Harley Benton SC-550 II PAF Reviews

Impressively good value

Almost four months since purchase and hasn't disappointed. It plays well and the controls all work pretty smoothly. The finish of the body is very good, can't fault it. Sound is slightly harsher than my Gibson but very acceptable.

OK the minor issues: the nut could do with being wider by 1mm either side as there is a definite step between the nut and the neck; it would be nice if the fret edges had been slightly better finished - but they are not bad at all.

Overall a very good effort and excellent value.

Quality control would be nice

Ordered a 550 sc II and have to say the quality control is terrible. The nut is cut too short so you feel the binding on each side. I had to recut the nut because the G string was popping out of the slot. The neck binding on the neck after the 12th fret is horrible. Tool marks and glue everywhere. The fretboard is gouged as well. Big scratches and debris under the clear coat everywhere. The pots are very scratchy. Some of the screws for the hardware are stripped out. The strap button on the bottom is way off center. Looks like it was hurry up and get it done. Cheap kits of scrap wood put together quickly and with almost no quality control.

best

Best neck, body, frets, amd pickups

Not as pretty as advertised, solid guitar.

Negatives: The maple top is far from AAA. I have seen grain more consistent on building lumber. The back and neck have a toffee apple level of opaqueness, unlike the photos on the web site which appear quite translucent. Again, less pretty than I hoped.

Also came with the wrong size truss rod hex key. Luckily I have my own tools, as it did need a set up to be playable. Came with fret buzz.

Positives: Once the truss rod and bridge were adjusted the action and playability are good. The frets are even and level enough to get en extremely low action.if needed.

Overall: A decent player and decent sound for the money. Not one to get if you are not used to setting up guitars. I have a B Stock FTF which has a far better wood grain and finish but the bridge was drilled far to deep. The price point does come with issues. With some work and time they are eminently giggable.

SC-550 II PAF

Absolute winner! I read online reviews and watched demos. It surpasses expectations! HB makes it possible to

play great instruments for extremely friendly prices. The attainable options available are fantastic. I just ordered my fifth HB with more to go.

Great value, well worth it

I've had this about 5 months now and I really like it. It came pretty well set up. It looks and sounds great and it's really nice to play.

I've added push-pull pots to split the coils.

Perfect

Really perfect les paul guitar. Don't cry gibson :))

Superb 2022 Les Paul by Harley Benton (SC550ii) PAF

All the recent positive reviews on Youtube did not prepare me for this beautiful instrument delivered to me today from the first factory batch of 2022. It looks sublime, is a joy to hold and was tuned and set up spot-on before delivery !!! The overall finish and workmanship is excellent. The lovely neck came with beautifully polished frets. The 3 way switch works well and feels solid. The volume controls do the job graduated evenly, and the tone pots equalise steadily all the way from closed to open. The Tesla pickups are well worth the upgrade HB installed on this mark ii of the popular SC550. The sounds through my old Zoom GFX-707, right through from clean to dirty, are breathtaking . I can't stop playing it. I actually shed a tear of joy (Welsh). Why the hell would you buy a Gibson when you can get this superb thing for less that £250?

Please thank your folks in Indonesia for me.

At this price range, this guitar is unbeatable and an absolute steal

Nice guitar!

Perfect sound! Nice settings.

guitar fire! Everything is done with high quality. I have not found any defects. The sound is super!

The brands across the pond need to take notes

This is inspired by an artist’s line at another company but sometimes like this occasion the original inspired a creation 1/10th of the price that looks and feels as good or better. The Tesla pickups are a pleasant surprise as was the actual maple top. For this price this quality is unheard of.

Nice guitar!

Great value for money!

Got this as a birthday present from my girlfriend, so no complaints here :)

Try the guitar, it is a nice one!

Wicked Guitar

I was not sure about the quality of the guitar when I placed the order. When it arrived very well packed and in brilliant condition. One needs to try it to believe just how good it plays. Get this beast before they are priced correctly.

Way more guitar than I expected

I have owned over 90 guitars and of all those guitars only 3 were in tune and perfectly intonated out of the box. 2 of them were PRS core models and the 3rd was SC-550 ll PAF. Excellent playability on this guitar the action was set exactly where I love it. There was no fret buzz. Honestly I could not have been more pleased with this guitar. The only thing that would have made this experience better would have been if the guitar were free. Hell I liked it so well I ordered a second one.

Excellent value for money and great looking/sounding guitar

Bought this as spare and read plenty of reviews.

Turned up and out of the box was very surprised by it.

It looked fantastic.

Almost set up perfectly just small adjustments to the tuning.

Cant find any marks or defects with this.

I'm only a beginning but sounds and plays as good as my 4 x price guitar.

I have just ordered another model as im that impressed

Looks good but not QC

So 4 day delivery to USA was great! When I opened it looks perfect. Action was a tad high. Finish and overall quality is perfect, looks great.

Only problem I have is the 3 way switch only works with the neck pick up. I get no sound at all when I put it in middle position or bridge position. All ready got rid of packing so will end up coming out of pocket to fix it. Otherwise it looks and sounds great. I guess the electronics or QC are not what they could be.

Still don't believe it.

I have to say I am more than impressed with this instrument. The problem I have with lower end instruments is always in the neck, whether it's the frets being rough, the ends being rough, or the fingerboard not being the most finished... this is by far the best I've had in any guitar that isn't Japanese or American outside of the PRS SE line, at a third of the cost of one of those!

The tesla pickups are an improvement from the Roswells in this body style in my opinion, and I love the straight forward no nonsense from them... no coil split needed, they work perfect as is and even sound good clean.

The weight of the guitar is great at 8.3LBS or around 3.75KG, it's effortless to play and I am confident I could take this guitar out tonight and play a full performance with no worries or issues. Great job harley benton.

I made a full unboxing, inspection, and playthrough of this guitar on my youtube channel audiomo music if you are interested to see me go over the exact guitar I received. Thank you again for the great work everyone.