Harley Benton SC-450Plus HB Vintage Series Reviews

APPERANCE - The HB SC-450 Plus in Honey Burst is my second Les Paul style guitar. I also have a low-end Epiphone. It arrived in good shape (Pacific Northwest of the US). When I opened the box I was amazed at how nice the guitar looked. I did not find any blemishes or scratches on the finish or hardware

PLAYABILITY ? The first thing I noticed is this is a heavy guitar. The humbucker tones of the guitar sound very smooth and meet my expectations for the low price. I do need to get a better amp. I only have a small practice amp and GuitarRig5. This guitar also has the coil tapping feature but I have not used it very much. The pickup selector and tuners work well. After a few days of playing, the sharp edges of the frets became very noticeable and my hand was getting cut. I also found a few frets that were high but they are not causing any buzz. I filed down the sharp edges (took less than an hour) and I will do a fret leveling and full setup when I do my next string change. There are a lot of good how-to videos on youtube. The guitar plays now plays very smooth as the binding lets your hand slide easily along the neck.

Overall ? I am happy with guitar especially the appearance and tone and would recommend it if you are willing to put a just few hours in to set it up properly and know you saved a lot of money.

Unbelievably good quality, great finishes & good tone woods.

Very quick delivery, doubly protected by the good packaging. I own other guitars by the so called better manufacturers, and this is as nice to play as any of them, the neck is beautiful to play, couldn't snag a wooly jumper on it if you tried and it outshines most of my other guitars with the quality of finishes. I can't vouch for the long term quality of the electrics, but they have a good feel to them so far.

Sounds are good, but I'll probably put some other PU's in for comparison. I bought it as a "project guitar" to add a Bigsby vibrato, a preamp and piezzo pick up bridge which mean drilling and routing the guitar. It's such a nice guitar I'm having second thoughts now about cutting into it.

The only negative comment is that I'll need to dress the nut slots a little as the strings are sticking a little after a bend. Lubricating would probably do it OK but I prefer not to use oil, graphite or grease.

Overall it's an outstanding guitar for the price and I'm delighted with it.

The HB SC-450Plus Vintage Series Guitar

So? I recently ordered my first HB guitars!

The Harley Benton SC-450Plus HB Vintage Series &

the Harley Benton SC-Custom Vintage Black

This review is looking at the SC-450Plus Vintage Series

First off? I have to admit that I was a little bit worried about making an order. I live all the way in the central US (Missouri), and I had no idea of how long it would take to get the guitars?nor, what kind of condition they would be in once I got them.

I placed the order on January 15th, and I received the guitars on January 23rd. From Germany, to the central US. In my opinion, that is pretty good time.

The guitars arrived with absolutely no damage. The large box carrying the equipment was full of those small packing air bags, which kept everything inside mint. The outside box did have a small bit of wear, but it wasn't anything at all substantial.

One reason I made the leap and ordered these guitars, was because I had reached a point in my playing where I was Stratocastered out. For years, that was what I played, and I had just reached a place to where I needed something different. I wanted something that could handle everything I've played in the past, but also something that would inspire me to go into a new direction.

The MWCHB alnico vintage-style humbucker pickups seem to be able to handle pretty much anything. I've played in choirs, at church, the blues, old fashioned rock, and really, just about everything in between. For the most part, Stratocasters get the job done, but I NEED something with a bit more edge. Both the SC-Custom and the SC-450Plus share the same pickups, and they more than meet that "dangerous" edge that I need from time to time in my playing. Single coils are nice, but they don't have that roar. With this, you are the king of the jungle!

The neck of the 450 is nice. I prefer it over the thinner neck of the SC-Custom. The frets are fine. No problem at all. The rosewood fretboard looked pretty. So far, I haven't had any tuning problems. I tuned it after receiving it, and it was only slightly sharp the next day. You have to remember though, this was after a lot of heavy playing!

The body of the 450 is solid. I'm guessing it weighs around 8 pounds? The neck is fixed onto the body tighter than the handle to an ax. No problems there.

I've seen some pictures of a few HB guitars where the flame top pieces don't match up very well. I've seen online one or two people complain about the ones they received. However, I can't do that with this. The pieces look fantastic together. In the right light, they look perfect. The right angle will show they aren't, but I'm not complaining at all!

To be honest, I find it hard to complain about anything. The only thing I wish would have been different is the pickguard. It's just a hard, blah piece of plastic. It doesn't really do anything for me..but it isn't a big deal. I could take it off if I wan't, but so far, I'm not planning on doing that.

Anyway, this guitar is amazing. It's worth the $150 or so price tag. You won't find ANYTHING nearly as good, for this price. More than likely, especially if you live in the US, you will have to pay 2..maybe 3.. times the price for something similar in quality.

These two guitars are the first of several I will be ordering. Thank you Harley Benton!

Harley Benton SC-450Plus HB Vintage Series

I have had three different les paul style guitars,

Each had there own sound,But the SC-450 HB Vintage standard sounded good plays great in your hand

& very well made also has a nice weight .

I play this more than my SG made by the big E company.

Awesome

I am no guitar pro or whatsoever. I had used Schecter SGR C-1 BLK. And the HB guitar is much better than that. It has a solid sustain. Vibratos are easy and pleasant on this guitar. The finish is just stunning. Overall very good gig for the price.

Marvelous guitar! RECOMMENDED

I bought this guitar because I wanted a Les Paul styled guitar for a lower price so I resorted to this and I'm absolutely satisfied with this. The finish is awesome considering the price range, sound is great on all pickups and I'd just recommend this guitar to anyone who wants a great budget guitar.

Great guitar...

I live in Canada and it was shipped on a Thursday and I received the following Wednesday 5 working days.

Well packed. The intonation perfect right out of the box as well as the neck relief. I lowered the action slightly.

The finish is very well done a real beauty.

The nut was cut well.No sharp fret ends.All the frets were level.The tuners are smooth and hold well.

I would not compare this guitar with any in this price range or much higher.