CA Guitar Repair Blog: Harley Benton MB-20BK Electric Guitar

1 Preamble

This Harley Benton MB-20BK is in the shop for restringing and setup, and also some spit and polish. As there's really nothing that needs to be repaired, I'll only be writing about features and specs in this post. Right then, let's give it a go, shall we? We'll begin with full-length images of the front and back. If the body shape reminds you of a BC Rich Mockingbird, you're spot on.

Harley Benton MB-20BK

2 Headstock

The headstock face is finished in gloss black polyurethane, and features the Harley Benton moniker in silver script, six chrome tuners, a black plastic nut, and a single-ply black plastic truss rod cover decorated with the HB logo. Unscrewing this cover reveals the truss rod channel and adjustment socket. The back of the headstock is unpainted, contrasting sharply with the crisp black 'MB-20BK Rock Series' label. There's also a much smaller 'Made in China' label here, so there's no doubt about where this instrument was manufactured. Strangely enough, though, there's nothing in the way of a serial number to be seen anywhere on the back of this headstock.

Headstock Face

Nut and Truss Rod Cover

Truss Rod Channel and Adjustment Socket

Back of Headstock

3 Neck

The Canadian Maple neck bears a 'C' profile, and is finished in a light coat of clear gloss polyurethane. The poly is so thin that it almost feels like a satin finish. The transparency of this finish reveals some attractive figuring, as well as a scarf joint. Detaching this bolt-on neck from the body reveals the neck heel, which is devoid of any stamping. Next, let's peruse some measurements as taken by yours truly.

3.1 Measurements - Width

Nut: 42.54 mm / 1.67"

5th Fret: 46.78 mm / 1.84"

7th Fret: 48.55 mm / 1.91"

9th Fret: 49.79 mm / 1.96"

12th Fret: 51.47 mm / 2.03"

15th Fret: 52.97 mm / 2.09"

24th Fret: 56.10 mm / 2.21"

3.2 Measurements - Thickness

1st Fret: 20.87 mm / 0.82"

5th Fret: 21.78 mm / 0.86"

7th Fret: 22.47 mm / 0.88"

9th Fret: 22.52 mm / 0.887"

12th Fret: 22.62 mm / 0.890"

Canadian Maple Neck

Neck Heel

Underside of Fretboard Extension

Neck Pocket

4 Fretboard

The MB-20BK features an unbound Amaranth fretboard with a scale length of 25.5 inches, or 647.7 mm. I also took the liberty of measuring the fretboard radius, and it turns out to be 14 inches, or 355.6 mm. Fitted to this fretboard are 24 frets, which appear to be jumbos. Finally, in terms of adornments, we have pearloid dot inlays and white side dots.

Unbound Amaranth Fretboard

14" Fretboard Radius

Pearloid Dot Inlays

White Side Dots

5 Body - Front

The entire body of this MB-20BK, similar to the headstock face, is finished in gloss black polyurethane. Located on the front of the body are two humbuckers, the bridge and tailpiece, as well as two control knobs and a pickup selector switch.

Body - Front View

5.1 Neck Pickup

The neck humbucker features two open-coil black bobbins with flat pole pieces. This means that there is no 'screw coil' or 'slug coil' to speak of. It is mounted in its cavity via a black plastic ring secured with four chrome screws. The DCR of this humbucker is 11.84K, as measured. Unscrewing the neck pickup reveals a brass base plate with no visible markings, and a blue coaxial cable. The neck pickup cavity does not appear to be shielded.

Neck Pickup

Neck Pickup DCR

Neck Pickup Base Plate

5.2 Bridge Pickup

The bridge humbucker resembles its neck counterpart in every sense except DCR, which is 12.28K. The brass base plate is similarly devoid of any discernible markings, but differs in terms of its red coaxial cable. And, as it was for the neck pickup, the bridge pickup cavity appears to be unshielded.

Bridge Pickup

Bridge Pickup DCR

Bridge Pickup Base Plate

5.3 Bridge and Tailpiece

Both the TOM-style bridge and stopbar tailpiece are chrome, in keeping with the theme for metal hardware on this guitar. Turning them over reveals the bridge to be a BM003, and the tailpiece; a KD-EP-1.

TOM-Style Bridge and Stopbar Tailpiece

Undersides of Bridge and Tailpiece

5.4 Control Knobs and Selector Switch

The controls on this MB-20BK are for volume and tone, and they both feature chrome dome knobs with set screws. The selector switch tip, meanwhile, is black, in keeping with the rest of the plastic hardware.

Control Knobs and Selector Switch

6 Body - Sides

Located on the lower right side of this guitar is an oval metal output jack plate finished in chrome. This plate is secured to the body with two screws, also in chrome. Following this is a chrome Fender-style strap button and rubber washer, screwed into the rear end of this instrument.

Output Jack Plate

Rear End Strap Button

7 Body - Back

The gloss black back of this guitar's body is rather bare compared to the front, but nonetheless houses a neck plate, strap button, and control cavity where the electronics reside. The chrome neck plate is rectangular, totally plain; and of the four-bolt variety. As for the strap button, it is located at the back of the upper horn, and is similar in every way to its rear end counterpart.

Body - Rear View

Upper Horn Strap Button

7.1 Control Cavity

An oblong black plastic cover conceals the control cavity, and is secured with four screws. When this cover is removed, one can see that its back is shielded with aluminum foil. The control cavity walls, meanwhile, are coated with a blackish substance. However, when tested with an ohm meter, this coating returns a reading of infinite ohms; meaning that it is non-conductive. In short, the control cavity itself lacks any shielding.

Control Cavity

7.2 Electronics

As previously mentioned, the electronics in this MB-20BK, except for the output jack; are located in the control cavity. First off are two mini pots for volume and tone. These are branded 'CF' and are most probably 500K, as this is a humbucker-equipped guitar. In between these two pots is a three-way toggle switch for pickup selection. This is of the Switchcraft-style open frame variety, as opposed to the much cheaper and commonly used 'box' variant. Kudos to Harley Benton for not scrimping on this switch.