Harley Benton HB-35LH BK Vintage Series Reviews

Really nice sound, close to expected to a 335

Really liked the sound, I decided to go for this one over the more expensive plus model because I could hear in the sample sounds that the vintage pickups of this model were more close to the sound of an old gibson 335, which are the best in my opinion. And I wasn't dissapointed. The pickups have great outputs, bridge is 9.28 and neck 8.25. So they are hotter and more clear than an epiphone 335 for example. The action is good, low and easy to play. The only things I noticed that are not good are: the tuners are weak and it is not easy to keep them in the right place so the strings go easily out of tune, the pickguard had scratchings, and the strings are too flexible. They feel like 9 although allegedly they are 10. At least new tuners and strings will fix two of these problems. Compared to an epiphone 335 dot, I would say that it is much better value for money. I have tried the ephiphone 335 pro which has the push and pull like the Harley Benton HB35 plus and I do not like the sound. Compared to a few expensive old Gibson 335 that I have tried and sounded great, the epihpone dot and this Harley Benton HB35 have been the ones that sounded closer to them. The new Gibsons 335, especially the models under £2000 do not sound as good as this Harley Benton HB35 or the epihpone dot. To me, pickups sounds and how the work with the guitar body is number one priority. Then guitar neck and action. Sometimes even when you upgrade pickups you do not get an improvement, they do not work as expected, do not fit the guitar body well. So, all in all I am very happy with this guitar, just need new tuners and strings to make it great.

My go to guitar

The price is brilliant and the tones you can get with this thing are incredibly versatile. Well worth the buy

First and beloved guitar

This is my first guitar and I like it a lot! I was specifically searching for a semihollow guitar and chose this one. I have never played a string instrument but this baby made me love it and practice every day for 2 months now on - this I think is the most important, if you like the instrument and enjoy playing it then you made the right choice.

The guitar looks and feels gorgeous but has some flaws:

- You have got to fully set it up before you start, and I don't mean just tuning.

- The wiring isn't properly hidden and can be seen in the holes which spoil the view a bit if you don't do something about it.

- My guitar didn't have the knobs that are shown in the picture and their color was a bit out of place, so I bought new ones.

All this can be explained by one thing - this is a budget guitar and this negates all its flaws. For this price, it is amazing and worth every penny.

P.S. Going to buy a bass too, all thanks to this guitar)

A lefty's dream

There aren't very many places a left hander can get a wide variety of quality guitars. And I can't believe I can order a guitar and have it at my door from Germany to East Texas, USA in just a few days. Anyway, the guitar is fantastic. It took about of week of break in to get it used to my climate and such, but it's probably the most versatile guitar I own.

for the price good

i have the older version of this E35 and the build quality has desincread drastically on this hb-35 compared to that one from 2015

Harley Benton hollow body lh

For this kind off money,you can't find another finer and better guitar than this one...... just amazing...

quality guitar

this guitar is of quality build and sound. it has been made up to a high standard and not down to a price. it has a good weight and feel . i would recommend it to anyone who thinks that the low price means it is of poor quality, this couldn't be any further than the truth. buy it and you wont be disappointed.

Absolute delight

Im an older beginner and a night shift worker who bought this to have a guitar I can toodle about with on my nights off without waking the entire neighbourhood or faffing about with headphones and amps. Its an absolute joy to play and makes me want to pick it up whenever I glance in its direction.

Pros; see above. I pick it up often enough that Im practicing multiple times a day. The intonation is solid. It holds a tuning without any complaint. The action is delightful.

Cons; fret fuzz from the low E string. I think that's easy to fix though if I were brave enough to try. No access ports so no real possibility of upgrading the pots and pickups at some future date but the ones that are in there serve my needs so admirably that I simply dont care.

Champagine guitar for a lemonade price

I did not expect a guitar costing 155 uk pounds to be as good as this well done it feels good looks and sounds fine all the best .john uk

great looker

took a while to get action right but worth the trial and error.

guitar feels right certainly finish would put to shame some more expensive guitars.

humbuckers are ok again they sound better thru my vox night train tube amp. i have a set of warman p90s (humbucker shape) which will drop straight in ---i,m very tempted .if i do i,ll update the review . i really like this guitar and feel that as i get more used to it the more it will captivate me

Amazing quality for the money

We ordered this for my son to use at Uni - expecting a fairly average guitar for this sort of money. How wrong we were!

The build and quality of finish is excellent. The set up was great straight out of the box (nice low action and perfect intonation).

The pickups are both great and offer a good progression between clean and crunch when controlled using the volume controls.

The only thing that could be better is the tone controls - they're a bit "on-off" rather than progressive but at this price point this is acceptable.

Overall, I would highly recommend this guitar.

Wow, gobsmacked

I am totally amazed, as a southpaw, I struggle to find decent kit at an affordable price. Was browsing and saw this guitar. thought " it looks pretty !!" for £130 I can get rid of the rubbish and put some decent kit on her and paint properly. Best money i have ever spent, the finish is amazing, So much better than either the Gibson or Gretsch that i have bought in the last year. Set up was good, the action was a little high for me. easily fixed with a screwdriver. the downsides(nit picks really) The scratch guard is not the best. the neck pickup seems a little weak, and lastly the volume and tone switches seem to stand out from the body. I would have been happy with this guitar if i had paid 4 times what i have. This is not a good guitar for £130. It is a great guitar Full Stop..