Harryburke14 Posted February 16, 2018 Share Posted February 16, 2018 It was about this time last year I bought my first electric guitar - a squier affinity strat. It was about 6 weeks after that that I part exed it for a P Bass. I couldn't get on with the pointy frets, the sharp strings or the weedy sound, so gave up. I have recently been tempted to start again. One of my friends bought a nice, albeit very expensive, telecaster and I have to say even I can get a good tune from it - easy as you like to play. Putting the failed strat experience down to just the wrong guitar, I am looking at starting again. I have a budget of around £200 for EVERYTHING I need to get me started - preferably a squier telecaster (or Harley Benton or other copy) and a little amp. I had my eyes on the Harley Benton Paisley Tele copy, as well as a few others. Any recommendations from you good people? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leftybassman392 Posted February 17, 2018 Share Posted February 17, 2018 (edited) The Tele is a simple, no frills workhorse of a guitar. I love them to bits, and have had a few over the years. My favourite was probably a Japanese-made black '72 reissue that I used as my main working guitar for years. Can't think why I ever sold it TBH. I don't know much about Harley Bentons, but they are pretty popular around this parish. Don't bother with the Paisley finish though (you're paying extra for it). If you're looking at a good amp on a tight budget you might want to consider secondhand. Might be a bit of a stretch, but you could do worse than an old Laney LC15. Valves inside, and a lot louder than the wattage might lead you to believe. ETA: You should be aware that all Fender electrics (and most of the clones) have thin, wirey frets, and all guitars have thin, weedy strings: this is normal. Edited February 17, 2018 by leftybassman392 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul_c2 Posted February 17, 2018 Share Posted February 17, 2018 With a budget of £200 you could seriously consider not buying a guitar amp, instead using your existing bass amp for now, then possibly later buying a pedal or two to add some variation. Amps in the price bracket of £200-whatever a guitar costs, will be a bit rubbish and unlikely to have a decent overdrive tone. Or, hunting around for a secondhand bargain. Tons of people buy guitars (and other musical instruments), play them for a bit then lose interest so there's tons of entry level stuff out there at good prices. (Applies to the guitar too). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skybone Posted February 17, 2018 Share Posted February 17, 2018 Have you had a look at any of the Vintage range by JHS? They do have a good reputation, and are relatively inexpensive. If you found the Strat had a "weedy" sound, then is going for a Tele a good idea? Not that they're weak & weedy, but the fact that you have only 2 single coils to play with, rather than three. I had one of the "Custom II" Tele's for a while, with 2 P90's in it. Sounded warmer than a standard Tele, but I didn't get on with it. Part-exed it for a PRS SE Singlecut with P90's. Have you considered a twin humbucker guitar? You'll get a fatter sound from that, as well as a slightly shorter scale than a Tele (bit easier to handle) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger2611 Posted February 17, 2018 Share Posted February 17, 2018 Would you consider something like a Westone Thunder 1A, you will find a number of used ones on Ebay for £150 or so, they really were / still are bloody good guitars Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cato Posted February 18, 2018 Share Posted February 18, 2018 (edited) A bit outside the budget but this might be ok. https://www.gumtree.com/p/guitar-instrument/fender-squier-classic-vibe-telecaster-can-post-/1287139602 I've not tried a Harley Benton model but telecasters are quite hard to get wrong, the only problem you may find with the cheaper models is that the pickup noise might be quite loud. All proper (2 single coil) teles hum, my Baja Tele hums, but it tends to be a bit louder on cheaper guitars. Edited February 18, 2018 by Cato Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harryburke14 Posted February 18, 2018 Author Share Posted February 18, 2018 1 hour ago, Cato said: A bit outside the budget but this might be ok. https://www.gumtree.com/p/guitar-instrument/fender-squier-classic-vibe-telecaster-can-post-/1287139602 I've not tried a Harley Benton model but telecasters are quite hard to get wrong, the only problem you may find with the cheaper models is that the pickup noise might be quite loud. All proper (2 single coil) teles hum, my Baja Tele hums, but it tends to be a bit louder on cheaper guitars. That actually looks perfect - Tele, maple board, nice white colour. I know the Classic Vibe range are all great. I might send him a lowball offer and see what I can do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cato Posted February 18, 2018 Share Posted February 18, 2018 (edited) 17 minutes ago, Harryburke14 said: That actually looks perfect - Tele, maple board, nice white colour. I know the Classic Vibe range are all great. I might send him a lowball offer and see what I can do. I'm sure you already know this but if, he accepts your offer, try it first, just to check that it's playable, and plug it into an amp if you can, although there's not much that really go wrong with a tele's electrics that can't be fixed pretty cheaply Good luck. Edited February 18, 2018 by Cato Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bassbiscuits Posted February 19, 2018 Share Posted February 19, 2018 Small amp wise you can't go far wrong with a Roland Cube or one of the Blackstar ID practice amps. They're both about £100 new, with nice range of effects, various preset sounds and decent EQ. And more than loud enough for home use or thru headphones. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harryburke14 Posted February 20, 2018 Author Share Posted February 20, 2018 Mr Squier Tele hasn't replied yet so i think it's back to the drawing board. I'm hearing lots of good things about the Epiphone Les Paul SL, which can be had for £90 or so. From what I've read they sound great and come well set up from the factory, the only issue being the cheapish tuners (although I can't imagine it being too expensive to drop in decent cheapo ones). Anyone have one or seen reviews of them? At the minute it's a frontrunner, especially as it leaves me a few quid to get an amp (looking at Fender modelling amps or Boss Katana). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gary mac Posted February 21, 2018 Share Posted February 21, 2018 On 20 February 2018 at 12:23, Harryburke14 said: Mr Squier Tele hasn't replied yet so i think it's back to the drawing board. I'm hearing lots of good things about the Epiphone Les Paul SL, which can be had for £90 or so. From what I've read they sound great and come well set up from the factory, the only issue being the cheapish tuners (although I can't imagine it being too expensive to drop in decent cheapo ones). Anyone have one or seen reviews of them? At the minute it's a frontrunner, especially as it leaves me a few quid to get an amp (looking at Fender modelling amps or Boss Katana). I get to work on a fair few Epiphone guitars. I have found that it's the electronics that let them down. So my advice would be to budget for replacement pots and wire. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geek99 Posted February 21, 2018 Share Posted February 21, 2018 On 18/02/2018 at 20:21, Cato said: A bit outside the budget but this might be ok. https://www.gumtree.com/p/guitar-instrument/fender-squier-classic-vibe-telecaster-can-post-/1287139602 I've not tried a Harley Benton model but telecasters are quite hard to get wrong, the only problem you may find with the cheaper models is that the pickup noise might be quite loud. All proper (2 single coil) teles hum, my Baja Tele hums, but it tends to be a bit louder on cheaper guitars. Just shield it with foil - simples Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harryburke14 Posted February 22, 2018 Author Share Posted February 22, 2018 I got the chance yesterday to play both the Heavily modded Telecaster that started all of this as well as one of the Harley Benton TE-30s (albeit that had been modded up too). The TE30 was outstanding. I know it had lots of work done to it, but for £90 or so delivered to your door, I am strongly considering it above the Les Paul SL - which is sold out pretty much everywhere and is more expensive when you consider delivery costs etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ezbass Posted February 22, 2018 Share Posted February 22, 2018 (edited) I’m a huge Tele fan (I’ve owned a goodly number of other guitars too) as they're so adaptable. My current Squier has been so modded it’s only really the neck and associated hardware that’s original now. Hard to go wrong with a Tele. Edited February 22, 2018 by ezbass Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skidder652003 Posted February 25, 2018 Share Posted February 25, 2018 i bought my lad a harley benton tele, this one https://www.thomann.de/gb/harley_benton_hbt1952.htm i have to say for the money its very very good, lovely wood, decent hardware and nice pups, seriously worth considering, think they have a decent returns policy too Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harryburke14 Posted February 26, 2018 Author Share Posted February 26, 2018 19 hours ago, skidder652003 said: i bought my lad a harley benton tele, this one https://www.thomann.de/gb/harley_benton_hbt1952.htm i have to say for the money its very very good, lovely wood, decent hardware and nice pups, seriously worth considering, think they have a decent returns policy too I hadn't looked at these before, but considering the better hardware and pickups over the TE30 I think it might be worth a punt. Will order as soon as my Epiphone Thunderbird sells... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harryburke14 Posted February 26, 2018 Author Share Posted February 26, 2018 4 hours ago, Harryburke14 said: I hadn't looked at these before, but considering the better hardware and pickups over the TE30 I think it might be worth a punt. Will order as soon as my Epiphone Thunderbird sells... Speaking of the TBird, just sold on EBay for more than I had it listed here 😅 Will order in the next few days - will leave this thread open for suggestions of Multi-FX, Amps or even other guitars. At the minute, either the Harley Benton TE-52, TE-70 Paisley or TE-80 Prince copy are the choices. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leftybassman392 Posted February 26, 2018 Share Posted February 26, 2018 (edited) 1 hour ago, Harryburke14 said: will leave this thread open for suggestions of Multi-FX, Amps or even other guitars. What is your budget? Edited February 26, 2018 by leftybassman392 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harryburke14 Posted February 26, 2018 Author Share Posted February 26, 2018 3 hours ago, leftybassman392 said: What is your budget? well I set myself a budget of £200 for everything so take the guitar out of that and its about £75 ish Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leftybassman392 Posted February 26, 2018 Share Posted February 26, 2018 42 minutes ago, Harryburke14 said: well I set myself a budget of £200 for everything so take the guitar out of that and its about £75 ish I think you may struggle to get anything decent new but the pre-owned market in this kind of kit is pretty lively. In all honesty you won't get anything with valves in it, but if that's not important there's plenty of perfectly useable practice amps from the likes of Blackstar, Peavey and Marshall out there that will be well within your budget. Also, if volume isn't an issue you could even get a little micro amp and have a bit left over for a pedal of some sort. Just a few thoughts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodinblack Posted February 26, 2018 Share Posted February 26, 2018 https://www.gear4music.com/Guitar-and-Bass/SubZero-Tube-H5-Guitar-Amp-Head/NE1 or a second hand one is a lot cheaper. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leftybassman392 Posted February 27, 2018 Share Posted February 27, 2018 8 hours ago, Woodinblack said: https://www.gear4music.com/Guitar-and-Bass/SubZero-Tube-H5-Guitar-Amp-Head/NE1 or a second hand one is a lot cheaper. Haven't seen those before. Nice. (Don't forget to budget for a cab though). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodinblack Posted February 27, 2018 Share Posted February 27, 2018 They do one with a speaker in too. I bought a broken one off ebay and fixed it up. It was not bad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cato Posted March 2, 2018 Share Posted March 2, 2018 (edited) I recently bought myself a Boss G1on for silent home practice. To be honest it's not as impressive as the B1on for bass, most of the presets seem to be metal/thrash/djent/whatever-it's -called-this-week oriented, but there are a couple of nice clean settings suitable for funk or jangly indie and some less stupid distortion settings as well. You can program your own settings of course, but it's a bit of a faff and I can't be arsed. £45 new, if you can find one second hand for £35 or less, then even with it's deficiencies, it would still be a bargain. Edited March 22, 2018 by Cato Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harryburke14 Posted March 2, 2018 Author Share Posted March 2, 2018 ordered me a Harley Benton TE52 should be here by next weekend. Happy days Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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