Harley Benton Electric Guitar Kit Single Cut Reviews

Great fun to build, Great fun to play

I built this from its individual parts in around a day-ish. Took some time to figure out the wiring and whatnot but it works really well. Sounds great, has a classic Les Paul style for a decimal of the price. Instructions were slightly unclear but i figured it out with some common sense (and my dad). Overall, plays great, feels good, easy build.

Perfection personified

Quite simply this self build is without equal. I was absolutely astounded by the finish, tone and natural colour of this guitar. I have made this for the hospice that are looking after me. Perfection deserves perfection

great kit..nice wood..sound is ok for cheap pickups but not terrible at all..great guitar kit for fun and learning ..actually if you done it right and make something unique you get a great showoff instrument

First try

Simply I was wondering how it sound, how it's made and I have to say it's very good product. Briliant fretboard, desk perfect. Lot of fun with getting parts together :) at the end you've got solid guitar with nice sound. For sure I'll try other products, definitely !

It's going downhill

I have bought kits from Harley Benton in the past and they were more than acceptable quality considering the price, however this has really let me down --- traces of insect holes in the body, hollow plastic nut, frets coming out without any effort, but the worst thing is the fretboard. They claim it to be amaranth but it's not a solid piece of wood, it's "techwood" or engineered wood, a bunch of strips glued together, and it is absolutely dreadful, even more so than the previous cardboard spongy material that was at least one piece of actual wood. Very, very disappointed considering a basic finished version one of these is roughly the same price

Amazing value

Perfect kit! Can’t go wrong

Poor quality

My guitar was shipped without instructions, a couple of the holes on the guitar didn’t line up correctly which caused some problems. I think it’d be a better guitar if the people drilling the holes and stuff put a bit more attention to detail into them, it just felt like it was rushed which caused it to be all over the place.

Perfect single cut

Just love the whole idea of building and customizing something yourself. All the parts fit perfectly and the guitar has amazing feeling overall.

Very good kit for the selfbuilding enthousiast

For this price a very fun kit to assemble, endless options to colour your body and sound is amazing for this kit!

BOUGHT IT AS A PROJECT DURING LOCKDOWN

WAS QUITE IMPRESSED ON HOW EASY WAS TO PUT TOGETHER, SOUND IS ACTUALLY QUITE NICE, STRINGS THAT COME WITH ARE A BIT MEH SO PUT BETTER STRINGS AND ENJOYING THE NICE SOUND

The best SG kit for the money, easy and customizable,

People are paying me to custom finish these for there kids and family, and themselves,great quality for the money.

Harley Benton Electric Guitar Kit Single Cut

Amazing looking guitar the quality is fantastic. Easy enough to build if you know the basics.Sounds great aswell. Didn't paint mine as I like the natural wood look could always paint it in years to come.

worth your money

this was something that i bought just for fun and as a project but it has become one of my favorite guitars to play because its cheap and the way that I want it to look

Cheapo hardware, unfinished woodwork.

I loved the idea of building my own guitar...however, adding in the cost of nitrocellulose lacquer and thinners @£20, replacement pickups @£40, replacement bridge @ £17... and I'll need also to replace the tuners soon...then it's probably better to think about purchasing a HB SC-500 at around £145 at time of writing this (or a B-stock at £122) to get a guitar with a great sound, set neck, lovely black or white gloss finish and decent hardware.

The finish on the wood is ready for a laquer, and you wouldn't want to leave it untreated as the sides of the body were a little 'rough' on my kit.

Was it worth the effort and expense?.. for me, I wanted a 'natural' wood finish les paul, but with hindsight it would have been better to purchase a good quality HB with a mahogany body and strip the finish off the top.

Fantastic Launch Platform

Harley Benton makes some of the best, most reasonably priced DIY kits out there. Add in the cost of shipping to the states and it's STILL a better value than most of our domestically available kits.

The parts are mostly of decent quality, save for the strings and the instrument cable (still handy tho). I did some basic finishing on the wood and then threw it together, strings and all. Performed a quick setup (tune, relief, PU height, intonation) and it sounded great. It's not a Gibson, but it plays as well as a Squier I've got as long as both have been set up to play.

For a very reasonable price you get a well made kit that will provide hours of joy just putting it together. Set it up well (or have someone help) and it plays better than most would believe. From there, you decide! Level and finish the frets, swap out the pickups (why not?!?!), throw in some wiring mods and no one will believe it's a kit.

As a side note, being a mass production guitar kit you can find replacement parts (pick guards, plates, covers etc.) fairly easily. Just make sure to measure first!

Very good starter kit for the money

I have been playing the guitar for a while now, and I wanted to try building my own guitar. I decided to go for the Harley Benton electric guitar kit because it offered a great value for the price. The kit came with all the parts I needed to assemble the guitar, and the instructions were clear and easy to follow.

The assembly process was relatively straightforward, and it was a great learning experience for me. However, it did take some time and patience to get everything just right. Some of the parts did not fit together perfectly, and I had to spend some time sanding and adjusting to get them to fit properly. This process can be time-consuming and frustrating at times, but it is also rewarding to see the guitar take shape as you go.

Once the guitar was assembled, I was pleased with the sound and playability. The guitar produces a decent sound that is suitable for a variety of different styles. It has a warm and balanced tone that is great for both rhythm and lead playing. The neck is comfortable to play, and the frets are well positioned and easy to reach.

One of the things I appreciated about the kit was the quality of the parts. The hardware and electronics were solid and reliable, and they held up well over time. The guitar also has a nice finish that has held up well to regular use.

Overall, I think the Harley Benton electric guitar kit is a good option for someone who wants to build their own guitar at an affordable price. While there were some minor issues with the assembly process, the end result is a decent guitar that is enjoyable to play. If you are willing to put in the time and effort to assemble it properly, it can be a great learning experience and a satisfying project to undertake.

Great Project Guitar

I bought this in September 2022. I opened the box and...

The body and neck are really good, the top is one piece of Mahogany, not super exciting but better than I expected. All the electric stuff is ok and the wiring is no-solder. The bridge and tuners are good to start.

I was happy with the stuff it came with for a couple months, then stuff started to bug a little. Mostly tuning issues. I eventually replaced the nut, bridge and the tuners with upgraded parts that were very easy to install.

Now the guitar is a really nice, VERY playable and sound just fine.

I reckon after about another $100 for paint, sandpaper and upgrades you will have a much nicer instrument. For that kind of money you can't go wrong. And it was really fun to do.

I also used it to learn setup, a perfect Guinea pig for learning the black arts. Bought a few guitar dude tools and had at it. Great fun!

Buy one and have a great time with it.

Quality kit well thought out.

Great kit arrived quickly well packaged easy to prep for stain easy to assemble and easy to set up. Intonation held perfectly action easy to set. Sounded really good very happy with this guitar much better than I thought it would be.

Trust Me , It's Perfect

I bought this kit with 2 things in mind - as a base for upgrades and a lower price guitar for experimenting different things and repairing or changing stuff. I WAS SURPRISED BY THE QUALITY !

So let me start with Cons and they are only 3 and just minor ones -

- Instructions were not included, but even though I found the manual online, it's just pretty much bad. All the simple stuff - put this here and that there you can do it without them, but every information I actually needed to find - wasn't there. That includes what wire is red and what is grey, what pot is for volume and what is for tone, what side i should connect wires so switch would turn bridge pickup, not neck, and screws could be labeled or something , so youtube guided me on those things. It's still simple to build, but if this would be first guitar you ever seen, might take much longer to go through the process.

- ( A ) string buzzes on lower frets, but it doesn't really go out through AMP and I play mostly with distortion so I personally don't really have nothing against it, but it's there, just so you know. Slight truss rod adjustment made the difference

- Cavity covers . the same problem I've seen on other ones, both are slightly off shape and screw holes are slightly off places , it looks bit weird

So now all the Good things -

Fretboard - just perfect. Not a single high fret or sharp fret edge, all are leveled and smooth and just pleasure to play.

Nut slot is well done, there is always place for improvements.

The whole setup in general is amazing, intonation was easy to set up. My personal favorite - G string is in tune and intonated perfectly , what I can't say about my 4x higher price LP copy.

Tuners - do the job, some are bit stiffer than others but they work.

Tailpiece and bridge went in smooth , they feel cheap, and are lightweight, but it all works.

Pickups - sounds pretty good. Not really hot ones, but the tone is pretty good. It actually made me rethink how little does it changes from different price ranges.

Overall the whole guitar is not as heavy as most les paul copies, but it's still heavier than strats. Neck profile is somewhere in the middle, not as big and chunky as most LPs.

In general - I love this guitar and it really is simply pleasure to play it. IT will be great for everyone out there and pretty amazing base for upgrading and making it individual

Plastic nut, impossible to sand (for stain), binging easily marked

Very disappoin. Plastic nut, impossible to sand (for stain), binging easily markeded