Harley Benton SC-450Plus CB Vintage Series Reviews

New LP Rep

I have several guitars but wanted to get an SC guitar and after a lot of research decided to purchase this Harley Benton SC after seeing that 99% of people who had purchased this model all said it was perfect. My SC-450 Plus CB is fantastic and it needed a little tuning, one thing i did find the B string tuner was a bit hard to tune but with a bit of patience i got it, the intonation is only a tiny bit out and it also needs a tiny bit of action adjustment to suit me but for a guitar straight out of the box it was perfect and the finish is immaculate, i have had several guitar players look at it and say for the price it is a fantastic bargain.

Exceptional value

I received my SC-450 plus Vintage about a month ago. I looked it over from top to bottom expecting to find something I could maybe complai abouit, but this beauty is flawless. Action was set just the way I like it, intonation was 97% perfect. This guitar plays really easy and sounds fantastic. I am very happy with this purchase and have begun showing other players. I expect they will be looking for a Harley Benton soon. I highly recomment this guitar.

very fine guitar

This model is a good chunck of wood, I've always have favored the heavy ones. Plays slick nice 60's type neck sounds... comes close to my Gibson gold top tribute. Lets us know what kind of profits Gibson & Fender are making. Great guitar

Very nice guitar

Fantastic guitar and no problems encountered,

Very Pleased

Only slight set up changes were needed. Played really well right out of the box, just needed to lower the strings a little. Great sound, but the volume pots could be better. Coil splitters are nice, especially on clean channels. Fit and finish is really nice. Wood looks good, neck is fine, was straight with no issues. Cant say anything bad about this product, other than the volume pot could stand to be changed. Buying another guitar from them today since this one was so good. No complaints, very happy.

Feels far more expensive than it is!

Let me start off by saying I didn't expect a whole lot from a guitar this inexpensive. I was really blown away by what I got! The hype is REAL.

I love the way it feels in the hand. It feels so much more expensive and like a real luxury item. I really can't imagine even a guitar snob having much negative to say about the feel. It is amazing.

The finish on mine was superb as well. The top was matched very well and the burst is perfect - exactly what I was hoping for!

The pickups in MY opinion are pretty ok. I wouln't mind if they were a little brighter but this is just being nit picky and I could probably fix some of it with EQ. The neck pickup in particular is a bit dark. I also don't get as much of a creamy tone from the coil tap as I hoped. Not the end of the world! The bridge sounds pretty good to me - especially with a healthy dose of distortion.

Stop looking at reviews, order the guitar. You won't regret it.

Having to send it back

Feels great in the hands - plays fine, but cosmetically there are some pretty bad flaws here - yes, I know it's a "reasonably priced" guitar - and I only bought it to mod the thing, but there's a big mark on the maple cap - the join in which also isn't centralised to the bridge alignment, and there's a large cosmetic flaw on the side of the body too - looks like someone didn't align the masking tape correctly when finishing it or something... completely understandable that these things happen in manufacture, but it got through QC as well, and that's more alarming to me. To be fair, it plays well enough, and was nicely set up, but I can't mod this body - need a good solid starting point and this sadly isn't it. Perhaps I just got a bad one?

Reasonable value

I bought this as my first guitar, and while it has its disappointing shortcomings, overall its a good value guitar.

Pros:

- Surprisingly stable tuning, despite cheap tuning machines

- Great play-ability at medium action heights

- Smooth fret edges

Cons:

- Plastic nut "grabs" strings during tuning, causing "clink" sound

- Tuning machines have horrible dead spots

- General dead spots/unevenness in all adjustment screws, including bridge height and intonation adjustment screws.

- "Rise-in-tongue" above the 15th fret, causing strings to fret-out at low action heights

- Very thick poly finish, sticky on neck

- Fairly muddy humbuckers on 10-46 strings, but can be avoided with brighter amp/dialed down low-end.

Despite the negatives, I'm mostly happy with the guitar. I wish they'd had the SC-550 in stock when I'd ordered however. I feel like a lot of the cost-savings are the root of a lot of these problems I've had.

Great Guitar but some minor flaws

I was excited to see this package arrive and quickly UN-boxed this guitar. Upon initial inspection the guitar had no visual cosmetic flaws, the switch and knobs all seem to move the bridge was set up a little high, but the neck had the right amount of relief. This is a great guitar for the price. Upon initial tuning I noticed that two of the tuning pegs were not screwed in tight, the screws were not tighten...how it made it passed inspection? Also there was some issues with the tail piece post, but I have experienced working with guitars and was a non-issue. The post was not fasten to the body and when I changed strings, they both popped out. A little tight bond glue (a drop) to keep them in place. Otherwise still a great guitar.

Wonderful!

I'm not a real guitarist, so I can't give you a deep feedback on technical details. the guitar looks very good, even better than in the picture on the site. The sound is very good to me.

The only point that can be improved are the four volume knobs: something better would be appreciated. They feel a bit too "cheap".

Anyway, I'm very satisfied with the purchase.

We'll have a good time together :)

BEST Les Paul I've ever played!!

Pros: This guitar is INCREDIBLE! It easily tops ANY Les Paul I've played before - including Gibsons - in my 40+ years of playing! Great sound from the LAF Alnico-V pickups! VERY versatile! BUY THIS GUITAR!! It's a no-brainer! The quality is absolutely top notch! It EASILY tops guitars 10 times its price! I am VERY happy with it!

Cons: There are NONE!

Impressive guitar for the price

This guitar is a testament to how Harley Benton can put out great guitars for a very reasonable price.

No cons really, only the string height needed adjustment on mine and the fretboard needed cleaning and the frets polishing. The colour is kind of disappointing, looks dull.

Sound is great and feel is great also. Tuning stability is ok.

One of the best budget guitars I have ever bought!

I bought this guitar a few weeks ago, and it is already one of the best guitars I've ever bought. It plays amazingly and the Roswell Alnico pickups give the guitar that signature Les Paul sound. However, it is also quite heavy, so if you are thinking about using it for long gigs, I'd recommend a bass strap.

The coil-splitting ability gives you a range of amazing tones from the spanky country sound of an American Strat, to the hard rock tones of a Les Paul.

One con that I have is that mine shipped out with the tuner bushings not fully pressed into the headstock, this was easy enough for me to fix with a bit of sanding but just keep that in mind if you are buying this as a first guitar. In sure this was just a mistake but it didn't affect the playability of the guitar at all.

Overall this guitar looks and sounds amazing, the carved top gives it a feel like no other and it just sounds amazing, no more needs to be said. I would highly recommend this to anyone looking for a new guitar. I just cannot give it enough praise.

Wow

Cannot find a blemish, setup is pretty much right on, barely had to tune out of the box. This guitar can be used by the beginning all the way up to a band startup!! I would buy another without hesitation

Absolutely Great Guitar

This is an amazing guitar for the price. I will never be able to own a Gibson Les Paul in all my life; this is the closest I'll get! Great sound, feel and playability. Looks awesome too!

Great buy

Ordered on Sept.20,and in My Hands 7 days later to West Michigan U.S.A. Great Buy and everyone wants to play it. awesome guitar,and not just for the price. No flaws to even mention,but the tuners could be better and would have payed that price for locking one...just saying,but they work and keep tune. Just stick out,and for the looks of them.

Harley says...

GREAT GUITAR!!! VERY, VERY SET TO PERFECTION! NICE FINISH! OVER ALL...

A+++

Wow, what a beautiful guitar . I named her Jennifer after my mum died at Christmas.

I play an assortment of guitars ranging from Washburn, Ibanez, Parker, prs mainly for recording purposes, I wanted to try a different brand and see what the comparisons were like to other guitars in the same price spectrum,Nothing can compete with this for the price it has everything the aesthetics are beautiful the pickups grunt through my 100 watt boss katana nice mids With the tone knob rolled off. The sound is full bodied very pleasing to the ear,if my mum was still here I'm sure she would love the guitar,she always liked a nice flame maple top, and this guitar certainly has that. Rest in peace mum thanks for the guitar

Great design, poorly executed.

I just received my SC-450 after 7 weeks of waiting (Colorado, USA) and I am disappointed, to be honest. The guitar has a clear coat flaw above the pickup selector. I could get over that easy enough for 164 US$, but there is also 5 dead notes (not in sequence) with terrible fret buzz. The frets on the finger side of the neck stick out some and are sharp. The pickups are not in perfect line. The bridge pickup is left of center when viewed from above the strings. Also, one of the tuners (A String) is crooked on the back of the head stock. It is not in line with the other tuners. I believe this could be a good instrument once I spend some quality hours working on it, but I am probably not going to order another HB after this experience. The value is one thing if the guitar is at the least playable out of the box, but with the dead frets & sharp edges, it is nothing but a frustrating practice guitar for now... obviously the "Quality Control" aspect of this transaction is extremely disappointing.

I do love the Coil Tap pickups. It has strong midrange LP tone from the Roswells and all hardware is secure and well fitting.

If you are a luthier hobbyist, it may be worth the trouble. I am not yet certain.

Overall Happy But Needs Attention

Guitar came with no damage in shipment to the USA, however the fret job was poor Frets were unpolished and were high in 12 spots. Don't hammer in the frets use a fret installer next time. The fret board was dirty, had two dented frets. (Stop using Nickel Frets), couple inlay edges were not filled in properly with glue or inlays not properly cut not very noticeable. Guitar input jack was cheap had to replace with Switchcraft. Ok this is a cheap guitar, if you're a serious player and like modding or fixing guitars to make them better this is the guitar for you.