Harley Benton SC-550 II FTF

Did not live up to the hype

After doing a lot of research and seeing literally at least 100 positive reviews (written or on YouTube) I decided that this would be my next guitar. Oh boy, was I excited. I got the guitar after about a week (I live in Sweden) and as I opened the package and saw the beautiful guitar (it is beautiful) my expectations were met, but that didn't last long. As I picked up the guitar and took a closer look at it I quickly noticed some quality issues that I wasn't expecting even on a more modestly priced guitar. The big no no for me was the poorly mounted frets (some serious gaps between the fret and fretboard) so I returned it and hoped to receive a better copy. The whole return/exchange process was slow in my opinion, it took a month to return it and receive a new guitar. When the second copy arrived I was less excited because I didn't want to get my hopes up. And as I opened the package and inspected the guitar I was struck by the poor quality of the fretboard, it looked like someone had tried to polish it with a key... just ugly and lots of visible scratches. Not something I'd expect.. even on a modestly priced guitar. And the setup was terrible, for instance the high E-string was resting on the pickups. It's quite obvious they don't even try to do a decent setup or any quality check. I decided to return it and get a refund and will be buying a completely different guitar. I'm not sure I'll give Harley Benton another try... was I just unlucky or is this a common thing.. or did I have too high expectations (I don't think so).. ?

Excellent Instrument!

Surprise! is the word to describe this excellent guitar. I still can't believe how good it is within this price range. Good looking, great sounds, good feeling. Amazing experience! Definitely a premium! Thanks HB! You Rock!

Brilliant guitar

This is a brilliant guitar for the price. It played right away out of the box. Only requires some minor fretwork that any guitar may have regardless of the price tag. It sounds both deep and bright, very please with the right intonation. And the finish is eye-catching. Thank you, HB, for such a great product!

Beautiful guitar for the price.

Upon opening the box and wrapping, the guitar looked absolutely stunning. I closely inspected the guitar, and finish wise, it was perfect. My only criticism being the flamed maple top, it was not evenly flamed, the right side was perfect, but the left side was not a good match. Another small problem (for me) being the frets, they were rather dull and not gleaming as in the promotional pictures, so they were duly polished with a fret rubber. Also, the frets were rather sharp at the ends, but a half hour with a fret file later, they were much more comfortable to handle while playing. Sound wise it was superb, on par I would say with similar guitars two to three times the price. The guitar had a reasonable 'set up', the intonation and neck straightness being good.I was surprised to see full size potentiometers for volume and tone, and the control cavity lid was foil screened, as was the pickup selector cavity lid. The PU selector itself was of a good quality. The pau ferro fretboard was bone dry and crying out for a drink, so I applied several applications of lemon oil. Needless to say I changed the strings, mainly because I only use 9-42 gauge. So to sum up, a fantastic guitar considering the price, there were a few small glitches, more annoying than being a problem. I am pleased with my new guitar.

Unbeatable for the price

First if you just consider the specs with the price...Mahogany chambered body, mahogany top with flame, set neck with high fret access, graphtec nut oh and I almost forgot the stainless frets, that should be enough. But the guitar I bought was beautiful and flawless. The Teslas sound good to me and after a slight action lower, plays effortlessly. I don't care that it doesn't have Gibson on the headstock

Unbelievable value for money

This is a fantastic guitar, only thing I did was replace the tuners with locking ones for convenience… Perfectly set up on delivery. The stainless steel frets make this such a playable instrument, it plays as well as any other guitar that I’ve ever owned. The weight relief is a plus for my older shoulders as well. Lovely tone both clean and driven… You really can’t go wrong with this guitar 

Headbangers Ball here we come

Truth up front here, I bought this HB SC550 II guitar as a beater. I play Fenders, but I always had an itch for a les paul style guitar. I watched all the reviews, and now I own this guitar. It's shocking when you find out that the reviews are true. I've compared this to my friend's Gibson and the workmanship is right up there. The sound is good. Maybe later I'll upgrade the pickups but right now, they are fine. I mainly play classical guitar but rock out a lot on my electrics, and right now, this HB SC550 II is never out of my hand. I absolutely love it, great craftsmanship, great sound, lovely weight, great neck. Buy one, it will not let you down, and you'll have a smile on your face and have saved yourself thousands of Euro.

Great guitar

I ordered mine almost a year ago, and it's flawless. Once set up, the guitar is absolutely incredible. The finish flawless, and the components sturdy and reliable.

My 6th HB and best yet

Having felt I was missing an SC in my lineup I chose this model to add based on the decent hardware, meranti body and the beautiful flamed top.

In the hand this guitar feels amazing and looks even better. I was worried that the neck would be too fat but it is great and plays beautifully. It is slightly thinner than my Epiphone SG Standard. The curved neck heel is a great touch and makes reaching the upper frets a breeze.

Fret ends are all good without any sharp edges. All it needed was a little setup and it's playing super fast with a nice low action and minimal fret buzz.

The pickups are reasonably hot and you can get a great range of sounds out of them with good clarity and no muddiness.

My only two negatives are more of a personal preference - I don't like the glossy neck so I have sanded it to a satin finish and I am not a fan of the look of the 'vintage green' tuners although I can't fault them functionally.

My first mods will be to switch these with tuners with the Gotoh SD90-05M which I think are a drop-in replacement, as well as adding some coil tapping and phase switching. I don't think there's any need to upgrade the bridge or pickups.

Overall I am very happy with this guitar - it has quickly become my favourite and is very difficult to put down!

La calidad es buena, hay un ligero ruido en la sexta cuerda, pero esto se puede arreglar.