KVR Audio

GaryG · Post by **GaryG** » Wed Apr 11, 2007 9:33 pm

Ian B wrote:While I'm here, has anyone ever heard of/tried a Oldfield brand guitar? ... . I'd go as far as to say they're the same guitar under different names.

Looking at some of the other Oldfields, there's a strat with that hooked headstock again... lots of names, not too many unique guitars methinks.

Another new one on me on the Dawsons site: Farida. A neat green tele there with a strat style headstock, a combination that's always appealed to me (Ken Chambers, Moving Targets!

)

.g

GaryG · Post by **GaryG** » Wed Apr 11, 2007 9:53 pm

http://www.thomann.de/gb/harley_benton_ms_jr_i_lh.htm

Hmmm, my favourite tuning too.

.g

GaryG · Post by **GaryG** » Wed Apr 11, 2007 11:29 pm

OT (ie. not budget, not a guitar

) but thought these may be appreciated in this thread:

http://www.q-tuner.com/

Hmmm, neodymium magnets...

.g

Ian B · Post by **Ian B** » Thu Apr 12, 2007 7:03 am

GaryG wrote:
Ian B wrote:While I'm here, has anyone ever heard of/tried a Oldfield brand guitar? ... . I'd go as far as to say they're the same guitar under different names.
Looking at some of the other Oldfields, there's a strat with that hooked headstock again... lots of names, not too many unique guitars methinks.

Another new one on me on the Dawsons site: Farida. A neat green tele there with a strat style headstock, a combination that's always appealed to me (Ken Chambers, Moving Targets! )

.g

Yeah, they had a plenty of Faridas as well, they 'look' ok, I may well try one when I pick my J&D up. On a side note, they also had plenty of Oldfield amps in stock at really cheap prices.

GaryG wrote:http://www.thomann.de/gb/harley_benton_ms_jr_i_lh.htm

Hmmm, my favourite tuning too.

I've seen this guitar on the Thomann flyers and I've wondered how the hell can they make/sell a guitar at this price, even a shitty one, but one featuring that tuning, A-D-G-H-E-A

and a dyed hardwood fretboard as well

Hanglow · Post by **Hanglow** » Thu Apr 12, 2007 10:21 am

Another quick update on the Harley Benton GA5 amp - on 18watt.com there is a thread on it, it is exactly the same as the VJ Mk2 it seems, with the same PCB but an added tone stack that can easily be replaced - so if you want a highly moddable practice amp then look no further- all the VJ mods will work. for £74 delivered its a great deal - as long as you are comfortable with a soldering iron. They are also going to start up a separate forum for the VJ on 18watt.com because of the interest in the amp (I think there is a 330 page thread on it at the moment.)

Hanglow · Post by **Hanglow** » Sat Apr 21, 2007 12:49 pm

bump

Ian, I don't supppose you have your guitar back yet? A mate of mine has a steinberger copy that he wants to upgrade the pickups on, any report on the single coil sized ones in particular?

Ian B · Post by **Ian B** » Mon Apr 30, 2007 4:44 pm

Hi Hanglow,

Sorry for the late reply, it's been a long time, but I finally picked it up earlier today

..............and I'll be taking it back on Wednesday

There's a problem with a 'dry joint' on the neck pup wiring, in single coil mode it's fine, but as a humbucker there's barely any output. One minute it's fine, the next not. Considering the amount of wiring that was done, I can't say I'm surprised there's been a hiccup or two.

The pups themselves are mightily impressive, with a good even response all over the fretboard. Not overly bright or fat, but there's enough character to make them a worthwhile purchase imo, especially at the price. Even better, the sustain is incredible, granted, the thru neck helps with this, but I can honestly recommend these pups.

'EDIT'
I've done these pups an injustice, especially the neck pup, it's plenty fat enough

'EDIT 2'
For some bizarre reason, the faulty pup has more or less behaved itself today, it still needs looking at, but I've had the chance to try them all out properly.
I'm impressed, very impressed indeed, the overall sounds out of the Lil Killer 6k neck, the Lil Killer 10k middle, and the Bigmouth bridge, are far better than their purchase price would indicate. At the then currency exchange rate, I paid just over £40 for all three pups, that's gotta be a steal

On a side note, when I contacted the guy about the faulty pup, he asked me if I'd thought about having the bridge recessed as there is virtually no room left to lower the action, especaially on the treble side. He was more than a touch impressed by the overall build quality, and reckoned doing this, as well as the new pups, would turn a good guitar into a great one. The action is good, but could be even better, so I've agreed to let him do it when he sorts the pup problem out.

His jaw hit the floor when I told him how much I'd actually paid for this guitar

Ian B · Post by **Ian B** » Tue May 01, 2007 7:39 am

GaryG wrote:
Ian B wrote:While I'm here, has anyone ever heard of/tried a Oldfield brand guitar? ... . I'd go as far as to say they're the same guitar under different names.
Looking at some of the other Oldfields, there's a strat with that hooked headstock again... lots of names, not too many unique guitars methinks.

Speaking of unique, while I was at Dawsons yesterday, I said I hadn't heard of Oldfield guitars before and Keith (the guitar man there) told me they were pretty new and Dawsons own brand. They had an Oldfield Duke and I asked Keith, without my looking, if it had a 'unique' way of neck fitting, a sort of hybrid between set in and bolt on, just using 2 bolts? It had, which just confirmed my suspicion it was really a Harley Benton Duke under a different brand name. He was a touch surprised/doubtful, so I pointed him to thomann.de. A few minutes online later, he'd found I was right, both guitars were identical, even down to the Duke name.
At least some Oldfield guitars are really Harley Benton guitars, and weren't quite as new/exclusive to Dawsons as he'd thought. The Harley Benton Duke has been sold by thomann for around 18 months now, so maybe all the Oldfield range have just been rebranded.

Hanglow · Post by **Hanglow** » Sun May 06, 2007 11:06 am

Good pup report Iain, sounds like you have a killer guitar for not much outlay.

Those guitars I imagine they'll just be mass produced at a chinese factory and anyone could buy a lot of them and get whatever they wish put on the headstock. Bit like that amp being almost exactly like the VJ, down to the same pcb. I'd have thought epiphone wouldn't be too happy with it selling at half the price.

speaking of which I'm not closer to deciding what small practice amp to get. either the GA-5, Fender Champion 600 or the Peavey ValveKing Royal 8 now. Too many choices. The Ga5 is the cheapest but would need moded, the champ looks fantastic and supposedly sounds pretty good but the speakers a little small and it only has a 4ohm output which is a bit annoying for me, and I'm not too sure on the peavey as it looks pretty ugly but has some nice feaatures at least compared to the others.

Ian B · Post by **Ian B** » Sun May 06, 2007 11:46 am

Hanglow wrote:Good pup report Iain, sounds like you have a killer guitar for not much outlay.

Yeah, the guy@GFS said the pup combo I picked would be a kiiler setup (he would tho' wouldn't he?) but he was right

I forgot to mention, they had a 'standard' fitting, no need to drill extra holes, which was a big plus point for me, and they look great.

Those guitars I imagine they'll just be mass produced at a chinese factory and anyone could buy a lot of them and get whatever they wish put on the headstock. Bit like that amp being almost exactly like the VJ, down to the same pcb. I'd have thought epiphone wouldn't be too happy with it selling at half the price.

I guess they're much like Cort, in as much as they've been manufacturing guitars for other 'named brands' for a while, but are now selling under they're own name. Even if this range of guitars are what could be classed as 'seconds' the small amount of money needed to bring them up to par, makes them a steal at the prices. Once the pups and work on the bridge is done, I doubt I could get a better guitar without spending serious money.

speaking of which I'm not closer to deciding what small practice amp to get. either the GA-5, Fender Champion 600 or the Peavey ValveKing Royal 8 now. Too many choices. The Ga5 is the cheapest but would need moded, the champ looks fantastic and supposedly sounds pretty good but the speakers a little small and it only has a 4ohm output which is a bit annoying for me, and I'm not too sure on the peavey as it looks pretty ugly but has some nice feaatures at least compared to the others.

I've always had a liking for Peavey amps, I've always regretted selling a Peavey Bandit I had some years back

The catch about having the J&D repaired, is that I've sold my Harley Benton HBT2000, and my Wesley Freeport is boxed and waiting to be picked up by courier next week. I've only got my 12 string electric and Wesley Ex100s archtop atm. The former is no good for lead work and I've got to be in the right mood to want to play the latter, so I'm pretty much guitarless at present

dry bones · Post by **dry bones** » Sun May 06, 2007 6:17 pm

I'm selling my Yamaha AES 820- I don't want to, but landlady selling our house means I need the dough...

GaryG · Post by **GaryG** » Sun May 06, 2007 10:43 pm

as an AES800 owner, you have my sympathies...

dry bones · Post by **dry bones** » Mon May 07, 2007 5:33 pm

It really hurts, as this is an excellent guitar. Nobody seems to want it though ( there's a lot of brand name prejudice, especially with LP-style guitars, round here ), so I may be keeping it yet...I wouldn't be guitarless, as my other is an Antoria 335 copy which I am never going to sell.

Ian B · Post by **Ian B** » Wed May 09, 2007 4:47 pm

Feck, feck, feck

My J&D S890 has been back in the shop since last Saturday, but they didn't bother to let me know. I only found out todat 'cos I phoned the guitar guy who did the work about another guitar. I could have picked it Monday or Tuesday if they'd told me

I couldn't go today as I had to wait in for a delivery, can't go tomorrow as I have to wait in for a courier to call and pick a parcel up. If I pick it up on Friday my usual main weekly shopping plans will go out of the window. Saturday is my main beer day, and I begrudge missing that, so it looks like it's gonna be next Monday.

On the bright side, while I was speaking to the guy who did the work on this guitar, I asked about having the 'new' Swineshead pups on my electric 12 string coil tapped, along with new 500k pots. He said it should be straightforward. I think I may ask him to fit a graphtec nut while he's at it, that's if he can get hold of one, I searched all morning but couldn't find a nut specifically for a electric 12 string. I'd love a brass nut on this guitar, but he'd have to make one from scratch and it'd be a touch expensive. Even better, he offered to call round my house to pick the 12 string up tomorrow, so I won't be paying the VAT Dawson have got to charge on work he does thro' them

Hanglow · Post by **Hanglow** » Wed May 09, 2007 9:34 pm

It'll be worth the wait I'm sure. I've been wanting to upgrade the nut on my wesley, how much would you say just a nut replacement would be, usually? I like the guitar too much to try it myself.

I have just got my DIY tychobrahe octavia clone finished, which was a bit of a hassle as I originally tried to make a Roger Mayer one but failed miserably, so tried the tycho variant and it worked first time

sounds great, especially with my easy face after it. A must have for any hendrix/psychedelic fans

Yet another budget guitar option