Let's be honest, the stock pickups sounds so much clearer and overall better.

@Vashaco

Жыл бұрын

i feel the same

@user-tk9eq5iq8t

11 ай бұрын

1000%

@cal79

8 ай бұрын

Yep

Replacing cheap pickups for another set of cheap pickups is not what I call an upgrade, but for what is worth, I liked the original pickups way better

@thebensonator

Жыл бұрын

It was intended to reflect a more realistic expectation of swapping components in a budget guitar. While I could have put in a $200 set of Seymour Duncans, why would I spend more than I paid for the guitar on a single component when I could... just buy a better quality guitar? Not only does it defeat the purpose of the guitar being "budget" in the first place, but it would have precluded me from trying a replacement part that has people engaging in discussion on this video - and that engagement is doing great for my numbers😄

@N8TheGr8M8

Жыл бұрын

@@thebensonator the bridge was an issue as well?

@mylogify

7 ай бұрын

But if the guitar is worth upgrading to a Seymour Duncan's then why not... A Charvel at least costs 900-1000 Euro. After Seymour Duncan's it will be 350 Euro. If it plays, feels good, then it can be worthy upgrade I think. @@thebensonator

Stock pickups sound better clean

@ptr_does_music7042

Жыл бұрын

Indeed, the upgraded pickups are too noisy on the cleans. If you want a decent hi gain guitar, the upgrade would be great for you

Got to disagree with you, Those active pickups just sounded muddy, and if you took out the coil splitting ability what was the point? you just limited the ability of the guitar? maybe splittable actives would be better, but against what you shoved in I would stick to the standard ones, The active pickups did not sound that great.

The R446 has the thinnest neck on Harley Benton's catalog. I hope someone with clout can get them to make a stainless steel fret version with good quality control

@thebensonator

Жыл бұрын

I'd love a higher-end version of the R446, something to bridge the gap between it and the Amaroks. A more refined neck, SS frets, and some nicer hardware - something like the FanFret-6 that was a part of their lineup a few years ago.

I mean, I still prefer the sound of Amarok after upgrading the R-446... but that's why tone is subjective. Great video!

Name brand highend active pickups would be nice but I find you can eq, gain and tone shape through pedals and amps to match sounds to an extent. Definitely tuner upgrade was worth it.

I have the R-446 blood red and just last month I replaced the bridge with a Hip Shot style that's made of Brass off Ebay $20. Guyker tuner's as seen in the video. Graphtech tusk nut $15 and EMG'S 81/85 that I swap out of my Schecter for Fluence Moderns. Usually I'm a Duncan high output pick up guy( Black Winter-Invader-Nazgul-Black outs- JB) l have them all but I like the look of having actives and it sense to me to install the EMG'S. And yes it Sounds so much better.

Great Content. Thank You For sharing. have a nice day!❤👍

the GFS sound less good to me than the stock Artec pickups. The GFS are more noisy, sound highly compressed and make you lose a lot of headroom. Now, maybe that's what you wanted. Now, the comparison with the Amarok reveals that the Amarok sounds way better than your customized R-446 on clean and more organic on high gain. I wonder what the comparison would sound like between the R-446 with stock pickups vs the Amarok.

@athathoththegreat3901

Жыл бұрын

He put those cheap actives in there and said they compared to EMG's, lol. As we heard, they did not.

Great quality content man, especially for a new channel! You also like Harley Bentons, so that's a big plus too! 😜When you have the chance. I highly suggest to get your hands on a HB Fusion. More expensive, yes, but with very good specs and feel. And those roasted flamed maple necks are... 🤤🤤 Keep it up, cheers from Greece!

@thebensonator

Жыл бұрын

Thank you for the kind words! I currently have a Fusion in the studio to do a review of, but it’s a standard maple neck one with an ebony fretboard - still need to place the order for a roasted neck one to compare to! Looking forward to that comparison, for sure.

Ok I commented before the Amarok and it definitely sounds brighter and cleaner in my opinion than the upgraded R446 but, I will say the difference is truly minimal.

honestly its fine just to change the tuners to locking ones and thats it no need for the rest if you are fine with the sound

Nice playing. Looks like a decent guitar too

Nicely done video,the f-zero one was awesome, congrats. I might buy one R-446, I hesitate on the color. It sure has merit but there is no real competition for it in that price range (leaving the pickup configuration aside): super strat, 24 frets, matching headstock, can some one name a serious contender ? For upgrade I'm likely to replace the tuners, may be the nut. For the electronic, wilkinson or fleor pickups would do. I'm ok spending half the price of the guitar in upgrade but not much more. Not really an upgrade but I'll «re» wire the vol and tone pot as they were in the 50's. If Thomann modifies the guitar down the road, by relevance (to me at least),I would enjoy: a basswood body a reverse headstock (looks cooler eventhough less pratical than regular…) slitghly flashier pink and green and a copper/ gold version They should use such a wiring as describe is the following video : kzread.info/dash/bejne/nKOBlrNwmsyblKg.html&si=EnSIkaIECMiOmarE Imo a better use of a 5 way switch in a 2 p'ups guitar. If they are crazy a p90 version would be an unique instrument own its own merit !

great video

honestly, if you've never services a guitar before its probably worth the money to gain the experience of upgrading your first guitar. I threw some Locking tuners and Seymour Duncans on a 20 year old BC Rich Bronze Warlock, and it is literally the heaviest tone out of any guitar I have. (Amarok Baritone Included.)

@thebensonator

Жыл бұрын

These budget Bentons are awesome for learning guitar maintenance - not just replacing parts, but adjusting the neck/action, and even learning fretwork. Certainly wish I had one 15 years ago to hack apart instead of a Fender!

Hey bensonator, your channel just popped up in my recommended list of videos. My experience on upgrading many guitars is extensive on my channel. Therefore I will give you my honest opinion about this one. I would have made the mechanical changes you did but I would have kept the original pickups because obviously my ear likes a cleaner sharper mid-range sound to your ear liking none and a very dark toned pickup. Now in your Final Mix between the upgraded 446 and the other guitar that kind of music with high gain and possibly distortion doesn't really make any difference because the frequencies are so Modified by pedals that it's imperceptible because noise is noise. You seem to have put a lot of work into it. I think you're cutting into my bandwidth on KZread by doing this. Ha just joking it's good to have somebody else doing things like this besides me. I take budget guitars upgrade everything that needs fixing and make them punch way above their price point. Also I have to say that your guitar playing and a fast fingering is impressive. Keep up the good work.

@thebensonator

Жыл бұрын

I appreciate the kind words! This was definitely a fun experiment, and one I’m glad I did, but certainly not what I would consider “optimal”, even for my tastes. (Great opportunity to try out something new, at least!) It did generate some of the takeaways I was hoping for, though, namely: - under high gain, the differences between “cheap” and “expensive” pickups become close to imperceptible, especially in a mix - some hardware upgrades, while they look cool, aren’t as worthwhile as they seem - pickups have a much more significant effect on a guitar’s tone than some players give them credit for …and most importantly, there’s no “one-size-fits-all” solution to hardware upgrades. It’s already led to some good discussion, so that’s mission accomplished for me! And don’t worry, I’ll make sure not to step on your toes with future videos 😉 Haha, all the best!

@2bikemikesguitartopics145

Жыл бұрын

@@thebensonator 😁got ya

If my Amarok had a slimmer neck, it'd be perfect. It's my main guitar

@thebensonator

Жыл бұрын

I still can't believe Harley Benton managed to pack so much into that guitar! I have both a 6 and a 7 that I'll be reviewing very soon, and the neck is one of the biggest things I plan to talk about... it's surprisingly divisive!

GFS has a lot of awesome pickups for the price... But the Red Actives are not among them. I have 9 pair on different guitars (all passive) and there are some real gems.

@thebensonator

6 күн бұрын

There’s so many capable GFS sets out there, and Kwikplug makes it super easy to swap it a set just isn’t fitting the bill. I have at least two other sets around here myself. Super affordable too - might be worth getting some more sets and putting some stuff together… 🤔

Buying a Harley Benton, and I’ve bought a few. The first thing a lot of people do with one of these guitars is try to upgrade it. Well if that’s your first thought when you buy one of these guitars you’ve purchased the wrong guitar, and when you’ve upgraded it you still will never be happy, spend a fortune and sell it on and do your dough!! Take my advice and save some more money, or get it on 0% finance and try and buy a guitar that you like is whole and sounds as you like it from the off. The fender player + is a fantastic guitar and will not need upgrading so are shecters, and LTDs, and the dearer epiphones like the les Paul 59. You can get a great guitar for between 500.00 and 800.00 that you will be happy for years to come with.

@Mario-jn5zq

3 күн бұрын

Harley Benton makes great guitars. I got some really nice pieces on my wall... A 20 year old Les Paul and a high priced Kramer just for example... But I love to play my 2 budget Harley Benton guitars more. By the way I don't like active pickups anymore. They got more output but they give you the output of you want it or not. A simple boost pedal in front of your amp for some high Gain stuff and there is no need of active pickups anymore. If the guitar is made good enough to set the string action right, better spend money in a good amp ... The guitar gives the signal and playability , the amp and speakers do the main of the sound.

The Amarok sounds better. But with the R-446 it's just those pickups. They just sound too hot or over blown.

P.S. The Amorak is killing the 446. Please do a re-do using EMG'S or other high end actives. If possible. Thanks

Stock pick-ups sound way better. That shows that pickups don't work wonders if you can't dial a proper tone.

This channel was doing really well. Why did you quit?

@thebensonator

Ай бұрын

It's due to a lack of available time to finish that I haven't uploaded. I work two jobs, morning-to-midnight 6-7 days a week, so most of my waking hours are taken up with that. Some things had to get put on the back burner as a result, and unfortunately regular uploads on my channels is one of them. I still do have things in the works - several reviews are still in the back pocket, including some requests from viewers. Just have to spare the time with myself to actually get them done... I've been putting them off for too long.

I have an older peavey tube amp with a compressor/sustainer running into an sc1 overdrive as a boost using my crunch channel and it does wonders using non active pick-ups (also a noise gate). I can't reproduce the sound with active pick-ups because the actives kinda jumble everything together instead of hearing that clear separation between notes. Something needed for face melting modern progressive metal with a lot of single note picking at high speeds.

@thebensonator

Жыл бұрын

Nice setup! You’ve noticed one of those raw inherent differences I’ve found between the two - and a big reason why “active vs. passive” is a question without a definitive answer. A lot of it boils down to the styles being played and the preferences in response, touch, etc. For modern styles that need that surgical precision (prog, thrash, tech death, etc.), and especially less “gain-y” styles, I’d take a set of quality passives any day - and I probably would have kept the stock pickups in the R-446 for that, even if I found them underwhelming. For my tastes and purposes, the actives have been working out better, but it’ll always boil down to a preference thing. …And most of the viewers who have commented on this video don’t agree with my preference, it seems! 😅 Ah well, can’t win them all.

@GlorifyGodInEverything

Жыл бұрын

@@thebensonator oh man, yea it's all preference, I most definitely would never hate on something you prefer at all because it's all subject to opinion and active pick-ups 100% have their place especially when it comes to individual taste haha. But that's what makes music fun, we don't do it to just please others, we do it because it's fun for us as well. And in no way shape or form does your setup sound bad.

@thebensonator

Жыл бұрын

@@GlorifyGodInEverything Exactly! Going the passive -> active route not only generated some interest in this video, but it gave me ideas for others! Turns out preferences make for good content 😁nevertheless appreciate you stopping by and weighing in, it's always welcome!

@GlorifyGodInEverything

Жыл бұрын

@@thebensonator Yep exactly, keep up the good work, honestly super solid video. Good content, good information, good comparison, good guitar playing etc. I know it takes time to make these video's so just know it doesn't go un-appreciated or unnoticed by everyone haha.

Now i feel even better for ordering amarok 6 :D

Review the Hb HWY25 BKS

The nut on my ST20 HH active was terrible. It was a high profile, which was unneeded and the slots were very deep. D string was first fret bottoming out as well. Hipshot, tuners and nut, since I had the bridge, I would consider this about a 40 dollar cost to me. If you bought the stuff yourself, figure 65/30/12 so that would put the entire guitar cost at $226, not counting shipping, so total would be 300 bucks. Not the deal it first appears to be, but it plays well. It is a good husk to start with.

@thebensonator

Жыл бұрын

I had issues with the nut on my ST-20 as well, though not quite as bad as yours, from the sounds of it. A lot of HB's guitars in the lower price range are definitely best served with some upgrades and a bit of elbow grease - glad it wasn't all too expensive to get it patched up, at least!

@MaximusAdonicus

Жыл бұрын

If u only had a problem with the nut, why did u also change the bridge and the tuners? The bridge seems to be the same as in R446 and they look high quality and ergonomic. A lot of people seem to change the tuners in guitars when the real problem is the nut...

More R-446 vídeos pls

I seems you've found the thing that works for you in term of content.

@thebensonator

Жыл бұрын

I’d like to think so! It might be a bit of a balancing act, since it involves me frequently getting more guitars out-of-pocket, but I’m very pleased with the idea so far - we’ll see how it plays out!

@michaelnugent9758

Жыл бұрын

@@thebensonator Just got recommended this channel out of nowhere. Glad I found it! Definitely subbing. Please keep up this line of content. I love watching this stuff as well as modding guitars myself so this is right up my alley. Good stuff, dude. le presentation is fantastic!

@michaelnugent9758

Жыл бұрын

@@thebensonator LOVE the shirt too, BTW! You see that match vs. Bandido last night? Awesome stuff!

I think artec pickups win. the emg retroactive hot 70 are dull as fuck... the fat 55 sound just like Vansons 59... and brighter. acustically I hate basswood and Alder, okoume I don´t like either... if I would buy the guitar and tuned it in drop a#, I don´t know if it would sound like my past hb hwy 25... (with emgs 81-60 and bone nut).

I own over 30 guitars and I can tell you right now that I have cheap ones and the more expensive ones are better. That should finish your argument right there. I would definitely recommend moisturizing that fingerboard it's looking dry as a dead person's bones

@thebensonator

Жыл бұрын

Oh yeah, this fretboard was pretty bad. Not the worst I've had, but since companies have been switching over to more sustainable fretboard woods I've been noticing a trend of them arriving dry and gritty. I can't imagine it's coincidental, but I don't rule out the possibility. While I certainly agree with more expensive guitars being better (at least up to a certain price), the appeal of a cheap guitar that plays well and sounds good will often trump the practicality of a solid midrange guitar at a higher price. It's part of why Bentons are so popular, and half the fun in reviewing/modifying this guitar in the first place. Plus, budget guitars do good numbers on KZread, and who am I to argue with the viewing audience on that?

A little more sustain and clarity much better than stock

pickups are poison. I switched my HH to Slash Alnico 2 on my budget SC550ii Harley Benton😆

From only hearing the sound via a KZread video, the original setup seemed to have a higher frequency vs the new equipment had a deeper sound similar to playing the original equipment with the tone knob all the way up vs the modified, with the tone turned all the way down to a deeper sound. From what I heard, I kind of preferred the original sound, one could of just adjusted the 5 way switch or, turned the tone knob. Myself personally, I never purchase any guitar without lockdowns & fine tunners however, I just purchased a Jackson with a floyd rose tremelow & It is not impressing me at all! The whole ser up is wrong! Buzzing on frets so, I must spend money on a kit to measure the string height & redo the hole set up!!! If all else fails, I will purchase a floyd rose 1000.

I'm intending to buy blood red R446, but I can't stand ceramic pickups. Will be replacing them with some hambuckers. Thanks for the helpful comparison with Amarok!

@MaximusAdonicus

Жыл бұрын

Heh, humbuckers are usually ceramic, lol... Unless u want Alnico humbuckers. Ceramics are better for metal, but Alnicos are more versatile and better for shredding kind of stuff.

@draganakuzmanovic911

Жыл бұрын

@@MaximusAdonicus Yeah, Alnico for example! :D EMGs and similar pickups (like both pairs of pickups on R446 in this video) for "modern" metal just sound bad in my ears, specially distortion. I'll probably go for Seymour Duncan or DiMarzio.

@MaximusAdonicus

Жыл бұрын

@@draganakuzmanovic911 To each their own :D I've been planning to buy the exact same guitar as you, but thinking of putting in even MORE metallic pickups of maximum ceramic humbucking sound!!! xDD

Just got one pla6x very well out the box , tuners aren't great

Sorry to comment twice but I barely hear any difference between these swapped out pickups and the ogs

I upgraded mine ,Ibanez switch coast more then the guitar

Sorry, but your choice of pickups sounded more like downgrade than upgrade.

stock is finer btw

Pickups were an obvious downgrade IMO stock ones sounded much nicer

Welp, the budget went straight outta window pretty quick, ha! 🙈 I think u upgraded way too many parts with way too much money and in the end it wasn't really even worth it 😬💸 But that's a common issue with most upgraders. One could upgrade this with 4 times LESS money and get much better results! -The stock bridge looks really good and sturdy and seems much better ergonomically than the stock bridges in Ibanez, Jackson etc. And the replacement bridge u put in looked exactly the same as the stock with a similar arching bridge guard! 😆🙈 At least u didn't pay for this, but I'd say this upgrade was 110% unnecessary. -It might have been a much better idea to change the nut since that's what people usually consider the biggest factor in tuning issues, but at least u sanded it and lubed it, and it seemed to work, so u saved 15 bucks 😀 -... but then u spent twice that money on new tuners! 😁 A lot of people change stock tuners when the problem is really the nut, so I can't say if the tuners were actually bad or was it just the case of the strings getting caught in the nut thus giving the illusion of the pegs slipping? But if it was indeed the tuners, then those Guykers are a good choice - though one can get unbranded locking tuners for 15e from Ebay if feeling risky 🤓 -I assume u went for the active pickups 'cos u wanted to compare them to the active EMG's, but for budget orientated people passives would have been a better, cheaper and more hassle-free choice. Also the sound difference between passives and actives isn't that big nowadays (also proven in this video). I'm not sure if the old wiring would have worked with the actives? But changing the wiring was another unneeded additional cost that has zero effect on anything unless one has problems with previous wiring. In the sound comparison the stock pickups were easily the BEST in the clean department. The GFS:s sounded too hot and were distorting, just sounding bad. The crunch test yielded similar results with the stocks sounding more open and the GFS:s having the same "too hot" tone, but it's more of a matter of taste. In the high gain department both were very close, there's a small difference, but it's again a matter of taste which one to prefer. All and all what this comparison really proved is how GOOD the stock pickups actually are and how "bad" the GFS:s are! Although I must instantly clarify I don't think the GFS:s are necessarily bad, I just think they were disappointing (I too expected more) - I think there are better choices for this price, even probably from GFS themselves! In the customized R446 vs Amarok the differences were smaller. In the cleans both had the same problem of sounding too hot. In the crunch and higher gain stuff both were similar, but the Amarok was just the slightly roided up version of the two, lol. TL;DR To save a huge amount of money and get the best bang for ur buck what should have been done in this case and what works for most cases in general is to just change 3 things: strings, the nut and the pickup(s)! And in many cases just changing the bridge pickup is enough! -Get strings by ur favorite brand ~6e -Buy a fitting Tusq nut to cure almost all tuning problems ~14e -Get a cheap but killer (passive) pickup(s) from Ebay/Aliexpress/Amazon from some smaller acclaimed brands for 10-30e/piece = for just 30-50e you'd be ready to conquer the world!! 🤘🤘

@thebensonator

Жыл бұрын

That’s the fun of it all to me - just trying new things! While “budget” is certainly relative, it wasn’t as much about “efficiency” as it was taking the guitar down a different route and changing up its flavor a bit. It was also a cool chance to highlight the difference between passives and actives in the same guitar, without going the full EMG route. While their responsiveness felt much better than the stock pickups, and they have their place, I do agree the Redactives didn’t blow me away - though their similarity to the EMGs in the Amarok might be more of an indictment of those! 😅 If it were an optimal budget-conscious choice, I’d have slapped in a pair of those $25 Fleor pickups, filed the nut, and called it a day - but that doesn’t make for a fun video! I wouldn’t change a thing with what I did, but it’s proof there isn’t a single upgrade solution that fits everyone’s fancy.

@MaximusAdonicus

Жыл бұрын

@@thebensonator Fair enough! If one has the money to spent, then there is no limit what kind of changes he can do, even if just for the lolsies or for the sake of it. But I was just thinking as a common man with small pockets as to what would be the most reasonable thing to do. Anyhoo, your video was well done thou.

The original sounds much better.

I preferred the Stock Pickups by far. The replacement Pickups sounded dull, lifeless, and inarticulate to me.

How the f!ck you only have 277 sub, dude you the best !

@thebensonator

Жыл бұрын

Been making videos for many years, but only recently started putting this channel to use! Thank you for the kind words!

@stevesun3658

Жыл бұрын

@@thebensonator Thanks for sharing your talent whit the world.

Try ninja’s tuners

I say it was worth it and would be for pretty much anyone looking at buying an R-446. When you upgrade compenents you learn.

@BOBANDVEG

Жыл бұрын

Truth. I upgraded a $130 epi special just to learn. Now it weighs 5 pounds more and plays like a dream

That Amarok blew the R446 away... 10 times better sounding guitar...

Yeah, the gfs pickups were probably a downgrade here.

The upgrade Pickups are crap... If you want really cheap and good sounding pickups take some belcat but not this shit and call it a upgrade...

Stainless tuners? Lol😂

What is with your over-emphasized mouth when speaking??