Harley Benton SC-550 II DFB Reviews

Another great guitar from Harley Benton

Out of the box some bridge and truss rod adjustments had the guitar playing great within minutes. The slim C-shape neck is nicely finished with no sharp fret ends and feels great in the hand, particularly if you have a ‘thumb over the top’ playing style. Players with big hands or who like big, chunky necks will probably not be drawn to this.

The burst top on this guitar looks superb, so it’s a shame that the control knobs look really cheap. The pickup selector switch has a lot of ‘play’ and feels cheap and fragile. I’m not sure why HB chose green plastic for the classic ‘3-a-side tuners, they work adequately but look out of place on this guitar. The Roswell humbuckers are okay but lack warmth, depth, and bottom end so I will change them if I decide to keep the guitar.

In summary, this a great guitar for the price.

Well Impressed and stunned.

What can I say? I’d seen so many video reviews of this guitar, in which all say, (with differing blogger credibility) that it’s astounding for the money and worth buying. Being a Harley Benton fan, and owning a few Gibson Les Pauls myself, even though a single cut is not my go-to design, I do use them in the studio so thought it was worth a punt to see if the ‘hype’ was true.

Straight out of the box it was playable. Only a couple of personal set-up tweaks to get it how I like it and … WOW! It really lives up to all that is said about it. The HB-SC550 Deluxe (as it says on the rear of the headstock) I don’t think can be beat for twice the money. It looks beautiful and it plays beautifully. The body seems to be 3 slabs of mahogany, one even has a flame that is visible around the side of the guitar. An improved neck heel allows easier access to the dusty end of the neck, whilst the 22 chunky frets are clean and even all the way over the fingerboard, allowing great contact and good grip on the strings when bending.

I did an A/B test with my LP Standard (a 1991). OK, it doesn’t feel the same, but I have played more modern LP guitars that are not far off and you soon forget you’re playing a Harley Benton. The Tesla pickups are not quite as bright maybe as the Gibson’s, especially the Tesla neck which is even a little darker, but they ring nicely and are comparable. I don’t think the Kluson style machine heads are any worse than the real thing either but maybe a new set, maybe locking would improve things. The volute whilst being a nice looking addition to the neck, will undoubtedly reduce the likelihood of neck breaks.

It’s a very useable guitar, which I will use often, as I do my other HBs. My only gripes, and they are little ones, is that the body binding could have been thicker and more visible, and whilst the figured top is very nice, I think I may have preferred it more plain and simple. Flames and quilts seem to be the big trend and they are everywhere. Regardless, the HB SC-550 is a stunning guitar. It would be worth it at twice the price, however, the price is good as it is and will sell far more units than if it was higher.

For those like me who really don’t need another guitar or can’t justify a huge cash outlay for a new working instrument or for a little fun, or for someone needing a great guitar to learn on, this guitar cannot be beaten.

quality

this guitar is everything all the reviews on u tube say it is. what can i say that hasnt been said. all the superlatives are absolutely true. i have tried a lot of high end guitars that i would love to own(or so i thought).this one is just brilliant.

Absolutely love my SC-550 II DFB

The SC-550 II DFB I received is absolutely beautiful. I let it sit for about a week to let the guitar acclimate to my environment. No neck adjustment was needed and today I changed the strings to a lighter set for my playing comfort. I plugged it in and it sounds amazing. When I bought the guitar I thought I would probably consider changing the pickups, I’m not thinking that now. The Tesla pickups sound great. I am so happy with my new guitar and I will keep it forever. I only had one bummer incident today. I decided to remove the back cover on the potentiometers to have a look inside and the cover was so tight, when I removed it, it took a little chunk of the finish off to the wood. At least it’s on the back side. I guess I don’t have to worry about that first nick/scratch that would have come eventually. If you’re thinking about buying one of these guitars…..DO IT!

Not a bad guitar for the money. Gibson admission ticket

Amazing

I watched a YouTube review before purchasing this. The review gave it a glowing reference but I was blown away when it arrived. Finish is great, looks stunning, quite weighty, sounds great - I already had some pickups I was going to fit but now will probably leave them. The only bad points, the nut isn't brilliant and theres 2 bits of sawdust in the finish by the rear control cavity. And it took me ages to find that. The nut functions, the guitar holds tune very well but visually it could be better. If I'd paid 3 times this it would still be a bargain. Highly recommended

Really cool guitar

Cool guitar! For this money, no one will offer you something like that. The SC-550 is very comfortable and sounds great.

Pros:

Appearance

Guitar playing comfort

Sound

Workmanship quality

Minuses:

Screening

Pickups are moving

playing this guitar is fun.

Warning.

The writing is on the wall for other guitar brands...Harley Bentons will become the best sellers world wide. Mark my words. I am a collector, sitting here with a Gibson Les Paul Classic and this new HB beside me. I can find the flaws on the Gibson easily...the Harley Benton is perfect and way more beautiful, by far. The neck and action are very comfortable and it is not as heavy as the Gibson. The pickups are low output and a bit muddy on cleans but are good on overdrive. The tuners are very good and stainless steel frets are not gritty. The instrument also balances well. I've stopped mentioning value for money with these HB guitars...They are just excellent in build quality and can compete with (and beat) some of the top brands several times their cost.

Great update to a great guitar

The Tesla pickups and stainless frets are welcome additions to the the formula I was already quite happy with on the Gen I. The frets required little to no work and they feel great. The new flame tops are HOT.

I think the description of the nut as "graphite" is in error. It was also badly cut and will probably need changing before I'm happy with it.

Pros:

Beautiful

Great fret work

New pickups are fantastic

Cons:

Badly cut nut

Nut material not as advertised

Great guitar

Really good for the money, plays well straight out of the box, totally good enough to gig at any level, like a lot of other guitars many times the cost it could do with setting up to your taste. for me i think the stainless steel frets are to high, but that's nothing i can't change, i can't say enough, i have many guitars not as good that cost a lot more, total thumbs up from me