Harley Benton SC-450Plus VB Vintage Series

601 Customer ratings

4.6 / 5

You have to be logged in to rate products.

Note: To prevent ratings from being based on hearsay, smattering or surreptitious advertising we only allow ratings from real users on our website, who have bought the equipment from us.

After logging in you will also find all items you can rate under rate products in the customer centre.

features

sound

quality

16 Reviews

Harley Benton SC-450Plus VB Vintage Series
595 AED 150,42 €
Plus 277 AED shipping
The price in AED is a guideline price only
Since we ship from Germany, additional costs through taxes and customs may be incurred
In stock
In stock

This product is in stock and can be shipped immediately.

Standard Delivery Times
1
D
Good sound but terrible craftsmanship
DissapointedLesPaulLover 18.12.2021
I had heard very good things about this guitar on youtube and through the reviews but I am positively dissapointed.

Although the guitar has a great tone there is a lot of work to be done of it in order that I can have fun playing it and keep wanting to pick up. For now my Yamaha pacifica V212 gets the upper hand every time because of the fact that:

* It's intonationed properly.
* The frets are correctly leveled.
* Low action and easy to play

All of these things are missing on the Harley Benton SC-450.

Negatives:

When I first got it out of the box, the pickup switches plate immediately fell off. I thought, alright, not a good sign but easy fix, and screwed it back on.

There is also a slight twist in the neck, it's not very much (not as bad as my Harley Benton ST-62 which I decided to send back, I'm still undecided on this one) but it's there.

The guitar is not intonated properly, and there are a lot of uneven frets that need leveling.

One of the pickups are not properly mounted and moves around if you touch it.

Positive:
This guitar has decently low action .

I really like having the option to coil split, just for the fun of it.

It sounds good and is was very fun to play until the faults become too much to overlook.

I don't recommend getting this guitar unless you are ready to put extra time into correcting the mistakes made in production. It's very unfortunate because the price of getting it fixed by a luthier is as much, if not more than what the guitar costs. There is atleast 2-3 hours worth of work needed on this guitar for it be playable, which is very sad considering that someone took the pride to put a tag with their name on it on this guitar (I wish I had kept it so I could put his name here, because he really did a terrible job on both my HB guitars).

But if this is what you want, I would recommend this guitar. Otherwise, be very strict in your notes when you order it of how you want it setup and perhaps they will do it to save the pain of having another guitar sent back.
features
sound
quality
4
7
Report

Report

A
You get what you paid for. A good bargain overall.
Agent81 29.05.2019
Alright, although I 'm not an experience guitarist, after having used this guitar for almost 9 months, I feel confident enough to leave a review.
Please keep two things in mind: I 'm a novice level player and my English are good, but not my first language.

Cons:
Tuners - look cheap, and are cheap. The G string is very tricky for some reason to keep in tune. Not sure if this is common with all guitars. Tuning down past D, you feel the keys skipping ahead.
The frets - were not filed properly. My palm eventually did the job. B string made a cut on frets 10 to 18. It makes the string leave an awful ring. Very poor sustain on the notes as well.
Pickups - You can't go too wrong with the clean sound, but the distortion sounds cheap, muffled, and lacks a lot of tone. Not something you want to share with an audience. But it comes with the price range. You have to learn to love it, for you only. The audio samples on the guitar's page, are pretty accurate. Decide for yourself.

Pros
Looks - Absolutely gorgeous looking guitar.
Controls - Smooth knobs, no scratching sounds. Split coil function! (push/pull).
Price - It is pretty much a perfect deal. Just the look alone is worth it.

Comments/Opinion
First ever single cut guitar I've held, felt too heavy. Not sure if it's common. I 'm used to it now.
Feels too "stiff" when soloing. I know it's supposed to get better with time, but I've been playing every day for 8 months. Still not used to that. At least my fingers get stronger?
If this is your first guitar ever, please go for it. Use it for a year and see how committed you are. If you think you 'll keep on playing/learning more, move on to a better one.
Knowing the amount I spent on it, it's hard to dislike the guitar. Best purchase I've done a long time. I am grateful I have it by me.
Excellent packaging from Thomann!
features
sound
quality
2
3
Report

Report

A
Harley Benton SC-450 Plus Vintage Burst - Sadly disappointed
Anonymous 10.06.2016
I think I was shipped a Lemon, or "B" stock guitar rather than an "A" Stock.

PROS
-Visually appealing beyond arms length or greater distance.
-Price
-Fret size, not to small, not Jumbo.
-Order process & Shipping

NEUTRAL
-Quality of Sound.
Pickups are OK

CONS
Appears to be a "B" stock guitar, not sold as such.
- Poor Binding work on body and neck.
- Run in clear coat finish not properly repaired.
- Wood filler in areas clearly evident.
- Blemish in Vintage Burst spray application.
- Unfinished Frets, rough, tarnished.
- Cheap Strings (goes without saying).
- Strap button over tightened and cracked finish.

Ordered late on a Friday, shipped the following Monday, arrived a week later on a Wednesday. From Germany, to US/Florida. Not bad.
The guitar was typically packaged in the HB corrugated cardboard box with foam and plastic wrap protection. This box was in the larger Thomann box which was filled with other items from the order and a mile of the Air Cushion padding, all was well at this point. No damage during shipping to the parts I had ordered.

The HB SC-450 Plus Vintage Burst looked really good as I pulled if from the box. Very happy at that moment. Then I noticed one flaw after another, little things, nothing that would make the guitar unplayable. But these were all things that I expect on a used guitar, or "B" stock guitar, not on "A" stock.

FINISH
The finish is nice overall, a greatly polished (almost everywhere), high-gloss clear. I know some people call this lacquer, but I truly doubt that, more than likely a urethane, which is really the way to go, and I'm old school on a lot of stuff. But honestly I don't want lacquer on anything unless I buy an OLD guitar.
This nice glossy clear sits on top of a nice (nearly) book-matched flame maple veneer. The alignment of the book match isn't perfect, but the center seam is very tight, no gap, and it runs true down the center-line of the guitar. Visually very nice.
However, the Vintage Burst is a dark feathered (sprayed) boarding color and is almost perfect, but it appears that something brushed against this burst near the pickup selector switch and marred the finish before the clear was applied. So, the final finish shows a blemish in the feathered burst area near the switch. Sad!
There are also some very small blemishes here and there, orange peel, etc. Very small spots however. The worst area is were the neck meets the body. This tight area connection point makes it difficult to properly polish, and it just didn't happen. It?s shiny, but a wavy orange peel textured.
There is damage to the clear finish at the rear strap button. It was screwed in so far that it smashed the rubber washer and cracked the clear finish.

BODY & NECK
The body back is a two piece mahogany looking wood, very nicely joined, barely able to notice the seam. The neck is three pieces. The add-on heal joint is very noticeable on my guitar, the glue really shows up. The scarf joint at the head stock is very nicely done, can't see any glue, just a really nice and clean finishing of the woodwork.
The joint of the neck to body is not so good as it looks like a "B" or "C" stock job. It is tight and solid, just doesn't look finely crafted, largely due to poor clear finish work.
There is also a spot that appears to be wood filler on the back, where the neck meets the body. I?d guess a small bit of wood chipped out, and they filled the divot with filler, sanded and finished.

FRETBOARD
The fretboard looks pretty good, but has some clear overspray between the nut and first fret that didn't get cleaned off. It is clear and shiny, not unfinished rosewood. Other areas of the fretboard, between the 18th and 22nd fret appear to have been scrapped a bit too harshly, as the binding is roughened/scarred up and will need to be repaired/properly finished when I clean up the frets.
The inlays look very nice. Nicely set and finished!
The frets aren't bad, but need a good cleaning and polishing. No fret buzz to speak of, however the action was sky-high as received. I roughly lowered the action to where I am just starting to get buzz, the guitar plays easily this way, other than rough strings and frets. I'll address all this during a real set up.

BRIDGE & STOP TAILPIECE
These are economy parts understandably. The problem is that they aren't installed properly. They function as received, but will need to be removed, so the bushing inserts can be properly pressed into the body fully. As received, the bushings protrude out of the body revealing nearly 1/16" of he knurl above the top of the body. They appear to be tight, just not all the way in. I hope the holes they are pressed into are deep enough to allow the inserts to be pressed flush to the body.

PICK-UPS / WILKINSON
At this point they work, and seem to have fair sound. The "coil-tap" feature of both pickups yields a less noticeable change than I had expected.

MACHINE HEADS / TUNERS
Actually seem to work well. I do have a concern that they may back-off easily as everything breaks-in from use.
The color of the tuner heads is rather odd, dirty booger green I think is the closest way to describe it - funny.

NUT
The nut appears to be plastic. Nicely cut for string width and height, but the G/B/e stings all bind in their slots and cause tuning issues. This can be easily resolved, but could be a problem for someone who doesn't do any setup work on their own guitar.

CONCLUSION
This is not my first Harley Benton, and I really think I received a "B" stock guitar, rather than an "A" stock. At a glance it is a WOW looking guitar, from across the room. Up close it has cosmetic flaws, and a few component issues. Any functional guitar for this price it is a great deal, if it cost any more I'd complain about everything more than I am. Perhaps the biggest problem is that the guitar is supposed to look amazing, the wood is very nice, the veneer top looks good, but both suffer from defects in craftsmanship that take away from what should be a beautiful finished piece. As it is, I don't have to worry about it getting banged around, and I'll have no second thoughts selling it off.
As for function, It seems to be fine other than needing strings, fret polish, a really good fingerboard cleaning, some finish work done to the nut, and setting the bridge & saddle bushings.
Cosmetically I can't recommend this product, just rather disappointed, even for a $150US guitar. If it was a solid painted color, most of the finish issues would be moot.

I have sent a message to Thomann outlining the issues listed above, hopefully I will hear some response.

Follow-up
Played it this past weekend, while it does play well, I've found other issues (I need to stop looking). One being the tune-o-matic saddle screws not completely set. Hard to explain, but the the screw only engages one side of the bridge and the saddle, but does not make it to the other side of the bridge. Another easy fix, but one that shouldn't have to be made. Also notice other blemishes in the VB fade, oh well.
I do like the feel of the neck and once I give it a good set up it will be great.
Again, it looks nice, at a distance.
features
sound
quality
7
3
Report

Report

S
Not bad for the money
StuartBBb 29.11.2019
Keeping in mind that this guitar costs less than £150, it's not bad. The pickups are a little muddy sounding, and the coil tap barely makes a difference to the sound. The switch and pots all needed tightening on my copy when it arrived. The tuning pegs have that vintage look, but they are not accurate enough, so tuning can be pain. The neck is ok, although it has a flat radius that takes some getting used to. Also has a lot of finger noise from the fretboard, almost as if the neck is hollow. On the plus side, it's well finished, and a reasonable weight, although nothing like a real Les Paul. There's a lot of things that bug me about it, but considering it's half the price of even an Epiphone, it's really not too bad.
04/30/20 Update: So, since the purchase, I've discovered a few other issues with the guitar. First, the coil tap in the bridge pickup wasn't connected, so it was permanently in Humbucker mode. Easy fix, but annoying. Then both(!) strap pins fell out and had to be shimmed and glued in. Next, one of the bushings on the posts for the tailpiece fell out while I was restringing the guitar. The hole for it was far too big, so again it had to be shimmed. I'd still rate the overall quality as OKAY, but the quality control on these is AWFUL. You might get a good one, you might get a dog.
features
sound
quality
1
0
Report

Report

l
good for that value
lindos 28.12.2022
Out of the box in gemeralnot playable until alot of fretwork done to eliminate buzzing the magnets are good but not the pontesiometers tunning keys are just ok.I have chnge everything except the wood part witch haw a very good paint job .Overall for that money if you are a handson person its a beautifull instrument.
features
sound
quality
0
0
Report

Report

n
My first guitar
newboy 08.11.2020
bought a guitar a few weeks ago.
сracked fretboard.
features
sound
quality
1
0
Report

Report

M
Buzzing frets
Musicman182 11.11.2020
Buzzing frets in many positions and strings. I can hear the undesirable noise even with the combo. Otherwise the quality of the materials is good.
features
sound
quality
0
0
Report

Report

P
Peter1189 15.07.2019
I will divide this review in pros and cons to help the process.

Pros:
-Affordable
-Good wood quality, hardware and nice appearance
-Descent sound for the price
-Tuning is stable

Cons:
-The fretboard was as dry it can get
-One of the tuning keys it feels like stuck and its difficult to tune
-The fretboard is not as wide as I would like to feel comfortable. Its not a big problem, maybe 2-3 mm.

Overall a fun guitar to play.
features
sound
quality
1
0
Report

Report

Harley Benton SC-450Plus VB Vintage Series