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Why do people dislike most Harley Benton products?

#21
Harley Benton is the house brand of Thomann (germany) and pretty much the cheapest playable instruments you can get here. my first acoustic guitar war a HB (a dreadnought that is still playable after 10 years, very high action but still does the job for drunk singing at parties and so on...), I have a 50's Precision Copy of them which is actually pretty nice (as good as any classic vibe 50's I tried) and a hofner beatles bass copy that is at least playable and doesn't sound like ****! So it's a cheap beginners stuff but I wouldn't hesitate to gig the 50's P
 
#25
As stated above, they are the cheap-o housebrand of thomann.
With most musicians being snobs, you would not want to show up with a HB labeled thing, because it states that you bought the cheapest possibility around.

That said, i use a HB Power Plant junior for my pedalboard. Costs a mere 30 bucks and has 5 separated 9V outputs with zero noise - works like a charm and i'm happy i bought it instead of a $100+ version of another brand.
Its bigger brother, the Powerplant, was bought by a guy i know and he sent it back because his pedals hummed like a swarm of angry bees.

A friend who wanted to try out on the bass bought a complete set consisting of a HB Bass, strap, cable, tuner and Amp (15", 60W) for €250,-. That stuff impressed a lot of people because they expected next to nothing and that stuff is not bad. Not great either, but for that kind of money quite impressing.

So all in all you have to know what to pick, surely, there's some bad quality cheap stuff, but also some usable items for a decent price.
 
#29
It's a bit like me never having heard of SX until I joined TalkBass (we don't get SX in Europe, at least not under that name).

People like to dismiss cheap instruments as rubbish, particularly if they have more expensive ones, as it makes them feel better about themselves. You'll find plenty of people that look down their noses at SX and Squier, despite the number of satisfied customers they have. Sometimes cheap = rubbish, sometimes cheap = good value.

I have a Harley Benton electro-acoustic mandolin, just because it's my first one and dirt cheap. And I'm sure it's nothing much compared to the expensive brands, but after a change of strings I was very happy. I'd never pretend it's anything other than a cheap starter instrument but I've happily gigged on it (and no brand snob has yet criticised me for it). I was so pleased with how good it was for the money, and have experienced Thomann's great customer service, that I've recently ordered Invalid Link Removed from them. If it's complete junk, which I doubt, I have a 30-day money back guarantee. If it's not, I've got a decent first fretless to play around on for next to no money.
 
#30
Well, if a complete guitar or bass costs 99 Euros - the materials must be very cheap, and it has to be built in the worst sweatshop of east asia.
That's why I don't buy those instruments.
If an Instrument has a street price of 99 Euro, it was produced in east asia for app. 10 or 15 Euros. Do you really think you could buy good material and could pay the workers well for 15 Euros?
 
#34
Those are cheap so you get for what you paid, at least a lottery ticket.
First difficult to complain on quality for a 90€ instrument. My bass is a Squier because starting this instrument I wanted a minimum guarantee on quality, more than 200 bucks for a Fender labeled product in case of problem it´s back to the store, Hey ! I didńt buy a HB !
Second it´s the possibly to resell it. Noone would by a second hand HB, they're so inexpensive people rather buy a brand new. Any Squier resells well.
 
#37
They're like German SXs. Over here they have a very bad reputation but I figure it's just because of the usual hearsay and snobbery. I've never played one since no one I know owns one, and the Thomann store is a few hours away, so I can't make any judgments.

However I'm highly interested in the tubescreamer clone, whether it's called Joyo or HB.
 
#38
Huh, their cheapest bass costs €38 and.... is not for playing! Never seen anything like that before, what an utterly strange product! It's got pickups, electronics and everything, but it's just for decoration. And it even comes with a 3-year warranty! What?
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#39
Got a couple of Harley Bentons

P1020788 (2).jpg
P1020782.JPG


Diy kits I did for fun .

Pups are ok , not great .
For the price - not totally crap
but as others have said : You get what you pay for.


Major Softie said:
Ah, I think the Danes would challenge that assumption about Finland - and this, coming from a Swede.

As long as we can all agree that the Norwegians are the least cool, I think we're all on the same page.
Click to expand...

Go sail the vasa ship :spit:
 

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