SC-DLX Gotoh Black : Could have been a 5-star, but QC issues ruined that

I bought this after receiving an impeccable Fusion T-style guitar from Harley Benton with a pristine roasted maple neck and stainless steel frets. A guitar that performs way above its price range. That instrument blew me away.

Unfortunately this one has a serious fatal flaw. Let’s start with what is good. Playability. Sound of the Tesla pickups. Hardware. Fretboard. All very good. Finish. Binding. Light weight. All spot on. It’s a heck of a guitar. There are so many good things about this model.

The jack is mediocre, and I have the same feedback for all 3 of the Harley Bentons that I own.

So what could possibly be bad? Quality Control!! The tuners were installed at seemingly random angles. They aren’t even close, with one being 15-20 degrees off. How did this guitar pass QC? It was setup so beautifully. Someone paid attention to the setup, but decided to ship this out anyway. What a shame. And to be clear, nothing happened in shipping. The guitar was built and shipped out this way.

Returns from the US are effectively impossible given shipping prices and the Customs requirements to return internationally. I knew this going in and took a gamble. Customer service did what they could. They were professional and responsive, and returned a small bit of the purchase price.

Buying in Europe? 100% go for it. You can return it if you get a lousy one. I’m sure there are great specimens of this guitar. I have no doubt.

Buying in the US? Beware. This is not a super cheap model, and you could be out a decent sum of money. I cannot recommend it.