# Harley Benton Fan Fret proto's (7 string Teles & les pauls)



## lewis (Mar 21, 2018)

Take my damn money now!!!!!
(skip to 3:50)



I legit want them all


----------



## lewis (Mar 21, 2018)

this one /\ also has a natural colour tele headstock. Looks amazing


----------



## Ivars V (Mar 21, 2018)

He didn't show the headstocks, that's a shame, because that's the only thing that keeps me away from getting one.


----------



## lewis (Mar 21, 2018)

Ivars V said:


> He didn't show the headstocks, that's a shame, because that's the only thing that keeps me away from getting one.


the only one we do see is the satin grey Tele, which has a natural coloured tele heastock.


----------



## lewis (Mar 21, 2018)

Ivars V said:


> He didn't show the headstocks, that's a shame, because that's the only thing that keeps me away from getting one.


just found this video that shows the entire les paul glossy (it has solid black gibson style headstock)



Skip to 2:53


----------



## indreku (Mar 21, 2018)

Ihope that the tele 6 string FF comes out, so I can spend on that, and piss the missus off.


----------



## Omzig (Mar 21, 2018)

lewis said:


>



All ready post this i the other HB thread in standard guitars but in case you didn't see that it looks like a copy of a Wing Bass https://www.wingbass.com/


----------



## lewis (Mar 21, 2018)

Omzig said:


> All ready post this i the other HB thread in standard guitars but in case you didn't see that it looks like a copy of a Wing Bass https://www.wingbass.com/


oooh it does!
I wonder if it is a Harley Benton?
Would pick one up in a heartbeat if so given the wingbass 30inch whilst looking amazing, is well out of my price range haha


----------



## lewis (Mar 21, 2018)

indreku said:


> Ihope that the tele 6 string FF comes out, so I can spend on that, and piss the missus off.


im in the same boat as this haha

Thankfully my missus does not seem to mind.


----------



## lewis (Mar 21, 2018)

nice!!!
The Tele headstocks are REVERSE!!!! yes!


----------



## Ivars V (Mar 22, 2018)

lewis said:


> just found this video that shows the entire les paul glossy (it has solid black gibson style headstock)


----------



## cardinal (Mar 22, 2018)

Definitely interested in both of those. Would like to see 8-strings, since that what IMHO really benefits from a multiscale.


----------



## lewis (Mar 22, 2018)

Ivars V said:


>



hahah true story.
The fact that the LPs have a nice looking Gibson style with new HB logo font and the Tele headstocks are natural and reversed, means Im completely on board for both.
The ONLY thing that I would have really liked is a pickguard on the teles (may be able to make our own up? or email Thomann) ! i.e - 








cardinal said:


> Definitely interested in both of those. Would like to see 8-strings, since that what IMHO really benefits from a multiscale.



well knowing what we know with the previous models, 6 and 8 string versions of these seem a given (although some finishes may be exclusive to whichever model you go for )
either way! Damn im hyped!.

Im praying we get some multiscale Basses soon.
Imagine a Harley Benton fan fret bass with the same scale lengths as the Dingwall....
would buy buy buy


----------



## Wolfos (Mar 22, 2018)

I know that's the first time I've seen a fanned fret T.O.M. bridge. Definitely interesting.

I love the Tele though, I've always like the idea of getting on stage with a nice butterscotch blonde Tele, having the crowd expect some classic dad rock then melt their faces with some dropped G extended range riffage.


----------



## Masoo2 (Mar 22, 2018)

lewis said:


> Im praying we get some multiscale Basses soon.
> Imagine a Harley Benton fan fret bass with the same scale lengths as the Dingwall....
> would buy buy buy



This is what I'm holding out for. The Agile offering was nice, but fell flat with the electronics and the 6 string model was very short lived. I'd love to HB to come out with a fanned fret bass in 4, 5, and 6 string offerings with proper electronics and wood selection. 7 strings would be great too but that's pushing it a bit.


----------



## blacai (Mar 23, 2018)

So Thomann wants to play the 300-600€ range game... 
I wish them best of luck because all companies in that market will have to improve and offer something special. I am member of the harley benton's facebooks group and sadly lot of posts are just "see how damage my guitar arrived" and then "it's good for the price".
I might be too classist, but a cheap sh*t is still a sh*t. All harley bentons I have played(and I have played ton of them, easy living in Germany) were a shame compared with just the typical Yamaha pacifica or the Ibanez GIO.


----------



## diagrammatiks (Mar 23, 2018)

fanned fret teles
more fanned fret teles

it's funny that when I got my hapas...not even kiesel was willing to say they were working on a fanned fret tele shape. 

now everyone is all about the fanned fret teles.


----------



## lewis (Mar 23, 2018)

Wolfos said:


> I know that's the first time I've seen a fanned fret T.O.M. bridge. Definitely interesting.
> 
> I love the Tele though, I've always like the idea of getting on stage with a nice butterscotch blonde Tele, having the crowd expect some classic dad rock then melt their faces with some dropped G extended range riffage.


yeah same.

So the stop bar is straight, but the saddle part of the bridge is angled?
I wonder if that screws up the string/tuning stability.
SImilar to how when strings go through the nut then into tuners at angles, rather than being perfectly straight.

Guess we will wait and see.
Cant really see why they would not just go monorail bridge on these models too but there we go.
Either way, Im excited.
Anyone know when they are dropping?
Ive checked Thomann and Im not seeing them yet.


----------



## KnightBrolaire (Mar 23, 2018)

diagrammatiks said:


> fanned fret teles
> more fanned fret teles
> 
> it's funny that when I got my hapas...not even kiesel was willing to say they were working on a fanned fret tele shape.
> ...


the world needs way more fanned fret teles. also fanned fret jazzmasters, explorers, star destroyers and warriors.


----------



## lewis (Mar 23, 2018)

KnightBrolaire said:


> the world needs way more fanned fret teles. also fanned fret jazzmasters, explorers, star destroyers and warriors.


hell yeah!
From the vids and comments, it seems Thomann are really impressed with their Fan Fret popularity and are well on board for expanding the models they offer as multiscales.
So im super on board too.

A fan fret Jazzmaster and Warrior/Xiphos style would be <3


----------



## KnightBrolaire (Mar 23, 2018)

lewis said:


> hell yeah!
> From the vids and comments, it seems Thomann are really impressed with their Fan Fret popularity and are well on board for expanding the models they offer as multiscales.
> So im super on board too.
> 
> A fan fret Jazzmaster and Warrior/Xiphos style would be <3


I'm probably in a very small minority, but I also want headless explorers and such. it's a shame that the bond frankenstein headless that arnold had was a piece of shit because that thing had some really cool ideas.


----------



## Wolfos (Mar 23, 2018)

KnightBrolaire said:


> I'm probably in a very small minority, but I also want headless explorers and such. it's a shame that the bond frankenstein headless that arnold had was a piece of shit because that thing had some really cool ideas.



I know there have been successful headless FF 8 strings, strandberg comes to mind. So was it the craftsmanship or the body style that was crap to Arnold? I didn't watch the video.


----------



## KnightBrolaire (Mar 23, 2018)

Wolfos said:


> I know there have been successful headless FF 8 strings, strandberg comes to mind. So was it the craftsmanship or the body style that was crap to Arnold? I didn't watch the video.


craftmanship. there was finishing issues, bad wiring choices, bad pickup slants, the high e string basically rides the edge of the fretboard (poor string spacing). the finishing and wiring stuff isn't the big deal, the biggest deal was the poor string spacing. There's nothing you can do to remedy that without chopping up the guitar or building a new one imo


----------



## lewis (Mar 23, 2018)

what I loved about that too was how many woods went into the body /\
patchwork

awesome. I would slayy that thing hard (if it were playable haha)


----------



## Wolfos (Mar 23, 2018)

KnightBrolaire said:


> craftmanship. there was finishing issues, bad wiring choices, bad pickup slants, the high e string basically rides the edge of the fretboard (poor string spacing). the finishing and wiring stuff isn't the big deal, the biggest deal was the poor string spacing. There's nothing you can do to remedy that without chopping up the guitar or building a new one imo



That's really unfortunate to hear, but honestly do these builders not pick up and play their own products before deciding to sell them? That's a pretty big gaffe, though not the first time I've heard of that issue.


----------



## lewis (Mar 23, 2018)

Wolfos said:


> That's really unfortunate to hear, but honestly do these builders not pick up and play their own products before deciding to sell them? That's a pretty big gaffe, though not the first time I've heard of that issue.


this has always been my head scratcher.
Or do they somehow get away with then charging EVEN more money to the customer, to "sit down and do thorough QC"?
Probably all a business con


----------



## Wolfos (Mar 23, 2018)

lewis said:


> this has always been my head scratcher.
> Or do they somehow get away with then charging EVEN more money to the customer, to "sit down and do thorough QC"?
> Probably all a business con



I've always been willing to spend a bit more on a higher quality product. I am no businessman but I always assumed that sales are driven by word of mouth and customer reviews. Though in the era of the Chinese knockoff market I guess lowest price is king.


----------



## lewis (Mar 23, 2018)

Wolfos said:


> I've always been willing to spend a bit more on a higher quality product. I am no businessman but I always assumed that sales are driven by word of mouth and customer reviews. Though in the era of the Chinese knockoff market I guess lowest price is king.


I dont know, to me some things should be a given based off fair assumption.

i.e, If I spend $3500 on a custom guitar, for that money and time it takes, surely its fair to assume that included in that price, is an extensive QC before its shipped?
Otherwise its a complete waste of time.
People pay these figures for an instrument, that needs to be played.
Not just to look at.

But yeah, I prefer getting the cheaper instruments and completely customising them myself than this route but still.


----------



## diagrammatiks (Mar 23, 2018)

lewis said:


> this has always been my head scratcher.
> Or do they somehow get away with then charging EVEN more money to the customer, to "sit down and do thorough QC"?
> Probably all a business con



I mean most of the time people that spend that much don't really look over their shit that carefully or even understand what too look for.

You have to start somewhere. I never looked at my first Anderson that carefully. 

Although the string spacing on Arnold's guitar is a dealbreaker...the other stuff most people probably wouldn't even notice.


----------



## vortex_infinium (Mar 23, 2018)

HB is always putting out such really cool stuff. If they weren't international and I could just walk into a music store and pick them up; I think by this point I'd have half a dozen of them or more 'just because'.



KnightBrolaire said:


> I'm probably in a very small minority, but I also want headless explorers and such.



I've wanted a headless explorer for a long time now too! But I feel like any design both for body and bridge access that a company willing to do it could come up with would be ugly...


----------



## KnightBrolaire (Mar 23, 2018)

vortex_infinium said:


> HB is always putting out such really cool stuff. If they weren't international and I could just walk into a music store and pick them up; I think by this point I'd have half a dozen of them or more 'just because'.
> 
> 
> 
> I've wanted a headless explorer for a long time now too! But I feel like any design both for body and bridge access that a company willing to do it could come up with would be ugly...


yeah I've basically come to the conclusion that I'm going to build my own guitars since nobody is doing what I want. Headless offsets, Vs and explorers are definitely on my list of things to build, once I finalize/prototype the designs.


----------



## HeHasTheJazzHands (Mar 23, 2018)

Fuck, if they do the FF Les Paul, that'll probably the first and only FF I'll ever buy.


----------



## lewis (Mar 23, 2018)

HeHasTheJazzHands said:


> Fuck, if they do the FF Les Paul, that'll probably the first and only FF I'll ever buy.


Haha yesss!!

A 27-25.5 les paul is going to be sweeet.
I hope its mahogany body for extra weight though. I dont want it feeling too light.

That satin one...tasty


----------



## diagrammatiks (Mar 23, 2018)

it looks like the les Paul has a weird fan
12th parallel.



ehhhhh. but I still kinda like it.


----------



## cardinal (Mar 24, 2018)

12th parallel would be unfortunate. I’ve played the Ibanez fans which I think have the 12th parallel and it wasn’t terrible, but I think I would prefer it more toward the 7th or so.


----------



## lewis (Apr 6, 2018)

new indepth review/video -


----------



## cardinal (Apr 6, 2018)

Aesthetically looks great. I’ve played the Ibanez RGs with a 12th fret parallel and it was fine, honestly. 

8 string please.


----------



## lewis (Apr 6, 2018)

cardinal said:


> Aesthetically looks great. I’ve played the Ibanez RGs with a 12th fret parallel and it was fine, honestly.
> 
> 8 string please.


also am I right in saying Cory in the vid, says that HB have changed the parallel fret on these to the 15th fret instead?

certainly makes the lower frets more angled but Cory does not boast about his guitar skills and he is able to still play that fan no problems.


----------



## diagrammatiks (Apr 6, 2018)

It's the fifteenth on a relatively large scale. 

For these things it's not really whether or not you can pick it up and play it. Any reasonably competent guitarist can play any fan. 

the problem is that a week later you suddenly have carpal tunnel.


----------



## lewis (Apr 6, 2018)

diagrammatiks said:


> It's the fifteenth on a relatively large scale.
> 
> For these things it's not really whether or not you can pick it up and play it. Any reasonably competent guitarist can play any fan.
> 
> the problem is that a week later* you suddenly have carpal tunnel*.



haha ouch.

true too.
Its at the proto stage and they are encouraging people to tell them what needs to be changed.

Perhaps thats 1 thing that 100% needs to be different alongside the neck heel.


----------



## cardinal (Apr 6, 2018)

That’s what I get for watching on mute to try to just get a visual on it. 

I’d have to play that to see how it would feel. Seems a bit strange.


----------



## indreku (Apr 6, 2018)

I think currently they might be doing it with a off the shelf TOM bridge with maybe modified sled that causes the dan and 15th fret issue - but they would need to create a custom one, that is bit wider and also the sleds under an angle, so they would be straight, then it would be thinkable.


----------



## Crundles (May 9, 2018)

https://www.thomann.de/gb/harley_benton_te_7_fanfret_fbb_2018_dlx.htm






€298 £262.07
neck mount: bolt on, neck form: Modern C-Profil
scale: 648 mm (25,51")/686 mm (27,01")

...Well well well...

There's also a single cut version, with a more extreme fan from the looks of it.

https://www.thomann.de/gb/harley_benton_sc_7_fanfret_fdb_2018_dlx.htm


----------



## cardinal (May 9, 2018)

Both look pretty cool! 

At least in the US, it’d be hard for me to not save a bit more and go for the LTD multiscale, though. I prefer the more traditional look of these Harley Bentons, but I’d probably trust the LTD QC and build a bit more.


----------



## Dcm81 (May 9, 2018)

Parrallel on the 15th seems a tad extreme! I didn't like the feel of the 12th parrallel on Ibanez so I know I wont get along with the LP type.
At least the Tele seems to have the parrallel back on the 9th like their first FF offerings.



cardinal said:


> Both look pretty cool!
> 
> At least in the US, it’d be hard for me to not save a bit more and go for the LTD multiscale, though. I prefer the more traditional look of these Harley Bentons, but I’d probably trust the LTD QC and build a bit more.



A *bit* more? Aren't those around $1500ß


----------



## cardinal (May 9, 2018)

^ I think they’re $1250/1299 in the US. So is that about double given the conversion? Then shipping into the US, but yeah I guess the LTD is a lot more expensive.


----------

