The ShadowMusic Web Community

hi dave
thanks for reply...must give the sx guitars a look over.Is the finish good..does it hold tune...do they go back to tune after using the trem..is it a full size trem block..I read your post a few days ago they must be good you bought the translucent blue..are you still of the same opinion sorry for barrage of questions
best regards and thanks
charlie

hi dave
gonna give those sx guitars a look if they are as good as the classic vibe...whats the finish like
thanks best regards charlie

Hi Steve,

According to your video of the Harley Benton, it was the Revelation that had the sharp frets with some other issues that needed attention.

Ian

I think my description says it all Charlie, I have nothing to gain by praising these guitars, but I was so impressed with what I found by comparing with some very expensive Fenders’ that I own and I am a bit miffed that SX have pulled this off at such a cheap price, being as my Fenders are so expensive, though on the other hand I’m pleased that I paid nowhere near the new price for any of them, unlike some. I have had top of the range Strats and as nice as they are, they are not worth the prices being asked.
The thing is, the gap is narrowing between Fender/Squier as well as Gibson/Epiphone because of the latest manufacturing methods in the far east and other firms have caught up and caught on.
The good part of this is that we benefit from all the competition and as one who has spent more than enough on instruments I’m happy with that.
To answer the question about the bridge, isn’t the big heavy thing that everyone believes it should be, it’s the modern lightweight type but it makes no difference to my ears although some claim it improves sustain. Well I played Parisienne Walkways at our last gig on my new SX and held that note for as long as I wanted to, so I don’t know what people expect.
The early Shads tunes sound earthy and aggressive as they should, with the later numbers sounding as expected with a fuller tone. Other than binding the tremolo arm thread with PTFE, I really have no desire to change anything else.
If I had time I’d do a comparison video using our kind of material, but since I retired have less time than before.

Forgot to mention, I set up the trem springs to correctly float and tuning is perfect, I did a full set without having to touch the tuners.

Ian Miller wrote:Hi Steve,

According to your video of the Harley Benton, it was the Revelation that had the sharp frets with some other issues that needed attention.

Ian

Oops my bad! I remember one of them being really sharp but thought it was the harley benton. (I probably should have watched the video!)

Both guitars had their pluses and negatives, the harley benton neck being very yellow i didnt like and a very thin neck profile where as the revelation i didnt like the headstock or the plastic tuners.

My classic vibe simon neil strat has now done over 100 gigs with my band and never had any problems with it. The key to any guitar is a good setup

Hi Charlie,
I bought the Harley Benton Hank Marvin model a couple of years ago.The faults I found were the frets were fairly level but the fret ends were sharp and the frets needed a good polishing.The nut was a cheap plastic one poorly cut.The strings as with most Far Eastern guitars were tarnished/rusty.The pickups are vintage stagger Alnico V which are designed for a 7 1/4" radius fret board while these are nearly 14" radius so you get low sound on the B and treble E strings but too much sound on the D and G strings.You can sort this by changing the D and G poles for the B and treble E poles on the pick ups.I have done this many times with cheap Chinese plastic bobbin pick ups but I have broken one pick up out of several sets.I would not advocate doing it to expensive Vintage pick ups but the Chinese Alnico V pick ups are cheap to replace.I had one of the saddle height adjustment threads strip but just upgraded them to solid block saddles.The lacquer finish is starting to craze a bit now (I must have got a Friday Afternoon one).That all said it now not only looks the part but sounds it as well.So if you are prepared to spend a few pounds and a few hours you can end up with a nice Guitar.

Hi A friend of mine bought one and we had to change virtually all the hardware except the pickups and he loves it and plays it all the time.Phill

a burns cobra could be worth a look if you can handle the extra plastic and the headstock shape. You can get one of them for around £200.

The vibe I’m getting here is something I suspected with the Harley Benton, but not the Revealation guitars.
The tuners and bridge on some far east guitars are definitely suspect, I know that and it sounds like the Harley Benton brand keep their prices down this way, but I have an acoustic solid spruce top by Harley Benton with rosewood back and sides, a lovely parlour guitar that cost £150 and is beautiful all through. I have a guitar maker friend who can’t believe the quality and build on this and he is baffled as to how they do it at that cost.
I think it’s a lottery with the Chinese manufacturers on which hardware they use, but the SX firm certainly use stuff comparable with the Squier Classic Vibe equipment.
Maybe it’s a case of trying them out and getting lucky. I’m having fun doing it.

chaddman wrote:Hi Charlie,
I bought the Harley Benton Hank Marvin model a couple of years ago.The faults I found were the frets were fairly level but the fret ends were sharp and the frets needed a good polishing.The nut was a cheap plastic one poorly cut.The strings as with most Far Eastern guitars were tarnished/rusty.The pickups are vintage stagger Alnico V which are designed for a 7 1/4" radius fret board while these are nearly 14" radius so you get low sound on the B and treble E strings but too much sound on the D and G strings.You can sort this by changing the D and G poles for the B and treble E poles on the pick ups.I have done this many times with cheap Chinese plastic bobbin pick ups but I have broken one pick up out of several sets.I would not advocate doing it to expensive Vintage pick ups but the Chinese Alnico V pick ups are cheap to replace.I had one of the saddle height adjustment threads strip but just upgraded them to solid block saddles.The lacquer finish is starting to craze a bit now (I must have got a Friday Afternoon one).That all said it now not only looks the part but sounds it as well.So if you are prepared to spend a few pounds and a few hours you can end up with a nice Guitar.

Edit,
I forgot to add that the pots were 500k not 250 and I had to change them to get the sound right.Dave you are right about it being a bit of a lottery other people have bought the Hank Marvin and it has come with a Bone Nut.I think that due to manufacturing time schedules they sometimes use whatever Parts they have at hand just to fulfill the orders.I have also got a Harley Benton TE-52 NA Vintage Telecaster which has got a much nicer Maple Neck but still had the same Nut String and Fret problems and I changed the Cap over but at just over a Ton I can`t fault it for the Money.