Honesty

I want to thank @bluesman78fr for his honesty about my latest blues remix and obnoxious Telecaster track. I absolutely love my G&L ASAT telecaster and my new Fender Twin complete our ménage a trois. And as the 13th generation family member from Virginia, my country music runs deep lol. I’m currently on the fence about the choice of a new guitar for home recording because I too knew that latest remix was offensive to the blues community and desperately want a Gibson ES-335 guitar. But, I also want a guitar to play rock and roll with. Long story short, I’ve chosen Harley Benton as my next guitar maker but I can’t choose a model to support both genres. I’m only buying one guitar. My ASAT is the salt and it does the job. I need the pepper to complete things for this new found paradise here. Do other guitarists just think the answer is a guitar with humbuckers? If so, a PRS copy at Harley Benton with a whammy bar will be my choice. I want a semi-hollow body just because I want one. Thoughts?

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i'm not sure i would read bassman78fr's comment as a negative, to me, sounds like his recognition of the distinctive telecaster sound. but that aside, i've been impressed with Harley Benton guitars...i've bought maybe 4 so far. first model was:
https://www.thomannmusic.com/harley_benton_te_90flt_vw_deluxe_series.htm

sound was great, body was a little too heavy for me. i ended up selling this as this was my 'introduction' to HB and i didn't want to invest too much on something if there was the possibility of disliking it. it also didn't suit my rock n roll style, but the clean and twanginess of this model was very cool and i would assume great for blues/country/etc.

next model purchased:
https://www.thomannmusic.com/harley_benton_sc_custom_plus_emg_vbk.htm

i love this guitar, it's my workhouse, probably use it about 80% of the time, and i have a Fender HM Strat ( https://www.fender.com/articles/instruments/a-cult-classic-reborn-inside-the-fender-hm-strat ) that i truly love but i play this HB more. the active pickups are hot and give me some tone and sustain that i love. build and quality is great as well. i do have some 'dirty' electrical issues with it, not sure if the electronics need to be looked it, but besides that, it's truly a guitar i love to play.

next model purchased, for no reason :) was:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PXa_XKGavXQ
i don't play this one as much, i have it opened tuned for blues. to me, it's a great all-around sound, have done some rock and blues with it. again, nice build and quality.

i also have an HB bass that is basic, but it does the job :)

overall, very impressed with HB and shipping from across the pond is fairly quick as well :)

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@rootshell

Here are my facts and I'm really leaning towards this one because of "Jon Plays to Loud"'s review of these. So I'll paste the guitar I think I want and then the facts surrounding my choice.

https://www.thomannmusic.com/harley_benton_cst_24t_black_cherry_flame.htm

1) I have a homemade tube amp (no reverb) that HAS that dirty sound with any guitar you plug into it. I don't have a working microphone but I could achieve what I want if I could get this setup with a mic (it will be loud, wife would complain)
2) On to my Fender Twin (digital) ... I have XLR out that's perfect. Works well with pedals
3) I can't find a pedal in Logic Pro X that sounds real (like a tube amp) with my ASAT (Telecaster-type)
4) the PRS style has semi-hot hum buckers so I would assume (eyes-closed) the guitar could give me the sound I want from the pickups
5) I'll find the right pedal somehow for the warm overdrive and tone (physical or digital)
6) the PRS style above has a whammy bar and I "need" to learn how to use it because I'm not going to be stuck on clean playing forever

All in all, the guitar above is probably going to be my choice. But ... every time I choose one while I'm waiting on selling other stuff, it goes from stock to like 12-16 weeks for availability. I've heard some horror stories online but I want one that's in stock when I order. I just want a good playing, good sounding, hum bucker guitar I think. And, I want it cheap and comes quick LOL.

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@rootshell I didn't really take @baseman78fr 's note as negative. It made me ask myself, "is the Telecaster the guitar you hear the most in blues playing?" ... even Stevie Ray used a Stratocaster and that was twangy enough. Also, I have no high frequency hearing anymore. I lost that working at a submarine shipyard and playing in bands nights. I think the ES-335 is the ticket on formal blues playing. BB King is one of my heroes.

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wow, beautiful guitar! <3

there's an HB facebook forum/group as well, always good to hear people's experiences there, it's called Harley Benton Guitars, it's a private group i believe but they let anyone in.

i'm sure you'll be happy with HB, hopefully they get them in stock and ready soon for you :W

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the blues sample audio on that page is cool. sounds like it would be great for jazz as well.

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I had GAS aka Guitar Acquisition Syndrome. I cured it by having my dream Guitar made just the way I like it. Medium Jumbo Stainless steel frets can’t wear them down neck through 24 frets. 2 Humbuckers with switches to single coil. Natural wood with Tung Oil. Ordered mine when it was still called Carvin.

https://www.kieselguitars.com/

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