck, even some of the biggest virtuoso’s make mistakes, they are just good at masking them up.
@@MrGoodwell Even when it comes to covers? I mean, when I record a full cover of the guitar part of a song, it is one take and no clipping, the mistakes are what they are, and can’t really be ashamed of them either knowing how little time I used to practice most of the songs.
As someone who loves cheap “rat rod” guitars, filing down fret ends is fairly easy and quick. A little practice and you could have minor fret issues fixed in an hour or so. Makes a lot of cheaper guitars extremely worth their money
I'm a bit of a spectrum case and little tedious repetitive things like that are very calming for me... I am seriously thinking I should start a service of fixing up all these imports... I mean for a brand new kid they aren't going to know how to set up an instrument they are meant to learn to play on... So if there isn't a player in the house already there is a niche for someone to do it and I'm sure I'd be cheaper than the rates of a luthier or tech. Realistically that's something I've thought about ever since all the hbs and ffls started showing up on here... As a player of twenty some odd years who remembers what cheap guitars were like in the 90s I lust after all of them but it occurs to me... The adjustments they tend to need are basic and easy enough and even enjoyable for me *now* ..... When I got my first guitar I wouldn't have known what to do... but tbh compared to what we had back then I doubt I'd have noticed the frets were sharp... I'd have been too shocked that I was able to even touch them at all. cuz up to that point my experience had been that I just about barely could on the guitars I had come across... The harmony I ended up learning on would have been better for archery than music.
With UA-cam fixing fret ends and learning how to intonate is not hard. Worst part is the additional investment of equipment (again, not bad compared to traditional guitar costs) but once you have it it’s good for all your guitars moving forward. Went from scared shitless to touch a screw to installing pickups and fret polishing in under a year thanks to Know Your Gear, Glenn, and other YTbers. Kinda makes these finish them yourself to save 1/3 cost guitars a cool new standard. Every player should know how to do these basics! More I learned more I’ve played 😊
my first guitar was a jackson, and the frets seemed almost like they were ignored, which sucked and ruined my experience for a few months because it'd cut my hand to the point where it'd start bleeding, i finally decided to get a sandpaper block and file it down, best decision of my life, put some seymour duncan invaders in it, changed the tuners because i think stock were like 5:1, went out of tune so quickly so i put 21:1 in and plays & sounds like an expensive guitar. i have a dave mustaine signature dean flying v and i prefer the jackson over it.
Unless they need leveled also! That takes much more time, skill and expensive tools to do at a quality I expect. Do something wrong and F up your guitar. Fortunately I do level frets and yes you are correct just ends takes maybe 30 min to 1 hour. Before you go away filing though to level check the neck break angle and make certain it is straight many are not. This has to be addressed before fret leveling as well as top nut correct height. Most cheaper guitars I have seen get these off. They can be corrected though it just takes time, tools and skill.
I love the fact that Glenn has worked in a production line for so long and so his assessment of production flaws is actually based on knowledge about production process and QC. Too many people have this all over the place approach, sometimes letting slip mayor things and sometimes obsessing about small stuff.
Hey Glenn. Fellow Canadian here. Even though I am not a Metal guy I have more than enjoyed your content and appreciate all the time and effort you put into your vids. Very refreshing to hear the no BS approach that you have. I am now 71 and having grown up in the 60s I am what I call part of the "dinosaur rock club". As a long time, guitarist I often think of how great it would have been to have access to someone like you back when I was starting out. Cheers mate
Hey Glenn, It’s likely that the guitar pickups were not correctly grounded to the guitar. The ground wire is usually soldered to the bridge spring claw and it could have fallen off during transportation. I wouldn’t be surprised if it was just loose in there waiting to be re-soldered.
I had a stop tail piece guitar with this issue. The exposed bit of wire sheered off when they pressed in the bushing. You'd never notice it without high gain. Sounds like that is what happened to this thing.
Keep playing on camera GLEN! I love seeing people having fun on guitar that aren't professional prodigies. It's like you are saying, "Hey, you can have fun, too!"
That V is giving me HEAVY Epiphone/Gibson Goth V vibes. I'm not typically a V fan but seeing them on the show lately has really made me consider them. As if Explorers aren't strange enough to sit in a stand 😅
@@fr.abbadon I've got one of the Epiphone Goth Explorers I've had since I was 16 (2002 ish) and I love that guitar so much. One guitar I'd never part with.
Man if you want a good inexpensive V get the Jackson RR series. I have one and it’s great for the money. Like you, I’m not a huge fan of V guitars either. I just wanted one to have and I love RR but didn’t want to spend a lot.
@@GeorgeBonez I don’t have the RR series but instead I have a Js32t king V and it plays beautifully. Came perfect out the box. For it just having regular die cast tuners it stays in tune perfectly. I’ve had it for 3 years so far and I’ve only had to tune it twice, and that’s with me playing it almost everyday. The stock Jackson pickups are also pretty good and have a good ‘bite’ to them. For $330, it’s a very good V.
Thomann describes Roseacer as "thermally treated maple". Just FYI because I had no clue either. Also at the time of this video airing, it shows $169 US for me. Thanks for the video Glenn.
The did not rise the price. Glen posted a screenshot ua-cam.com/video/kdkQ69sKJkg/v-deo.html with the price in canadian dollars. You can see the canadian "currency" flag at the top of the screenshot.
I bought a cheap HB telecaster with the exact same grounding issue. Turns out the grounding wire to the bridge wasn't even connected to the bridge and the bridge itself was painted so a connection wouldn't even have been possible. A little scratching and wire stripping later and it was perfect. Very impressed. A little elbow grease was more than worth the cheap price. I can see how somebody that has no experience with working on guitars would be losing their mind.
Your price correction was a mistake. You had it right the first time. it's $169. It's important for you and your viewers to know when you go to Thomann "DE" (the german site) and you change currency to US dollars, the price shown is INCLUDING VAT. When you put it in the cart and put the address to US it automatically changes to Thomann "COM" (the same as the one in your "description" ) and takes away the VAT. Best way to avoid mistakes and know the true price for the US is to just always go to Thomann "COM" (the North American site). They separated it into two domains to make it easier for Americans to know the price, but since search results usually gives us a mix of the DE site AND the COM site, it just adds more to the confusion. Rock on Glenn, love the channel! (if you don't believe me just look at the address at 12:14 it thomannmusic "DE" and it's $229. The link in your description is thomannmusic "com" and it's $169)
For the price it's good starting point for a PROJECT guitar! I like the 70's style neck joint on it. But yeah if they can't get the ground hooked up properly I'd have serious issues with it. I thought I heard the ground noise when Glen was using his amp sims.
@@NubsWithGuns not if you know what you are doing, and there are enough instructional videos to help out. I have tools for frets but dealing with fret ends it works just fine. As long as you don't have a heavy hand.
@@B-Roc Most kids don't know what they're doing And the general target of these guitars ain't "people who know what they're doing" for the most part, but mostly beginners to intermediate I agree with the guy who said that doing it yourself may be more harm than good
@@moonwalkerkop4479 Good for you tbh, I ain't putting that into question I'm saying, as a general rule, people ain't that crafty nor reliable But it's cool to read about some crafty kid out in here
really interesting demonstration at the end of what's a normal level of humming vs excessive noise. like many who upgraded to high output pickups I sometimes wonder what should be expected.
I saw the Jazzmaster version of this and immediately thought about swapping in EMG Retroactives and making it a budget Jim Root. Now that I know it doesn't completely suck, I might do it.
I bought a Harley Benton bass this year and had the same issue with the frets, but after playing it a bit I realized it's not actually the edge of the frets but either a thin layer of residual laquer from the neck or maybe glue from the fret work, I played it for a couple of weeks and it was smooth without any intervention, I took it to a luthier and checked the frets and found no issue, he just calibrated it to my taste and all is good, maybe the guitar has something similar going on, Im also very glad you made this video because I am thinking of buying this guitar as a secondary guitar, cheers and FUG
Here is the thing: I fully expect little issues like spotty fret work and maybe electrical issues on a guitar this dirt cheap. I also have the skills and tools to fix just about everything on an electric guitar. As long as the structure and build of a guitar is fine, I don't mind to fix them up. Nowadays, with graphite rods in the neck and cnc-routers, the general structure of even the cheapest guitars is mostly pretty damn good. I just bought a used Jackson JS32 Dinky with terribly unlevel frets for a pretty great price. After I levelled, crowned and polished the frets, it is now one of my favourite guitars.
I really wanted this one to be a winner.... however, I am glad you are giving it your 'honest' review. I used to own a Harley Benton LP style gold top years ago and it was horrendous. Mind you, just a year later, Harley Benton decided to step up their game and actually make quality guitars. That's just my luck, I guess. Maybe one day I will give HB another shot . . . but maybe not.
They beat the shit out of what we were stuck with in the 80's and 90's for that price. We were fortunate to get a Bullet Squire for that price that would stay in tune for longer than 2 seconds. I think that is just a dyed Maple fingerboard. I upgraded the tuners, pickup and replaced the frets in my HB, Gold frets are sweet!
To be fair, I've had a $2K guitar arrive with grounding issues because a solder joint came loose during shipping. I wonder if this could be a similar issue?
A solder joint coming loose is a flaw and the result of quick/sloppy work, though. It's exactly to his point -- you buy a new guitar, you expect it to work out of the box. If a solder joint came undone, it's because it wasn't properly done in the first place. (I've got years of soldering experience to say this confidently!)
@@soundman1402 I don't disagree, I'm just saying that sometimes even guitars otherwise known for high quality can experience these issues. If I knew the problem with this HB guitar could be easily fixed like this I'd still consider buying one.
@@soundman1402 And I've got 30+ years of soldering and would have to agree with your statement I still have cabels I made 25+ years and they still work as intended!
Damn, I was really hype for the first two thirds of this video 😅😬 hopefully they bring out a version with EMG’s like how there’s 2 versions of the EX 84
I figured out the hum issue. I have the Jazzmaster version of this guitar. The problem is the paint on the bridge (or most likely the tailpiece on the V) is not conductive, so it can't ground. When I took off the bridge and touched the bridge ground wire, the hum stopped. So I sanded the paint off the bottom of the bridge so the wire could make contact with the bridge, and the problem was solved.
Excellent review Glenn! I will say.. because you asked...I've bought several HB guitars..most were incredible for the price..one had a ton of noise out of the box..turns out it was a very simple wiring issue..easy fix..if you don't mind having to do some adjusting and have the know how I think HB guitars are absolutely great..If you are a complete beginner it can be majorly hit or miss
Daaaaaaamn Glenn your lead playing and riffing was on point in this video! You have to tell us what things you have been focusing on while you practice because you are improving at a lightning fast rate!
Well I WOULD BUY IT either way!! The frets are not an issue for me. I will dress them myself, no biggie. I was already thinking on replacing the pickups with SD Blackouts anyways, which I have in several of my guitars. I DO find your review very helpful though. The rest of the guitar is just fine. For sure the price is for me the biggest selling point. Even after addressing the issue's it's still gonna be a good one. PS: Blackouts set comes complete with its own circuitry including the pots. SO gone will be the noise.
That V looks like a cool guitar for a beginner. The noise issue is maybe a bad wiring in the guitar, should be easy to fix. Have you tried a Squier Contemporary Active Jazzmaster, really impressive guitars that sound and look very good! Maybe do a shootout against the Harley Benton JA, as both guitars seem to be very similar. The HB is half the price though.
Glenn's point is that a beginner guitar should not need modifications out of the box, as the average beginner doesn't know where to start in diagnosing these issues, much less fixing them. Doesn't mean that this guitar couldn't play & sound awesome for a guy with fret files & a drawer full of spare hardware & pickups.
@@justinturner653 Except the noise issue it looks way better than my first guitar, that cost twice as much. Maybe it was just a "Montagsstück" (means subpar manufacturing due to hangover from the weekend), as we call them in Germany. ;)
To be frank, there's not a single guitar I ever owned that I haven't opened/modded the moment it got to my home... I don't mind doing maintainance or fixing factory flaws but this could just be me that got used to owning cheap instruments that inevitably come with issues so I guess I don't know any better. I don't consider cheap pickups or grounding issues a deal breaker anymore as it can be remedied fairly easily but there are people that are not used to or don't possess the know-how to do that kind of work on an instrument. I''ll probably order the Jazzmaster HB made alongside this V.
Its not about the know how. If I paid for something, I shouldnt be fixing it straight out of the box. Seting up to your specifications is something else, but fixing is straight disrespect to the customer.
I think it would be cool to do an upgrade video on that guitar with a cost analysis. - of course I said that before the noise issue. Would be interesting to see the wiring and pots.
Wrap some 320 grit sandpaper around one of those white bar erasers and run it up and down the fret edges at 45 degrees. It'll round off the fret ends and round over the fingerboard edges. It's a 10 minute job that nobody should ever pay to have done! The excessive buzzing is most likely a non existent earth ground and should be a relatively simple fix 👍
Glenn alarmed me when he said his subscribers are flatlining. I normally watch YT without logging in, but in order to help out I corrected that and subscribed. I hope I have made a difference in 500,000 people's lives.
At SkunkWerx USA, we do EXACTLY what you have suggested to every single Harley Benton we import and sell. We have "The Better Benton", pretty sure even they know it, as we have sold more HB guitars on Reverb than Thomann has. See our feedback on Reverb, tons of happy repeat clients, because we do EXACTLY what we say we will: Make a good guitar even BETTER. Each guitar gets a full checkup for the basic functions, we repair broken pots, switches, fix ground issues, etc., (common) then we apply our FretWerx process, which includes a truss rod adjustment, frets rockered and leveled where necessary, ends hand rounded, fretboard edges rounded over, fretboard sanded smooth, neck heel sanded smooth, frets polished to jewel-like shine, fretboard treated, nut slots checked and adjusted if needed, neck seated in pocket, all hardware tightened, new EB Slinky strings 9's or 10's, stretch, tune to 440, stretch, tune to client spec, intonate, tune again, adjust bridge and pickup height to factory specs or better, tune, then play test both clean and high gain. 2.5 to 3 hours per guitar on average, but the results are stunning. We don't really do outside work, but we could help you with the skills you need to get the job done yourself. Offered before, never heard back, but we know you're a busy dude. Take care. Spanky You can check us out here, extra 5% off to anyone who mentions Glen's channel. We will have the new JA Actives up tonight! : reverb.com/shop/skunkwerxguitars
Man I've played/fixed a bunch of $200 guitars and I feel like what you experienced is pretty normal. Bad grounding, sharp frets, sometimes a broken 3 way switch that bleeds signal from one pickup to the other, black paint used in the cavity to look like shielding paint but it's just normal paint, nuts cut too tight and shallow that they grip the strings and **ping** when tuning and every open chord sounds just a little sharp. Does it suck...yes, but this is the guitar you learn to work on. If you mess anything up, just replace with an "upgrade" and have fun messing with things, or bring it to a local guitar tech and for 100 bucks get that sucker playing beautiful. As long as the "bones" of the guitar are solid you can make anything sound good.
Other than the noise issue (which, admittedly, is hard to overlook) and the frets, i think that guitar is fantastic Heres to hoping the noise was just a one time issue! Also, another thing i noticed about that guitar which im suprised you didnt mention is the fact it has no fretboard dots. Sort of contradicts the whole "begginer market" thing
I owned a guitar shop for a few years and did the repairs myself. That feedback likely isn't the pickups. That is usually (but not always) a grounding issue or shielding. Check all the solder points, and check they didn't wire the jack backwards. If that's all good, find where the ground wire goes and check if it's actually grounded. I had a few guitars where they forgot to sand a small spot of the black paint from the bridge ground point. A painted bridge won't ground the guitar. All that failing, check shielding and add either shielding paint or tape. And yes I agree you shouldn't need to do any of this. The guitar should arrive properly. But if somebody missed something during assembly, it's a very different conclusion than "the pickups are bad". Maybe see if your luthier can track down your feedback issue.
I absolutely see where you're coming from. Though most of us here are more experienced players who would be thrilled to use this as a "project" the average beginner would be compelled either a. return it, b. learn how to wire, c. spend on taking it to a luthier, or d. spend on new pickups. All of these could affect the desirability to even continue learning depending on the person. What if 229 was all you had? Or you didn't have access to a soldering iron or wire cutters. It's like getting a new toy then finding out there's no batteries included smh.
It sounds great. It looks great.. It makes me miss my Gibson Gothic V. I kinda would like this just to customize it they way i intended to with the Gibson. Edit: i still think with the possible wiring issue, I'd be down to fix it.
V-shape and X-shape guitars are very prone to get dents and scratches in the lower pointy bits so even if didn't come from factory with a few, they will definitely get some of them within a year of use. Those guitars and basses with the "stealth" black finish look great to use as a platform for upgrades, IMO.
"Stealth" black satin finish looks good only on advertisements, in unboxing vids and in a shopwindow. It will start to turn glossy REALLY quickly and unevenly in the areas where it contacts your fatty and sweaty skin, and you can do literally nothing except for a total refinish or just polishing entire instrument to get a lame glossy black guitar. Also, the paint on cheap black hardware starts to chip off the contact/friction areas quite fast as well, exposing shiny bare metal with huge contrast to the remaining paint. Such choice of finishes is ok for a really expensive guitars with top quality hardware and paintjob which will be kept under the glass for the most of the time and dealt with great caution during the playing, yet when a cheap guitar for a rookie has all those options and even worse a V shape - it will definately look like a piece of junk in a year.
On side note, the funny thing about Gibson is that, although they get bashed 24-7, they still never seem to have an overstock problem but rather a huge backlog. I know this, working in their shipping and receiving dept. 15 years now we can't get them out fast enough.
Got mine today. The edges weren't sharp and were clean. Pretty rounded, too. MY issue was the nut. I'm definitely replacing that. It sounded and felt great, tho.
Alll I can say as I own 3 HBs none with active pick-ups, is to Open the hood and check all solder and ground Connections And Perhaps Shielding (IDK If Active HUmbuckers Need it Or not) And Guess what?? If you Buy a HB be prepared to do such things as well as Truss Rod Adjustments and Fret Dressing and Leveling at times. They are NOT really "Beginner" guitars now (Like most people thought 2 years ago) They are for the Guitarist who can open the hood Make Easy Adjustments File frets Etc.Etc. cause, truth be told this is what saves YOU Money It can come out of the box Smelling Like a Rose but do you want to pay an extra $80-$100 for that? Or DO you WANT to LEARN some SET UP Skills on a lower price guitar that you can then use on you More Expensive Guitars. As Well As In the end IF you are Afraid to do the Mostly Minor work or What have you, You got 30 Day Warranty to send it back and get another one or your money Back. REMINDER: THESE ARE NOT BEGINNER GUITARS!!! If you want to have a box of Nice roses, be prepared and go with one of the Major Brands for that PRISTINE Box of roses. And you can get a DUD from them once in a while. IF you want to save some money on a guitar....BE PREPAIRED to at least do some finish work yourself in order to save that Money.. I think that is where HB has and is trying to Maintain through at the Moment. FYI My "Set up Guy" Charges $60 No frills...Now it costs Me $O because Now I can do Basic Set up on Bass or guitar.......How did I learn that?? HB. what is the Value of that? It's a Little give and take here Value vs. Quality and Every person is different, I get that. Or Pay PREMIUM ASTRONOMICAL PRICES from a Major brand for ALL the BELLS and WHISTLES. It's YOUR BUDGET And MONEY IN THE END. Thank you -Skyprop
Thanks for the review, I think I'll still get this guitar when it comes out in lefthand. I don't mind shipping it to a luthier, and even if I buy an EMG HET set and throw new tuners and maybe a Tusq bridge on it, I doubt I'll get a V with a non-floating bridge in LH that also doesn't look alike a damn ironing board (looking at you, Jackson JS32L RR) for the money I'll pour into it, at least in Poland where I live. We're talking like $600-$650 in total, including the cost of the guitar itself.
@@SpectreSoundStudios I did, the issue was the fretwork and noise - like I said, I still think I won't get such a pretty well built, nicely looking non-FR V in lefthand for the I guess $300-350 I'd have to spend on it after purchase.
@@derekdoesmusic6013 For a Flying V? I think you could just get away with getting any right handed Flying V and flipping it upside down. The cutaways are generally even on both sides, just have to watch for the pick up selector
@@DarthPew I'd also have to swap out the nut and the bridge, and I'd keep swiping the volume pot. I used to play a right-handed bass. Never again. Not to mention, I just checked Thomann - only like 2 V's without a floating bridge. I don't want a floating bridge.
@@derekdoesmusic6013 Fair argument. I am not a lefty player, and admittedly my knowledge of guitar flipping is very limited. I have nothing really more to add, I tried seeing what Schecter would have on offer, but all the lefty Vs I saw with a hard tail would be over €1.000… Good luck to you, mate
Great review as usual. Could the noise be coming from the crappy battery? (not sure if you changed it or even used it) In some of my active pickup guitars, they start sounding poor when the battery is about to give up the ghost.
Guitar player for 46 years! I have never purchased a guitar without actually seeing or playing it first…period! Shitty fretting, painting flaws, buzzy p/u’s etc, would be seen/heard in the store and an immediate decision can be made whether to buy or not. In fact, I’d go as far as to say that a guitar with those flaws would not be on display in a store. I get it that it’s an online world, but what you received is unacceptable, and in a normal situation you’d have to go through the hassle of returning it and waiting weeks to be made whole again. Awesome Christmas present, Mom & Dad! Perhaps there’s a reason I can’t find HB guitars in any of the half dozen music stores in my city. Encourage people to shop locally. If shops aren’t carrying these products, ask why and if they are available. Totally avoidable buying situation. Thanks for the heads up!
Anybody can file/sand down the ends of those frets. I was worried about doing mine but picked up a $20 file set and did it myself. On a $169 guitar, it’s a perfect price point to practice that kind of stuff on.
Yeah I would expect to spen an hour or so on a guitar for that price. File fret ends, polish frets with a dremel and polish paste, check shielding in cavities and soldering on electronics. I have had to do this on guitars in the 1000$ range too.
If 169 is all you had, it's sitting in the couriers bonded warehouse til you pay the import charges. At 169 you can't reasonably expect them to have spent an hours labour neatly rounding the fret ends. Somethings gotta give to churn them out at those prices. Better they got the frets levelled and sacrificed finessing the ends than vice versa, if they have to cut corners. DIY sandpaper can fix the worst of the ends. You're in a world of tools expense to diy level+crown.
@@PaulCooksStuff Frets ends are simple to diy, why people would pay a luthiere 100+$ is beyond me. Same for general setup, soldering, finish work, everything you need to learn is on UA-cam. It's very satisfying to learn and to shape your own guitar.
"Putting the pieces together" is actually a metaphor I use a lot for learning songs on bass. Usually I'll take any given measure (or set of bars), learn them individually, then see if I can connect them together. It's a ton of work, but it's so satisfying when it pays off. Build up your skill set one step at a time and take pride in every bit of progress you make, and you'll soon be having a blast on your chosen instrument! Keep on rocking \m/
Nice, my brother asked me what guitar to get my 16yo nephew, I had him get the Harley benton explorer. My son is only 5 so I got him the jackson rr minion. Can't wait to see him play it :edit after watching the rest of the video, honestly that doesn't surprise me for a guitar at that price point. I'd expect to have to take a guitar like that to a luthier on day 1 for a complete set up and fret job. (I do this anyway even for $1500 guitars.) I'd still get something like this for a beginner just starting out. 🤘
Yeah, sounds like and shielding or grounding issue. Im surpriced that Thomann managed to ship you a poor sample of this guitar for review, if you had ordered it it would be another story. Maybe you can do a follow up on this guitar if Thomann fixes the problems. I cant say that i care for this kind of V body, it looks a bit big and bulky compared to a classic V shape and the highest frets seem to have much worse access than on my classic shaped Dean V´s, i wish they could come up with something better in the V department.
I was seriously considering buying this guitar. The price point was very attractive since I haven't been able to afford a new guitar in years. I don't really care about the paint job at a certain price point, neither do some people at insane price levels, I'm talking about those 'relic' guitars. In short, I decided not to buy the active v for one reason...the neck profile. I'll just stick with my 14 year old Schecter V, with passive EMG's, and the most comfortable neck ever. It's also never needed an adjustment. It came out of the box all those years ago infinitely playable. Edit: The grounding issues wasn't surprising, neither was the 💩fret work. Clearly, dodged a bullet with this one. To be honest, what I really want is a PRS Mark Holcomb SE. Sucks ass to be poor af.
@@johnsguitarmusicanddemos If you want a 'project guitar's then I suppose it's a decent platform. Personally, I only own one short scale guitar which is a Les Paul. Otherwise, I prefer at least a 25.5 scale length, since it makes down tuning a stable affair.
True but.. The idea here is a beginner may not know that or how to fix, the guitar should be playable to a beginner, in the 21st century these problems should not be there. ✌️
@@OliverSutton1962 of course, the guitar shouldn't have that type of issue no matter the price point. I only mentioned it because he said that the pickups were what was causing the noise and it simply not. Pickups only make that kind of noise if they are not grounded properly, regardless if they are active or passive.
You crack me the F--K up!!! .62 year ol rocker here still banging wires on all kinds of ol school, an new sleds, AKA guitars.But I love the Buy or Fry it straight vine.Keep em coming,as well as just Rocking ..Good Job;)
The hum might not necessarily enter the guitar through pickups. Any length of wire could be a culprit. Looks like there is a long stretch of wiring between the volume knob and the jack; I am betting my whole pocket of nothing that it is not shielded at all. And then it is also possible that the cavity around the volume knob lacks proper shielding. Applying metal foil there is not a lot of fun unless you specifically like this kind of tinkering.
@@woochyna right! I paid $950 for my E-II Eclipse w/case and $425 for my M1000 and H1001 back in 2017(store had them on the wall for a while and they wanted to move them quickly. Prices are insane now.
Man that thing sounds better than expected. I just knew it would be a bit dark, but no. Love Harley Benton, but I’ve shyed away from the really inexpensive stuff. Not anymore. Thanks Glenn 🤘
I picked up one of these cheap Harley Benton’s. The silverburst looking body. It’s actually really nice, plays mostly well. Pickups are a little muddy but overall decent. My only complaint is that the neck isn’t very stable. Or needs some adjusting. But the strings hit the frets on first and 2nd. I raised the bridge a little and strings hit Frets on pretty much the whole neck lol. I put it down, couple days later without touching it, it played fine! WTF
The HBZ PU are noisy, I got one of the EX models before they started offering EMG. Every HB I have came with dusty frets, not a big deal to me because I know how to set up a new guitar. I can see where it might be an issue for some, for others it comes as an opportunity for people to learn to maintain/ repair their own gear. I recommend EVERYONE that plays an instrument learn to maintain and repair their instrument. Having to pay someone hundreds of dollars to keep a piece of wood and some wire functioning is true money sink. Keep up the good work Glenn. Rock on!
Somethings definitely wrong there. What I'm curious about is why it didn't have as much of an issue with the amp sim. The only thing I can think of is the input impedance on the audio interface is significantly higher than the fireball and either the pickups couldn't muster the current to drive the fireball or they shipped it with a faulty or expired battery that just crumbled under load.
I completely agree with your "out of the box experience" reviews. Really, it's not your job to take off covers and start messing with grounds and wiring issues, regardless if it is caused by human errors or bad design/engineering. I don't like to make the time fixing stuff that should have been done right in the first place. Having said that, if I knew how to do the repairs, I'd do it. With noise that bad, it's probably more than just bad pick-ups. I'd rather pay a bit more to get better, so thanks for steering in the proper direction. I still have some time before I may have to buy something, so I look forward to more reviews.
Over $200 is working its way to medium priced guitar. All guitars made by (so-called) Luthiers should have the frets finished. 10 years ago I bought a $99 Epi Lp Jr on the way to a gig and restrung it on the way. The frets were catching my skin a little but I could file them tomorrow. After the first set somebody asked why my hands were sliced up and it looked like i had hundreds of paper cuts across my hand, surprising just how deep for only one drop of blood. I took elect tape down the bottom of the neck and finished the show with that messy grimey tape glue on the guitar and my wounds. I woke the next day with a swollen hand and couldnt play for a couple days. Thank God I had a Tetnis booster recently. Im sure there are many that have to be hospitalized because of it. Paying the guy in China to finish the frets may cost up to $2. Today it may look like another $2 in profit but with all the returns and injury lawsuits they probably lose money and future customers. Fn stupid!
I’m learning zeppelin and I’m three days in and am on bar 5 about 40 seconds into the song ! Man this is a lot tougher than I thought to sit there and practice lol😂 That being said , I love how much quicker I am getting when playing and with some pickup upgrades my epiphone 50s standard is just a dream to play .
I have the ST-20HH Active with the same HBZ pickups, I don't have the noise so it's probably a wiring or cable issue not the pickups. I also have the Vintage series V, which is my main guitar now upgraded with Gotoh tuners and Fishman Modern pickups. I might get this one as an evil twin.
I like putting blue painter’s tape on the fret ends and sides of the board and over the pickups) take a sanding block to the tape over the fret ends and sand, only the fret ends will come through the tape and you can sand them down a bit without special tools. Not perfect and won’t get you nice round fret ends but does help with sharp edges. Like with all fret work a little goes a long way so don’t sand too much or too hard.
Hey, if the frets are leveled and low action is possible, THAT is what counts. Side-word can be done easily at home, rough edges I mean. Love that thing, but the shape I would definetly go for sth ergonomic.
I ordered a lefty Amorok baritone guitar at the end of August, and it finally shipped. I feel like it's gonna be better than that flying V, but I'm still crossing fingers. Unique, but affordable lefties aren't easily available... I would be interested in still seeing a video of this V getting an upgrade though, get the frets fixed, determine a wiring or pickup issue, and hopefully conclude that a poor quality inspection was at fault. I'm sure it would be helpful for Harley Benton to know about that, and I'd be curious to see how much needs to be invested in the V to make it fit your needs. Update: Received the left-handed Amorok baritone. It looks like the headstock was bumped into something, and has a small dent. But otherwise, the guitar worked fine...for a day. The next day after work, I plug it in, and no sound. Switched 9 volt batteries, tried different instruments with my preamp, and the Amorok still wouldn't work. I can only currently assume there's loose or broken wiring inside, and I'll have to check it out later. I probably woulda replaced it in the future with EMG solderless wiring, but this is frustrating.
Thank you so much for your honesty. I wish I could have seen this before I bought it. Mine physically came in good shape and no fret issues. That buzz though!!!!! I'm taking a page out of your book. I'm going to upgrade the pickups no doubt. I have a set of Duncan Blackouts that are still in the box new. Perhaps that will be the way to go for me! And yes tuner upgrade as well! Again, I thank you very much!
That's probably not an issue with the pickups themselves as much as it's an issue with the wiring. Shoddy soldering and a loose ground connection will cause that type of noise. Probably an easy fix to someone who can work a soldering iron but nevertheless something that ABSOLUTELY SHOULD NOT HAPPEN in a beginner-oriented guitar. It's a real shame since it looks like a pretty good guitar even though I dislike the V shape. Edit: just saw you addressed this, that's what I get for not watching until the end before commenting!
Hi Glenn. I have heard about the noisey HBZs but mine (HB Extreme 84 Progrssive) is indeed dead silent. Guess you just got a monday model. Thomann's service is absolutely brilliant. Send it back and they make it work. At least here in Germany. A guitar shipped over then great pond should be double checked.
Yeah, if you're in Germany I bet it's very easy to return. America? Good luck. You have to negotiate with someone who doesn't speak English as their first language, and HOPEFULLY they fill out the return sheet correctly, and actually label it a return. In my case, they labeled my return as a repair, and wanted me to pay the shipping BACK to Thomann to repair it, and then BACK to the US once it was "fixed". I said no, I wanted a return, they said "Oh well since 30 days have passed you aren't eligible for a return". Meanwhile I spent the whole 30 days telling them I didn't want a repair, I wanted to return the guitar and get a refund... I emailed day one as soon as I got the guitar, but since THEY messed up the paperwork, I had to resubmit my return request, which was technically outside of the return window (not by my fault, either) Never had a chance to return it and I sold it to some poor sucker for $250 on Marketplace and I still feel like a complete fucking scumbag for that.
That noise just reeks of some issue with the wiring of the guitar. Still inexcusable, but should be easy to fix. It's a pity, though. I was considering getting this, as I don't have a guitar with active pickups.
The fret issue could be due to humidity or lack thereof. I left one of my basses on a stand over a heat vent last winter and suddenly it had sharp frets. Once moisture reentered the fretboard the frets were fine.
How much of the static humming type noise should there be, what is acceptable and what is not? It's always great to see you be honest about things like that. Also, can you review a Squier guitar?
Should be next to nothing with humbuckers, active or passive. You do have to watch your position in relation to your amp, though. If you're close, and/or perpendicular to the amp, they can hiss but that should go away if you move around.
I like the review. You're right it's not your job to fix grounding issues, but it is a little weird to review and not tell us if it's that or the pickups. Imo it's half baked when the rest of the review was very thorough. If I get a guitar with a grounding issue, I can fix it and I have no problem with that. If I get a guitar with bad pickups then it's up to me if I want to essentially double the price of it to replace them. I don't know about the rest of the consumers that watch this channel but that's information I watch for. Overall great review! I love the no punches pulled style you always do! Edit: I like that you did make a video on the noise issue. I didn't see that before commenting that's my bad.
I always tell people who are considering one of these super cheap, sub-$300 guitars: don't buy one unless you play it in person or are prepared and capable to do significant fret work. Every now and then one of them has good frets and then you got lucky, but as a general rule, your "bargain" guitar is going to need at least double its value in fret work. It really doesn't matter if the finish is great or even if the hardware is pretty good, because the neck is where we interface with the guitar and if that sucks, the rest of it is a paperweight. Kudos to this channel for telling it like it is. Most of the high profile guitar review channels tend to gloss over the fret issues.
Glenn you are good enough to start your band. And for this low price I will dremel the fretboard myself. It might look ugly, but it will feel good. Glenn on t'aime
I have to wonder if you opened up the electronics cavity if it isn't lacking shielding paint or tape... you're right that it's not our job to fix their problems, but I wonder if it's easily curable because some people wouldn't mind tinkering with it anyway so it might not actually bother them that much...
I have one and everything is fine with it. No issues at all. Maybe shipping was a bit rough.The great thing about Thomann is : You call, they send you a new one...
It's the earth wire to the coated bridge. I've the tele version and it was the same problem. You can scratch the coating off but what beginner is gonna be doing that
If you find a ding you can send a photo to HB in an email complaint and they’ll knock money off the price. Returned to you or as credit on their site. They did it on a strat I got.
Don't buy it as this Thomann Affiliate Link: www.thomannmusic.com/harley_benton_victory_active_sbk.htm?offid=1&affid=200
Are you sure you didn't get bstock or a "monday product"?
You should look at this way. You got a guitar for 130 bucks and it came with a free set of pick ups. lol Tear those things out and just put an EMG set in with solderless PCB kit. Any guitar that plays out of the box like that for that kind of money in my opinion is a good deal. I dont know what others charge to do a full fret level and set up but I doubt 130 bucks would cover time and labor. It can take an entire day to set up a guitar.
I bet there this an issue with bridge ground. Probably something stupid like that and is an easy fix. Or not could just be crap but worth checking that.
That affiliate link shows me $169. Weird.
Glenn! Read my comment ffs! Your price correction was a mistake. You had it right the first time. it's $169. It's important for you and your viewers to know that when you go to Thomannmusic "DE" (the german site) and change currency to US dollars, the price shown is INCLUDING VAT. Best way to avoid mistakes and know the true price for the US is to just always go to Thomannmusic "COM" (the North American site). They separated it into two domains to make it easier for Americans to know the price, but since search results usually gives us a mix of the DE site AND the COM site, it just adds more to the confusion. To add even more to the confusion their Mobile App defaults to thomannmusic "DE" which is why many people see a different price on Mobile than they do on PC. Rock on Glenn, love the channel! (if you don't believe me just look at the address at 12:14 it's thomannmusic "DE" and it's $229. Your affiliate link is thomannmusic "com" and it's $169).
I really admire that you talk about practicing and showing people that you can’t always play things perfect every time. Not very many people leave things like that in their videos.
Yeah, and while I don’t necessarily blame other guitarist UA-camrs for doing it, since most modern music is produced to death and they’re just trying to live up to that “standard”, I love that Glen keeps it real.
Are there actually that many that edit mistakes out of their videos?
Makes no sense to me why some would, probably because I’m used to pros playing live.
Heck, even some of the biggest virtuoso’s make mistakes, they are just good at masking them up.
@@JoeBaermann Yeah, editing is the norm.
@@MrGoodwell Even when it comes to covers?
I mean, when I record a full cover of the guitar part of a song, it is one take and no clipping, the mistakes are what they are, and can’t really be ashamed of them either knowing how little time I used to practice most of the songs.
@@JoeBaermann yeah he can have a life🤔👍
As someone who loves cheap “rat rod” guitars, filing down fret ends is fairly easy and quick. A little practice and you could have minor fret issues fixed in an hour or so. Makes a lot of cheaper guitars extremely worth their money
I'm a bit of a spectrum case and little tedious repetitive things like that are very calming for me... I am seriously thinking I should start a service of fixing up all these imports... I mean for a brand new kid they aren't going to know how to set up an instrument they are meant to learn to play on... So if there isn't a player in the house already there is a niche for someone to do it and I'm sure I'd be cheaper than the rates of a luthier or tech. Realistically that's something I've thought about ever since all the hbs and ffls started showing up on here... As a player of twenty some odd years who remembers what cheap guitars were like in the 90s I lust after all of them but it occurs to me... The adjustments they tend to need are basic and easy enough and even enjoyable for me *now* ..... When I got my first guitar I wouldn't have known what to do... but tbh compared to what we had back then I doubt I'd have noticed the frets were sharp... I'd have been too shocked that I was able to even touch them at all. cuz up to that point my experience had been that I just about barely could on the guitars I had come across... The harmony I ended up learning on would have been better for archery than music.
With UA-cam fixing fret ends and learning how to intonate is not hard. Worst part is the additional investment of equipment (again, not bad compared to traditional guitar costs) but once you have it it’s good for all your guitars moving forward. Went from scared shitless to touch a screw to installing pickups and fret polishing in under a year thanks to Know Your Gear, Glenn, and other YTbers. Kinda makes these finish them yourself to save 1/3 cost guitars a cool new standard. Every player should know how to do these basics! More I learned more I’ve played 😊
Winder if installing grounding tape in the pickup cavity would help... strings need to be swapped out most likely anyways.
my first guitar was a jackson, and the frets seemed almost like they were ignored, which sucked and ruined my experience for a few months because it'd cut my hand to the point where it'd start bleeding, i finally decided to get a sandpaper block and file it down, best decision of my life, put some seymour duncan invaders in it, changed the tuners because i think stock were like 5:1, went out of tune so quickly so i put 21:1 in and plays & sounds like an expensive guitar. i have a dave mustaine signature dean flying v and i prefer the jackson over it.
Unless they need leveled also! That takes much more time, skill and expensive tools to do at a quality I expect. Do something wrong and F up your guitar. Fortunately I do level frets and yes you are correct just ends takes maybe 30 min to 1 hour. Before you go away filing though to level check the neck break angle and make certain it is straight many are not. This has to be addressed before fret leveling as well as top nut correct height. Most cheaper guitars I have seen get these off. They can be corrected though it just takes time, tools and skill.
I would’ve killed for a guitar like that in the early 80’s when I started. “Cheap guitars” have come a very long way.
He ends up panning it at the end with a "do not buy" warning.
@@voronOsphere Even as bad as this thing is, the guitars at the same price in the 80s were absolute trash.
Even in the past 10-15 years the difference is night and day for what you can get sub $200.
Like you said, they’ve come a long way, there are better “cheap guitars” out there now, including from Harley Benton themselves
I guess everyone has the potential to be a murderer. Your price is a cheap guitar ;)
I love the fact that Glenn has worked in a production line for so long and so his assessment of production flaws is actually based on knowledge about production process and QC. Too many people have this all over the place approach, sometimes letting slip mayor things and sometimes obsessing about small stuff.
Hey Glenn. Fellow Canadian here. Even though I am not a Metal guy I have more than enjoyed your content and appreciate all the time and effort you put into your vids. Very refreshing to hear the no BS approach that you have. I am now 71 and having grown up in the 60s I am what I call part of the "dinosaur rock club". As a long time, guitarist I often think of how great it would have been to have access to someone like you back when I was starting out. Cheers mate
Thanks, Taylor!!
@@SpectreSoundStudios do you think a wireless transmitter would get in the way ( playing in the sitting position) ?
Hey Glenn, It’s likely that the guitar pickups were not correctly grounded to the guitar. The ground wire is usually soldered to the bridge spring claw and it could have fallen off during transportation. I wouldn’t be surprised if it was just loose in there waiting to be re-soldered.
Had the same problem with a jackson dinky JS22-7 after identifiyng the problem i returned it for a new one and the one i got was almost noice free
I thought so too. Might be a very easy fix. Usually maybe just the cable under the bridge.
Actives are usually not grounded to the bridge. It's the reason you won't get shocked by them.
Spring claw? There's no trem on that bridge 🤷♂️
I had a stop tail piece guitar with this issue. The exposed bit of wire sheered off when they pressed in the bushing. You'd never notice it without high gain. Sounds like that is what happened to this thing.
Keep playing on camera GLEN! I love seeing people having fun on guitar that aren't professional prodigies. It's like you are saying, "Hey, you can have fun, too!"
That V is giving me HEAVY Epiphone/Gibson Goth V vibes. I'm not typically a V fan but seeing them on the show lately has really made me consider them. As if Explorers aren't strange enough to sit in a stand 😅
I have one of the old Epi Goth SG's. Cool guitars!
@@fr.abbadon I've got one of the Epiphone Goth Explorers I've had since I was 16 (2002 ish) and I love that guitar so much. One guitar I'd never part with.
Man if you want a good inexpensive V get the Jackson RR series. I have one and it’s great for the money.
Like you, I’m not a huge fan of V guitars either. I just wanted one to have and I love RR but didn’t want to spend a lot.
@@GeorgeBonez I don’t have the RR series but instead I have a Js32t king V and it plays beautifully. Came perfect out the box. For it just having regular die cast tuners it stays in tune perfectly. I’ve had it for 3 years so far and I’ve only had to tune it twice, and that’s with me playing it almost everyday. The stock Jackson pickups are also pretty good and have a good ‘bite’ to them. For $330, it’s a very good V.
@@wayynnee that's a pretty nice lifetime on strings, as the joke must go, do you usually play bass?
Thomann describes Roseacer as "thermally treated maple". Just FYI because I had no clue either. Also at the time of this video airing, it shows $169 US for me. Thanks for the video Glenn.
They saw this video and dropped the price instantly
They probably raised the price so they could drop it for a "sale" price. Companies do that all the time, especially close to the holidays
The did not rise the price. Glen posted a screenshot ua-cam.com/video/kdkQ69sKJkg/v-deo.html with the price in canadian dollars. You can see the canadian "currency" flag at the top of the screenshot.
@@frmov9237 Good eye! I was scratching my head at that exchange rate since, right now, 1 USD = 0.96 Euro.
I bought a cheap HB telecaster with the exact same grounding issue. Turns out the grounding wire to the bridge wasn't even connected to the bridge and the bridge itself was painted so a connection wouldn't even have been possible. A little scratching and wire stripping later and it was perfect. Very impressed. A little elbow grease was more than worth the cheap price. I can see how somebody that has no experience with working on guitars would be losing their mind.
Your price correction was a mistake. You had it right the first time. it's $169. It's important for you and your viewers to know when you go to Thomann "DE" (the german site) and you change currency to US dollars, the price shown is INCLUDING VAT. When you put it in the cart and put the address to US it automatically changes to Thomann "COM" (the same as the one in your "description" ) and takes away the VAT. Best way to avoid mistakes and know the true price for the US is to just always go to Thomann "COM" (the North American site). They separated it into two domains to make it easier for Americans to know the price, but since search results usually gives us a mix of the DE site AND the COM site, it just adds more to the confusion. Rock on Glenn, love the channel! (if you don't believe me just look at the address at 12:14 it thomannmusic "DE" and it's $229. The link in your description is thomannmusic "com" and it's $169)
For the price it's good starting point for a PROJECT guitar! I like the 70's style neck joint on it. But yeah if they can't get the ground hooked up properly I'd have serious issues with it. I thought I heard the ground noise when Glen was using his amp sims.
Rather than paying, you can get a sponge sanding block and do those fret ends yourself. Just take out or cover pick ups before doing it.
@@NubsWithGuns not if you know what you are doing, and there are enough instructional videos to help out. I have tools for frets but dealing with fret ends it works just fine. As long as you don't have a heavy hand.
@@B-Roc Most kids don't know what they're doing
And the general target of these guitars ain't "people who know what they're doing" for the most part, but mostly beginners to intermediate
I agree with the guy who said that doing it yourself may be more harm than good
@@B-Roc Besides, the guitar should arrive in the best condition possible
Flaws are completely acceptable, but this ain't it chief
@@RedNK I'm 14 and I made a Harley Benton build kit when I was 13, It turned out great
@@moonwalkerkop4479 Good for you tbh, I ain't putting that into question
I'm saying, as a general rule, people ain't that crafty nor reliable
But it's cool to read about some crafty kid out in here
That sounded way better than last time I heard you play it which was very recent. 👏
I start bangin my head every time I hear Painkiller and Lucretia
Painkiller for sure! Awesome tune!
YES turn it into a project guitar. Let's see the frets, tuners and a graphite nut like you said. Would love to see how it goes.
really interesting demonstration at the end of what's a normal level of humming vs excessive noise. like many who upgraded to high output pickups I sometimes wonder what should be expected.
I saw the Jazzmaster version of this and immediately thought about swapping in EMG Retroactives and making it a budget Jim Root. Now that I know it doesn't completely suck, I might do it.
I bought a Harley Benton bass this year and had the same issue with the frets, but after playing it a bit I realized it's not actually the edge of the frets but either a thin layer of residual laquer from the neck or maybe glue from the fret work, I played it for a couple of weeks and it was smooth without any intervention, I took it to a luthier and checked the frets and found no issue, he just calibrated it to my taste and all is good, maybe the guitar has something similar going on, Im also very glad you made this video because I am thinking of buying this guitar as a secondary guitar, cheers and FUG
Here is the thing: I fully expect little issues like spotty fret work and maybe electrical issues on a guitar this dirt cheap. I also have the skills and tools to fix just about everything on an electric guitar. As long as the structure and build of a guitar is fine, I don't mind to fix them up. Nowadays, with graphite rods in the neck and cnc-routers, the general structure of even the cheapest guitars is mostly pretty damn good. I just bought a used Jackson JS32 Dinky with terribly unlevel frets for a pretty great price. After I levelled, crowned and polished the frets, it is now one of my favourite guitars.
I really wanted this one to be a winner.... however, I am glad you are giving it your 'honest' review. I used to own a Harley Benton LP style gold top years ago and it was horrendous. Mind you, just a year later, Harley Benton decided to step up their game and actually make quality guitars. That's just my luck, I guess. Maybe one day I will give HB another shot . . . but maybe not.
They beat the shit out of what we were stuck with in the 80's and 90's for that price. We were fortunate to get a Bullet Squire for that price that would stay in tune for longer than 2 seconds. I think that is just a dyed Maple fingerboard. I upgraded the tuners, pickup and replaced the frets in my HB, Gold frets are sweet!
your playing's getting so much better lately!
To be fair, I've had a $2K guitar arrive with grounding issues because a solder joint came loose during shipping. I wonder if this could be a similar issue?
A solder joint coming loose is a flaw and the result of quick/sloppy work, though. It's exactly to his point -- you buy a new guitar, you expect it to work out of the box. If a solder joint came undone, it's because it wasn't properly done in the first place. (I've got years of soldering experience to say this confidently!)
@@soundman1402 I don't disagree, I'm just saying that sometimes even guitars otherwise known for high quality can experience these issues. If I knew the problem with this HB guitar could be easily fixed like this I'd still consider buying one.
@@soundman1402 And I've got 30+ years of soldering and would have to agree with your statement I still have cabels I made 25+ years and they still work as intended!
Damn, I was really hype for the first two thirds of this video 😅😬 hopefully they bring out a version with EMG’s like how there’s 2 versions of the EX 84
I figured out the hum issue. I have the Jazzmaster version of this guitar. The problem is the paint on the bridge (or most likely the tailpiece on the V) is not conductive, so it can't ground. When I took off the bridge and touched the bridge ground wire, the hum stopped. So I sanded the paint off the bottom of the bridge so the wire could make contact with the bridge, and the problem was solved.
This comment deserves its own video.
Excellent review Glenn! I will say.. because you asked...I've bought several HB guitars..most were incredible for the price..one had a ton of noise out of the box..turns out it was a very simple wiring issue..easy fix..if you don't mind having to do some adjusting and have the know how I think HB guitars are absolutely great..If you are a complete beginner it can be majorly hit or miss
Daaaaaaamn Glenn your lead playing and riffing was on point in this video! You have to tell us what things you have been focusing on while you practice because you are improving at a lightning fast rate!
Glen is becoming too powerful... Soon he will be the artist, engineer AND producer
@@ReizokoRyu lol
Well I WOULD BUY IT either way!! The frets are not an issue for me. I will dress them myself, no biggie. I was already thinking on replacing the pickups with SD Blackouts anyways, which I have in several of my guitars. I DO find your review very helpful though. The rest of the guitar is just fine. For sure the price is for me the biggest selling point. Even after addressing the issue's it's still gonna be a good one. PS: Blackouts set comes complete with its own circuitry including the pots. SO gone will be the noise.
How did it go? Did the pickups change make the noise dissapear?
That V looks like a cool guitar for a beginner. The noise issue is maybe a bad wiring in the guitar, should be easy to fix.
Have you tried a Squier Contemporary Active Jazzmaster, really impressive guitars that sound and look very good! Maybe do a shootout against the Harley Benton JA, as both guitars seem to be very similar. The HB is half the price though.
Glenn's point is that a beginner guitar should not need modifications out of the box, as the average beginner doesn't know where to start in diagnosing these issues, much less fixing them. Doesn't mean that this guitar couldn't play & sound awesome for a guy with fret files & a drawer full of spare hardware & pickups.
I'll gladly pay twice as much if it means I get a playable guitar. Been burned by HB once already. "If it's too good to be true, it probably is"
@@justinturner653 Except the noise issue it looks way better than my first guitar, that cost twice as much. Maybe it was just a "Montagsstück" (means subpar manufacturing due to hangover from the weekend), as we call them in Germany. ;)
Shouldn't have to fix anything. You should be able to buy a guitar and have it work.
Yeah touching the strings and not getting a reduction in noise would indicate loose ground connection. Regardless, that sort of thing shouldn't slide
To be frank, there's not a single guitar I ever owned that I haven't opened/modded the moment it got to my home... I don't mind doing maintainance or fixing factory flaws but this could just be me that got used to owning cheap instruments that inevitably come with issues so I guess I don't know any better. I don't consider cheap pickups or grounding issues a deal breaker anymore as it can be remedied fairly easily but there are people that are not used to or don't possess the know-how to do that kind of work on an instrument. I''ll probably order the Jazzmaster HB made alongside this V.
Its not about the know how. If I paid for something, I shouldnt be fixing it straight out of the box. Seting up to your specifications is something else, but fixing is straight disrespect to the customer.
I think it would be cool to do an upgrade video on that guitar with a cost analysis. - of course I said that before the noise issue. Would be interesting to see the wiring and pots.
Feels like a ground problem.
Nice tight pick pattern, Glenn. You are really improving on the rhythm side of things!
Wrap some 320 grit sandpaper around one of those white bar erasers and run it up and down the fret edges at 45 degrees. It'll round off the fret ends and round over the fingerboard edges. It's a 10 minute job that nobody should ever pay to have done! The excessive buzzing is most likely a non existent earth ground and should be a relatively simple fix 👍
Glenn alarmed me when he said his subscribers are flatlining. I normally watch YT without logging in, but in order to help out I corrected that and subscribed. I hope I have made a difference in 500,000 people's lives.
HBs are great project guitars. IMHO, if the frets get sorted, throw in some locking tuners - you'd be able to gig with it without much trouble.
You forgot about spending $300 on new pickups
@@roji556 there's always the used market. You can score some pretty good ones used nowadays
At SkunkWerx USA, we do EXACTLY what you have suggested to every single Harley Benton we import and sell. We have "The Better Benton", pretty sure even they know it, as we have sold more HB guitars on Reverb than Thomann has. See our feedback on Reverb, tons of happy repeat clients, because we do EXACTLY what we say we will: Make a good guitar even BETTER. Each guitar gets a full checkup for the basic functions, we repair broken pots, switches, fix ground issues, etc., (common) then we apply our FretWerx process, which includes a truss rod adjustment, frets rockered and leveled where necessary, ends hand rounded, fretboard edges rounded over, fretboard sanded smooth, neck heel sanded smooth, frets polished to jewel-like shine, fretboard treated, nut slots checked and adjusted if needed, neck seated in pocket, all hardware tightened, new EB Slinky strings 9's or 10's, stretch, tune to 440, stretch, tune to client spec, intonate, tune again, adjust bridge and pickup height to factory specs or better, tune, then play test both clean and high gain. 2.5 to 3 hours per guitar on average, but the results are stunning. We don't really do outside work, but we could help you with the skills you need to get the job done yourself. Offered before, never heard back, but we know you're a busy dude. Take care. Spanky
You can check us out here, extra 5% off to anyone who mentions Glen's channel. We will have the new JA Actives up tonight! : reverb.com/shop/skunkwerxguitars
Dude…
You killed it on that guitar! Great playing!
Man I've played/fixed a bunch of $200 guitars and I feel like what you experienced is pretty normal. Bad grounding, sharp frets, sometimes a broken 3 way switch that bleeds signal from one pickup to the other, black paint used in the cavity to look like shielding paint but it's just normal paint, nuts cut too tight and shallow that they grip the strings and **ping** when tuning and every open chord sounds just a little sharp. Does it suck...yes, but this is the guitar you learn to work on. If you mess anything up, just replace with an "upgrade" and have fun messing with things, or bring it to a local guitar tech and for 100 bucks get that sucker playing beautiful. As long as the "bones" of the guitar are solid you can make anything sound good.
Other than the noise issue (which, admittedly, is hard to overlook) and the frets, i think that guitar is fantastic
Heres to hoping the noise was just a one time issue!
Also, another thing i noticed about that guitar which im suprised you didnt mention is the fact it has no fretboard dots. Sort of contradicts the whole "begginer market" thing
Probably has markers on fretboard edge.
@@thomasmoura yes i saw in the video it does, but point still stands
It's a ground wire they never connected to the bridge. I can tell already. The pickups are probably fine but definitely a ground issue
You don't see the dots on the front unless you are learning from another musician. You can't even see block inlays while playing
@@KelticKabukiGirl I can
Awesome review Glenn! Seems like they’re stepping up there game with those guitars.
I owned a guitar shop for a few years and did the repairs myself. That feedback likely isn't the pickups. That is usually (but not always) a grounding issue or shielding. Check all the solder points, and check they didn't wire the jack backwards. If that's all good, find where the ground wire goes and check if it's actually grounded. I had a few guitars where they forgot to sand a small spot of the black paint from the bridge ground point. A painted bridge won't ground the guitar. All that failing, check shielding and add either shielding paint or tape.
And yes I agree you shouldn't need to do any of this. The guitar should arrive properly. But if somebody missed something during assembly, it's a very different conclusion than "the pickups are bad". Maybe see if your luthier can track down your feedback issue.
I absolutely see where you're coming from. Though most of us here are more experienced players who would be thrilled to use this as a "project" the average beginner would be compelled either a. return it, b. learn how to wire, c. spend on taking it to a luthier, or d. spend on new pickups. All of these could affect the desirability to even continue learning depending on the person. What if 229 was all you had? Or you didn't have access to a soldering iron or wire cutters. It's like getting a new toy then finding out there's no batteries included smh.
It sounds great. It looks great.. It makes me miss my Gibson Gothic V. I kinda would like this just to customize it they way i intended to with the Gibson.
Edit: i still think with the possible wiring issue, I'd be down to fix it.
V-shape and X-shape guitars are very prone to get dents and scratches in the lower pointy bits so even if didn't come from factory with a few, they will definitely get some of them within a year of use. Those guitars and basses with the "stealth" black finish look great to use as a platform for upgrades, IMO.
"Stealth" black satin finish looks good only on advertisements, in unboxing vids and in a shopwindow. It will start to turn glossy REALLY quickly and unevenly in the areas where it contacts your fatty and sweaty skin, and you can do literally nothing except for a total refinish or just polishing entire instrument to get a lame glossy black guitar. Also, the paint on cheap black hardware starts to chip off the contact/friction areas quite fast as well, exposing shiny bare metal with huge contrast to the remaining paint. Such choice of finishes is ok for a really expensive guitars with top quality hardware and paintjob which will be kept under the glass for the most of the time and dealt with great caution during the playing, yet when a cheap guitar for a rookie has all those options and even worse a V shape - it will definately look like a piece of junk in a year.
@@metalosaur Most satin finishes on guitars will suffer from the same, so no biggy for that price tag.
On side note, the funny thing about Gibson is that, although they get bashed 24-7, they still never seem to have an overstock problem but rather a huge backlog. I know this, working in their shipping and receiving dept. 15 years now we can't get them out fast enough.
Got mine today. The edges weren't sharp and were clean. Pretty rounded, too. MY issue was the nut. I'm definitely replacing that. It sounded and felt great, tho.
Do you think the sharp frets could have been from lack of humidity during shipping? It happens quite a bit
I've been looking at getting one of these to add to my Flying V collection. Thanks for the review.
Alll I can say as I own 3 HBs none with active pick-ups, is to Open the hood and check all solder and ground Connections And Perhaps Shielding (IDK If Active HUmbuckers Need it Or not) And Guess what?? If you Buy a HB be prepared to do such things as well as Truss Rod Adjustments and Fret Dressing and Leveling at times. They are NOT really "Beginner" guitars now (Like most people thought 2 years ago) They are for the Guitarist who can open the hood Make Easy Adjustments File frets Etc.Etc. cause, truth be told this is what saves YOU Money It can come out of the box Smelling Like a Rose but do you want to pay an extra $80-$100 for that? Or DO you WANT to LEARN some SET UP Skills on a lower price guitar that you can then use on you More Expensive Guitars. As Well As In the end IF you are Afraid to do the Mostly Minor work or What have you, You got 30 Day Warranty to send it back and get another one or your money Back. REMINDER: THESE ARE NOT BEGINNER GUITARS!!! If you want to have a box of Nice roses, be prepared and go with one of the Major Brands for that PRISTINE Box of roses. And you can get a DUD from them once in a while. IF you want to save some money on a guitar....BE PREPAIRED to at least do some finish work yourself in order to save that Money.. I think that is where HB has and is trying to Maintain through at the Moment. FYI My "Set up Guy" Charges $60 No frills...Now it costs Me $O because Now I can do Basic Set up on Bass or guitar.......How did I learn that?? HB. what is the Value of that? It's a Little give and take here Value vs. Quality and Every person is different, I get that. Or Pay PREMIUM ASTRONOMICAL PRICES from a Major brand for ALL the BELLS and WHISTLES. It's YOUR BUDGET And MONEY IN THE END. Thank you -Skyprop
Your playing has improved so much over the years. Keep it up!
Thanks for the review, I think I'll still get this guitar when it comes out in lefthand. I don't mind shipping it to a luthier, and even if I buy an EMG HET set and throw new tuners and maybe a Tusq bridge on it, I doubt I'll get a V with a non-floating bridge in LH that also doesn't look alike a damn ironing board (looking at you, Jackson JS32L RR) for the money I'll pour into it, at least in Poland where I live. We're talking like $600-$650 in total, including the cost of the guitar itself.
Watch the whole video before buying one
@@SpectreSoundStudios I did, the issue was the fretwork and noise - like I said, I still think I won't get such a pretty well built, nicely looking non-FR V in lefthand for the I guess $300-350 I'd have to spend on it after purchase.
@@derekdoesmusic6013 For a Flying V? I think you could just get away with getting any right handed Flying V and flipping it upside down. The cutaways are generally even on both sides, just have to watch for the pick up selector
@@DarthPew I'd also have to swap out the nut and the bridge, and I'd keep swiping the volume pot. I used to play a right-handed bass. Never again. Not to mention, I just checked Thomann - only like 2 V's without a floating bridge. I don't want a floating bridge.
@@derekdoesmusic6013 Fair argument. I am not a lefty player, and admittedly my knowledge of guitar flipping is very limited. I have nothing really more to add, I tried seeing what Schecter would have on offer, but all the lefty Vs I saw with a hard tail would be over €1.000… Good luck to you, mate
Great review as usual. Could the noise be coming from the crappy battery? (not sure if you changed it or even used it) In some of my active pickup guitars, they start sounding poor when the battery is about to give up the ghost.
I guess more on missing grounding/shielding. Or just poor electronics inside the active pickups. Which you couldn't fix without replacing them
valid point, who knows?
if there's no shielding in the cavity? might that be a reason as well?
Guitar player for 46 years! I have never purchased a guitar without actually seeing or playing it first…period! Shitty fretting, painting flaws, buzzy p/u’s etc, would be seen/heard in the store and an immediate decision can be made whether to buy or not. In fact, I’d go as far as to say that a guitar with those flaws would not be on display in a store. I get it that it’s an online world, but what you received is unacceptable, and in a normal situation you’d have to go through the hassle of returning it and waiting weeks to be made whole again. Awesome Christmas present, Mom & Dad! Perhaps there’s a reason I can’t find HB guitars in any of the half dozen music stores in my city. Encourage people to shop locally. If shops aren’t carrying these products, ask why and if they are available. Totally avoidable buying situation. Thanks for the heads up!
I'm glad I stayed with this until the end. I was ready to place my order.
Anybody can file/sand down the ends of those frets. I was worried about doing mine but picked up a $20 file set and did it myself. On a $169 guitar, it’s a perfect price point to practice that kind of stuff on.
Yeah I would expect to spen an hour or so on a guitar for that price. File fret ends, polish frets with a dremel and polish paste, check shielding in cavities and soldering on electronics. I have had to do this on guitars in the 1000$ range too.
If 169 is all you had it is not
If 169 is all you had, it's sitting in the couriers bonded warehouse til you pay the import charges.
At 169 you can't reasonably expect them to have spent an hours labour neatly rounding the fret ends. Somethings gotta give to churn them out at those prices. Better they got the frets levelled and sacrificed finessing the ends than vice versa, if they have to cut corners. DIY sandpaper can fix the worst of the ends. You're in a world of tools expense to diy level+crown.
@@PaulCooksStuff my 200 euro Harley Benton has perfect frets.
@@PaulCooksStuff Frets ends are simple to diy, why people would pay a luthiere 100+$ is beyond me. Same for general setup, soldering, finish work, everything you need to learn is on UA-cam. It's very satisfying to learn and to shape your own guitar.
"Putting the pieces together" is actually a metaphor I use a lot for learning songs on bass. Usually I'll take any given measure (or set of bars), learn them individually, then see if I can connect them together. It's a ton of work, but it's so satisfying when it pays off. Build up your skill set one step at a time and take pride in every bit of progress you make, and you'll soon be having a blast on your chosen instrument!
Keep on rocking \m/
Nice, my brother asked me what guitar to get my 16yo nephew, I had him get the Harley benton explorer. My son is only 5 so I got him the jackson rr minion. Can't wait to see him play it
:edit after watching the rest of the video, honestly that doesn't surprise me for a guitar at that price point. I'd expect to have to take a guitar like that to a luthier on day 1 for a complete set up and fret job. (I do this anyway even for $1500 guitars.) I'd still get something like this for a beginner just starting out. 🤘
Yeah, sounds like and shielding or grounding issue. Im surpriced that Thomann managed to ship you a poor sample of this guitar for review, if you had ordered it it would be another story. Maybe you can do a follow up on this guitar if Thomann fixes the problems. I cant say that i care for this kind of V body, it looks a bit big and bulky compared to a classic V shape and the highest frets seem to have much worse access than on my classic shaped Dean V´s, i wish they could come up with something better in the V department.
I was seriously considering buying this guitar. The price point was very attractive since I haven't been able to afford a new guitar in years. I don't really care about the paint job at a certain price point, neither do some people at insane price levels, I'm talking about those 'relic' guitars. In short, I decided not to buy the active v for one reason...the neck profile. I'll just stick with my 14 year old Schecter V, with passive EMG's, and the most comfortable neck ever. It's also never needed an adjustment. It came out of the box all those years ago infinitely playable.
Edit: The grounding issues wasn't surprising, neither was the 💩fret work. Clearly, dodged a bullet with this one. To be honest, what I really want is a PRS Mark Holcomb SE. Sucks ass to be poor af.
I thought I could hear some hummmmmm when he was trying to deaden the sound after he played. Definitely some ground issues but easy enough to fix
@@johnsguitarmusicanddemos If you want a 'project guitar's then I suppose it's a decent platform. Personally, I only own one short scale guitar which is a Les Paul. Otherwise, I prefer at least a 25.5 scale length, since it makes down tuning a stable affair.
More than likely the noise is caused by the bridge grounding wire not being connected properly, pretty easy fix though.
True but.. The idea here is a beginner may not know that or how to fix, the guitar should be playable to a beginner, in the 21st century these problems should not be there. ✌️
@@OliverSutton1962 of course, the guitar shouldn't have that type of issue no matter the price point. I only mentioned it because he said that the pickups were what was causing the noise and it simply not. Pickups only make that kind of noise if they are not grounded properly, regardless if they are active or passive.
@@mark5150ty Yes I see you are correct.
You crack me the F--K up!!! .62 year ol rocker here still banging wires on all kinds of ol school, an new sleds, AKA guitars.But I love the Buy or Fry it straight vine.Keep em coming,as well as just Rocking ..Good Job;)
The hum might not necessarily enter the guitar through pickups. Any length of wire could be a culprit. Looks like there is a long stretch of wiring between the volume knob and the jack; I am betting my whole pocket of nothing that it is not shielded at all. And then it is also possible that the cavity around the volume knob lacks proper shielding. Applying metal foil there is not a lot of fun unless you specifically like this kind of tinkering.
I think making it a project guitar would be pretty good for us to learn more about upgrades. Guitarists need to catch up to bassists after all.
Tbh, i have a 1000 euro LTD EC-407 and they forgot to hook up a ground wire
1000 euros for a series 400 LTD... the world went to shit.
@@woochyna right! I paid $950 for my E-II Eclipse w/case and $425 for my M1000 and H1001 back in 2017(store had them on the wall for a while and they wanted to move them quickly. Prices are insane now.
Man that thing sounds better than expected. I just knew it would be a bit dark, but no. Love Harley Benton, but I’ve shyed away from the really inexpensive stuff. Not anymore. Thanks Glenn 🤘
I picked up one of these cheap Harley Benton’s. The silverburst looking body. It’s actually really nice, plays mostly well. Pickups are a little muddy but overall decent. My only complaint is that the neck isn’t very stable. Or needs some adjusting. But the strings hit the frets on first and 2nd. I raised the bridge a little and strings hit Frets on pretty much the whole neck lol. I put it down, couple days later without touching it, it played fine! WTF
Temperature changes, man. It takes a while (a day?) for the wood/neck to set after shipping (from another country/continent/planet).
Keep on going Glen, you re getting better at guitar 🎸
Glen you're playing is getting so much better man, really starting to sound 100% proper!
This is some of the best guitar sounds I've heard from you, good job!
The HBZ PU are noisy, I got one of the EX models before they started offering EMG.
Every HB I have came with dusty frets, not a big deal to me because I know how to set up a new guitar. I can see where it might be an issue for some, for others it comes as an opportunity for people to learn to maintain/ repair their own gear. I recommend EVERYONE that plays an instrument learn to maintain and repair their instrument. Having to pay someone hundreds of dollars to keep a piece of wood and some wire functioning is true money sink.
Keep up the good work Glenn. Rock on!
For me it says $169 and I live in the US. Price fluctuation maybe?
With how the economy is rn, it probably is that.
My name is Virgil, so by your title... shit. 🤣
Somethings definitely wrong there. What I'm curious about is why it didn't have as much of an issue with the amp sim. The only thing I can think of is the input impedance on the audio interface is significantly higher than the fireball and either the pickups couldn't muster the current to drive the fireball or they shipped it with a faulty or expired battery that just crumbled under load.
I completely agree with your "out of the box experience" reviews. Really, it's not your job to take off covers and start messing with grounds and wiring issues, regardless if it is caused by human errors or bad design/engineering. I don't like to make the time fixing stuff that should have been done right in the first place. Having said that, if I knew how to do the repairs, I'd do it. With noise that bad, it's probably more than just bad pick-ups. I'd rather pay a bit more to get better, so thanks for steering in the proper direction. I still have some time before I may have to buy something, so I look forward to more reviews.
Over $200 is working its way to medium priced guitar. All guitars made by (so-called) Luthiers should have the frets finished. 10 years ago I bought a $99 Epi Lp Jr on the way to a gig and restrung it on the way. The frets were catching my skin a little but I could file them tomorrow. After the first set somebody asked why my hands were sliced up and it looked like i had hundreds of paper cuts across my hand, surprising just how deep for only one drop of blood. I took elect tape down the bottom of the neck and finished the show with that messy grimey tape glue on the guitar and my wounds. I woke the next day with a swollen hand and couldnt play for a couple days. Thank God I had a Tetnis booster recently. Im sure there are many that have to be hospitalized because of it. Paying the guy in China to finish the frets may cost up to $2. Today it may look like another $2 in profit but with all the returns and injury lawsuits they probably lose money and future customers. Fn stupid!
I’m learning zeppelin and I’m three days in and am on bar 5 about 40 seconds into the song ! Man this is a lot tougher than I thought to sit there and practice lol😂
That being said , I love how much quicker I am getting when playing and with some pickup upgrades my epiphone 50s standard is just a dream to play .
I have the ST-20HH Active with the same HBZ pickups, I don't have the noise so it's probably a wiring or cable issue not the pickups.
I also have the Vintage series V, which is my main guitar now upgraded with Gotoh tuners and Fishman Modern pickups. I might get this one as an evil twin.
I like putting blue painter’s tape on the fret ends and sides of the board and over the pickups) take a sanding block to the tape over the fret ends and sand, only the fret ends will come through the tape and you can sand them down a bit without special tools. Not perfect and won’t get you nice round fret ends but does help with sharp edges. Like with all fret work a little goes a long way so don’t sand too much or too hard.
Hey, if the frets are leveled and low action is possible, THAT is what counts. Side-word can be done easily at home, rough edges I mean. Love that thing, but the shape I would definetly go for sth ergonomic.
I ordered a lefty Amorok baritone guitar at the end of August, and it finally shipped. I feel like it's gonna be better than that flying V, but I'm still crossing fingers. Unique, but affordable lefties aren't easily available... I would be interested in still seeing a video of this V getting an upgrade though, get the frets fixed, determine a wiring or pickup issue, and hopefully conclude that a poor quality inspection was at fault. I'm sure it would be helpful for Harley Benton to know about that, and I'd be curious to see how much needs to be invested in the V to make it fit your needs.
Update: Received the left-handed Amorok baritone. It looks like the headstock was bumped into something, and has a small dent. But otherwise, the guitar worked fine...for a day. The next day after work, I plug it in, and no sound. Switched 9 volt batteries, tried different instruments with my preamp, and the Amorok still wouldn't work. I can only currently assume there's loose or broken wiring inside, and I'll have to check it out later. I probably woulda replaced it in the future with EMG solderless wiring, but this is frustrating.
Thank you so much for your honesty. I wish I could have seen this before I bought it. Mine physically came in good shape and no fret issues. That buzz though!!!!! I'm taking a page out of your book. I'm going to upgrade the pickups no doubt. I have a set of Duncan Blackouts that are still in the box new. Perhaps that will be the way to go for me! And yes tuner upgrade as well! Again, I thank you very much!
That's probably not an issue with the pickups themselves as much as it's an issue with the wiring. Shoddy soldering and a loose ground connection will cause that type of noise. Probably an easy fix to someone who can work a soldering iron but nevertheless something that ABSOLUTELY SHOULD NOT HAPPEN in a beginner-oriented guitar. It's a real shame since it looks like a pretty good guitar even though I dislike the V shape.
Edit: just saw you addressed this, that's what I get for not watching until the end before commenting!
Hi Glenn.
I have heard about the noisey HBZs but mine (HB Extreme 84 Progrssive) is indeed dead silent. Guess you just got a monday model. Thomann's service is absolutely brilliant. Send it back and they make it work. At least here in Germany. A guitar shipped over then great pond should be double checked.
Yeah, if you're in Germany I bet it's very easy to return. America? Good luck. You have to negotiate with someone who doesn't speak English as their first language, and HOPEFULLY they fill out the return sheet correctly, and actually label it a return. In my case, they labeled my return as a repair, and wanted me to pay the shipping BACK to Thomann to repair it, and then BACK to the US once it was "fixed". I said no, I wanted a return, they said "Oh well since 30 days have passed you aren't eligible for a return". Meanwhile I spent the whole 30 days telling them I didn't want a repair, I wanted to return the guitar and get a refund... I emailed day one as soon as I got the guitar, but since THEY messed up the paperwork, I had to resubmit my return request, which was technically outside of the return window (not by my fault, either)
Never had a chance to return it and I sold it to some poor sucker for $250 on Marketplace and I still feel like a complete fucking scumbag for that.
That noise just reeks of some issue with the wiring of the guitar. Still inexcusable, but should be easy to fix. It's a pity, though. I was considering getting this, as I don't have a guitar with active pickups.
The fret issue could be due to humidity or lack thereof. I left one of my basses on a stand over a heat vent last winter and suddenly it had sharp frets. Once moisture reentered the fretboard the frets were fine.
This is absolutely true. However I’m not sure if that’s the case with his guitar.
Yeah I have all my guitars hanging on wall hooks, in the winter when I heat the room the frets get sharp if humidity is low.
How much of the static humming type noise should there be, what is acceptable and what is not?
It's always great to see you be honest about things like that.
Also, can you review a Squier guitar?
Should be next to nothing with humbuckers, active or passive.
You do have to watch your position in relation to your amp, though. If you're close, and/or perpendicular to the amp, they can hiss but that should go away if you move around.
I like the review. You're right it's not your job to fix grounding issues, but it is a little weird to review and not tell us if it's that or the pickups. Imo it's half baked when the rest of the review was very thorough. If I get a guitar with a grounding issue, I can fix it and I have no problem with that. If I get a guitar with bad pickups then it's up to me if I want to essentially double the price of it to replace them. I don't know about the rest of the consumers that watch this channel but that's information I watch for.
Overall great review! I love the no punches pulled style you always do!
Edit: I like that you did make a video on the noise issue. I didn't see that before commenting that's my bad.
Glen. The price is actually $169 USD. The price correction screenshot you showed has the price in Canadian dollars.
I always tell people who are considering one of these super cheap, sub-$300 guitars: don't buy one unless you play it in person or are prepared and capable to do significant fret work. Every now and then one of them has good frets and then you got lucky, but as a general rule, your "bargain" guitar is going to need at least double its value in fret work. It really doesn't matter if the finish is great or even if the hardware is pretty good, because the neck is where we interface with the guitar and if that sucks, the rest of it is a paperweight.
Kudos to this channel for telling it like it is. Most of the high profile guitar review channels tend to gloss over the fret issues.
It's probably the output jack and not the pickups. I had the same issue and I had to change out the output jack.
Glenn you are good enough to start your band.
And for this low price I will dremel the fretboard myself. It might look ugly, but it will feel good.
Glenn on t'aime
Love the old Judas Dreamer Deceiver. I still love to play that. Thanks for being hunan and real. And being a real human . Thanks for the videos
I have to wonder if you opened up the electronics cavity if it isn't lacking shielding paint or tape... you're right that it's not our job to fix their problems, but I wonder if it's easily curable because some people wouldn't mind tinkering with it anyway so it might not actually bother them that much...
Damn! Your playing has vastly improved. Great work, Glenn! Love your fearless gear reviews too. There is something about the truth, isn't there?
i love that one of your go-to riffs has been Lucretia
I have one and everything is fine with it. No issues at all. Maybe shipping was a bit rough.The great thing about Thomann is : You call, they send you a new one...
It's the earth wire to the coated bridge. I've the tele version and it was the same problem. You can scratch the coating off but what beginner is gonna be doing that
I’ll have a look!!
Could just be a grounding issue with that noise. Bad solder joint or the cable jack.
If you find a ding you can send a photo to HB in an email complaint and they’ll knock money off the price. Returned to you or as credit on their site. They did it on a strat I got.