I went behind Harley Benton's back to find the truth.
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 19 ก.ย. 2023
- I'm often accused of being shipped "winners" when it comes to affordable gear. The best examples that the consumer never gets... So I've made a “stealth purchase” & documented the whole process, including import fees. Grab one through this affiliate link so I can pay my editors.... www.thomannmusic.com/harley_b...
Disclosure: Not Sponsored. I financed this whole thing myself. I do make a few bucks through affiliate links, so if you like the product, click the link & I can recoup the cost that went into making this video.
#notsponsored
About Spectre Sound Studios:
I'm Glenn Fricker, engineer here at Spectre Sound Studios. I love making records, and after doing it for sixteen years, I want to pass on what I've learned. On my channel you can find tutorials on how to record guitar, bass, real drums and vocals. There's reviews and demos of tube amps, amp sims, drums, mics, preamps, outboard gear, Electric Guitar, Bass Guitar, and plugin effects.
We've covered Moon on the Water, played Bias FX, given you the absolute best in Stupid Musician Texts, ranted & raved about bass guitar, and this channel is where The Eagle has Landed.
Everything you've wanted to learn about recording Hard Rock & Heavy Metal can be found right here on this channel!
I also respond to your comments & questions: The best make it into the SMG Viewer's Comments series of videos. Loads of fun, lots of laughs.
Thanks for checking out my channel & please subscribe!
At least you know that the built quality of the cabinet is good! DHL tested it for you for free. It is terrible that those companies do not take more care for your stuff.
For real, they get premium pay across the board, from the moron driving it to you, to the one smoking a carton a day in the warehouse, all of them make massive money to handle things poorly as human possible.
i ordered a guitar a couple of weeks ago and it arrived without any damage, but probably because i live in germany
Great comment haha, you're right though. It looks like they took out their anger on the package!
that's not true, at least in germany most of the workers in DHL make the minmimun wage, whichmis not that bad imo but still not a lot lol@@caiusmadison2996
to be honest, it probably wasn't DHL, it was probably canada custom's that destroyed the box and threw it back in the ripped apart box. I used to work at FedEx attached to the airport with canada custom's agents, they absolutely destroy things just to check for illegal substances.
No way that box wasn't opened and re-taped. Customs must have had a hell of a jam.
Yeah, I was thinking that sort of damage looked more like Customs looking for Forbidden Substances than accidental damage. But your idea explains why it spent so long at the airport.
Fun fact, I from Belgium, so ordering at Thomann here has NO shipping costs at all, nor do we have custom taxes. A couple of years ago, a good friend of mine made himself a custom 4x12 cabinet, to provide himself with the speakers, he actually bought a Harley Benton 4x12 and took the celestions out to make his custom rig, just because doing so was just WAY cheaper than buying the speakers appart ! And guess what, his custom cab just sounds like a beast !
I guess a canadian buyer doesn't pay european taxes, so it's cheaper before delivery and custom taxes. Also could be almost the same price for some countries out of EU.
@@EdwVee No VAT, but GST/HST and also no customs for products with an EU-origin. The latter doesn't apply to many products from Thomann, I guess. I have yet to find a single device in my household that uses electricity and is made in the EU 🤔 Haha, I just checked my IKEA desk lamp and it's Made in China (and so is its light bulb ...).
benelux mentioned raaaaaaaah
For any other US residents, Harley Benton does have cabs sometimes on their official Reverb store. Retail price will be higher but free shipping from Connecticut so less of a wait and no customs/fees issues. When I checked they had the horizontal 2x12 for $369
Small missed opportunity of science. Would have loved to have you plug in and try the cab before seeing which speakers are in it. You've done great work proving that eyes and expectation can over rule the ears, and thanks for that
Kind of agree. Could have compared it to a cab with his favorite V30s mic'd exactly the same way before opening it up.
Comparison would be good. But blind test is not needed.
What's the point? The whole idea is celestion v30 in the cab. Already known.
@@adhaskym.a9536 you seem to miss the whole issue. There are difference between V30 produced in different year, and they sound different, and you don't know what you get until you look at the code or cone material.
I bought the horizontal 2x12 earlier this year and had fingers crossed when I opened it. It had the "good" v30s as well. So happy with my purchase.
As a former baggage handler I can’t say I’m that surprised to see the box looking like that after transit. Whenever a guitar case would come down the belt I’d be extra careful especially if it said Gibson on the case lol.
You’re a real one brother 🖤
Good for you! Not bad baggage handlers do that.
Give Fender some love too!
My experience ordering from Thomann and living in the USA: They immediately shipped my order and e-mailed me about it, including telling me whether to expect to pay import duties. I received it three days later. My orders from Thomann in Germany get to me faster than from Sweetwater! In the USA, for import taxes, there's a magic number... I think it's $1,000. Value of goods below that cost, you pay no import taxes. Above that cost, you do pay. My $1600 bass, I had to pay $90 or so import taxes. Other orders below that price, no import taxes. If you have to pay import taxes, the courier (in my case, UPS) pays them on your behalf and then bills you for them.
Thank you, I have been really curious on how the shipping was going to look from thomman.
@@CG-rf6nu shipped to the US? And which carrier managed to destroy it? Doesn't surprise me with the way this one was packed. I heard horror stories from a buddy who packed UPS plane cargo.
Same. Got mine just like this video months ago. Shipped to Kentucky for 340$ I think tax total and all shipped to my door in like 3-4 days! I swapped one v30 for a greenback..
Man you can’t find a head like that now for under $600
I actually bought this earlier this year and was astounded at not only the sound quality but the quality of the build too. UPS handled my delivery and it also took a beating. But it arrived in 2 weeks AND sounded great for all around good tones.
It's crazy that even with the exorbitant shipping prices, it's still a MASSIVE bargain.
The horisontal Harley benton V30 cab came out in 2007 according to Thomanns site not 2016, i got one myself in 2009 which i still have. The youtuber "The other John Browne" did some extensive testing and research regarding batch numbers etc on different V30´s and came to the conclusion that the sound varied with the batches of the paper speaker cones rather than being a thing that after a certain year it would sound better or worse. He also came to the conclusion that it most likely wasnt due to any kind of design change but rather manufacturing tolerances. It is similar even for very old vintage Greenbacks from the 60´s, 70´s (i own some myself) , with certain speaker cones they sound different. The Harley bentons V30 2x12´s are a great buy still but the price has actually gone up by 70% since i bought mine at least for me as a Swede, quite a bit likely due to the exchange rate though.
Thanks Glenn. Your studio guitarist can shred.
Right on time, I'm Thankful for great people like Glenn i have learned way more just watching this channel out of a general love for metal and walked away with way more and for that i'm grateful man...So Cheer's Glenn!
Thank you for this Glen!
Great video! Thanks for the info.
us customs doesn't do import taxes until you go over $800, it's wonderful lol
I bought one of these at the recommendation of a friend back in the spring, and it's now my go to cab for smaller venue shows so I don't have to lug around my 4X12 to dive bars, and I thankfully also got the good vintage 30's with the transparent dust caps. It's easily the best cab purchase I ever made, and mine actually arrived insanely fast (about 4 to 5 days to MN)
Great video Glen! Many years ago I purchased a Albion 4x12 (AMI-G1280-16 80 watt rms -16 Ohm) and Hughes and Kettner 4x12 (RockDriver Junior, 12”, 200 watts RMS into 8 ohms). Both cabinets sounds way different but have there own character. The Harley Benton loaded cabinet sounds like a heck of a deal!
I bought a horizontal 2x12 Harley Benton with v30's off Thomann for about US$240 back in 2019/2020. I absolutely love it. I use an EVH 5150 iii 50watt head and i get a pretty heavy tone.
Nice, I was waiting for it 🤘🔥
i’ve had this cabinet for 3 months and i love it, i got it off of the harley benton reverb shop so i didn’t have to do any importing to the us. it arrived in 2 days
Bro thank you for that info on the U.S. shop, I didn’t even know it existed, wanted to try a HB but didn’t want to deal with Europe shipping
@@damiensantos6189 The selection is sort of limited but i hope you find what you’re looking for.
Im glad you answered on whether itd be loud enough for live/rehearsals. Thanks!
I've had this cab for a couple years and it's an incredible deal
I got two and one arrived damaged. They were quick to replace it. Pretty happy with them!!
You just confirmed what I thought about this cabinet & I've been hanging on for you to test one of these before I pulled the trigger .... thanks Glen!
I bought one of these last year. It arrived in less than a week (I'm in the US) and it's been my primary cab for rehearsals ever since. It sounds really great.
any taxes for buying a cab in Germany and shipping it to the US?
@@haowu3319 I didn't receive any extra taxes or fees for mine, but YMMV. I've purchased multiple Solar guitars, which ship from Spain, and US customs sent me a bill for extra duties on 2 out of the 6. so it's just a bit of a gamble, I think.
By your recommendation, I got myself the horizontal 2x12 Harley Benton cab w/ vintage 30s. I never had a problem with how it sounds, but I bought it back in 2019. It’s rear loaded and the last year before Celestion stepped up their quality control according to what you have said. Oops…
Well, at least I can always get something new if I get sick of the 30s.
Thank you Glenn. Short and sweet. Stick make noise!
Great video Glenn. Really well done.
I had a similar xperience ordering this cab in the US 3 years ago. First box came and looked pristine, but the cab was mangled. Sent that back, waited another 6 weeks and my second cab arrived with the box beat to hell and barely holding together. Somehow the cab was perfect inside. Love this cab. This video kicks ass too. Well done
what are additional shipping and taxes other fees? I am interested in this cab?
Great video, thank you for sharing this gem of info
It's times like these that I appreciate living relatively close to Thomann. I've been kind of in the market for a cabinet, mostly just to practice louder, so this is good timing.
Great video, Glenn!
I bought this cab second-hand from a guy who watched your original demo. The older V30s sound okay but are a bit tinny, so I swapped them for WGS Reapers instead. While these are front-loaded, swapping was a headache because the wiring did not extend past the cutout. As for the quality you can see where they cut corners when you open it up - for instance I only took out 8 screws but ended up with 10 because they didn't fish out the ones they dropped rushing to put it together. Price and quality, I don't think there's a better bargain out there.
That is the condition I expect when ordering any firearms related package from anywhere north of Tennessee. I got one package that could be rolled. It looked like it had been run over by a tank.
Good stuff man. The craziest empty cab i own with cost to tone ratio is Siesmic contemporary 2x12. $229 shipped and sounds amazing. Metal handles, grill comes off in seconds for close micing, 2 inputs for stereo, real
birch plywood (not pressboard) and they look nice. A lot of my videos were recorded with it.
What speakers did you go with? Get a deal on those?
@@jgvideo5512 I'm a neck beard guitar nerd so mostly use vintage celestions. Mine was loaded with 30w black backs last time around.
That is a truly sick jam
I bought a HB 1x12 cab last year with Vintage 30's. I love it.
a few years ago Thomann had a 2x12 with actual English V30s for just 200euros. Only lasted for a few months though, they eventually went for the Chinese ones. Insane bargain if you were lucky enough!
I've seen that, whilst in the UK. I was so fkin bummed I didn't have the cash at the time. Dunno how they adjust prices according to country but they sold that cab for £235 for the UK market. Ended up getting this cab demo-ed in this video about a year later
I got that it’s great
I just bought a HB guitar from Thomann and had to pay $83 USD for shipping, but no customs issues or extra import fees. I was impressed all the way around, w/ the guitar included.
I had this cab for a lil and was great sounding for the price! I took out the v30s and loaded some cheap ones in to give to my stepson with the Vox high gain 50w nano tube amp for his first amp setup and sounds great for him
Wow!! That's amazing!
Your playing is frighteningly good! nice man!
I bought a budget 2x12 Sound Tech back in the mid 90s, which has celestions in it, and it still sounds fabulous today. Don't overlook deals like this if you want a cab.
I have one of these cabs. I Friggin LOVE it!
the snare in the demo sounds awesome
Just bought the HB 2x12 v30s. Can't wait
When I ordered mine from Thomann to the States it came in about four days. Mind blowing, all the way from Germany that fast. Your wait was due to Canada holding it up.
I winced when I saw the damage to the box. This episode shows you can have a good quality rig and not pay silly prices. Top stuff Glenn. Thanks man. 🙂
Great video Glen! Now I'm gonna go down and check my speakers in my Harley Benton cab and see which ones I have.
Thomann stopped shipping packages with DHL to the US 3 years ago due to them being lost or damaged too often. I'm surprised they are using them in Canada. In the US they ship using UPS.
Great vid. Just been on the website and I see they do a Greenback version. Any thoughts on them? Did they also change like the V30s?
I bought the horizontal 2x12 v30 and while I never checked to see if they are the"good" ones or not, I can say they sound awesome.
Hey man great vid. A few years back I received my 1x12 Cab from Thomann in one week to Ottawa area with no duty. Back then the shipping was also way cheaper.
Glenn.. your videos on speakers is what lead me to do a speaker/cab change.... I had a Harley Benton V30 cab and I found a B-52 AT100 Stereo cab that is 480watt mono and 240 stereo.. I gave a woping $130 for it in near mint condition and good God it's a monster!!! It changed the tone for my 6505 1992 Original in such an amazing way I sold the Harley Benton... I had bought so many pedals and heads chasing tones and a simple speaker change fixed everything!! Thank you!!! Try out one of these cabs!!!
Got a Harley Benton 1x12 this year for practise. I love that cab and the bang for a buck is crazy. Thanks for doing shit like this for us Glenn!
Can totally vouch for this cab, though I replaced my V30’s with a WGS Invader and Retro 30. Love the tone I get out if it, even with the V30s when I had them, just wanted something a little different.
I purchased their horizontal 212 with v30s summer of 2022 and it sounds great with orange terror stamp. I' ve also tried it with a Line 6/Bogner mk2 head. Awesome 212!
Geddy Lee is way angrier than you’d expect! 😂
Nice vid Glen👍👏👏👏
That damaged box thing happened to me once with a Thomann order. The guitar stand inside was a little damaged and dirty but Thomann got me a full refund (except shipping) and let me keep the stand too. I cleaned it up and then used it anyway.
Damn, I should've asked for a refund. My cab came pretty dinged up with tears in the tolex and everything. I was just like, "meh, it came all the way from Germany and still works so whatever"
Thanks Glen, I was actually going to buy one of the Harley Benton cabs. So this is enlightening. I don’t have too much money, just want an actual cab to just practice and hear a real amp vs. my vst stuff for practicingwhen I’m able. Vst has gotten very amazing, but I still like hearing that speaker with an amp, even tho it’s hard to record a real amp in my situation, I can play for a bit, but not long enough to track stuff. Live with roommates and everyone has a differing schedule.
Got this exact cab a couple of years ago with the older speakers and it sounded good enough but wasn't quite there. Replaced both speakers with a pair of WGS Reaper HP's. Man , those things sound wicked and are all around excellent .
I got this exact cabinet BEFORE THIS VIDEO because of a friend from Sweden and the speakers sound GREAT with the head that I got!
Cool video, much appreciated, thanks!! One of these days I’ll try HB but I’m a Canuck and import fees, risk of shipping delays, and potential shipping damage have been cons for me so far. One of these I’ll get the courage lol.
Great video. Monster playing.
Thanks Glenn! I checked mine while watching this video and i seem to have the newer V30s in there! I down-sized to this because i was fed up of carrying my super heavy Mesa 4x12 to gigs.
HB basically sells the cabs for the price of the speakers. I am glad they are doing more than just V30s but it would be nice if they put Greenbacks and Alnico Blues but I also do not need a 2x12 or 4x12 any time soon so I am also very glad they haven’t done it yet
I bought that 2x12 and its awesome. Great bang for your buck! I love how you can pull the front off as well.
hey Glenn, love your videos whats your take on digital fx processors?
I have two. The 1st cab they send took over a month and came slightly wrecked. So after reinforcing the inside with glue and wooden sticks it was great. I spent about 1 month of back and forth from Thomann and they send a 2nd one for about $100. The added a pull up handle on the toon and gliding casters on the bottom and I love both of my cabs.
God damnnn i can not believe how great that tone is and for that cheap that is possibly one of the best budget tone you can get
I got the straight version with the V30's about two years ago and it's been an absolute workhorse! So, I'm guessing that it has the updated ones in it. I got lucky and shipping from Hamburg to Seattle took only 4 days via DHL. Granted, I did the package deal and got it shipped with a couple hardshell cases and a DC Junior. The shipping was roughly $118. It's more than likely going to be a bit more than that now if you were to order something similar. That said, a completely different order a few months later for another DC Junior took about a week and cost $80 to ship.
On the subject of the cabs, get one! I run a Crate VFX5212 through it and I basically have a half stack. It's made every combo or head that I've paired it with sound, well, better! Thanks for the video, Glenn!
I just received mine via ups, have to save they have changed their packaging very well done. Arrived flawless with transparent caps outstanding value & sound !
Hey Glen! I have one of the older ones and it arrived in pretty much the same condition. I’m using a Marshall DSL20 through it and my friend has a EVHIII and matching cab. Something that I noticed is a lack of low-end no matter what I do. This is definitely an apples to oranges comparison, but when I put his EVH through it, I lost all of the thump that I associated with his rig. After digging through forums I saw a guy claim that caulking the cab improved basically everything. I’m going to try it, but I was wondering if there was anything definitive regarding air leaks in closed-back cabs?
I love you dude! Just love your energy! Lol😅 awesome content!❤
This video popped up on my feed at the perfect time!
I want a cab with Celestion V30's, but can't shell the money out for an Orange, Marshall, Mesa, H&K, etc...
Glad to see you took the deep dive for the consumer to see if they're truly getting the bang for the buck!! Might have to pick one of these up!
Nice information, thanks. Thomann provides a great lineup with their Harley Benton brand.
Only sometimes the price is really shows up.
In Germany, the delivery is super fast. sometimes even next day, so no comparison with over-the-ocean delivery.
Hey, Glenn! I am really pleased with the demo of this cab! It just goes to show that not all speakers are created equal. When I've been playing guitar live, I would use a Fender Champion 100 (with 2 x 12 Fender Special Design Speakers). I don't think I would have been able to create a high-gain sound similar to the Celestions with it. May I ask where you had your master level? Thinking about investing in an IR simulator as a more compact alternative. Any thoughts on the Sonicake SONIC IR?
One of the realest dudes on the internet
I set up the stage for Yngwie on a gig. He only used two amps, and two 4x12 cabs out of the entire wall. The rest of the amps were on, with no cables plugged in for the speakers.
“What Da HeLl DHL” nice play on words Glenn. Great video, I love how you talk about speakers and do these experiments.
I got this exact same cabinet with a peavey 6505 MH and it sounds PERFECT !. guys, really go for this cab you will be amazed. It's great both for recording and live playing. There are some harmonics in there that you will only hear once you try it. So PLEASE try it.
Fantastic!
I bought one of those HB's with the Celestion speakers in it. When I bought it I think the price $219 or thereaboot. At the time the speakers retailed for $99 so you're essentially getting the cab for $20. And it's a solid cab too.
I have a custom built 4x12 cab that I had commissioned back in 1990 loaded with 4 Celestion G12T-75 speakers and it still sounds great.
And speaking of the mix, dang, it's a modern classic indeed.
We're lucky in the UK to get free postage from thomann, no tax either.
Have to say I've never received anything so lightly packaged from them either, perhaps it's a North American customs thing.
There buying power is insane too, just picked up a set of vintage gotoh tuners (machine heads) from them for £35.
Nice work Glen.
Canadian living in the US here: --EDITED--there's an official Harley Benton USA Shop on Reverb. The 212 Cabs are available there from time to time (the horizontal is in stock--not sure if it's V30s).
That said, when I purchased a vertical Celestion Loaded 212 from their German warehouse w/ shipping to USA in 2021 (after watching your previous review), I didn't have to deal with customs at all.
Your friend is a board gamer! Love the shelf full of games.
I bought 2 Monoprice brand 1x12 v30s cabs from Amazon last year...$168 ( a piece)shipped. They are almost identical to the HBs...just a bit larger. You can also daisy chain them. I bought an adjustable impedance box to run these cabs. with my joyo zombie.😊
Superb playing! And that’s a great sounding rig. Cheers.
I really like my HB 2x12 vertical cab. I much prefer playing through the cab for the energy over the monitors. Sounds good mic'd up too.
I have been flogging mine for 3 years now and it has gotten much better with play time. Get One !!! Actually get two because you know you want to!
Hats off the guitarist in your demo, Those were some tasty licks! And the tone was excellent too
I run my Helix into two 1x12 Harley Benton cabs and stereo power amp & they sound killer 🤘🏼
The V30 is a great all around speaker too. It's not just for metal. The relatively high efficiency can wake up a 1x12 combo, like a Deluxe Reverb, to an almost unbelievable spl.
Just make sure to get one with the right fing cone in it!
Stealth Buys needs full time patronage, let this man work without going broke 🤘🏼🤘🏼
Get it from their reverb store when they are in stock. I bought one in July and it arrived next day. 370 with tax. No packaging issues and clear dust caps.
I used to have a Mesa Boogie 4x12 back in 2013 - but after almost half a year I lost intrest in playing in a band and due to the financial rut at the time I ended up having to sell it. Recently I've been wanting to get a new half stack together and I've been looking for a good speaker cab without breaking the bank. And I think I've found it 👀👀👀👀 I'll have to check the Harley Benton out!! Thanks for the video Glen, and all that you do! 🤘🤘
Hey Man, I ran into you at the Jinger show in Toronto a couple weeks ago and you were telling me about this video!! Well I just bought one... Says it will be here in 4 days... Fingers crossed!! Thanks again for all the great content!!
How did it go?
Speaker is not only equalizer, it has non-linear distortion producing complex harmonics
My phone's speaker definitely exhibits the distortion youre talking about! But THD of a speaker can be low until it's pushed beyond a certain point. We rely on low distortion for monitoring after all. Low wattage recording amps sound good without cone breakup. IRs can be pretty good and have no harmonics either. All that to say that I think his statement isn't very controversial, but for the technically minded, the topic can be a deep one.
I found one of the standard Harley Benton 2x12 cabs with v30s used from L&M for $150 shipped to my door. Unreal deal.