Harley Benton Les Paul Copy

[Johnny Robbo]

Thanks guys. Glad you seem to like this guitar as much as I do.

Daniel... I hear what you say & I must admit I do try to be an ethical consumer. It's a tricky issue, but if all of us in the (relatively) affluent developed world were to forego consumer goods manufactured in the low wage economies of the developing world, it would make our current way of life pretty difficult to maintain. We'd have to do without computers, mobile phones, TVs and all manner of other electronic devices. The cost of clothes would be prohibitive too, in all likelihood. And we also have to ask ourselves that if we DID boycott goods manufactured in some far eastern sweat shop, would that improve the lot of the people who work in those economies, or would it simply cause MORE hardship when those employers close down their factories?

I genuinely don't know the answer... perhaps giving money to charities providing aid to poverty stricken parts of the world is the answer - I do what I can on that score as a way of easing my conscience a little. As for the environmental concerns... forests are the lungs of the planet: they take our CO2 emissions and give us back the oxygen we breathe, so chopping them down is a concern. All I can say in my defence is that I don't drive a car or jump on a plane to go on holiday, so hopefully that offsets some of my guitar collection, small as it is.

You're right, especially on a guitar based forum, to raise the topic of the long term impact on the world of cheap guitars & other products made from timber & I wish someone could come up with an easy solution... personally I WOULD have bought a Les Paul if I could afford one, no question. However, the prices that Gibson charge seem a bit of a rip off to me. Companies like them could encourage consumers to buy their ethically manufactured goods by ceasing to add £200+ onto the price tag simply for owning a "prestige" brand.

Cheers,

John.

[danieldesete]

Cheers John, I really was afraid you would take that personally and get upset... Thanks for your peaceful and constructive answer.
 Of course my house is also full of stuff made in China, and buying good quality for a good price makes me a nearly shameless happy man. And when I'm on a good mood I even hope that by developing themselves, those countries will finally meet occidental standards of living.

Guitar building companies are starting to understand that it is in their interest to preserve forests. Sitka spruce is getting harder to find, Gibson's image has been altered after illegal exotic wood importation... And a company like Taylor uses forest protection as a commercial argument...

Sorry for trolling your thread Johnny, once again I enjoyed every moment of your review

Daniel

[chip]

Nice looking and sounding guitar there Johnny. I have a Harley Benton Tele T 60 pearloid, a right looker it is too. It also plays very well, is extremely well put together, and sounds like a tele, it's discontinued now but I think I paid about 120 quid for it. I play it often, more often than some of my others which are far more expensive.

I am seriously thinking of getting one of those LP's, Luckily for me I have a real LP, a 91 studio, probably one of the best studio's ever made. If you search for it, the 91 always comes up trumps. It of course is made entirely from wood that is totally illegal to use now, some very rare stuff indeed.

As for the the cheap guitars from China and rare wood is concerned, I seem to recall Gibson getting into serious hot water over using illegal wood not once but twice, the last time being saved by political intervention and some possibly  serious changing hands of cash with the countries/companies involved.

This prompted me to sell my first LP standard, this one being from 92, of course that one or the 91 have nothing? to do with Gibsons sordid past. I just felt that Gibson had let the environment down for greed and I parted company with the guitar, although it had nothing to do with it. I bought the 91 as an investment really, it is in original condition but has been used as a working guitar, so there are various knocks, that doesn't matter though, in fact it adds to the value of the guitar. Anyway, it's a very heavy guitar to heavy really for gigging, but the fact is I don't play it as much as I should. It is going up in price and will continue to do so, they are getting few and far between.

Which brings me to, I possibly need a cheaper version to kick around with. The 91 lives in it's case, the original Gibson protector case it was originally sold with, it'self worth a considerable sum, included are all the documents for the case and guitar. The 91 studio is by far the best  LP I have ever played, an absolute beautifully made and awesome sounding axe. I don't play out any more and doubt if I did I would take it. So it remains frozen in time so to speak waiting for it's time again, at the right price. I don't feel good about that last sentence but that's how it is.

So I have a fantastic LP that's locked in time and I need one to use and not be bothering about it getting knocked over having it's neck broken etc etc. Add to that, I am now using IOS for recording, and does a Gibson sound much different to a Harley Benton, once all the trickery is applied? Probably not. Thanks again for the review Johnny very enlightening. Please keep us informed on the guitar.

[Farrell Jackson]

A great review on the Harley Benton LP Johnny.....you are some player! As has been mentioned, I'm thinking you could make a cigar box guitar sound like a million bucks. I have no problem buying less expensive guitars no matter where they are made as long as they play and sound good. One of my favorite guitars to play is a made in Japan Ernie Ball OLP MM1 guitar. It's a copy of a Music Man Axis. I paid $175 new for it about 12 years ago and have never touched the set or made any changes to it at all.

However, the one difference between a name brand and a copy is that the name brand will typically increase in value more as they age and become collector items. For example, in the early eighties I purchased a used 1977 LP Natural Custom with gold hardware. It came with the original case and I still have them both. I paid $350 for it and gigged with it for many years. It's gone up in value, percentage wise, considerably more than my OLP Music Man copy which I also gigged with for several years. But which guitar gets played more these days? The OLP does because I like the way it fits my body, it's light weight basswood, looks good with the faux finish and it sounds good.

Having said all that, there's no way I would buy a new Gibson LP at today's retail prices because I don't have enough years left for it to appreciate in value. Especially when I can get something for way less money that will satisfy my itch, lol.

Anyway great review of the Harley Benton LP. I will definitely be checking out that line of guitars. Thanks!

Farrell

[bruno]

Great review - the lower costs guitars are definitely closing the gap. I have a range of guitars from my £120 telecaster, up to my Brooks (English hand made guitars). I will say you can get great results on any instruments, however quality does, in my opinion, tell in the end. I'll always go for the music man - just cos it makes me play better (can't quantify it - but it does - and I never thought I'd say that till I bought the first Brook). I bought the music man as an investment (older USA made, quality instrument) - probably not a great investment, but I figured I could play it any time I wanted. It is however a joy to play, and if I sold it, I don't think I'd loose that much, if anything at all. My Brooks - well I don't get that feeling of the instrument being alive from any other instrument. That said, I wouldn't mind one of those HB guitars, I've never had a LP guitar, and it looks like a lot of fun - I'd like to hear how its sounds through a Kemper.

Very nice playing - and I prefer video's where you see the thing being used in anger. Very cool.
B

[alfstone]

Many congrats both for the review and your playing!

Alfredo

[Johnny Robbo]

Thanks again, chaps.

It seems we all have cheap guitars that we love and aren't afraid to play. I don't know if I'd have the nerve to use a £2000 guitar in anger - what if my sweaty hands tarnish the metal parts? What if the dog knocks it off the stand? I'd be a nervous wreck and probably end up keeping it in a glass case where it never gets played.

Cheers,

John.

[chip]

Thanks again, chaps.

It seems we all have cheap guitars that we love and aren't afraid to play. I don't know if I'd have the nerve to use a £2000 guitar in anger - what if my sweaty hands tarnish the metal parts? What if the dog knocks it off the stand? I'd be a nervous wreck and probably end up keeping it in a glass case where it never gets played.

Cheers,

John.

And there is where the problems arise. A friend of mine bought back an LP custom shop ( the one with the gold truss rod cover) from the states, he never played it, hardly if ever took it out it's box he was so afraid of it getting knocked, and in the end sold it. He owns a Tele USA which he uses and is a guitar as he says " You could dig your garden and play cricket with"

[Blooby]

The name-brand guitar market is ridiculously overpriced for the most part. There have been plenty of shoot-outs (some shared here) where folks can't tell the difference between Epi's and Gibson or the various levels of Strats, etc. I'm not slagging high-end guitars because when you play a keeper, it's like the first time you drive a well-tuned sports car. You get that "Oh, that's what they're talking about" moment. Having said that, I have had similar moments on cheap guitars. And to be fair, while I like great guitar tones, I'm not chasing some holy grail tone that is pushing me down some rabbit hole. I have a few guitars I had to save my pennies for, but most of mine were purchased used or I found a great deal. My favorite acoustic right now is one I picked up used in a local guitar shop for $125. I love it dearly.

Johnny, looks like a great guitar, and it is obvious that you can get around on it. Congrats. Looks like a killer addition to the collection.

I've know I've mentioned this somewhere before, but Jack Pearson out of Nashville has been one of my favorite players for years. He was a G&L and Gibson guy for years, but he picked up a Squier (maybe even an Affinity) Strat as a gift, and through some circumstances, ended up keeping it. It's been his main guitar for a few years now. I believe he got it for around $100.  Kept the pick-ups as well. What I love is he played it for an all-star tribute to Gregg Allman, which ended up as a DVD.

Here's is a clip from the show. Gregg, Taj Mahal, Chuck Leavell, Don Was, Audley Freed, Kenny Aaronoff, and then there's Jack with that cheapo Strat, sounding great. Love it.

Blooby

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=duWv1eMNdrk

[Johnny Robbo]

Hi Chaps... a quick update & a bit of a challenge for you. One of my students is getting an Epiphone Les Paul for Xmas & his dad brought it round yesterday for me to give it the once-over. It's an Epi LP Standard in black (which Epiphone refer to as "ebony") and these retail for around £300. I took the opportunity to record a little demo of it, using my usual settings over three different sounds: clean/crunch/lead.

After he'd gone, I recorded the same examples using the Harley Benton using the same settings on the Tonelab. See if you can tell which is which. I'll tell you which one is the £120 Harley Benton & which is the £300 Epiphone in a few days...