Buying one of the Cherry Red Semis from GFS

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Rhysyrhys
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Buying one of the Cherry Red Semis from GFS

Post by Rhysyrhys »

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Post by Fakir Mustache »

Meh, it's the same goofily placed f-holes as the Harley Benton.

Would much rather have one of those P90 Casino types with the centre bock. Cheaper too.
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Post by Nick »

It looks identical to the Harley Benton

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Since I don't think HB is out of business the story is more likely that they bought a bunch of them at wholesale, sprayed the headstocks and are selling them at the same MAP price.
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Post by Rhysyrhys »

Yeah tuners and everything by the looks of it! Ok well would be nice if I got the extras too, I wonder if I can know for certain when I get it?
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Post by Bacchus »

Any Harley Benton's I've played have been excellent. Not just for the price, but generally good guitars.

I think this is a much better idea than the Fano.

Or, if you wanted something in between, Ibanez do a great line in this sort of thing and they're not hard to find second hand.
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Post by Rhysyrhys »

Definitely already more fun the Fano!

I've only every bought a new posh guitar once, Gibson LP and it was the worst.

Been on the watchlists for something neat and old or some cheap underdog guitar I can grow with. My thinking is that I've been able to do most guitar work now for years, as long as the next shoots straight I've got a 150 buck (+30 ground shipping to SF, mind) platform for something cool.

Might get some GFS goldfoils or toasters for it, go full 70s.
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Post by paul_ »

Serious-shaped Epiphone
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Post by Doog »

:lol:
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Post by kingkiller »

I keep forgetting that they moved distribution to FL (Sarasota I think) so I could order one of these and have it in like a day. Very tempted but hollow bodies don’t really gel with me
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Post by jcyphe »

paul_ wrote:Serious-shaped Epiphone
lol, so good

Guitar shaped Epiphone
Traditional bodied Epiphone
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Post by mkt3000 »

kingkiller wrote:I keep forgetting that they moved distribution to FL (Sarasota I think) so I could order one of these and have it in like a day. Very tempted but hollow bodies don’t really gel with me
We'd have to pay sales tax, and I'm not in the mood to give an extra cent to DeSantis.
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Post by kingkiller »

mkt3000 wrote:
kingkiller wrote:I keep forgetting that they moved distribution to FL (Sarasota I think) so I could order one of these and have it in like a day. Very tempted but hollow bodies don’t really gel with me
We'd have to pay sales tax, and I'm not in the mood to give an extra cent to DeSantis.
That’s a whole different kettle of fish
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Post by sunshiner »

I think these same guitars are sold on Amazon under the brand Firefly. The 60 cycle hum dude did a review of one of these. Also there is like a killer $150 copy of Gibson ES125 under the brand Grote
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Post by dots »

under $250 w/ a tweed case? it's tempting...
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Post by Nick »

sunshiner wrote:I think these same guitars are sold on Amazon under the brand Firefly. The 60 cycle hum dude did a review of one of these. Also there is like a killer $150 copy of Gibson ES125 under the brand Grote
I don’t think it’s a firefly, 60 cycle hum did a shootout between HB and Firefly, neither guitar looks like this one (pickguard shape gives it away if nothing else) but it is identical to the HB I posted. The new HB seems to have sharper horns and a more LP style pickguard. It’s possible they changed designs and sold remaining stock of the old model to GFS.
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Post by paul_ »

Pic of the supposed Harley Benton from earlier in the thread is actually branded "best choice products" and available on Amazon with the other stuff in the pic for $160, there's a sunburst one too.

Aug wrote:which one of you bastards sent me an ebay question asking if you can get teh kurdtz with that 64 mustang? :x
robertOG wrote:fran & paul are some of the original gangstas of the JS days when you'd have to say "phuck"
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Post by Nick »

Darn I somehow missed that, it was the first image that came up when I searched Harley Benton Semi Hollow but you’re right it’s a “Best Choice�.

Curious how this turns out.
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Post by Rhysyrhys »

dots wrote:under $250 w/ a tweed case? it's tempting...
For real. I didn't go for the case at 10 bucks off, I figure if the guitar is shit it'll be in a soft or just out on a stand a lot.



It shipped! Shipped faster than the air purifier I ordered from the Best Buy down the road too. Spent a little while this evening figuring out how to do a decent demo of it instead of the usual atari ass shite I do, so looking forward to giving that a shot - hopefully I can answer some questions when it gets here this week.
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Post by Rhysyrhys »

Rhysyrhys wrote:
dots wrote:under $250 w/ a tweed case? it's tempting...
when it gets here this week.
September 8th now, apparently :(
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Post by Rhysyrhys »

Wow guys. It's really fucking nice. It's a real looker in the flesh too.

My immediate impression is that the finish is gorgeous, the fret work is frighteningly good - there's not a sharp edge or dodgy feeling bit of the 'board anywhere and the action is really, really nice, low and no string buzz.

I cut it out of the box with my toolkit open ready to adjust the action and anything so I could give myself a better first impression out of the box. Not necessary for the first play at all, I could demo it like it is now and be happy that I demo'd it in a decent and very playable light.

Downsides on first impression are:

1) Tuners are a mixed bag, big E is looser than the rest. Guitar holds tune but they will be swapped out on this guitar for definite.
2) TOM just looks and feels a bit shit, the saddles look sharp, it feels very light compared to the other TOMs I have in my kit boxes and so that'll be getting a swap too.
3) Nut looks absolutely garbage also. In spite of both bridge and nut feeling a iffy, still plays great. So this is me being quite picky I think..
3) Swarf. I had to clean mixed wood/metal swarf off the guitar's headstock, back and pickguard. Never seen that on a straight from the factory model but the whole guitar needed a bit of a clean and there are some paint artifacts left on the back of the headstock.
4) Few small nicks and dings, big enough for me to denote if I was selling it here or evilbay.
5) I haven't plugged it in yet but it's pretty obvious by just looking into the F-hole that the wiring is all over the fucking shop and I won't be happy with it until I've got in there and tidied it up some.


All in all I'm fuckkking stoked, man. Not a waste of money at all, I reckon about 100 more bucks for some good parts and this is a absolute beast.

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