SO I may or may not have some upgrade parts for the R-446 arriving this week... upgraded comparison video coming soon?! 👀

@draganakuzmanovic911

Жыл бұрын

Great review, looking forward to the next one! Literally my first thought on this guitar was to change pickups, if I decide to buy it. I like blood red one sooo much. However, I've been considering CST 24T with P90 pickups prior to seeing R 446. So maybe I'll just buy R446 and place P90s....or buy both guitars and place Dimebag Darrell kinda pickups in r446, hahahah!

It's worth noting that this guitar has the slimmest neck in the Harley Benton catalog

Your content is so fantastic. Your videos are so well made between the camera, audio, and editing qualities. You’re knowledgeable, a great player, and you’re VERY good at this. Here’s hoping more people stumble upon you so you can get the subscriber count you deserve!

I´ve got the blue one. She is great. Love the binding and the fretboard. Looks astonishing.

these reviews are truly helpful dude, keep it up!

Great playing man. you just got another sub! glad you came up in my KZread feed. excellent demo. keep rocking brother!

Love the reviews and channel!! Cheers from a fellow Harley Benton aficianado

Great review video and playing ! 🤘🤘

Dude solid Video/Playing demo cheers 🥂 from SoCal!

One of the best reviews out there. Keep going man🥳🥳

Great break down and review!

Bought a metallic green one. Tuning is concrete stable with D'Addario XL 117s (11 set) tuned to C standard after a good setup. No sharp fret ends, just a tiny bit dry fingerboard (fixed with Ernie Ball Wonder Wipes). Fabulous looking, very comfortable and versatile axe for the money. Thought I share :)

DAMN MAN! the whole thing was good, but I was damn shocked when you hammered out that chug riff at the end. That was some ear candy right there. I've been a hb fan for a while, and the guitar is cool, but that TONE THOUGH!

Hey, nice video. Are there problems with lower tunings or thicker strings?

Such an unfair subs count for such good quality and playing. Keep on rockin, bro

@thebensonator

Жыл бұрын

Thank you! I’m putting this channel to use the best I can - hopefully that sub number doesn’t stay small for long!

@PegeCovers

Жыл бұрын

@@thebensonator It won't. In a couple months things will look quite different for ya.

@TherdyAughtSix

Жыл бұрын

@@thebensonator do a video with your favorite riffs. ill spread the word

@ledchickenfpv7164

Жыл бұрын

Well, I +1ed it for ya. And I'll sub from my more music oriented account as well, because from what I can tell from this video at least, the quality of your content really does deserve more subs.

hi from DE-Trier,nice presentation I love it Harley Benton R-446.I have the same but blue

Hell of a nice review!

Man I'm glad I found your channel

Nice content brother, you’ll blow up in no timeb

Got one for Christmas, absolutely blown away by it. The only gripe I have is the nut is WAY too high and needs a hell of a file down.

@thebensonator

4 ай бұрын

Yeah, the nuts are hit-and-miss with lower cost Bentons. Had some that worked great, others that wouldn't cut it at all. Fortunately they're pretty easy to address with some elbow grease, so it's not a deal breaker for seasoned players. Glad to hear you're impressed by it despite that!

Hey I just sub. I seen somebody had agreed that you deserve way more subs than you do because you do play good. I try to learn now not anywhere is good. But to be honest if I was to watch KZread videos with reading reviews on guitars I would rather do it with people who are just starting out that are new that can't play I think you need to get it better honest review that way I'm just mentioning that cuz I read that comment but hey thumbs up man keep up the good work

10:53 I lolled at the epic camera tilt of the headstock, which revealed the dog/cat(?) hairs and absolutely dead-beat chair! 😅🙈 But thanx for the review, it was well covered! 🙂 I've been thinking of buying this geetarr, but thought the pick-ups would be enough, but based on ur words maybe not... I think maybe I'd then replace the brigde pick-up with one of the cheap Ebay "Fleor" pickups 🤔

@thebensonator

Жыл бұрын

OH yeah, this chair is trashed! Had it for seven years now, and my cats have torn it up and left their mark... really shows itself in 4K! 😂 Haven't tried anything from Fleor myself, but the sound demos on KZread are all pretty convincing, especially for ones that are maybe $20 USD a pickup! At that price, it's absolutely worth a shot IMO.

@MaximusAdonicus

Жыл бұрын

@@thebensonator Yeah, I ended up doing extensive research on cheap pickups and seems like Fleor is the best for the tightest budget. Seems like Fleor has 4 different humbuckers. 2 of the cheaper ones seem to not be wax potted, but the 2 other ones are (at least according to their listing on Ali!) and they seem to be the best. I think I should get both for comparison :D I could put the other one on my old Ibanez.

I brought the HB custom with the Floyd rose back in July and yeah its been pretty badass but the more videos I see like this one reviewing new HB I figure ill end up with another one

Clean Sound! Good guitar... Prices/Calidad Excellent

Always wonder about fret buzz, how low the action is, fret ends, and also smaller stuff like if the nut is cut well. I noticed one of the strings seemed to be laying right on top of the nut.

Looking at the b-roll of the pickups they might be too high (ie. close to the strings) which usually is good for output and sustain until you get TOO close and then the magnets of the pickups start to fight with the vibration of the strings and causes weird sustain. Maybe that wasn't the issue with these particular pickups, but I have had that happen in the past and just cranking them down a bit and raising the input gain on the interface fixed it. Just an observation. Good review, these are super interesting.

Keep doing this man you are amazing

Amazing review dude

@thebensonator

Жыл бұрын

Thank you! I tried my best to make it a good one - so glad you enjoyed!

@xXDraklayerXx

Жыл бұрын

@@thebensonator Well, you're doing very well hehe. I am subscribed since the previous video. I hope you get more subs. Cheers from Perú

I really don't think the tuners are slipping. Even the cheapest Chinese tuners are decent tuners, often with 15:1 gear ratios. You might get the occasional one with quite a stiff spot in its rotation, which can make it that bit harder to get the tuning correct to start with. But 99.9% of tuning issues are to do with the nut. If you don't have any already, invest in a set of nut files. But even just running some folded 800 grit paper in the slots can often sort out sticky nut slots (provided the strings aren't grabbing in the slots). By all means upgrade the tuners if you wish, but even with the best locking tuners, you'll still get tuning issues unless you sort out the nut.

@ZachariahJ

Жыл бұрын

I'm glad you posted this. I usually change to 1:18 locking tuners at some point, but it is not to resolve tuning problems. Assuming a machine head is not physically 'unwinding' somehow, I don't see how they can be responsible for tuning problems. The problems are in the nut, or the saddle, or the trem system. A good reason to go for locking tuners is that every string wrap on an non-locking system increases overall string length, and so reduces slinkiness or 'twang'. Locking tuners have minimal excess string length.

I love this Video. Greetings from Germany!

Awesome content, I'm looking for a first guitar myself, so I'm paying lots of attention to all details. Also what is the backround metal music soundtrack you used? I want to listen to it so bad xD

Hello everyone, I would really like to know what kind of frets come with the R446. I heard that the "medium jumbo"s HB uses are rather small indeed and by no way similar to a normal jumbo you would find , say, on a Jackson. Please a definive answer from a owner....thanks a lot!

Unfortunately the ST 20hh is not in stock. I am a begginer and should I buy the R 446 or the HYW25. Btw I live in Germany so it ships for free and its pretty fast. Should I consider the ST 62?

Looks like this is my next guitar lol. I sold my Kramer Assault cause the Floyd was giving me too many issues. Picked up a Squier Sonic Strat for 199.99 Im planning on frankenstratting. This Harley looks like a great mod platform as well.

Can this guitar handle higher gauge strings for drop A# tunings without the tuning sounding off?

I own several HB guitars, including the R-446. It's terrific. I agree the pickups need a bit more oomph - especially for metal players - but they're decent. However, I agree that HB should offer an active pickup version of the R-446, using the excellent HBZ pickups from the ST20-HH Active guitar. I'd happily pay an extra 50 to 70 bucks for an active version of the R-446...in the same great colours.

@thebensonator

Жыл бұрын

I seriously love those HBZ actives. I might do a comparison one of these days between those and a bunch of other actives, including the big names - I genuinely feel they hold up against the likes of EMGs and Fishmans.

@Robert-Peterson

Жыл бұрын

@@thebensonator I have an Ibanez "Iron Label" RG and it has EMG81 and EMG60s in it...both are legends in the active pickup arena. I also own a ST20-HH Active guitar. The HBZ pickups are pretty damned close to the EMGs in a side-by-side comparison. Harley Benton have developed a terrific active pickup for their various guitars. If they wanted to, HB could make a few variations of the HBZ pickups (perhaps an alnico version?) but right now they've got a solid foundation in an active pickup system and should make them available to as many models as possible.

@ripley7t429

Жыл бұрын

@@thebensonator The only thing HBZ lacks is the true cleans a brand name EMG will give you. I have demo'ed quite a few side by side and swapped out of the ST 20 as well. I prefer the HBZ as I dont use the guitar for cleans.

Well, I got my first guitar 1 year ago, now I watched 10 seconds and bought this guitar 🎸

@thebensonator

Жыл бұрын

That’s what I like to hear! 🔥 You’ll have to let me know what you end up thinking of it!

@jxlif36

Жыл бұрын

@@thebensonator it's awesome, I love it

@yeoldefoxeh254

Жыл бұрын

@@jxlif36 Hey there, how is it since then? What color did you buy? :)

How can I make mine sound like this? I have the same guitar and I was wondering if maybe it's about the amp and settings because I never got such sounds from mine like you did and I was SHOCKED. Can someone give me some advice or tips? I have the HB-20R amp

Is it good for solo playing? like pink floyd high hopes solo, opeth burden solo, dream theater best of times solo?? is it good for this?

The amaranth joke actually got me LOLing

Bro the solo in this demo was epic! Really made me stop in my tracks! And I watch alot of demons haha

the jackson JS22 is the real winner, with the kramer in second place for best metal guitar for just under 200 bucks. Harleys wins under the 150 price point.

@jasujokelainen5073

Ай бұрын

Is there a contest somewhere? 😊

Which guitar is better R446 or Jackson js 12?

sick song bro

I wanted to buy this guitar in graphite, but I'm skeptical because of the Artec pickups.....

The fretboard was NO issue for you? It's so sandy I nearly wanted to send it back. But it's really gray guitar, my one has a flip flop color and I really want have a great time with it. What can I do to make the fretbard more smooth? I already polished the frets with a sanding stone and gave it some lemon oil but somehow it still doesn't feel comortable.

@thebensonator

8 ай бұрын

Yeah, a lot of the replacements for rosewood on fretboards are really hit-and-miss. I was definitely fortunate with this one - a lot of the Benton’s I’ve owned since had *terrible* dryness issues. It’s gonna take some time to get the fretboard properly hydrated, from my experience. It took several treatments to get it feeling right on a particular Fusion I purchased a few months ago. The frets are kind of the same deal - if you have varying grits of sanding stone, I reckon moving up to progressively smoother ones will keep the frets from feeling overly grainy.

@bluetopia42

8 ай бұрын

@@thebensonator Thank you so much for your respond! I retreated the frets carefully with steelwool (as my guitar teacher already told me, back then). That helped a lot already! Also, I put some additional layers of Dunlop 65 Fretboard Ultimate Lemon Oil. I will do it daily until the wood is silky. It's getting better every day, I swear! :D Again thank you and many greetings from Germany!

I have a HB J20 HH active. Pretty damm nice.

Incoming blow up of this channel. Calling it right now

@okkid3185

Жыл бұрын

What was the answer?

I agree you should have more subs you can count me in great playing and I just discoved that brand 1 week ago....lol thinking about getting an 8 string Harley Benton

@reubennb2859

Жыл бұрын

I've got the 8 string without fanned frets and it's very playable but definitely needs very heavy strings on the low end to sounds good, as the pickups aren't that great. The input jack is also not properly electrically insulated. If you either really want an 8 string or want to do some work on it, it's absolutely worth it given the price!

I ordered this guitar which is currently out of stock ( usually available in 2-5 days), and I was wondering if it's guaranteed that they will bring it back in stock in 2-5 days, and then shipped to me. Did anyone else experienced that?

@thebensonator

Жыл бұрын

"Short notice" on their listings generally means new stock is arriving in the next couple days, and they'll process your order as soon as they've received the new stock and ship it to you. (I've ordered a couple of short notice guitars from Thomann, and it's happened like this each time.) It's more or less a heads-up that it might take a couple of days for you to get a tracking number on the guitar, but you should get a notice sometime this week.

@denisucvali77

Жыл бұрын

@@thebensonator Thank you sm!

What about the action? Is it too high?

Are Harley Bentons sold in the US or are they only available in Europe without jumping through a bunch of hoops? Also, why did all the listings you showed about 5 minutes in say "B stock"? Were those all factory seconds? With the low price tags you've referenced, it wouldn't be a huge surprise if a significant percentage had flaws and it's actually commendable from my point of view if their quality control on such inexpensive guitars results in significant numbers not making the grade they're shooting for. I don't know much about the brand at all, but if they're readily available on this side of the big pond, with all the positive "press" they're getting combined with what seems like decent business practices, I'd seriously consider picking one up to try for myself. I would either go for one of their LP style guitars or one of the semi-hollow es-335 like guitars that I believe they also make. Thanks for the interesting video! Keep up the good work, my man!

@thebensonator

Жыл бұрын

Harley Bentons are unfortunately not sold directly in the US - they’re the house brand for Thomann, essentially the Sweetwater Sound of Europe - so it’s either importing them, or picking one up second-hand on Reverb with the crazy markup prices people try to put on them. For your other question: Thomann’s B-stock section is essentially [EDIT: undamaged] customer returns and items with minor transit damage, things that preclude the guitar in question from being sold as “new” but not so much that they impact actual playability. I’ve purchased several B-stocks, and they’ve mostly been indiscernible from brand new guitars - the worst I had was a small dent on the tip of a headstock. They’re rather exacting about what makes the grade and what doesn’t, and a B-stock Benton is a great way to save some extra cash on an already great deal without feeling like you’re necessarily getting a lemon.

@ledchickenfpv7164

Жыл бұрын

@@thebensonator Thanks so much for your reply. I had gotten the feeling that getting Harley Benton guitars over here in the US wasn't particularly straight forward. I appreciate the explanation how b-stock works also, even if it doesn't sound like it's going to do me much good.

@thebensonator

Жыл бұрын

@@ledchickenfpv7164 Yeah, getting Bentons over here is unfortunately tough. Thomann's shipping is really good - UPS International typically goes from their facilities to my doorstep in just two business days - but it's a pretty hefty charge to tack on for a lot of buyers. Hopefully it doesn't deter you from finding one at a good price and trying them out - Reverb has pretty good deals fairly often, so it wouldn't be bad idea to check there occasionally.

@zimmyjim

Жыл бұрын

i ordered 2 HB basses from Thomann a few months ago...took 1 week to arrive in Florida, and shipping was around $70....very nice guitars for the price. Ill be ordering more.... zimmyjim

It has those variety of colors unless your lefthanded, then it's only graphite metallic, still thinking about getting it.

@user-os4vy8zv6v

2 күн бұрын

how is it?

is this guitar great for start?

6:09 Perfect! 🤣

How much weight?

Change the magnets to alnico five it’s not hard I took out ceramics out of my SG and put in alnico 2 s

Would you recommend this or a squire affinity hss

@thebensonator

8 ай бұрын

Depends on what interests you more as far as music goes. If you lean more towards the hard rock/heavy metal side of things, then certainly the R-446. It's not that the Squire *can't* do styles like that, it's that the R-446 is more catered to those styles. It's a very modern feeling guitar, and if that's your thing then it will deliver more than the Squier can. The Squier will work better if you branch out into a wider variety of styles: jazz, country, oldies, etc. It also feels more "traditional" as far as a guitar goes, so switching from it to something like a Les Paul or semi-hollow doesn't feel as unusual. Ultimately it's about how much you enjoy playing the guitar. I've had expensive guitars that I couldn't stand playing, and cheap ones that I couldn't stop playing. Go to a local guitar shop and try out the Squier, then try something like an Ibanez or an ESP and see what feels more "right" to you. That'll be your guide above all else. :)

If this Harley button 44R I think you said? I was wondering. If between this Harley Benton and the Ibanez GRGR 131 something. IT WITH COMPARISON BECAUSE I WAS JUST CURIOUS MAN CUZ THEY DO LOOK ALIKE MAN

The Bentonator🤘

So what’s the verdict on the best metal guitar for under $200???

Found one for like 90 bucks. I absolutely don't need it but... 90 bucks... Edit: fantastic playing, btw!

Can you please tell how much it weights?

@thebensonator

Жыл бұрын

A bit over 7 pounds (≈ 3.3 kg) - light enough that it's easy to play for extended periods, but not so light that it feels like plywood!

Which is better 446 or Jackson JS22?

@thebensonator

7 ай бұрын

Depends on the price you can get it at. If they're the same price? The R-446 edges it out with features IMO. However, you'd probably be more likely to find a good deal on a JS22 - if you can find one below the $150 mark, grab it. Either one is a winner in the budget market!

Is the neck a C or D shape?

@thebensonator

Жыл бұрын

100% D shape. Thin depth overall, and it flattens out at the back without getting *too* flat. The R-457 and R-458 all have very similar profiles to this, so once you’re used to this one you know what to expect from those as well.

@dabs8853

4 ай бұрын

100% It has a C type neck.

J'ai déjà regarder tes autres vidéos je voulais savoir comment cette guitare électrique Harley Benton sonne donc je vais me commander cette guitare électrique Harley Benton type R-446 LH graphite mettalic pour les gauchers le prix en Europe et de 148€ seulement envoi compris et garantie 3 ans dessus j'aime bien ton jeu de guitare

Amaranth IS purpleheart :)

Yu Yu Hakushoooo

So, content wise your video is good, but the camera position is weird and I find it hard to watch the video till the end. More distance between you and the camera would be better. Also, the sound and your mouth movements are asynchronous.

After the 'twenty minutes later' it sounds out of tune. The nut is ABS plastic which has to go. Bone nuts from China are $1.50 each so no excuse to not replace it....even should be included. I have 2 guitars in my collection I paid next to nothing for. One is an Aiersi Tele copy ($125 CDN), and the other is a Yamaha RGX 620DZ with a floating trem ($350), and both will stay in tune without issue from one week to the next as long as the temperature is stable in that time (only ever off by mere cents). Tuners and nut should solve the issue, because for that price you can't go wrong. The Yamaha is a hidden gem 'sleeper'. Plays like a $1500 Ibanez. They should have left the covers off if they aren't active p/ups. Makes them look like a chinese copy.

@thebensonator

7 ай бұрын

Yamahas are absolute gem guitars! Those RGX and RGZ models are incredible price-performance players on the secondhand market, it's amazing they sell as "low" as they do. I've had my eye on a couple to take a look at for a video, and with the pop in their interest from a couple of other KZreadrs not too long ago it might just be the right time.

You're being too kind. The pickups are dreadful. I bought one for my son and its very underwhelming. But its so cheap you can't complain.

Constructive criticism, try to look at the camera when talking to the audience

@MaximusAdonicus

Жыл бұрын

He's probably watching the flip-screen on the camera 😀💁‍♂

@klhilde

Жыл бұрын

And maybe have the sound (voice) timed with the video and the two video shots synchronized.

I've had a £1000 Ibanez rg550 Genesis with a worse setup out of the box, than a £150 Harley Benton...

@thebensonator

Жыл бұрын

My dad has a $3000 Les Paul, and he was blown away that a $300 SC-Custom I had played just as well! The kicker - his was setup by a reputable luthier friend, and the Benton was factory setup!

Swear to god I got 2 harley benton and they were the worst quality guitars I've ever had. The amarok was a joke, fret edges literally cut my hands, 😂 get an ibanez gio, just way way better qc

@BlazinLow305

Жыл бұрын

I bought one too, the frets were so unlevel it was basically unplayable. A gash of wood out of the corner of the fretboard, the worst feeling tuners to turn, and it didn't stay in tune at all. Never again.

@BlazinLow305

Жыл бұрын

@Ian Maphet expecting a guitar to merely be playable isn't expecting "PRS private stock". In fact, the original comment even suggested another budget guitar as an alternative

@BlazinLow305

Жыл бұрын

@Ian Maphet "just because something happened for you doesn't mean it's universal." Funny how this point magically doesn't apply to your experience, but does to us. HB guitars are very cheap price wise, and to achieve that they have to cut corners in some places, one of those places is QC. I'd personally rather not roll the dice anymore myself, but it's not like I'm telling you to not buy one, which makes the fact you're being so weirdly aggressive about this pretty annoying.

u talk 2 much