B
Brilliant guitar at this price. My one was only let down by the tuning machines, with some being very difficult or jumping that makes tuning possible but not easy. Suggest you budget for another set, but even with that cost added still a good value guitar that could cost you twice as much elsewhere or possibly even more. (You can also contact Thomann's good Customer Service who will always try to resolve.)
The Roswell pickups are good and should not regarded as a no name low quality as they are not. Certainly here in the UK they are available from some dealers as an aftermarket replacement. From what I can determine Roswell have been making pickups for other brands for a number of years and have only in recent years decided to market under their own brand. The only thing is whether the type of music you play fits well with these pickups. I think most who likes blues, classic or hard rock, etc or like me plays a bit of easy jazz as well will. However not being a shredder a thrash metal player cannot comment on that aspect. Having had to, over the decades, coil tap/split my guitars that is an additional benefit these days on many guitars including this one.
The fretboard was well finished, no fret sprout with good intonation out of the box. The fret ends were nicely finished.
Yes they could be more rounded and polished, thouhg that is more of a personal preference than requirement, but they don't catch your hands. The neck for me was great; not being too thick or too narrow. The neck was also straight and did not require any truss rod adjustment. Not a big job if required but nice when you don't have to, particularly if you were a new player and don't have the experience. The nut looks plastic as a lot of low to medium price guitars are these days though it does the job well. If you want you can always buy a bone, graphite, Tusq, etc and replace it. Or you could just buy a much more expensive guitar but that would appear to be an overkill just to get a preferred nut.
The bridge and stop tail piece are chrome plated cast, and do their job well. They are much better than some I have seen on less expensive guitars over the years.
Overall a good instrument and I will have no hesitation in buying one of the other Harley Benton guitars especially at the prices that they are offered at. However if you are looking for a high resale price then you are unlikely to ever get that with a HB guitar, but if looking for a good instrument that will last and be good got gigging then look no further. If you are into brand status along with a good resale price then look elsewhere and expect to pay a hell of a lot more.
The Roswell pickups are good and should not regarded as a no name low quality as they are not. Certainly here in the UK they are available from some dealers as an aftermarket replacement. From what I can determine Roswell have been making pickups for other brands for a number of years and have only in recent years decided to market under their own brand. The only thing is whether the type of music you play fits well with these pickups. I think most who likes blues, classic or hard rock, etc or like me plays a bit of easy jazz as well will. However not being a shredder a thrash metal player cannot comment on that aspect. Having had to, over the decades, coil tap/split my guitars that is an additional benefit these days on many guitars including this one.
The fretboard was well finished, no fret sprout with good intonation out of the box. The fret ends were nicely finished.
Yes they could be more rounded and polished, thouhg that is more of a personal preference than requirement, but they don't catch your hands. The neck for me was great; not being too thick or too narrow. The neck was also straight and did not require any truss rod adjustment. Not a big job if required but nice when you don't have to, particularly if you were a new player and don't have the experience. The nut looks plastic as a lot of low to medium price guitars are these days though it does the job well. If you want you can always buy a bone, graphite, Tusq, etc and replace it. Or you could just buy a much more expensive guitar but that would appear to be an overkill just to get a preferred nut.
The bridge and stop tail piece are chrome plated cast, and do their job well. They are much better than some I have seen on less expensive guitars over the years.
Overall a good instrument and I will have no hesitation in buying one of the other Harley Benton guitars especially at the prices that they are offered at. However if you are looking for a high resale price then you are unlikely to ever get that with a HB guitar, but if looking for a good instrument that will last and be good got gigging then look no further. If you are into brand status along with a good resale price then look elsewhere and expect to pay a hell of a lot more.
8
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R
Great starting guitar
I was lucky to get both this and the Epiphone Slash AFD LP Performance Pack for xmas. Both amazing guitars for a starting student.
Easy to setup from the box and the experience was very great so far.
10/10 would buy from both Harley Benton and Epiphone again
Easy to setup from the box and the experience was very great so far.
10/10 would buy from both Harley Benton and Epiphone again
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Z
An amazing bargain
I'm a passionate Les Paul lover and sunburst afficionado, and this guitar looked just insanely pretty for the ridiculous price so I impulse bought it to see what it's actually worth as an instrument. In short:
- Out of the box, it's a very decent beginner's instrument so beautiful that you'll want to pick it up again as soon as you put it down.
- With a bit of care you can make it even prettier by addressing the minor blemishes that are to be expected from a guitar in this price range.
- If you're prepared to invest a little more money for a couple of replacement parts and quite some time and elbow grease to really upgrade it, you'll be as amazed as I am now.
Pros:
- gorgeous looks;
- unbelievable price point;
- very comfortable neck, much more accessible on the high end than a regular Les Paul;
- very decent tuners and stop bar tailpiece;
- warm PAF flavoured alnico pick-ups;
- robust and reliable selector switch;
- fine and smooth volume pots;
- very nice pot knobs;
- good quality nut;
- very nicely machined, filled and lacquered mahogany body and neck;
- real massive maple cap with fine flamed veneer;
- overall quite good setup out of the box.
Cons:
- stock Tune-o-matic bridge unworthy of this nice guitar;
- rather raspy frets and quite coarse fretboard spoiling bends and vibratos;
- cheap looking plastics;
- minor dents and blemishes on the otherwise nice finish;
- smooth but not very articulate tone pots;
- some loose screws here and there;
- a bit rusty strings out of the box.
The list of pros is quite amazing for the price you pay, and I could address most of the list of cons with a bit of effort. In something like 5 hours of work, I did the following:
- I replaced the bridge and its posts with a Gotoh GE103B-T C kit (33¤ at Thomann);
- I applied Loctite to all screws around the body (cavity covers, strap pins, pick-up rings) and tightened them;
- I replaced the thin plastic washers under the strap pins with thicker rubber ones;
- For my personal aesthetics preferences, I replaced the switch plate (the "RHYTHM/TREBBLE" one) with a finer looking Gibson spare (4,88¤) and the bulky hexagonal securing nut of the switch with a leaner round and dented one;
- I filed down the protruding molding flash from plastics like the pick-up rings and the jack socket cover;
- I filed the edges of the trussrod cover to an angle so that the 3-ply structure (black-white-black) became apparent to look much nicer;
- I very lightly wet-sanded the entire fretboard smooth with lemon oil and 600grit sandpaper, debuffed with 1000grit steelwool and soaked in lemon oil overnight;
- Using fret rubber, I polished up all frets to a shiny finish, removing the dull and raspy coating they came with;
- To take full advantage of the beautiful vintage burst around the whole body, I removed the scratchplate and plugged and painted the screwholes to conceal them;
- I restrung with Dean Markley Custom Light 9-46;
- and I set up action, intonation and neck relief.
The end result is such that I must give the guitar a total of five stars no less. With the exception of the tone pots which I did not bother to replace, every item on my cons list was addressed. Now the guitar looks amazing, and even more importantly it plays unbelievably smoothly and well. From a playability and smoothness aspect it is actually perfectly on a par with my original Gibson Les Paul Standard (how ridiculous is that!!!), and comfort-wise it is even better because of the less bulky and more accessible neck joint. The pick-ups have less bite and edge than today's Burstbuckers but they still do a very decent job capturing the vintage alnico humbucker feel.
Overall:
- If you're a beginner, this is a very good choice to start with.
- If you're a more advanced player, it's an equally good choice. Just make sure you polish the frets and sand the fretboard nice and silky, and you'll get the axe to an unbeatable level of smoothness and comfort, perfectly fit for practice, studio and stage use.
- And if you're passionate, this is the perfect beautiful guitar to upgrade into a monster. If you do nothing else but the mods I made, you will still have spent less than 200¤ in total, and what you'll get is a guitar that looks, feels and plays at least as good as instruments worth six to ten times this price. Honestly, mine easily beats Custom Epiphones any time, and it neither looks, nor feels cheap even if I compare it to a Gibson.
With such value for money, buying a setneck mahogany Harley Benton SC is just a no-brainer! Everybody should go for it!
- Out of the box, it's a very decent beginner's instrument so beautiful that you'll want to pick it up again as soon as you put it down.
- With a bit of care you can make it even prettier by addressing the minor blemishes that are to be expected from a guitar in this price range.
- If you're prepared to invest a little more money for a couple of replacement parts and quite some time and elbow grease to really upgrade it, you'll be as amazed as I am now.
Pros:
- gorgeous looks;
- unbelievable price point;
- very comfortable neck, much more accessible on the high end than a regular Les Paul;
- very decent tuners and stop bar tailpiece;
- warm PAF flavoured alnico pick-ups;
- robust and reliable selector switch;
- fine and smooth volume pots;
- very nice pot knobs;
- good quality nut;
- very nicely machined, filled and lacquered mahogany body and neck;
- real massive maple cap with fine flamed veneer;
- overall quite good setup out of the box.
Cons:
- stock Tune-o-matic bridge unworthy of this nice guitar;
- rather raspy frets and quite coarse fretboard spoiling bends and vibratos;
- cheap looking plastics;
- minor dents and blemishes on the otherwise nice finish;
- smooth but not very articulate tone pots;
- some loose screws here and there;
- a bit rusty strings out of the box.
The list of pros is quite amazing for the price you pay, and I could address most of the list of cons with a bit of effort. In something like 5 hours of work, I did the following:
- I replaced the bridge and its posts with a Gotoh GE103B-T C kit (33¤ at Thomann);
- I applied Loctite to all screws around the body (cavity covers, strap pins, pick-up rings) and tightened them;
- I replaced the thin plastic washers under the strap pins with thicker rubber ones;
- For my personal aesthetics preferences, I replaced the switch plate (the "RHYTHM/TREBBLE" one) with a finer looking Gibson spare (4,88¤) and the bulky hexagonal securing nut of the switch with a leaner round and dented one;
- I filed down the protruding molding flash from plastics like the pick-up rings and the jack socket cover;
- I filed the edges of the trussrod cover to an angle so that the 3-ply structure (black-white-black) became apparent to look much nicer;
- I very lightly wet-sanded the entire fretboard smooth with lemon oil and 600grit sandpaper, debuffed with 1000grit steelwool and soaked in lemon oil overnight;
- Using fret rubber, I polished up all frets to a shiny finish, removing the dull and raspy coating they came with;
- To take full advantage of the beautiful vintage burst around the whole body, I removed the scratchplate and plugged and painted the screwholes to conceal them;
- I restrung with Dean Markley Custom Light 9-46;
- and I set up action, intonation and neck relief.
The end result is such that I must give the guitar a total of five stars no less. With the exception of the tone pots which I did not bother to replace, every item on my cons list was addressed. Now the guitar looks amazing, and even more importantly it plays unbelievably smoothly and well. From a playability and smoothness aspect it is actually perfectly on a par with my original Gibson Les Paul Standard (how ridiculous is that!!!), and comfort-wise it is even better because of the less bulky and more accessible neck joint. The pick-ups have less bite and edge than today's Burstbuckers but they still do a very decent job capturing the vintage alnico humbucker feel.
Overall:
- If you're a beginner, this is a very good choice to start with.
- If you're a more advanced player, it's an equally good choice. Just make sure you polish the frets and sand the fretboard nice and silky, and you'll get the axe to an unbeatable level of smoothness and comfort, perfectly fit for practice, studio and stage use.
- And if you're passionate, this is the perfect beautiful guitar to upgrade into a monster. If you do nothing else but the mods I made, you will still have spent less than 200¤ in total, and what you'll get is a guitar that looks, feels and plays at least as good as instruments worth six to ten times this price. Honestly, mine easily beats Custom Epiphones any time, and it neither looks, nor feels cheap even if I compare it to a Gibson.
With such value for money, buying a setneck mahogany Harley Benton SC is just a no-brainer! Everybody should go for it!
18
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S
From Zero to Hero!
Long(ish) story, but please stick with it as I had to.
I ordered this guitar just before Xmas (2019) and was a bit gutted when it arrived. The guitar had obviously taken a knock in transport leaving the bridge bent and the rear strap button loose, with cracked paint around the button. I was straight onto Thomann who offered either a discount and replacement parts, a replacement guitar or a refund. I decided to put up with the minor faff of a replacement. One other minor gripe was slightly offset tuners leaving more tuning key exposed on the underside of the guitar than at the top.
Onto the second guitar and after my initial experience left me dubious as to what I'd receive I have to say I'm stunned. I've only played a few Gibson LP's when I went to buy one 15 years ago in a local store and walked out with a US strat...as you do. I liked the LP but couldn't say I liked it enough to spend £1500+. As well as the strat I also own a Squier vintage modified tele, Gibson SG special, PRE SE custom 24 and in my time have owned an LTD EC-1000 (great sounding but couldn't stop it buzzing without expensive work) and an Ibanez hollowbody artcore thingummy and a different SG special but I've still always wanted an LP style guitar. The quality of this guitar is up there with all my keepers and yet it's the cheapest guitar I own. This is not a good guitar for £140, it's a good guitar full stop. You know how some guitars feel ok and others feel like a proper musical instrument that you really want to play. If all Harley Bentons are this good (as long as they haven't been dropped from a great height) I'll be getting a few more. Very happy today and very pleased with how Thomann dealt with my issues. My intention was to swap out the pickups for a SD 59 and JB but now it's in my hands I don't feel the need. The neck is very glossy which I knew wouldn't be to my taste but that's an easy fix with a few sheets of high grit paper and a splash of water. Seems a shame cause the neck looks so nice. Strings are OK ish (not that that matters as new strings is always job number one) and frets don't feel rough as some others have stated. The fretboard seems a shade lighter than standard rosewood but it has a beautiful grain and looks all the better for that. The tuners do their job and it stays in tune.
One day I'll actually learn to play these things :)
I ordered this guitar just before Xmas (2019) and was a bit gutted when it arrived. The guitar had obviously taken a knock in transport leaving the bridge bent and the rear strap button loose, with cracked paint around the button. I was straight onto Thomann who offered either a discount and replacement parts, a replacement guitar or a refund. I decided to put up with the minor faff of a replacement. One other minor gripe was slightly offset tuners leaving more tuning key exposed on the underside of the guitar than at the top.
Onto the second guitar and after my initial experience left me dubious as to what I'd receive I have to say I'm stunned. I've only played a few Gibson LP's when I went to buy one 15 years ago in a local store and walked out with a US strat...as you do. I liked the LP but couldn't say I liked it enough to spend £1500+. As well as the strat I also own a Squier vintage modified tele, Gibson SG special, PRE SE custom 24 and in my time have owned an LTD EC-1000 (great sounding but couldn't stop it buzzing without expensive work) and an Ibanez hollowbody artcore thingummy and a different SG special but I've still always wanted an LP style guitar. The quality of this guitar is up there with all my keepers and yet it's the cheapest guitar I own. This is not a good guitar for £140, it's a good guitar full stop. You know how some guitars feel ok and others feel like a proper musical instrument that you really want to play. If all Harley Bentons are this good (as long as they haven't been dropped from a great height) I'll be getting a few more. Very happy today and very pleased with how Thomann dealt with my issues. My intention was to swap out the pickups for a SD 59 and JB but now it's in my hands I don't feel the need. The neck is very glossy which I knew wouldn't be to my taste but that's an easy fix with a few sheets of high grit paper and a splash of water. Seems a shame cause the neck looks so nice. Strings are OK ish (not that that matters as new strings is always job number one) and frets don't feel rough as some others have stated. The fretboard seems a shade lighter than standard rosewood but it has a beautiful grain and looks all the better for that. The tuners do their job and it stays in tune.
One day I'll actually learn to play these things :)
3
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P
Very impressed and pleased with purchase.
Right off the bat this guitar looks fantastic! The flame top is lovely, the pictures don't quite show how nice it is in person. The top is indeed a full maple top, although the flame may indeed be a veneer, it certainly is not a photo-flame.
The rear, mahogany part of the body, on mine at least seems to be made up of 3 pieces but you would be hard pressed to find the seams, the grain has been very nicely matched.
The finish is great, very smooth, no blemishes although came with a few finger prints on it, perhaps QC forgot to polish it again after checking it over.
The "blackwood" fretboard is nicer than I expected, the box said Pau Ferrau but I am certain it is the advertised blackwood. It's very dry and required treatment. Some lemon oil did the trick.
The hardware is OK, the tuners are smoother than I expected for the price and seem to work fairly well. The bridge and tail piece look as one would expect, not the best but they work.
The electrics work fine, no scratchy pots like that which I have had in a couple new guitars of higher price within the inexpensive arena from other brands. They are the small style pots though.
The Roswell pickups sound pretty good actually, great clarity, not too hot. They are much better than I expected and certainly much better than most other import brands.
The neck is thin, it's like having a lacquered Ibanez neck on a LP body and actually feels really nice. The heal joint is great, you don't even notice anything there when playing up the dusty end.
The guitar plays really nicely, feels great in the hand. Sits well in the lap and is not too heavy for standing. Has a good centre of mass and stays in place when playing stood up, which is nice.
Also I would like to mention how well the guitar was packed. It came double boxed and in it's own bubble wrap bag with a substantial amount of padding between the boxes. Very secure.
All of the above is either what I expected or better, below is for Thomman to focus on.
The binding, in general is good. There are however a couple of pretty dodgy areas if you look close. Enough for me to send back? Not for the £150 price I paid no but it's still not really good enough. The binding has been trimmed back to be flush with the top of the fret board resulting in a very rough looking surface. A bit of fine filing for a few minutes fixed it, QC should have spotted and resolved that before it got to the customer.
At the body end of the fretboard where the binding wraps around, there seems to be some tool chatter that has not been cleaned up.
In the cut-away there seems to be some overlap of lacquer that has not been scraped.
Similarly the frets are not great, they feel like it has been shipped half-way through having a fret job. It needed just a couple more passes on each fret using the finest grit to give it that last buff. When bending strings it is noticeable scratchy feeling otherwise, again not really acceptable for an instrument, at any price.
All round, for the money it's brilliant and I would certainly get another. Just be mindful of the facts above and be prepared to finish off the set-up.
The rear, mahogany part of the body, on mine at least seems to be made up of 3 pieces but you would be hard pressed to find the seams, the grain has been very nicely matched.
The finish is great, very smooth, no blemishes although came with a few finger prints on it, perhaps QC forgot to polish it again after checking it over.
The "blackwood" fretboard is nicer than I expected, the box said Pau Ferrau but I am certain it is the advertised blackwood. It's very dry and required treatment. Some lemon oil did the trick.
The hardware is OK, the tuners are smoother than I expected for the price and seem to work fairly well. The bridge and tail piece look as one would expect, not the best but they work.
The electrics work fine, no scratchy pots like that which I have had in a couple new guitars of higher price within the inexpensive arena from other brands. They are the small style pots though.
The Roswell pickups sound pretty good actually, great clarity, not too hot. They are much better than I expected and certainly much better than most other import brands.
The neck is thin, it's like having a lacquered Ibanez neck on a LP body and actually feels really nice. The heal joint is great, you don't even notice anything there when playing up the dusty end.
The guitar plays really nicely, feels great in the hand. Sits well in the lap and is not too heavy for standing. Has a good centre of mass and stays in place when playing stood up, which is nice.
Also I would like to mention how well the guitar was packed. It came double boxed and in it's own bubble wrap bag with a substantial amount of padding between the boxes. Very secure.
All of the above is either what I expected or better, below is for Thomman to focus on.
The binding, in general is good. There are however a couple of pretty dodgy areas if you look close. Enough for me to send back? Not for the £150 price I paid no but it's still not really good enough. The binding has been trimmed back to be flush with the top of the fret board resulting in a very rough looking surface. A bit of fine filing for a few minutes fixed it, QC should have spotted and resolved that before it got to the customer.
At the body end of the fretboard where the binding wraps around, there seems to be some tool chatter that has not been cleaned up.
In the cut-away there seems to be some overlap of lacquer that has not been scraped.
Similarly the frets are not great, they feel like it has been shipped half-way through having a fret job. It needed just a couple more passes on each fret using the finest grit to give it that last buff. When bending strings it is noticeable scratchy feeling otherwise, again not really acceptable for an instrument, at any price.
All round, for the money it's brilliant and I would certainly get another. Just be mindful of the facts above and be prepared to finish off the set-up.
2
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M
Fantastic guitar that did not disappoint in the slightest.
A well made and good looking guitar that sounds fantastic. Any criticisms are really nit-picking - especially at this price.
I am a beginner and started a few months ago with an impulse buy of a cheap Strat type guitar purchased from a car boot sale. It is OK but needs a good set-up and I subsequently found that I prefer the sound of a Les Paul type. Also, I considered that a better guitar which is hopefully set up well, would assist me in leaning.
Looking through Thomanns catalogue I eventually settled on the Harley Benton SC-450Plus VB Vintage Series which appeared to be the most comprehensive at a good price. Anything better was much more expensive. I ordered the guitar with the Roswell humbucker pickups with split coils so that I have a wide choice of sounds to chose from. From reviews on Youtube, this model does seem to be the most popular out of the range.
The delivery was a bit longer than expected. I ordered Monday morning and the order was processed in about 2-hours, so I was hopeful of an early delivery. However it then appeared to sit it for 2 days before collection by UPS. It then took a further 2 days to get from Germany to myself in the UK - arriving Friday afternoon. I did notice when opening the guitar, that it had a card saying that it had been inspected and tested before dispatch, so that may have been the cause of the delay before being dispatched.
I must comment that the packaging seemed excessive for one guitar. The guitar was securely packed in a fitted box, but that box was inside an outer box which seemed large enough for three or four guitars. Further, there was only a couple of handfuls of scrupled up paper to take up some of the spare space, this left the inner box to slide around in its outer casing.
On examination, the guitar seems well made with no obvious damage. The finish is excellent. Except for the B string the guitar was fairly in tune. Intonation was spot on except for the A string which is slightly out. Cosmetically, the jack socket is not square to the body.
The worst fault I found was that the pickup switch is way out of line and operates diagonally instead of up and down.
I was going to comment that several of the fret board inlays are not exactly parallel to the frets. Since then, I have checked out a couple of Gibson Les Pauls and their inlays did not appear totally perfect. I have noticed from a YouTube review of 3 years ago that the guitar then was better made than one reviewed 3 years previously. To me this one seemed better made than that review, so perhaps in another 3 years the manufacturer may have invested in machinery to fit the inlays more accurately.
To put any criticisms into perspective though, the Harley Benton guitars are so well made that you forget their price and start comparing them with what appears to be equivalent ones, but are actually four times as expensive.
When testing, the sound of the guitar is fantastic - being deep and Rich. I do find the pickup switch puzzling as when testing - in the middle position - if one of the pickups volume is set to 0 - then there is no output at all. Possible this is the same on a Gibson Les Paul, I don't know.
The guitar comes with a hex key to adjust the truss rod, and a basic guitar lead about 3 m long. What I would have liked to have seen would be a more complete starter kit including a couple of guitar picks and an embroidered guitar strap with the name Harley Benton on it. The increased cost would have been minimal and would have been a nice gesture and good advertising. I would even have been happy to pay a little extra for this. Perhaps Thoman may consider this and add it future.
I am a beginner and started a few months ago with an impulse buy of a cheap Strat type guitar purchased from a car boot sale. It is OK but needs a good set-up and I subsequently found that I prefer the sound of a Les Paul type. Also, I considered that a better guitar which is hopefully set up well, would assist me in leaning.
Looking through Thomanns catalogue I eventually settled on the Harley Benton SC-450Plus VB Vintage Series which appeared to be the most comprehensive at a good price. Anything better was much more expensive. I ordered the guitar with the Roswell humbucker pickups with split coils so that I have a wide choice of sounds to chose from. From reviews on Youtube, this model does seem to be the most popular out of the range.
The delivery was a bit longer than expected. I ordered Monday morning and the order was processed in about 2-hours, so I was hopeful of an early delivery. However it then appeared to sit it for 2 days before collection by UPS. It then took a further 2 days to get from Germany to myself in the UK - arriving Friday afternoon. I did notice when opening the guitar, that it had a card saying that it had been inspected and tested before dispatch, so that may have been the cause of the delay before being dispatched.
I must comment that the packaging seemed excessive for one guitar. The guitar was securely packed in a fitted box, but that box was inside an outer box which seemed large enough for three or four guitars. Further, there was only a couple of handfuls of scrupled up paper to take up some of the spare space, this left the inner box to slide around in its outer casing.
On examination, the guitar seems well made with no obvious damage. The finish is excellent. Except for the B string the guitar was fairly in tune. Intonation was spot on except for the A string which is slightly out. Cosmetically, the jack socket is not square to the body.
The worst fault I found was that the pickup switch is way out of line and operates diagonally instead of up and down.
I was going to comment that several of the fret board inlays are not exactly parallel to the frets. Since then, I have checked out a couple of Gibson Les Pauls and their inlays did not appear totally perfect. I have noticed from a YouTube review of 3 years ago that the guitar then was better made than one reviewed 3 years previously. To me this one seemed better made than that review, so perhaps in another 3 years the manufacturer may have invested in machinery to fit the inlays more accurately.
To put any criticisms into perspective though, the Harley Benton guitars are so well made that you forget their price and start comparing them with what appears to be equivalent ones, but are actually four times as expensive.
When testing, the sound of the guitar is fantastic - being deep and Rich. I do find the pickup switch puzzling as when testing - in the middle position - if one of the pickups volume is set to 0 - then there is no output at all. Possible this is the same on a Gibson Les Paul, I don't know.
The guitar comes with a hex key to adjust the truss rod, and a basic guitar lead about 3 m long. What I would have liked to have seen would be a more complete starter kit including a couple of guitar picks and an embroidered guitar strap with the name Harley Benton on it. The increased cost would have been minimal and would have been a nice gesture and good advertising. I would even have been happy to pay a little extra for this. Perhaps Thoman may consider this and add it future.
0
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OH
Stop thinking about it and buy it!
I thought about this guitar for awhile myself, reading reviews but not knowing what I would really get. Then I finally pulled the trigger and bought it. My first reaction?
WHY DID I WAIT SO LONG??!?
This guitar is beautiful. The pictures actually don't do it justice, it looks better "live". Playability out of the box was decent, almost good enough to go with but I will still get my usual guy to run a set-up on it so it plays top-notch.
One issue I had was one of the push-pull pots for volume. I pulled it up and the whole shaft came right out of the guitar. I'm not reading too much into that as once in awhile electronics will be faulty. It's just the way it is. Thomann customer service was A+++ 100% in looking after me. They made it right and did so quickly.
I've played many a Gibson and Fender in my time, including some vintage 60's Gibsons. This guitar feels as nice as some of them, not quite as nice as others, but some of those guitars would sell now for 5 figure prices. Consider that I'm comparing a guitar that would sell for approximatley 40X the price I paid for this Harley Benton (40 times!!!) and they really aren't that far off. That is CRAZY when you put it in that perspective. Even a brand new LP (so NOT what the colletors and hardcore musicians want) with the same finish is selling in my local music store for 16X what I paid for this one. I just can't justify that.
Shipping was fast to Canada, even in the COVID environment. My shipment left on a Friday and I had it the following Tuesday. I paid exactly what the web site said I would, and UPS dinged me another $43 CAD in duty, taxes etc., which I actually expected would be a bit more. Factor that in to your decision, but from the comparable prices I see in the stores you still can't beat the value this guitar brings.
Trust me, put it in the cart and check out! You WILL LOVE THIS GUITAR!
WHY DID I WAIT SO LONG??!?
This guitar is beautiful. The pictures actually don't do it justice, it looks better "live". Playability out of the box was decent, almost good enough to go with but I will still get my usual guy to run a set-up on it so it plays top-notch.
One issue I had was one of the push-pull pots for volume. I pulled it up and the whole shaft came right out of the guitar. I'm not reading too much into that as once in awhile electronics will be faulty. It's just the way it is. Thomann customer service was A+++ 100% in looking after me. They made it right and did so quickly.
I've played many a Gibson and Fender in my time, including some vintage 60's Gibsons. This guitar feels as nice as some of them, not quite as nice as others, but some of those guitars would sell now for 5 figure prices. Consider that I'm comparing a guitar that would sell for approximatley 40X the price I paid for this Harley Benton (40 times!!!) and they really aren't that far off. That is CRAZY when you put it in that perspective. Even a brand new LP (so NOT what the colletors and hardcore musicians want) with the same finish is selling in my local music store for 16X what I paid for this one. I just can't justify that.
Shipping was fast to Canada, even in the COVID environment. My shipment left on a Friday and I had it the following Tuesday. I paid exactly what the web site said I would, and UPS dinged me another $43 CAD in duty, taxes etc., which I actually expected would be a bit more. Factor that in to your decision, but from the comparable prices I see in the stores you still can't beat the value this guitar brings.
Trust me, put it in the cart and check out! You WILL LOVE THIS GUITAR!
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A Stunning Value!!!
I bought this guitar based on the overwhelmingly positive reviews here and on Youtube. My experience has been no different. Don't let the brand or the "made in China" fool you: It's just a great guitar. It's true worth is probably at least twice (or even three times?) what you can buy one for here.
The pickups are warm and open sounding. They go from clean and articulate to growly and aggressive when overdriven. Vintage voiced and suits my taste perfectly. Classic les paul sound.
The switches and pots seem solid enough. The coil tapping feature is a nice touch. The fit and finish is excellent. It's a gorgeous guitar! I did find one very small stain imperfection in the flame top, but you can only see it if you're really, really looking for it. One of the tuners (for the G string) isn't very reliable. That one seems to be always slipping out of tune. But that could have more to do with the nut, I really don't know. (or even the string winding--I haven't replaced the factory strings yet) But I do plan to upgrade the nut anyway (probably to a Graphtech) and also the bridge (to a Gotoh) (and maybe even the tuners, if the new nut and bridge doesn't solve the tuning issue on the G). Since the rest of the guitar is of such solid quality, I think these upgrades would be good investments.
In terms of playability, this is probably what I love most about this guitar. It's just so comfortable in my hands, even though the neck is a bit chunkier than that of the strats I own. The contoured heel makes a huge difference, correcting one of the main problems I've always had in the past when thinking about buying a les paul. It's so much more comfortable to play at the 15th fret and higher.
Anyway, it's just a great all around guitar for any level of player. I've been playing for 25 years and have had guitars from all different price ranges and this guitar is certainly nothing to scoff at. And it would be a perfect budget platform for getting creative with pickup and electronic upgrades. It defies logic that Thomann can sell these at this price level. I'm extremely happy with it and plan to buy another one very soon.
The pickups are warm and open sounding. They go from clean and articulate to growly and aggressive when overdriven. Vintage voiced and suits my taste perfectly. Classic les paul sound.
The switches and pots seem solid enough. The coil tapping feature is a nice touch. The fit and finish is excellent. It's a gorgeous guitar! I did find one very small stain imperfection in the flame top, but you can only see it if you're really, really looking for it. One of the tuners (for the G string) isn't very reliable. That one seems to be always slipping out of tune. But that could have more to do with the nut, I really don't know. (or even the string winding--I haven't replaced the factory strings yet) But I do plan to upgrade the nut anyway (probably to a Graphtech) and also the bridge (to a Gotoh) (and maybe even the tuners, if the new nut and bridge doesn't solve the tuning issue on the G). Since the rest of the guitar is of such solid quality, I think these upgrades would be good investments.
In terms of playability, this is probably what I love most about this guitar. It's just so comfortable in my hands, even though the neck is a bit chunkier than that of the strats I own. The contoured heel makes a huge difference, correcting one of the main problems I've always had in the past when thinking about buying a les paul. It's so much more comfortable to play at the 15th fret and higher.
Anyway, it's just a great all around guitar for any level of player. I've been playing for 25 years and have had guitars from all different price ranges and this guitar is certainly nothing to scoff at. And it would be a perfect budget platform for getting creative with pickup and electronic upgrades. It defies logic that Thomann can sell these at this price level. I'm extremely happy with it and plan to buy another one very soon.
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I knew the Harley Benton SC-450Plus VB was good But This good? WOW!
Harley Benton SC-450Plus VB Vintage Series!
Firstly. I have been a Thomann customer for many years and my fiest purchase from them was a Behringer mixing desk which was described as potable then but is HUGE by today's standards (that's why I can't sell it lol). YEP it's still working after 20 years So I knew their stuff was good. Also I have recently put together the excellent CST 24 Kit which is AWESOMELY GOOD! Hmm do I sound like Mr Henning from You Tube? Any way there is nothing I can say about this guitar that isn't good. No really Is IS BRILLIANT! Check out my unboxing here. recently played and reviewed my sons Gibson Les Paul Studio and this Hrley Bento plays just as good or dare I say even better. Yes I am sure the SC-550 and The SC custom are just as good ..but boy oh boy if they beat this Harley Benton SC-450Plus VB Vintage Series they must be the best guitars in the world.
Just for the record I have not been asked by Thomann or anyone else to write a good review. I have been a performing musician for more than 30 years and have owned and played much more expensive instruments.
GOOD POINTS!
1 Frets are level not rough with no sharp ends
2 the vintage burst finish is flawless
3 the Roswell pickups perform well and not too muddy
4 the vintage tuners work well and keep good tune
5 the coil splits work well and are quite easy to engage while playing
6 all edges are smooth and the binding has integrated seamlessly around the body
7 the neck joint has a modern feel and only adds to the appeal
8 the overall high gloss finish on my guitar is FLAWLESS
Two words to sum up!..............BUY IT!
OR HEAD HERE FIRST AND THEN BUY IT
Firstly. I have been a Thomann customer for many years and my fiest purchase from them was a Behringer mixing desk which was described as potable then but is HUGE by today's standards (that's why I can't sell it lol). YEP it's still working after 20 years So I knew their stuff was good. Also I have recently put together the excellent CST 24 Kit which is AWESOMELY GOOD! Hmm do I sound like Mr Henning from You Tube? Any way there is nothing I can say about this guitar that isn't good. No really Is IS BRILLIANT! Check out my unboxing here. recently played and reviewed my sons Gibson Les Paul Studio and this Hrley Bento plays just as good or dare I say even better. Yes I am sure the SC-550 and The SC custom are just as good ..but boy oh boy if they beat this Harley Benton SC-450Plus VB Vintage Series they must be the best guitars in the world.
Just for the record I have not been asked by Thomann or anyone else to write a good review. I have been a performing musician for more than 30 years and have owned and played much more expensive instruments.
GOOD POINTS!
1 Frets are level not rough with no sharp ends
2 the vintage burst finish is flawless
3 the Roswell pickups perform well and not too muddy
4 the vintage tuners work well and keep good tune
5 the coil splits work well and are quite easy to engage while playing
6 all edges are smooth and the binding has integrated seamlessly around the body
7 the neck joint has a modern feel and only adds to the appeal
8 the overall high gloss finish on my guitar is FLAWLESS
Two words to sum up!..............BUY IT!
OR HEAD HERE FIRST AND THEN BUY IT
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A Good Guitar - Excellent Value For Money
If you're looking for a new, budget single cut guitar at a very reasonable price you would be hard pushed to find better, especially if you're in the UK or Europe where delivery is fast and free and returns are pretty hassle free with Thomann should you really need to make one.
I've given it five stars based on the combination of price, quality, features and finish. Understand that you're not buying a Gibson Les Paul and on a budget instrument there are obviously going to be compromises on electronics, machine heads, and (to a degree) pickups. If you don't spend thousands you don't get a top tier instrument and you should not expect to.
However, I have bought two of these in different finishes (Vintage Burst and Lemon Drop) and both have been excellent quality with no serious flaws or problems and both look stunning. They also sound absolutely fine. They have a nice heft to them without being too heavy....obviously weightier than a Strat or a Tele but that is as it should be and shouldn't come as a surprise.
The addition of coil splitting on the Roswell branded humbuckers is a nice touch on a budget LP copy - not needed and maybe not even of interest to a lot of people who want a guitar of this type but it's a nice little extra feature to have on hand and to be able to experiment with.
The only thing both of mine needed were a fret polish - even the factory strings were OK, although I change them out on all new guitars for my preferred brand anyway. Basically, neither of these things were particularly detrimental to their playability out of the box. Both were set up and intonated well and the action on both was fine so any slight changes I made were purely subjective and personal ones.
In conclusion, if you're a beginner or a more seasoned player, it's hard to be critical of this guitar considering how cheap it is. As an entry point into this style of guitar it makes a lot of sense - if you find it really doesn't float your boat, you haven't taken out a mortgage to scratch the itch and you'll have confirmed your own preferences and biases at little financial cost. Even a used base level Epi with a bolt on neck is probably going to cost you more...and I doubt it will be as good.
Personally, I can neither afford, or would want to spend the kind of money a genuine Les Paul demands as I'm only a hobbyist and I'm sure that is the case for many others and absolutely not the case for just as many more. My son's guitar teacher, a staunch Fender guy for 40 years, played mine and was blown away....he loved the sustain, the sound and the feel of this humble instrument so much so that he's now going to spend serious money on a Gibson Les Paul, something he's never wanted until now. I told him to buy an SC450 Plus and save a fortune but he's a very brand conscious type of guy....for him the name on the headstock overrides financial considerations and well, he is a professional musician after all and is used to "the best".
He wasn't just being polite - he has played several of my HB guitars, both electric and acoustic and now happily recommends them to new players just starting out as reliable and decent instruments at a fair price - something which parents of budding little rock stars probably appreciate hugely.
I'm very happy with my purchases of the SC450 Plus and have no qualms about recommending it to others.
I've given it five stars based on the combination of price, quality, features and finish. Understand that you're not buying a Gibson Les Paul and on a budget instrument there are obviously going to be compromises on electronics, machine heads, and (to a degree) pickups. If you don't spend thousands you don't get a top tier instrument and you should not expect to.
However, I have bought two of these in different finishes (Vintage Burst and Lemon Drop) and both have been excellent quality with no serious flaws or problems and both look stunning. They also sound absolutely fine. They have a nice heft to them without being too heavy....obviously weightier than a Strat or a Tele but that is as it should be and shouldn't come as a surprise.
The addition of coil splitting on the Roswell branded humbuckers is a nice touch on a budget LP copy - not needed and maybe not even of interest to a lot of people who want a guitar of this type but it's a nice little extra feature to have on hand and to be able to experiment with.
The only thing both of mine needed were a fret polish - even the factory strings were OK, although I change them out on all new guitars for my preferred brand anyway. Basically, neither of these things were particularly detrimental to their playability out of the box. Both were set up and intonated well and the action on both was fine so any slight changes I made were purely subjective and personal ones.
In conclusion, if you're a beginner or a more seasoned player, it's hard to be critical of this guitar considering how cheap it is. As an entry point into this style of guitar it makes a lot of sense - if you find it really doesn't float your boat, you haven't taken out a mortgage to scratch the itch and you'll have confirmed your own preferences and biases at little financial cost. Even a used base level Epi with a bolt on neck is probably going to cost you more...and I doubt it will be as good.
Personally, I can neither afford, or would want to spend the kind of money a genuine Les Paul demands as I'm only a hobbyist and I'm sure that is the case for many others and absolutely not the case for just as many more. My son's guitar teacher, a staunch Fender guy for 40 years, played mine and was blown away....he loved the sustain, the sound and the feel of this humble instrument so much so that he's now going to spend serious money on a Gibson Les Paul, something he's never wanted until now. I told him to buy an SC450 Plus and save a fortune but he's a very brand conscious type of guy....for him the name on the headstock overrides financial considerations and well, he is a professional musician after all and is used to "the best".
He wasn't just being polite - he has played several of my HB guitars, both electric and acoustic and now happily recommends them to new players just starting out as reliable and decent instruments at a fair price - something which parents of budding little rock stars probably appreciate hugely.
I'm very happy with my purchases of the SC450 Plus and have no qualms about recommending it to others.
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