Harley Benton L-1000 review and modification

This is the Harley Benton L-1000 guitar model. It's part of the newer "progressive" line electric guitar models by Thomann. This is a modern single cut model inspired by ESP copies of the famous Gibson LP shape. This model is inspired by the Eclipse guitar models by Esp/Ltd but it has a few different features and it's much more affordable of course.
This guitar has a set-in neck construction, mahogany neck and body, a set of  9V active pickups, 24 frets and many body contours for comfort and playability. Let's have a look at the original specs of the L-1000 model:

-Set-Neck Construction,
-Mahogany Body w. Arched Top,
-Mahogany C-Neck,
-Rosewood thomann Fretboard w. Flag Inlays,
-Creme Bindings, 24 Frets, 628mm Scale, 43mm Nut-Width,
-Double-Action Trussrod,
-HBZ Active Hi-Gain Humbucker pickups, 2-Volume Control, 1-Tone Control & 3-Way Switch,
-Tune-O-Matic Bridge, Deluxe Gold Hardware,
-Deluxe Die-Cast Tuners,
-Daddario 010-046 Strings,
-Finish: Vintage Black.




Also available in White finish and Left-hand version!





The good stuff: 
For around 166 Euros, you get a set-in neck which is great! Also, I have to add that this is a medium to long tenon neck joint rather that a short tenon one. This is something we don't see that ofter on guitars of this price range. The basic entry-level bolt-on ltd ec10 model costs 166 Euros as well...
www.thomann.de/gb/esp_ltd_ec10_blk.htm?partner_id=73786

While the ESP LTD EC-200QM set-in neck model costs around 330 Euros.
www.thomann.de/gb/espltd_ec200qm_stbk.htm?partner_id=73786

Moreover, the guitar comes a dual action truss rod which is a top notch and really useful feature if you're into alternative tuning and like to experiment with string gauges. These dual action truss rods are also pretty stable compared to classic cheaper one-way truss rods.

The neck is also very comfortable and easy to play. It's got a C-profile that's perfect for solos and chords. It's not a fat 50's neck but it's not thin like an esp horizon or ibanez rg neck... It feels more like a 60's style gibson neck.

Well, a friend bought this guitar brand new via thomann and it arrived in perfect condition. He gave it to me for a set up as soon as he opened the carton box. The guitar was already fitted with D' addario strings. There were small signs of rust on them but I meant to replace them anyway. I just tested the guitar for dead spots/buzzing etc with the stock strings on. To my surprise, there were no flaws or buzzing issues with it! I removed the strings and checked the frets with my trusty fret rocker tool. The fret-work is really good! I polished the frets, oiled the fretboard and placed a new set of 0,09" strings on the guitar. Once the guitar was set up and tuned to Standard-E, the playability was amazing. So what's wrong with it?

The bad stuff:
Once I opened up the electronics control cavity I noticed that the stock volume and tone pots were rated at 500Kohms... That's common for guitars that use passive pickups but NOT suitable for active pickups. I plugged in the guitar and noticed there was some hissing noise, at least when the vol. pot of the guitar was turned to maximum and the noise gate of my amp turned Off. With my Line6's noise gate set ON, I couldn't hear any hiss.
For those that have hiss/noise issues with their HBZ active pickups, here's a solution that does not require any modifications or guitar-tech labor:
http://www.thomann.de/gb/harley_benton_ng100.htm?partner_id=73786



To modify or not to modify?
 All active pickups and EQ circuits tend to produce a bit of high frequency noise. That's why many companies, like EMG and Seymour Duncan, recommend using 25K pots and 100nF tone capacitors with their active pickups. The R-C low-pass filter formed by the 25K pots paired with a 100nF tone-pot capacitor reduces hiss and noise. A set of 500K pots and a 22nF or 47nF tone capacitor cannot filter out the higher frequency noise created by the HBZ active pickups or any active pickups for that matter.
So we decided to replace the stock pots with lower resistance ones to reduces the hiss. We tried 25K pots and 100nF tone caps but the result was not that great.The treble and output was reduced but at least the hiss was gone. My friend suggested we should try a set of EMGs on the guitar. So we did!
He had a spare set of EMG 81-85 (aka Zakk's set) lying around. So I removed the strings and placed the EMGs on the hb-quick connectors which btw are compatible with the emg pickups. To my surprise, the tone was ever worse. I am not a big fan of Emgs but my friend said this is how they should sound.

So, the HBZ pickups did sound more open and balanced than the classic emgs. The emgs sounded a bit more "muddy" and had less note sustain than the HBZs.

Going passive:
I then proposed replacing the 25K pots with 50K ones and maybe use a 47nF or 68nF tone cap. The result was better but still the emgs did not sound that good. You should try a set of 50K pots with your EMG pickups though, it provides more treble, output and note sustain! For those who modify their emg circuit for 18Volts, replacing 25K with 50K pots is a nice modification as well.


Finally, we decided to go for a passive set of pickups and re-install the 500K pots on the guitar. We bought a set of affordable gold-covered passive humbuckers made by "HMV" in Hong Kong. The neck pickup reads about 11Kohms while the bridge pickup reads around 14Kohms. So these are medium-hot output pickups. Once the new passive pickups were installed on the guitar, we plugged in the guitar, played a bit and said "this is it!". The tone is just right! The passive pickups are not that hot but they sound awesome and they are dead quite in terms of hiss and noise. The tone is open, the notes are crystal clear and the chords sound well-defined. You can actually distinguish the sound of every string in a chord. This is something we couldn't hear with the EMGs or the HBZ pickups. These active pickups sound good with tons of gain and distortion for soloing and heavy-riffing but their tone just lacks clarity and definition.

 If you're a metal player though, you can simply engage the noise gate of your amp/multi-effect  like many owners do or replace the stock pots with 50K ones and enjoy the HBZ active system!

Verdict:
The guitar sounds great now and the sound is suitable for all kinds of playing. The neck is very playable and comfortable. The fret-work is good and the guitar is easy to set up right for low action and perfect intonation! I really like this guitar. As a matter of fact, a few weeks later I bought this guitar for myself! I'd gladly pay twice as much for it or a passive-pickup version of it!


P.S. Check out other models of the "progressive" guitar series such as this explorer and this RR-shaped guitar!











-Thanos