Which Pickups: Roswell vs Tesla | The Harley Benton Club (2024)

Hello all,

I'm new here so forgive my ignorance, but I'm wondering which is better the Roswell pickup or the Tesla, specifically:

- Roswell LAF AlNiCo-5 Vintage-Style humbuckers, compared to
- Tesla VR-2 AlNiCo 5 humbuckers.

Is there any real difference???

As you can probably tell I'm trying to decide between theDC-580CH/DC-Customand theDC-LTD Gotoh.

Very much appreciate your opinions.....

Ronan

Hi Ronan,

I've had the opportunity to try several Harleyu Benton guitars with their different sets of pickups. Here's what I can tell you about the differences between Roswell LAF Alnico and Tesla VR-2 Alnico :
- The note definition is better on the Tesla
- The output level is a bit higher on the Roswell
- The tone of the Roswell is a bit more vintage, when the Tesla sound more contemporary.

Since I've made several videos about Harley Benton guitars I wish I could let you hear a worthy comparison. Unfortunately, in the last videos I've made, the signal chain is not the same at all. But I you wanna listen to it anyway, here are 2 demo videos that might interest you :

Harley Benton EX-76 classic (with Roswell LAF pickups) :

Harley Benton Aelus (with Tesla VR-2 pickups) :

Hope it helps !

I think that may be the problem with trying to make any comparisons. Just as taurash explains above, even his own signal chain is different between two videos - and, no doubt, your own signal chain will be different again. Forgetting totally, for a moment, that so are our ears and our playing environments and our tastes.

I have had pedals that I thought were marvellous into a particular rig but then I change a part of the rig, maybe a speaker or a tube or whole amp, maybe a booster pedal, and I no longer think they are marvellous (except I may blame the speaker, tube, amp or pedal). I'm certain my least favourite guitars will sound spectacular in somebody else's hands through THEIR rig, even through MY rig, or my favourite ones sound terrible through their rig. But maybe whilst playing styles I can't bear. Or maybe my own ears don't like or can't hear characteristics that they do or, even if they do, may interpret those characteristics as undesirable whilst the other player finds them desirable. One person's 'icepicky' may be another's 'clarity', their 'alive response' may be my 'no bloom'.

There is also our listening devices - and I don't mean here our ears; nobody will be listening through the same delivery source over the internet. Things may sound glorious through some headphones with a boosted bass response and lousy through studio monitors. Oh and then there's the 'in the mix' scenario where the nastiest isolated sound can be the one we need.

It is a minefield for sure and so tricky to recommend or warn off. A bit like recommending a piece of music to somebody. We've all been there - the blank stare!

Hi Taurash - thank you very much for the response and the vids. Agreed its difficult to know when you can't try each - I'm looking for a practise guitar which might come with me to small gigs. I'm planning on a SG type (big Angus fan) so considering the Harley Benton DC-LTD Gotoh Black - the DC-Custom Cherry is out of stock right now! I was under the impression the Tesla VR2 was much superior. I suppose I can't go wrong either way...

Regards
Ronan

For me, the Teslas are superior, but maybe not much superior
The DC LTD Gotoh is a good guitar, pretty well built, but as you might guess, it's got a neck dive. A SG fan like you is certainly able to cope with that

Thanks @defjef ! I wish I could make more tracks like this, but I need to find some very good sounding strings. On this track I've used EZkeys, but this tone is the only one I really enjoy.

I know what you mean taurash; the thought of strings seems like a very easy idea but they can sound so generic. I tend to edge towards more chamber orchestra groupings or quartets rather than full symphonic masses but then they need to be even more characterful since they are SOOO exposed. A nice creaky cello is right up my street too. The likes of Spitfire do such great samples but...errmmm...I can't afford them!

For this reason I'm always on the lookout for sounds that will generate the emotions of strings without emulating them but that can often feel like trying to reinvent the wheel.

Well I think I have found some really good sounding strings. It's called Nucleus by Audio Imperia. Ola Englund has made a demo of this and I was really amazed at how good it sounds. Now, $449 is too much for me right now, but in time, I'll probably buy it ! Here's Ola's video

Cello demo starts at 05:10

I'm always reluctant into going for some cheaper versions on this kind of software. For sure the tone - that I really find amazing - would be the same, but I would probably miss one or two functionalities that I would need. But then, paying $350 more for just a few things would annoy me.
I think I'd rather go for the complete version, but before I pull the trigger, I need to find money, I need to make sure this software will work harmoniously on Reaper, and I also need to take informations about the Midi keyboards cos I will need one.
What do you think about the tone of the cello in Ola's video ? It's quite a long time since I haven't heard a real cello played live but it sounds damn good to me.

Yes it's a great cello alright taurash. Good and dry and woody. It also illustrates something you WOULDN'T get on the Lite version, and that's legato which you really would miss if trying to be as realistic as possible. You can of course upgrade from Lite. Whether it's cost-effective to do so though I have no idea.

I guess I had better stop talking cellos now. I've derailed this thread enough!

I think I've helped you a little bit