Harley Benton DC-Custom Cherry Reviews

Very Impressive Angus guitar

I am a skeptic and hard on reviews. This guitar is great. I previously had a G-400 1966 Epiphone and this thing sounds and plays better. It feels alive and resonance like Cory Mura said in his review. I bought a JB to put in the bridge and I am torn because it sounds great already. This will be my favorite out of 6 guitars.

pickups feedback real bad.besides that nice guitar.

Very fun instrument. If you are looking for something cheap and bitey this is it. It is a cheap SG that sounds fun. Intonation was spot on out of the box and sounded great, You can hear that its missing some of that high end sparkle you get on the real deal but it sounds great nevertheless. I am gigging with this guitar on bike shows, so that says something.

There was a little piece of inlay missing, as if it was broken of but since it was such a small dent i sanded it down and didn't bother with returning.

It is neck heavy but not as badly as a original.

Sounds amazing, you can go to ACDC and slight overdrive with just your volume knob and it doesn't loose bite. Even the clean sound is excellent, very warm and silky (neck).

The quality you'd expect from a dearer guitar

I pulled the trigger on this one after a fair amount of research, as I'm aware that any guitar bought from any online store can potentially ship with issues despite the "good name" of the product. I'm quite glad I took the risk with this HB DC, it's a fine guitar with no serious issues and impressive features. I expected a guitar with minor cosmetic flaws (it's a given at this price point) and I was right -some minor paint flaws here and there, the kind of stuff I don't care for and one can only notice if inspecting the instrument very closely. The things that matter -a good neck, decently dressed frets, no fret buzz, low action, correct intonation, nice pickups, solid hardware- it's all there. The nut wasn't properly aligned in the slot, but a few gentle taps with a small hammer fixed it (could have happened during storage or travel, no big deal). Took a grand total of five minutes to go from unboxing to playing and it sounds good on both of my rigs (one is my custom made pedalboard into valve amp and the other one just audio interface into Tracktion with vsts). It's a neck heavy guitar (the body is actually very light), you'll need to adjust to it if you play standing like I do but I quickly found out the way I keep my right arm on the body can actually counterbalance the weight with little effort. All in all, I couldn't find a better SG style guitar at a similar price point, the first comparable guitars being above the 400 euro mark. I'm very satisfied, I think I got more than what I paid for.

Excellent Quality for the Price

Plays like a much more expensive guitar. Came perfectly set-up and in tune out of the box. The cherry finish is gorgeous and the tone is excellent. How Harley Benton can deliver a product like this with such exceptional build quality for such a low price is truly astonishing.

I can't say enough good things about this guitar.

Highly recommend.

Top notch quality!

After a year since my purchase, I still can't believe that this guitar has really exceeded my guitar-playing expectations! Besides its beautiful asthetic, and robust body and volute, the HB DC Custom is a true joy to play! Easy high register fret acccess with 24 frets, instead of the standard 22, makes it super efficient for guitar players shredding double octave solos when compared to the 'Big G'. Beefy Wilkinson pickups add to the ferocious playability of this instrument despite the ridiculous price tag! Grover tuners add tuning stability to the instrument. Inspired by Iommi-style electrics, this beast is perfectly suited for heavy rock lovers and blues jazz players! I still cannot believe on the modest price tag next to the overall build and musical quality of this classic instrument.

What a great guitar

I got this guitar today and found it both a real beauty and a real beast.

Pros: anything good about the Gibson SG can be said about this guitar.

Cons: I will update if I find them.

I initially thought that I might swap the pickups and turn it into a better sounding guitar. But now I don't see the need at all. It already sounds good as it is now.

Made in China can mean different things. Bruce Lee is from China, so is this guitar.

Amayzing value

Amayzing value for the price, very solid instrument, quality tuners

Value for money!

This is a real stunner! Really beautiful deep transparent red finish. Good Grover tuners, it was actually perfectly in tune when I unpacked it! Sound good and looks good. And it is dead cheap!! Happy days!

Good for the money

I bought this model in red color, which seemed to me the most beautiful and reminded me the original Gibson SG model. As for the appearance, the guitar is very nice and looks really luxurious. You can find some small visual defects in paint coat, but in that price range it is understandable. The sound of two humbuckers is quite good, but less pronounced in the bass range. Tuners are excellent. A potential disadvantage of this guitar is the higher weight; I assume that the body is made of heavy solid wood. Overall, I am satisfied with this guitar.

Quality guitar on a budget

I bought the DC Custom as I indulgently wanted a classic cherry SG style guitar to add to my little collection, without breaking the bank. What has surprised me (although it is mentioned in other reviews) is the overall quality of the instrument for the price. The hardware and pickups are nicely finished as branded items and are well fitted to a beautiful mahogany body. There are a couple of tiny flaws in the lacquer on the body and in the neck binding, but no-one else is going to notice them. It is lovely to look at from all angles, even from the back.

Playing it shows it was well set up at the factory - no buzzing or dead spots and the D'Addario strings are a really nice quality touch. It's neck-heavy when using a strap, but if you are going full-on Angus Young you're not going to notice. It sounds suitably SG-like thanks to those pickups and is a pleasure to play.

So - a very nice guitar in it's own right, but when you consider the quality and the price, you should buy one even if you just hang it on the wall and look at it!

HB DC Custom Cherry

This instrument is staggering for the money! The finish is beautiful, a translucent deep red that you can see the grain of the wood through. All of the hardware is good quality, the Grover tuners smooth and easy to tune with. Most of all, the sound is deep and round, the playability smooth and fast with a nice medium low action. I very much like the fact that it only has one tone and volume knob, less messing about and more playing! In fact, I have nothing negative to say about this guitar at all except and this is probably due to where I live rather than the instrument, it arrived perfectly set up but next day it buzzed like the devil. I adjusted the neck relief and it was fine but a few days later it happened again. I re-adjusted the action again and it has remained fine since. I should mention that I live up a mountain in northern Spain and the climate at this time of year changes temperature and humidity on almost a daily basis so not really a surprise that I had issues. I have Gibson's, Fenders and PRS?s in my collection and all the mahogany necks have the same issues when they first arrive, the Maple necks seem more tolerant. To sum up, this is a superb instrument and I recommend it to anyone.