Harley Benton SC-450Plus LD Vintage Series Reviews

Excellent guitar. Amazing value. Pity about the colour.

This is a really good LP style guitar. I would have given it 5 stars except the finish isn't close to one in the picture. The dark part of the burst is virtually undetectable so it really just looks like a single colour, yellow top. This has taken some of the joy out of getting the guitar but I will get used to it in time. Overall the guitar is very close to a late 80s Gibson LP a friend of mine owns. Similar weight, neck profile. etc.

Pros: Very well built. Flawless finish. Has an actual thick cap rather than a thin veneer. Holds tuning well. Played very well out of the box - intonation almost spot on, no fret buzz, nice medium/low action. Fret work is excellent. Nut is well cut. Pots are smooth and no crackles. Neck heel design is a revelation (see below).

Cons: The colour (see above). The 3way switch and bridge look cheap but work fine. The knobs are very light weight and difficult to grab when using the coil split.

I normally play double cut guitars (super strats and PRS style) and this is my second try with an LP style guitar. My previous guitar was mid/high end Ltd that I never got comfortable with. It was a very nice guitar but the neck heel made upper fret access too difficult. The heel on this guitar is a massive improvement over the Ltd and far better than the Gibson design.

A very good guitar at any price and amazing for the price charged. Highly recommended - maybe just see if you can get a picture of the guitar you order to check the finish matches the pictures.

Hello.. I was watching that harley benton guitar for quite time so i decide to order it...

when it came - firt impresion was ok.. nice finish.. but then - Neck - finger board- disaster.. non playeble... but i put 2-4 h work on it and now it is ok..

Sound ok, finish OK , AFTER SETTINGS AND POLISING NECK NOW IT IS OK...

After all SC (lp) for 170 €) that is very good guitar...

cy

Nothing beats this guitar for the price

I received this guitar in March and have not been able to put it down. The guitar plays wonderfully. The pickups are really very good. The only thing that I may change would be the switches and pots but to be honest they really do work just fine.

Indeed a real jem

I have been playing guitar for over 40 years and have a few guitars and still go out and play. I have a 1972 Gibson Les Paul custom, that is just to expensive to take to small gigs and its showing its age. I decided on a whim to purchase this Harley Benton after seeing reviews about quality and sound. First guitar I have ever bought without trying it out first. My surprise was that the only work I had to do was to oil the fretboard and smooth out the frets. I originally thought of gutting the electronics and putting in Seymore Duncans and doing all the wiring with CTS pots, but this guitar impressed me and I have left it pretty much how it was shipped.

Great Value

You won't find a better deal unless Grampa dies and you find a Gibson under the bed. While the shipping to the US requires some patience, it's worth the wait - this is an instrument that looks, feels, and sounds very good - mine was set up and n tune out of the box. Some folks have expressed doubts about the coil-split, but it adds some usable tones to your palette. I highly recommend this guitar.

Wow !!!

I had read a number of reviews and watched You tube video reviews which were all positive, but I couldn't have imagined how good a product and service I received. Ordered on a Sunday night, playing it by Thursday evening. Out of the box once tuned was fantastic. A stunning looking, well setup and sounding instrument.

Pro's - Flawless finish and binding, neck plays and feels great in the hand, Pickups great sound just what I was looking for not overpowering or harsh but well balanced and tuneful. Coil split is useful. stays in tune well, just cant fault it.

Con's .... being ultra picky the fret-board was a little dry but looks great after a bit of Lemon Oil.

Overall a simply great guitar, I bought a Gibson Tribute T in 2017 and got rid of it as the build quality was so shocking uneven and ridiculously sharp frets, unbalanced neck diving, would not stay in tune. Gibson need to take a good look at the exemplary standard of these guitars, they knock you out of the park.

Just buy one they are brilliant and before the rest of the world finds out!!!

Go-to guitar

This is not a project guitar. It comes set up and ready to play for the most part. I'll even be keeping the strings on. You know when you finally break down and buy that expensive guitar because you are tired of dealing with the crappy action on your "project" guitars? That "Oh wow. This is how a guitar should play." feeling? That is honestly the feeling I get playing this guitar. Maybe I just got super lucky but I'm going to be taking a hard look at my "utility" guitar collection. The money and effort needed to get some of these guys to the Harley Benton level of quality would be better spent on a Harley Benton.

Great guitar for the money

everything I hoped for and more, great platform for upgrades, my three way switch stopped working it tested bad so it was not the wiring or connection points, all ready ordered a switchcraft three way to upgrade, thanks i will be purchasing many more HB's in the future especially once my guitar shop opens.

best quality can this reasonable price buy and great customer service..

Mine was flawless

The one I received had no finish flaws, no issues at all. I'm not a beginner. I own several high end guitars. I just heard great things about these guitars. It's much better than an Epi of a similar price. I had it shipped to the US. I'm very pleased.

Great Guitar for the money

This is a really really well made guitar for the money. As soon as I received it I set it up and it plays and sounds great. Buying one for my friend as a present today.

A Harley Benton convert.

This is my first Harley Benton purchase, after seeing quite a few reviews I thought I'd go ahead and buy one. I was really pleasantly surprised by the build quality, as good as everyone had been saying and spotting some file marks on a couple of the frets it was obvious that time had been spent setting the guitar up. Its action was nice and low with not a hint of fret buzz or choking. If there is a weak spot I would point to the quality of the volume and tone pots, they work and but to be honest moaning about something like that on a guitar that looks as great as this and sounds great is to be a little pedantic. Fantastic value for money.

I'm in love with this guitar!!!

Outstanding for the price! In fact I would pit it against any $3000.00 guitar out there. The finish is beautiful to say the least! I am very happy and it far exceeded my expectations!

Marvellous but mind the colour

Other reviewers have said it all, I will only add that I am more on the amateur side, and for me this is a great quality/price ratio. Unbeatable. I have a couple of much more expensive items and frankly this one is still a favourite. Easy to play.

Be VERY careful about the colour though: the photos on the site have nothing to do with reality. Only the Cherry Burst (CB) is accurate (I have it too). The "HB" - honey burst - is ... honey, ie brownish (no red) and the LD, this one - Lemon Drop - is yellow, no red either (the "burst" is very very mild). Still, all look awesome.

Love it

I?ve always played strats and teles so buying an inexpensive LP copy was a bit of gamble. I couldn?t be happier though. The guitar is beautifully finished in lemon drop and was cosmetically perfect. No work was needed as everything was spot on from a playability point of view. Incredible value for money.

Pro

Great Maple top worthy of a guitar 10 times the price.

The most comfortable electric neck I've used, by a mile, despite the gloss finish (which I always remove anyway). Hardware and knobs are decent at this price as are the rest of the fittings. I personally thought the tuners worked very well.

The action was nice straight out of the box and after slightly modifying intonation I was ready to go.

Con

This guitar cost me less than ¤160, bear that in mind...

The most obvious, but least (?) important hiccup was a large mark on the otherwise lovely mahogany back.

If cosmetics are important it would have been an instant return.

The coil split is relatively ineffective. A disappointment but not a deal breaker because the 'buckers themselves are not too bad.

I didn't get this guitar for a single coil sound anyway.

If you look very closely there are some flaws in the finish, but you have to look hard.

Don't be put off by these relatively minor quibbles.

The top is a stunner and I'd have bought this even if I had tested it first

Fantastic buy! A++++

I love this guitar, sounds fantastic! The finish is perfect, frets are not sharp. I will buy more very soon! Worth every penny. Although I had to pay $19 for customs charge, still worth it! Get one, you will be quite pleased.

Amazing guitar

This is one amazing guitar at a very affordable price. The color and finish are even better in person than from the pictures in the site. I was pleasantly surprised when unboxed it.

I am not as experienced as the other reviewers and cannot give worthy enough review, but this guitar has all that I wanted.

venerable Guitar

Intonation is very smooth. The keyboard is quite comfortable. singular coils without noise. The tuning augers could be of better quality.

The polish is very very good. This guitar is taken. It didn't bother me.

Amazing Guitar.

I had heard good things about this guitar and I was it came i could not believe how amazing it plays. There are some parts that it's obvious that is cheap plastic but it looks and sounds amazing. Not sure you can get a better guitar for the price, very happy with it.

It took 3 weeks to arrive. They also shipped it 5 days after ordering it. They said it was because of Christmas so a heads up for anyone looking of getting one in the holiday season try and order early. Not happy with the delivery part but it shouldn't affect the 5 stars this guitar deserves.