Real nerdy/technical pickup problem

[Adieu]

They have google. They gonna know what you did.

[Empty Pockets]

Kids don't use neck pickups OR Telecasters. Jeez get real guy

Glad to hear from ya, dude.

[CaptainWhizz]

If these are going to be people’s first guitars, they’re probably going to be running them through a crappy-sounding amp anyway, so will pickups matter that much?

[UnderTheFlame83]

If you're giving away Harley Benton guitars I wouldn't bother changing pickups. Just make sure they're all in excellent playing condition with good action. And recommend them the Boss Katana 50.

[drew_half_empty]

So... I'm just figuring out cheap things I may or may not do to give them a thing that'll be as good as it can be. If I can spend $3 on a new magnet and give them something that's clearly superior, why would I not? But I appreciate the... attempt to shift focus onto playability--that's the first priority, of course.

[jeremy]

i think taking the tone off the neck pup might be a good place to start. kids dont use tone controls anyway and its free. might help a bit

[drew_half_empty]

Kids don't use neck pickups OR Telecasters. Jeez get real guy

Glad to hear from ya, dude.

you too, fam. Give me a way to contact you, we'll catch up

[drew_half_empty]

i think taking the tone off the neck pup might be a good place to start. kids dont use tone controls anyway and its free. might help a bit

mine do, lol. Every year I have a kid inform me that he's going to be in jazz band next year. Often they change their mind once they find out what jazz is... but tone knob is part of the curriculum

I also have a lot of classical guitar students who want an electric because it's cool, and it's SUPER important for them as a means to cut down noise and overtones in general

I'll probably just have to wait and see... I'm gonna buy 3 of them in a couple months to practice on & see what I'm getting into, easy enough to take the pickup cover off one and swap a neo mag into another, decide the best approach

[jeremy]

im sure once you have one in your hands, youll have a better idea of what youll need to do

[alex1fly]

If there is indeed a misbalance in output between the two pickups, you can try just adjusting heights until they balance better volume-wise. Newbies aren't going to need calibrated outputs from the two pickups, but equal volume is definitely a user-friendly thing.

Like Jeremy said you'll know more when you get one in your hands. If I had to brainstorm without seeing one I'd say balance the pickup volumes, file any sharp fret ends, set up the truss/intonation/action, oil the board, tighten the screws, clean any noisy pots, and slap fresh strings on there.

Check out Glarry for cheapo guitars, if you aren't familiar with them. Glarrymusic.com . They get pretty good reviews and are often compared to the Harley Benton ones. I've never played either, but I did order a Glarry bass to keep at a friend's house back in my hometown. Definitely a passable instrument for casual use.