Harley Benton 255975 Benton Electric Guitar Kit DC Style User Manual
- June 5, 2024
- Harley Benton
Table of Contents
Harley Benton 255975 Benton Electric Guitar Kit DC Style
Safety instructions
DANGER!
Danger for children
Ensure that plastic bags, packaging, etc. are properly disposed of and are not
in the reach of babies and young children. Choking hazard Ensure that
children do not detach any small parts (e.g. knobs or the like) from the
product. They could swallow the pieces and choke! Never let children play
unattended with the product.
CAUTION!
Risk of injury to the hands
When assembling and screwing the individual parts, pay attention to sharp
edges on tools, screws, and components.
Scope of delivery
Thank you for buying this guitar assembly kit. All wooden parts, hardware, and
electrical components are contained in this package. The picture below shows
the individual items included in the delivery.
The assembly is described in detail in the following sections.
Assembly instructions
Useful tools and materials
Provide the following tools and materials for the assembly of the guitar:
- Phillips screwdriver
- Rubber mallet
- Ring wrench
- Pliers
- Varnish and accessories
- Sandpaper
The body and neck should by all means be painted before assembly. When applying spray lacquer or paint, you must wear a dust mask.
Painting body and neck
Painting the body
The solid wood of the guitar body is sealed and prepared for various types of
lacquer coating. A wide variety of finishes can be procured from DIY, timber
and automotive outlets in aerosol cans making finishing straightforward
without requiring specialist skills.
The first step is to check the fit of the body to the neck joint. These
components are machined from high-grade tonewoods to ensure optimum alignment.
Since wood is a natural material, however, its shape changes slightly over
time. If the fit is too tight, you can adjust it using a sharp chisel or
sandpaper. Please remember that the addi‐tional lacquer coat will make the
neck fit a little more tightly into the cutout.
Before coating the body, ensure that all surfaces are clean and free of dirt
and dust. Carry out all painting operations in a well-ventilated, dust-free
environment. Consid‐ered and careful working is a key factor for a
qualitatively satisfactory result. It is highly recommended that you first try
out the color and technique on another piece of wood.
Paint the body edges first and let them dry. If the edges are dry, go on with
the front and backside. By layered, successive application you can achieve a
uniform coating struc‐ture. If you notice surface irregularities, wait until
the paint has dried completely and correct them with fine sandpaper (e.g.
800+) before proceeding to paint. For full coverage apply three or more
layers.
Wait for another two to three days to dry until the paint is fully cured.
Polish or burnish the body until it meets your expectations. Take care not to
buff too vigorously as this may remove the finish.
Neck finish
The guitar neck is sealed with a thin layer of matt lacquer before delivery
and is ready to use. If you still want to treat the neck with colored or clear
lacquer, proceed as follows.
Carefully mask off the fingerboard and all frets before painting. Make sure
that all surfaces are free of dust and dirt. Carry out all painting operations
in a well-ventilated, dust-free environment.
For the neck, use a clear or slightly tinted wood paint of good quality. Start
on the front and at the edges of the headstock. Apply a thin layer evenly, let
it dry and repeat the process two or three times. If you notice surface
irregularities, wait until the paint has dried completely and correct them
with fine sandpaper (e.g. 800+) before proceeding to paint.
Once the headstock has dried, place the neck on the fingerboard and paint the
back of the neck as described.
Wait another two to three days to dry until the paint is fully cured. Polish
or burnish the neck until it meets your expectations. Take care not to buff
too vigorously as this may remove the finish.
Mounting the machine head
Insert the four machine heads from the rear side of the headstock into the
bores. Align the machine heads so that the tuning pegs are perpendicular to
the top of the headstock.
Fix the machine heads as shown in the figure in this position hand-tight with
the supplied screws.
Turn the neck and fasten all the machine heads finger-tight to the front of
the head‐stock with the washers and nuts provided.
Tighten the nuts on the front with an appropriate spanner, then tighten the
screws on the back firmly to fasten the tuners. 
Mounting the guitar neck
Place the body on a suitable work surface. Use a soft pad in order to avoid
damage to the surface. Insert the neck into the neck cutout. If necessary, use
a sharp chisel or sandpaper to adjust it. Be very careful when removing
material. The neck should be tight and never have too much clearance in the
cutout!
Turn the guitar over, position the mounting plate over the four screw holes on
the back of the body and screw the four supplied long wood screws through the
holes in the mounting plate into the body and neck until the connection is
firm. 
Wiring pots, pick-ups, and switch
The pickups, potentiometer, and jack socket are wired using connectors.
Thread the cable for the string earthing (after stripping the insulation, and
without the connector) through the channel from the opening in the back into
the hole to fasten the tailpiece.
Pull the cable far enough out of the hole that there will be sufficient
contact with the metallic surface when the tailpiece is installed. Earthing
the strings reduces noise (humming). 
Then insert the potentiometers into the opening in the back as shown and wire
the potentiometers to the switch. Guide the switch from the back of the body
com‐pletely into the opening provided for it. 
Screw the potentiometers finger-tight to the body surface with a washer and a hex nut each.
Screw the switch to the body surface with the plastic cover provided, a
washer, and a hex nut. The neck pickup is generally activated with the switch
in the upper position, and the bridge pickup in the lower position. This
configuration can be changed at any time simply by swapping the two
connectors. 
Tighten the hex nuts of the potentiometers onto the body surface using an
appropriate ring spanner until the potentiometer housings can no longer be
turned. 
Insert the output jack into the hole provided on the edge of the body. Guide
the connector cable through the channel into the opening in the back for the
electronic and plug in both connectors. 
Set the holder for the output jack in place and check whether the jack
protrudes. It should stick out over the holder enough that it can be screwed
firmly in place with the nut provided, but no further than necessary. Correct
the position if necessary by turning the counter nut inside appropriately.
Then screw the output jack holder onto the body. 
Thread the pickup cables through the channels from the front opening into the
back opening. The neck pickup is somewhat flatter and is inserted into the
opening nearer the neck of the guitar. Insert the somewhat taller bridge
pickup into the opening closer to the bridge. Fasten both pickups into their
openings using the screws provided. 
Connect the plugs to the potentiometers: The upper tone and volume potentiometers are generally connected to the neck pickup and the lower tone and volume potentiometers to the bridge pickup.
Then screw the plastic cover for the regulator and switch openings into place
by inserting the screws provided into the pre-drilled holes on the back of the
body. 
Mounting the pickguard
Screw the pickguard onto the body using the screws provided as shown in the
pic‐ture below.
Mounting the tailpiece and
bridge
Use a rubber mallet to drive the bolt fasteners for the tailpiece and
bridge into the body as shown. Be sure there is sufficient contact between the
stripped end of the earthing wire and the bolt for the tailpiece.
Place the tailpiece and the bridge on the fastening bolts. These two
components are still loose, and will only be fastened when you string the
guitar.
Mounting the potentiometer knobs and strap buttons
Push the knobs onto the shafts of the individual potentiometers.
Screw the strap buttons into the pre-drilled holes in the body as shown
.
Strings, neck relief and the position of the strings
The strings are threaded on the tailpiece and led over the bridge and the
string saddle. Thread the strings into the holes of the machine heads, wrap
the end of the string a few times around the peg, and then hand-tighten each
string. Be sure the individual strings are in the right position on the
saddle.
Then tune each string in turn to the correct pitch. You can use a tuner or a pitch pipe as a reference. Please note that the string tension will still drift and the guitar will need to be retuned a few times before the strings are played in.
Adjusting the neck relief
The neck is equipped with a steel truss rod that can be used to adjust the
relief to your preferences.
After tuning the strings, check the relief by pressing on the low E string at
the first and twelfth fret. The closer the string is to the fingerboard at the
sixth fret, the more noise (buzz) will be audible when the guitar is played.
Adjust the neck relief using an appropriate Allen key as follows:
- Turn the truss bar clockwise to increase tension. The neck will become straighter, even convex in extreme cases. The string will be closer to the fingerboard, is easier to fret, but will buzz more during playing.
- Turn the truss bar counterclockwise to decrease tension. The neck will respond more to the string tension and become correspondingly more concave. The string will be farther from the fingerboard, be somewhat harder to fret, but will cause less or no noise during playing.
Adjust the truss bar only by about a quarter turn per setting, then retune all the strings to the correct pitch and check the neck relief again after a short time. Repeat this process until the desired neck relief is reached.
Screw the cover for the truss bar onto the header headstock. 
Adjusting the position of the strings
Once the neck has the desired relief, you can use the screws to the right and
left of the bridge to adjust the string position to suit your taste. Here,
too, the lower the strings, the easier they are to fret, but they will buzz
more easily when the guitar is played.
After adjusting the string position, you can check the octaves of the guitar and readjust if necessary. Tune all the strings to the correct pitch, gently touch the first string right above the twelfth fret and then pick the string. The resulting overtone (harmonic in the 12th fret) must have the same pitch as the string in the 12th fret. If the pitch of the two notes is different, move the bridge piece forward for this string (tone too low) or back (tone too high). Listen to the pitch of the two notes and make incremental changes until the two notes match. Alternatively, you can also adjust the octave clarity with an instrument tuner. In this case, the pitch of the tone at the 12th fret must be the same as the unfretted string, but one octave higher.
Protecting the environment
Disposal of the packaging material
For the transport and protective packaging, environmentally friendly materials
have been chosen that can be supplied to normal recycling.
Ensure that plastic bags, packaging, etc. are properly disposed of.
Do not just dispose of these materials with your normal household waste, but
make sure that they are collected for recycling. Please follow the notes and
markings on the packaging.