# The dreaded Harley Benton 7-string (56k: take a short nap)



## jarrydn (Apr 13, 2007)

You've heard the lore surrounding it. You're preeeetty sure it exists, but up until now, it could have been an unsubstantiated myth.

Well, folks, you can stop dreaming, because here it is, in all it's craptastically routed glory 

A little scratched from leaving her in the shed for a year :






Incase you're wondering, the bridge wouldn't intonate correctly :





Better than Ibanez!:





I seriously don't know what's going on here :S:





Protip: Don't operate machinery whilst intoxicated:





And here she is, 95% sanded. Just need to finish off the sides. Note, the wood doesn't actually look too bad, and if it wasn't for the horrible routing, I'd be tempted to keep it natural :





Honestly, it doesn't even deserve me giving it the time of day, let alone taking care while sanding it back. I know the job looks gungy right now, but once it's been blocked, puttied, and sprayed with that wonderous rock texture, it will look a little less lame 

I'm expecting to get the bulk of the work done by Sunday.


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## Eric (Apr 13, 2007)

Wow... looking at that makes me totally not want to do my 7620 project I was going to start this morning...


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## Makelele (Apr 13, 2007)

I have a friend who sanded the finish from her Harley Benton strat. Turned out it was made from plywood. That guitar sure sounded really bad too.


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## RgAscendant (Apr 13, 2007)

I think that looks pretty cool with the sides unsanded. Of course, I'd dye the rest of the sanded stuff .


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## Seedawakener (Apr 13, 2007)

It actually looks good when sanded!  How big is the difference from that one and the RG shape really?


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## jarrydn (Apr 13, 2007)

I somewhat half-heartedly considered leaving the sides un-sanded and staining the top and bottom...but then reality struck me and I decided against it.

I'm going for the most horrible bright puke green I can find. I was originally leaning towards a darker, sparkly green...but I dunno...I want this guitar to make people vomit up their breakfast.


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## Alpo (Apr 13, 2007)

A guy I know has one of those RG ripoffs, but it has a fixed bridge. I haven't played it but it sure looks like a piece of crap...


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## jarrydn (Apr 13, 2007)

I really really want to modify the headstock to make it look *less* like an ibanez rip-off.

I was considering cutting it to look like a black-machine headstock, but I don't want to risk ruining the (no doubtedly already horrible) structural integrity.


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## Alpo (Apr 13, 2007)

I don't think it's possible for one of these to look much more like an Ibanez-ripoff:


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## jarrydn (Apr 13, 2007)

Sorry, I meant less


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## Alpo (Apr 13, 2007)

Oh, that makes sense.


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## canuck brian (Apr 13, 2007)

The routing looks like it was done freehand by an epileptic in the middle of a seizure.


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## darren (Apr 13, 2007)

Good lord... have those people never heard of "routing templates"?


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## b3n (Apr 13, 2007)

Maybe they're just using a really bad template 

Puke green sounds goo, can't wait to see the finished pics


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## InTheRavensName (Apr 13, 2007)

...or "guitars"?


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## Roundhouse_Kick (Apr 13, 2007)

HARLEY
BENTONNNNNN!!!!  


I nearly bought a harley benton 4x12 because I was broke and it had vintage 30's. But then I remembered its a harley benton  

Good luck with the project!


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## technomancer (Apr 13, 2007)

canuck brian said:


> The routing looks like it was done freehand by an epileptic in the middle of a seizure.



I was more thinking chimpanzee with a hammer and screwdriver myself...


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## jarrydn (Apr 13, 2007)

It definitely looks like a screwdriver job 

Here's what my current vision for it is:





Still not 100% on the headstock. I might have to look into reinforcing it if I want to do a gnarly cut-away.


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## Invader (Apr 13, 2007)

I have a hardtail version of that. It's crap. It's crap in it's purest form. If the dictionary would have the word crap in it, there would be just a picture of this craptacular Harley Benton there. The specs are ok, in theory it shouldn't be too bad, but it is. I refinished mine in bronze. I also had to move the bridge a little so that it would intonate properly. The neck pocket was routed so that the neck was crooked when sat in the pocket. I had to shim it pretty hard.


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## jarrydn (Apr 13, 2007)

They make a hardtail version? D:

Yeah, the neck on mine certainly isn't what you'd call snug, and I will definitely be shimming it. It's basically just going to be a beater until I accquire myself a proper 7 string.


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## Invader (Apr 13, 2007)

If I'm not mistaken, they *made* a hardtail version. I bought mine in 2003 from Thomann. I haven't seen one on their site for a while now.

Here's some pics:
http://www.cc.puv.fi/~e0300583/HB7/


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## jarrydn (Apr 13, 2007)

Duuuude, very nice 

Even if it plays like shit, at least it looks hot as 

It would have been nice to accquire a hardtail one to mess around with. I was going to originally convert this one to a hardtail, but there'd be way too much messing around.

But dude, those pics are seriously impressive


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## Eric (Apr 13, 2007)

How much do those fine instruments run you unmodified?


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## jarrydn (Apr 13, 2007)

Mine cost me a little under $200AUD shipped


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## Alpo (Apr 13, 2007)

7Strings said:


> How much do those fine instruments run you unmodified?



"Fine instruments?"


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## Invader (Apr 13, 2007)

Sarcasm.

Mine cost around 150 euros new. In hindsight, thats 150 euros too much.


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## Desecrated (Apr 13, 2007)

A friend of mine got one six months ago, it was a good guitar, the pickups was really bad, but he switched to duncans, still cheaper then ibanez. and sounded much better.


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## Alpo (Apr 13, 2007)




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## Seedawakener (Apr 13, 2007)

Invader said:


> If I'm not mistaken, they *made* a hardtail version. I bought mine in 2003 from Thomann. I haven't seen one on their site for a while now.
> 
> Here's some pics:
> http://www.cc.puv.fi/~e0300583/HB7/



What paint did you use for that one? Looks AWESOME! That color is orgasmic!


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## Invader (Apr 13, 2007)

Just car paint in rattle cans. It's the direct sunlight that makes the color look so good. And as I've said before, it looks good...from a distance.


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## Shaman (Apr 13, 2007)

canuck brian said:


> The routing looks like it was done freehand by an epileptic in the middle of a seizure.


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## Shawn (Apr 14, 2007)

jarrydn said:


> It definitely looks like a screwdriver job
> 
> Here's what my current vision for it is:
> 
> ...



 That'll look nice, it's lookin' good so far and yeah, the routing job is pretty bad from those pics.


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## skinhead (Apr 14, 2007)

jarrydn said:


> Here's what my current vision for it is:



I think that you have to obtain some quilted maple 8/10 mm for the top  

And yeah, that route it's made with the teeths and under LDS influences.


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## Sebastian (Apr 14, 2007)

Invader said:


> Sarcasm.
> 
> Mine cost around 150 euros new. In hindsight, thats 150 euros too much.



No oshit!!!

150Euros its like... 200$ 

I got my Jackson DR7 for 200$ and i think (now someone should post  )
That its really good....


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## jarrydn (Apr 14, 2007)

skinhead said:


> I think that you have to obtain some quilted maple 8/10 mm for the top
> 
> And yeah, that route it's made with the teeths and under LDS influences.



Hehehe, I just realised that it looks like a quilted top .

It was more meant to convey that it was going to be green over a stone textured finish. 

Anyway, paint starts going on tomorrow 

Oh, and I won't be cutting the headstock up all funky like that. I backed out at the last minute .

Some more pictures D:

Body blocked, puttied etc:





Some rattlecans!:






Headstock mostly sanded down:





Silver primer:





Let there be rock!:


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## jarrydn (Apr 16, 2007)

Some more pissybits. Almost done 

Just need to inspect all the bits thoroughly when they are properly dry, then it's time for some clearcoating action!

Oooer





:O





Cavity plate doo-dads





It sunk half a mm or so where I filled in the neck pickup, but the bridge is holding out fine, and to be honest, I could care less 





So there we have it. What was once a pretty shit guitar is...well...still a pretty shit guitar, but green and bumpy.

Assembly pics and sound samples in a few days, hopefully ;D


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## metalfiend666 (Apr 16, 2007)

Hideous! In a good way


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## Alpo (Apr 16, 2007)

Looks good.


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## jarrydn (Apr 16, 2007)

Cheers fellas ;D

Looking at some of the other threads...it seems like green is quite a popular colour this month


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## Drew (Apr 16, 2007)

Haha, that's hideous. cool!


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## the.godfather (Apr 16, 2007)

Wow, that colour's great!

'Kermit' Green


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## XEN (Apr 16, 2007)

RGShrek


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## Ishan (Apr 16, 2007)

Insane, know a guy who did customized one of those, his looks insane. Let me find his website.


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## Seedawakener (Apr 16, 2007)

Looks very.... uhh.... very icky...  Great job!


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## Invader (Apr 16, 2007)

Looks better than mine. 

Maybe I should do a second refinish


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## Ishan (Apr 16, 2007)

Website of the 7BZH (in french)
So it's in french but full of pictures 















Very nice beside the headshape


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## SHREDTOKILL (Apr 16, 2007)

what you should do is strip down the headstock one more time and get a ibanez headstock template and reshape the headstock to be exactly like the ibanez head's.
then it would look just right.
when you filled the neck cavity did you put any wood in there or did you just throw some bondo in the cavity?
i would have put a chunk of maple in there and epoxied it in.


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## jarrydn (Apr 16, 2007)

I was initially just going to chop the top point off, because I don't want to try and pass it off as an Ibanez 

Then I got to thinking of leaving it, and making up a custom logo. Maybe something like "Chibanez" or "Trybanez". I dunno 

Regarding the neck cavity, i cut a block of wood roughly to size and glued it in with wood glue. Once it had set, I smeared filler all over the top then sanded it flush. I probably should have waited a day or two for it to settle, we've been having pretty crazy weather in Perth ;D


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## Obscura (Apr 17, 2007)

I didn't read the entire thread btw, but I am curious as to where to get one of these beasts? Locally in Australia? I am in Adelaide.


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## jarrydn (Apr 17, 2007)

Obscura said:


> I didn't read the entire thread btw, but I am curious as to where to get one of these beasts? Locally in Australia? I am in Adelaide.



Hey dude, I ordered it from thomann.de

However, I strongly suggest you don't buy one . Unless of course you're into un-intonatable guitars with shitty, unlevel fretwork and dodgy routing 

They might have picked up their game since a year ago, but more than likely they'll have just gotten worse. Unless you like a challenge, I'd just suggest picking up a second-hand 7321.


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## Drew (Apr 17, 2007)

Ishan said:


>



That thing looks awesome!


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## Ishan (Apr 17, 2007)

There's somethign like 100 hours of work on it as the guy is no luthier. It was just a "small" project of his. By the way the pickup is a DM Blaze, it certainly sound as awesome as it looks


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## SHREDTOKILL (Apr 17, 2007)

jarrydn said:


> I was initially just going to chop the top point off, because I don't want to try and pass it off as an Ibanez
> 
> Then I got to thinking of leaving it, and making up a custom logo. Maybe something like "Chibanez" or "Trybanez". I dunno
> 
> Regarding the neck cavity, i cut a block of wood roughly to size and glued it in with wood glue. Once it had set, I smeared filler all over the top then sanded it flush. I probably should have waited a day or two for it to settle, we've been having pretty crazy weather in Perth ;D




so you used a wood filler?
if so.
it is known to shrink over time.
an epoxy or hard liquid plastic would have worked better.
but i see where your going with this one.


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## skinhead (Apr 17, 2007)

Nice that green style dude, i like it


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## jarrydn (Apr 18, 2007)

Grrr. This is the second time I've done this to a guitar.

I was doing a mockup, just to see how the hardware looked on it (looks pretty sexy by the way ;D), but as I was removing all the pieces I accidentally dropped the pickup on the body. My heart stopped beating, and sure enough, there were two little chips out of the paint.

I've got some green left, so I'll give it the once over, and hopefully it's not too noticeable once the clear goes over the top.

Shredtokill, I would have used epoxy if I had it handy, but I didn't, and I didn't want to spend too much on this project...it's going to be a mess around guitar after all, and if it doesn't look perfect, I'm not too fussed ;D


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## D-EJ915 (Apr 18, 2007)

That weird looking guitar is pretty sick!


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