Harley Benton SC-400 SGT Classic Series

Got this one in the mail today, promptly I might add considering it had to come all the way to Texas. One of my first purchases from Thomann and I am pleased with it. The frets are a bit sharp in places but its nothing some minor work will solve. The fretboard is a bit grimy but again not a show stopper as it can easily be cleaned. Set up is good and action is excellent, no buzzing or dead areas. It will need a bit of care and cleaning but hey for a left handed guitar that is built with the quality this one is it is well worth it. Heck it was 100 bucks!! The body and neck alone is worth it but instead you get all the rest too. BONUS!!!

First, thanks to Thomann's team for sending your goods to Russia. Considering the high risk of working with Russian post, where anything can get lost. Secondly, as far as the guitar is concerned, when I took it in my hands I felt that I became a millionaire, and not only because it was gold, but because the ruble exchange rate in the last week fell significantly in relation to the euro rate. And so I won't be surprised that soon to buy guitars for a hundred dollars, you will have to spend a million rubles))). The look of the guitar is so beautiful for me. The sound is good. I can imagine what kind of eyes the owners of guitars will have for a couple of thousand dollars from my comment). Team Thomann, thank you again. You guys are risky.

I bought this guitar to use for a side project which is playing in drop D tuning and I've been very impressed with the instrument so far.

First the cons up front:

Some finishing issues - One of the tuning pegs washer sort of bits on the top of the headstock isn't seated correctly so it popped out when I restrung it. It doesn't affect playability or tuning, just looks a bit jank if you look close.

Some minor chips to the paintwork on the headstock too...seems most of the issues with my unit are localized to the headstock. Some minor discolouration to one of the tuning pegs.

The nut is definitely not the best but it does the job. Some minor tuning issue on the G string but that's been an issue on nearly every guitar I've ever owned, even high end ones (I'd strongly recommend trying a string pack with a wound G. It'll feel different at first but you soon get used to it and it has an extremely positive impact on tuning stability.)

Now onto the positives - The guitar arrived ready to play right out of the box. The intonation was good and it was very nearly in tune straight out of the box. The body has a nice weight to it and is legitimately stunning especially with that carved top.

The action is nice and low and there was zero fret buzz. The frets are not remotely sharp and are well polished for an instrument of this cost.

Acoustically this guitar is SO loud which is a very good thing. This translates into how it performs when plugged in which is to say it has a powerful and resonant tone and sustains like crazy. Honestly this was one of the things I was really taken aback by. Hit a big chord and just let it ring out and you'll see what I mean.

The pickups are surprisingly articulate to say they're cheap stock ones. They're loud and powerful but you can also pick out each string in a chord.

To sum up. If you're after an LP style guitar and can tolerate some potential cosmetic issues from the obvious corners they've had to cut to get the price this low then you can do a lot lot worse. Besides, these issues are far outweighed by the playability and sound you get from the instrument.

Recommended for players of all levels as a cheap workhorse or a backup/mod platform.

This is my first guitar and its better than i expected for the price. It not fantastic but it gets the job done is higher quality than the price would have you believe. I've been using it to practice and play RockSmith for a month or so and everything on it is still solid.
The Good: The tuners keep there tune, and the frets aren't sharp or fuzzy like I've seen with lower end Squire and Epiphone guitars. The humbuckers do there job and all the knobs do there job.
The Bad: On a negative note there does seem to be a small chip on the fretboard near the Guitar nut, it doesn't seem to effect play-ability so far. I don't know if the minor damage was done in shipping or manufacturing but its not a major problem.

OK, I'm not an expert guitarist and can't really tell you much about how this plays as I'd decided to return it before it actually arrived - I really ought to have bought a strat or a tele in the first place.
However, I can comment on the actual workmanship of the guitar as I'd seen a review from someone who had bought a turkey and thought that the guitar didn't deserve to be overlooked based on the small number of English language reviews.
Basically, this is a copy of a 1950s gold top Les Paul, which was in turn based on a railway sleeper so, yes, it's really heavy. This is good for tone, but your average beginner (like me) is just going to be put off using it - buy a strat or an Epiphone Special. If you are a more advanced guitarist who wants the tone that you get from a big LP, this is a really good buy, especially if you don't mind doing a little bit of setup work.
The finish was pretty good - a nice copper-colour matt finish to the top and a matt rusty-brown to the back. I would have preferred a satin or a gloss finish myself and I think the finish will wear quite quick, but it will look good when it does.
The neck is chunky - more 50s than 60s - but correct for the type. I think the frets needed some work - they were a bit rough and I think that there was a bit of buzzing around fret 5 caused by an uneven fret. Nothing that can't be fixed with a bit of wet'n'dry paper. Otherwise the frets looked pretty level.
Other reviewers have commented on the fretboards being dirty on HB LP models and this was the case here - invest in some fretboard oil to share the postage cost.
I never thought I would have strong feelings about guitar strings before but even I noticed how unpleasant these were. Thomann are a cheap place to buy Ernie Balls or D'Addarios from, so take advantage when you order, since it won't cost you any more to post them.
I can't really speak for the pickups as I didn't test them out very much. They sounded fine, but you can't stop thinking about the Wilkinson pups you get in the 450 model, which is worth the upgrade, and you would get better strings as well.
Another comparison you have to think of is the similar P90 model. I had though that they were the same model with different pickups but they aren't - the P90 gives you niceties like fretboard binding for another couple of euros.
Again, if you aren't used to the weight of an LP you might be in for a shock. If you are used to LPs and want to upgrade the pickups yourself (Bare Knuckles?) this would be an absolute steal. Just doing the maths, adding a set of really good pickups would probably still cost less than an equivalent Epiphone, you'd just have to put up with the odd blemishes.
Treat it as a bit of a project and it's a bargain........until you look at the P90 version or the 450....