Harley Benton SC-450 P90 GT Classic Series 5-stars Reviews

outstanding value

guitar played perfectly right out of the box, really has the feel of a 50's style LP

Total vintage rock and roll vibe

I have just about every type of guitar except for a single-cut with P90s. So this was the only way I could fill that slot and not break the family budget.

So glad I pulled the trigger - this is a high-quality instrument. the finish, frets, action and sound are spectacular right out of the box. And the box got to me from Germany in 3 days in the dead of winter with the guitar almost in tune! Perfect weight too 8-8.5 lbs. Love it.

great guitar at low prices

couldn't fault the feel, look, feel, playability what a quality of the guitar it equals guitars that cost 10 x this price, I bought 2 and will purchase many more , well done on achieving exceptional quality and this low budget price, 1st class.

P90's are a little too hot. Some 60 cycle hummm.

a beauty

this is maybe HB best looking guitar. the p90s are not that noisy. you have to have it set up though. the nut on these needs work almost all the time, but once you have it done and have your action set up, its a great instrument

Great guitar but work to do

Now this guitar is playing and sounds as good as any guitar in 500-1000$ price range. Body, neck, electronics and finish are flawless. Beautiful LP classic vibe. However, I had to fix some issues: 3 high frets and action was way too high (was set to avoid fret buzz) / once the high frets were levelled I was able to set a very low action with no buzz / nut slots too high (cowboy chords out of tune). Had to file slots to standard height / polished all frets / bridge pickup way to low (had to put foam in the cavity to bring the pickup at a standard height) / had to fill one screw hole in the pickup cavity cause the screw had no grip / had to set intonation / fretboard was dry (but beautiful once oiled) / truss rod did not need ajustement (perfect). After a complete setup according to my preferences, this guitar looks and plays great 😊👍. More than happy.

Love Her Madly!

First HB.Bought 4 more since. Love em all.

Great guitar period

The SC-450 P90 GT is a great guitar period. In fact, compared to its big brother the SC-550, I believe it is a better guitar.

The Pros:

-Value, tough to believe there is that much quality in a $152.00 guitar, but yet there is.

-Sound, Great straight out-of-box sound from the P90's. I'm sure a little adjusting is in order, but for now, play away.

-Setup, intonation was almost perfect, a couple of strings were a little sharp, but well within specs as far as I'm concerned.

-Looks, a Very nice gold top with quality binding and nice inlays. The headstock looks very Harley Benton (ish) and nothing wrong with that.

Construction- Everything was put together nicely with no flaws. The fretboard could stand a little Lemon oil which is just like every guitar that I buy. The frets were smooth and decently polished. I haven't put it on my workbench yet, but I haven't had any buzzing, so the frets seem to be great from the factory. The Basswood body is fine, you can feel the difference between it and the 550, but it's not enough to worry about.

I say the 450 is better than the 550 due to its sound. The 450 pickups are nice, not muddy (my SC-550 is super muddy on the neck pickup), and produce a very nice single-coil sound but with a warmer sound. Just like the p90 is supposed to do.

-Cons, not any that I found, as a matter of fact, mine came completely ready to play, including the factory strings.

If you are in the market for a quality instrument for a little money, this is the guitar for you.

Beautiful guitar with an awesome P90 sound

Great Bargain!

I own an original 1955 Gibson goldtop with P-90s that I bought over 50 years ago. I abused it during the 60's and 70's when playing and traveling professionally. Now I keep it mostly locked away and seldom play it. I bought this low priced copy a few years ago just to noodle on but it is a pretty good copy from the front and is fun to play. No complaints especially considering the price!

Great Goldtop!

The workmanship on these guitars is actually very good. Even though this one is basswood instead of mahogany, it is right up to par with my Gibson's in sound and weight! The only thing I immediately replaced was the plastic nut for a GraphTech nut. The electronics are fine and the finish looks better than in the pictures. Arrived without a scratch!

I've fallen in love.

I'll start with the problems the most noticeable being the fret ends. I had to round them off with a file to make this guitar comfortable, they were just a bit sharp. The second issue was in the tailpiece where the bass side did not fit around the post, and again I had to file off some material. About 30 mins work all in.

And now it is a total joy to play. The pickups are raucous with a distinct pop when you strike a string (which are stock); these P90s love drive and clean up really well so you can go from clean to dirt with the switch. The tuners are reasonable but do stick a little. Volume and tone controls both have a full range, and the hardware have given me no problems.

It's pretty. More copper-top than gold, but the finish has a subtle metallic sparkle when viewed up close. The binding on the neck gives a feeling of a higher-end guitar. The neck inlays and cream plastics do a really good impression of a late 50s LP. And the guitar is heavy, as it should be.

I've put aside my other guitars for the moment because this one is covering all the sounds I could ask for.

Faultless, great service as usual.

Fab.

Love this guitar.

It came well set up, it's very pretty, but most of all, it plays and sounds great.

P90's really are full of grunt, but they also have a soft side that's pretty clear.

For this price, I don't care about cosmetics, I just want to know how it plays, and this is a beast.

Great, fun guitar that is pretty versatile.

£144 for a guitar like this is a great price.

Happy Gift Recipient

I purchased this as a gift for my father. He absolutely loves this guitar. Says it plays perfectly and sounds incredible. Everything was nicely set up when it arrived and the finish is perfect. He was very happy with this gift.

Great value for the money - happy customer

Currently I have a Fender Telecaster 60th Anniversary. In the past I had a Gibson Nighthawk 1996 and an Epiphone Les Paul Custom 2009. I missed having a guitar with some more beaf to it than my Fender. Also, I just wanted to have something new to have some new inspiration. I really did not want to spend a lot of money at this moment and took the decision to buy this Harley Benton. I red a lot about it, watched many You Tube videos and most is very positive. I have to confirm these reviews! I would have send it back if I wasn't happy. Since its arrival I have been playing around 7 hours on it. I play through a Boss Katana with a Ibanez Tube screamer. The guitar is lots of fun. It keep its tuning okay and sounds good. I might have to polish the frets but after playing they already felt a bit more smooth. My fingers were a bit black after playing, not sure why, I honestly I don't care. In general, you want something new ? You want something gold with P90s and keep low budget? Than I would highly recommend this guitar!

You get so much guitar for the price!!

Okay so I am a big Les Paul style guitar user in the studio sessions and at home.

So recently i wanted to buy a gold top and played a friends sc-450 gt and was very impressed with the quality, which led me to ordering it.

The pros on this guitar are : good quality build and really good play ability right out of the box (fret board was dry but that is normal during shipping). The finish had zero flaws which for the price point of this guitar is very impressive, I seen guitar 4x the amount with imperfections through out the finish.

The hardware itself is good for the price. For me the only problem was the tuners but that's an easy fix, once i added new tuners it helped the tuning stability. The nut was cut very well with no sharp spots which again is very impressive for the price point.

When it comes to the electronics the pickups in my opinion sounded good and are very usable. The neck pickup is a little to muddy depending on the gain amount but that's where the tone control comes in handy and helps to brighten it up. The controls work well and actually have proper working volume pots.

Now for the downfalls which aren't that bad or hard to fix. I have already mentioned tuning machines but the other problem area is the actual control pots. Unfortunately they are dime sized pots which is a shame but for the price that is to be expected but they work great.

Overall this guitar is one the best playing single cut style instruments I have played in a long time. Definitely would recommend getting if you want a different look or sound with the soap bar pickups.

Amazing Quality / Value

This is a fabulous Les Payl replica - I have owned a few in the past - this is really good. The soaip bar P90's are really good, as is the general build quality.

I would have preferred a more subtle 'Gold Top' but nevertheless this is a great guitar.

One of the Best!

The only potential problem is the PU selector switch has some side play, apart from that it's an excellent guitar.

Amazing!

The SC-450 GT is amazing from sounds to looks. It is better than the my Les Paul Studio. For the price, nothing can beat it. This is the 5th Harley Benton I owned.