Harley Benton Electric Guitar Kit Single Cut 3-stars Reviews

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

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.

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.

Looks great

Bought for my teenage daughter she struggled to finish building this she was quite frustrated so she never got to play finished article unfortunately

Nice quality but ...

Three out of six ferrules were not included. The guitar switch was damaged. The quality of the guitar body and neck was good

It is a good experience for anyone who wants to assemble a guitar. For value, I consider it an instrument that exceeds expectations.

Positive aspects: the neck is not that bad and the guitar looks very good.

Negative aspects: the electronics are of low quality. Only the middle module works.

What can I say?

The body and neck was really good BUT! The screws snapped on me and I had to re solder the tone pot. There is a finish on the wood and I would say that this is somthing that should not be on the kits.

All in all its a good thing to get just change all the screws and check the wireing as there is no notification on the connections on what goes to what

Not so solder free.

Assembly is straight forward although the wiring channels were clogged up with wood chips so I poked them clear with a wire coat hanger. The wiring harness however was incorrectly manufactured. The live wire from the pick up was connected to the center terminal on the pot (the output) which meant that the volume controls were either on or off. Looking at the pot with the spindle pointing away from you, the live wire must go to the left terminal. Re-soldering this fixed the problem but rather defeats the purpose of a solder free kit!

The instructions are well written and the other parts well made. Nice neck with a slightly dry feel before adding varnish. The finish on the body is very smooth if a little uneven with some excess glue showing in places. All the holes required are pre drilled and in the right place. Having a maple neck the sound is a bit brighter than a mahogany model but very pleasant.

Very Nice Guitar

The guitar lacks features and it is quite easy to build but the painting process didn't go very well, so maybe next time i'll buy a pre-built guitar and the neck fit properly.