Harley Benton SC-Special TV Yellow Reviews

Real value for the buck

The title says it all. There were minor issues like a bit sloppy paint job or rusty factory strings, but beyond that instrument is really good for the money and those minor issues were fixable.

I was particularly impressed with it's sound, those are quite cool P90s for a 200 buck device!

Ok guitar

Fretboard is dyed with black dye that makes you fingers black every time you play the guitar even after cleaning with Naptha. Strings are poor quality, high E string broke during the first tuning. Bridge can't be lowered enough to get 1.5mm action. Springs under the pickups are short so you can't raise pickups to a proper level without some sort of shim. Alan wrench for truss rod adjustment was rusted. Tuners feel weird even though they are Wilkinson tuners.

The price you can't beat

At this price, this guitar is a steal.

It isnt my favorite guitar in the world, but again you can't compare this to its Gibson comparison. They are two very different guitars especially in tone. That isn't to say this guitar's tone is bad, its just different. A word to the wise - dont have your expectation that the guitar will sound and play exactly like the guitar its modeled after, instead have fun and mess around with whats there - a great guitar for an unbeatable price.

Awesome guitar

My 2nd Harley Benton and again very happy i bought it.

Body: Really nice processed. No faults at all. Color isn't TV yellow but light brown leaning more to orange then yellow. No complaints - I like it.

Bridge: Ok. I had to file sharp edge on 6th saddle that was hurting my palm. Not a big deal. Design of the bridge is a little problematic if you only need to change one of the strings since pickup is very close to string holes. But I think most wraparound bridges have same issue.

Pickups: Ok but not so happy as I am with Roswell Filtertronics on Harley's FLT90 Telecaster. They sound decent but my ear missing something. Can't say exactly what. Always had trouble explaining sound to others. It's not so important since sound is very subjective thing. I'll just say that they don't match so well in my setup as the rest of pickups I already own (setup: Marshall JVM with 4x12 Greenbacks 25).

Elektronics: Great. Feels and works even better than on HB FLT90.

Neck & fretboard: Really nice. Feel and shape is almost the same as on my Gibson SG 2008. Really comfortable to play. Some frets needed sanding. No sharp edges - good job on fret ends. Fretboard was really dirty and all frets needed polishing but I am not counting that as a bad thing.

Nut: Not cut as it should but it's not a big deal.

Tuning machines: Great. They don't hold tune so well but that could be cause of the headstock design (eternal Gibson problem) or because of the nut not cuted as it should.

Why I gave 4 stars on quality?......Bridge desing is very high so you cannot raise pickups close to the strings. Because of that I had to put 8mm thick wood shimm, screw it underneat bridge pickup and drill holes through it for pickup screws. Now its posible to raise or lower bridge with ease. If any of you going to do the same you don't need 8mm shimm, 5mm thickness should be enough.

Would I buy HB again?.....Of course.

Rock on!