HB-35Plus Vintage Burst : Happy with it, despite some minor issues.

Pros

- Looks like a lot of guitar for the money, with some caveats (see below).

- It resonates and sustains like crazy. I really like the sound.

- I also love the growl of the humbuckers as an alternative to my Strat. The pups are quite hot and crude, but I'm happy with them.

- neck is straight and frets are level(ish). There are no dead frets. There are a few sharp ones on one side towards the 15th fret. Nothing too serious.

Cons

- Pickguard is horrible, both the cheap plastic, the sharp-edged finish and the way that the main screw holding it in place is not fully countersunk. Once I decided I was going to keep the guitar I removed it. It looks much nicer without it anyway.

- there were a few hums and buzzes when I first started playing it. There was some loose veneer or wood inside the top which I either removed or glued down. It's fine now.

- The dots on the side of the fretboard are slightly off centre. It's not something that bothers me.

- the seam in the middle of the flamed top is about 3mm off centre. Again, this doesn't bother me.

- the vintage burst is more orangey than I expected. It still looks nice hanging on the wall next to my tidepool (blue) Strat.

- the G string kept going flat one evening when I was practicing a solo with a lot of bends on it. I grated some pencil into the nut slot and it cured it for a while, but then the problem comes back and disappears from time to time for G and D strings. Apparently this is an issue with many 3/3 tuner headstocks. Maybe I'll change the nut.

- the inlays really look like mother-of-toilet-seat plastic. In retrospect, the dot inlays of the non-plussed version would look better. Come to think of it, I can live without the coil splits too, so maybe I should have gone for the black version. Ah, who cares?

- the pau ferro fingerboard is redder and lighter than expected and doesn't feel substantial. It feels like a veneer. Maybe it will improve with age.

In conclusion it's more than good enough for the money and is a useful new sound to my guitar collection.