Harley Benton SC550II Unboxing & Review
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 8 ก.ย. 2024
- Today we #review possibly the best value #singlecut #guitar around... The Harley Benton SC550II.
Skip straight to the tones at 10:09
Check out the spec here (non-sponsored link): www.thomann.de...
=======================================================
Support the channel:
Check out my SIgntaure Guitar - Instagram: @scott_guitars
Become a patron: / johnrobsonguitar
Courses & Skype Tuition: www.johnrobsonm...
The Jam Bundle Vol.1: payhip.com/b/F2At
Merchandise: teespring.com/...
Dog House Designs Jewellery (my missus): www.numonday.c...
Fret Zealot Purchase Link: store.fretzeal...
Discount Code: JohnRobson20
Benefits of becoming a patron:
TABS, jam tracks & other resources for TH-cam lesson content
A monthly Patreon only solo with jam track & full TAB
A monthly Patreon only radio show/podcast
A free course (choose from my lessons page above) for every new patron
========================================================
Axe Caricaturist: / axecaricaturist
I'm a cabinet maker, I can see the veneer in your close up. It is a maple cap with 0.5 - 0.8mm veneer. Nothing wrong with that though.
Same here and I agree 100%..
Absolutely nothing wrong with a veneer. Just don’t look and remind yourself when doing pickup swaps
I am a bit baffled by that part of the video. Even a one-eyed blind person can see its a veneer. lmao
Nothing wrong with the veneer. Every guitar manufacturer uses them for the fancy maple tops. Even Gibson doesn’t make flame top maple Les Pauls with 2” thick blocks of flame maple.
@@Winterhe4rt same
I hope you recover quickly mate from cancer. I'm sorry to hear that your going through that. Definitely no fun. I will continue to keep you up in prayer, I wish a miracle in your life. God bless mate.
It's highly likely it's a carved plain maple top, with a flame veneer. Still an outstanding guitar for the money. Entry level gear is in a totally different class now, compared to where it was when I first picked up a guitar.
Guitars are made way better now.
what if its highly likely your wrong?😳
@@johnmcguigan6717 Wow. I think it's highly likely you're a bit late with this reply. 😁
it's a full maple top that has a flame veneer on it.
Apparently not .....
I am a great fan of Harley Benton, I have several. Great demo. My only critic is I hate amp SIMs and I think guitars are better tested through proper amplifiers.
You are definitely one of the more thorough podcasters when it comes to guitars. I have a Harley arriving in a few days. Same model different color. You made me even more excited for its arrival. Thanks !!!
Great video. As for the tuners I want to give you a good suggestion. Replace the tuners with Kluson Revolution locking tuners. These have the same footprint as the Harley Benton tuners. They are the standard two-hole vintage-style tuner except they are a modern sealed diecast tuner which is much better by design than the vintage style stamped Steel tuners. They look just like vintage style tuners. They are Kluson brand with the lines on the back and they look just like the Vintage ones except they are locking tuners and they're 19:1 ratio. The Kluson revolution locking tuners tuners are super accurate and they are a direct retrofit with the same exact footprint requiring zero modifications. All you have to do is unscrew the tuners on the Harley Benton and the Klusons will screw right in place without any hole drilling, any enlarging of holes or anything. They have two Styles, the collared and non-collared. One style fits the Vintage small 8.8mm holes in the headstock with press in bushings and the other style fits the modern 10mm holes in the headstock. The modern-style has a nut that screws down tight to hold the tuners in place. Both Styles have two small screws that screw into the back of the headstock. The Kluson Revolution locking tuners line up perfectly with the tuners on the Harley Benton, have the exact same footprint and will not make a different imprint in the wood. In addition The Kluson tuners have ivory-colored tulip buttons instead of that putrid green color and they match up much better with the cream colored trim. These are the best tuners on the market in this particular style. The last set I installed was on a brand-new Epiphone 335 Pro Christmas 2020. The Epiphone tuners were Wilkinson's and they are just mid-grade tuners. They were the press in bushing Style vintage with 8.8mm holes in the headstock. I left the press in bushings that came on the Epiphone in place. I didn't want to take a chance on chipping the new finish on the guitar by removing them) and they fit perfectly on the Kluson tuners so I saw no need to them. The tuners on the Harley Benton look to be the modern 10mm hole tuners but I can't swear to it. Either way Kluson makes both Styles so they are a direct retrofit requiring zero modifications. They have nickel, chrome and gold finish. There is zero play in the Kluson tuners. No I matter which way you turn them there is no sloppiness in them. I guarantee you will love these tuners and once you have used a set you won't use anything else on a guitar that has the vintage style 2 hole tuners. Graphtech makes their Tusq XL Nuts in an aged/cream colour and black also if you can't get on with the white nut. You'll probably need the Tusq XL Nut that fits Epiphone's and other Asian made Guitars.
God Bless You & Yourn!!
Jimmy in NC....
PS. I hope this helps You!!
I agree with you on the Kluson tuners mate. I swapped the Gibson 'Deluxe' on my Les Paul (not sure why they call them deluxe because there's nothing deluxe about them) for the Kluson Revolution ones, and yeh, they're much better.
I wouldn't go down the Grover route because I didn't fancy plugging the screw holes to accommodate the Grover lugs. I wouldn't normally care about such things but as it's a Gibson I don't want to give some tyre kicking scrote the opportunity to knock me down for cosmetic damage if I ever need to sell it on 😆
I've still got those original Gibson Deluxe tuners, I keep meaning to put them for sale on eBay, I should be able to get about £30 for them considering the amount of people who buy Chibsons and replace all the parts with genuine Gibson parts.
I've got Grover tuners on another of my guitars and never really understood why people rate them so highly, I think they're a bit overpriced myself.....if I hadn't bought the Klusons for my Gibson, I would've stuck with the Wilkinson EZ Lok tuners which are my go to tuners that I use on most of my guitars, they cost about £27 from Vansons and are probably the best tuners I've ever bought 👍
@@JammyGit You might consider keeping the original tuners just in case you do sell your Gibson it brings the value of if you have the originals even though they are inferior to the ones you have now. If you have a guitar Gibson or any other guitar that has the Grover tuners with the V shaped foot and single hole straight down at 6 O'clock you should try the Gotoh Delta Series 21:1 Locking Tuners. These have Teflon Electroplated Gears and are the Best Tuners on the Market. Order them with the P-4N Buttons for a Gibson. These are the Ivory Coloured Tulip Buttons. These match the Grover Tuners that come on most Gibson's nowadays. They require Zero Modifications. I never replace Tuners with ones which require drilling and plugging. Ruins the look and drops the value of any Guitar. It's so much simpler to install Direct Retrofit Tuners. The Kluson Revolution Locking Tuners for the 2 hole mount. Gotoh Delta Series for the 1 hole (Grover Style) mount. Between these two You pretty much have Gibson covered.
God Bless!!
Jimmy in NC....
Any chance you could provide a link to the Kluson Revolution and Graph Tech Tusk XL product models needed to upgrade?
I agree with others that the flame is a veneer because we can clearly see no seam in the maple, other than the veneer seam. If it were not a veneer on top, the grain would be mirrored in the center and the video clearly shows it isn't. Still a rather nice guitar that I would have no trouble playing out with, and I own 2 real Les Pauls. I also own several other HB models and enjoy them all. When my band mate played my HB-35Plus, he liked it so much that he bought one(even though he has a vintage Gibson 335).
I think its a good Time to play Guitar. I started 20 Years ago with playing and the Budget Gear was terrible. I have a SC 550 cause I dont have Money for a Gibson. Its having the Sound I am so in Love. No need to spend a lot of Money for a Gibson. I Love Harley Benton Guitars. Thanks for your Videos. All the Best for you and please go on with your Videos. Lovely Greetings to you from a Fan from Germany 🤗🥰
It has a "full maple top", and on top of that they have a flame maple veneer. As sid bonkers said, there is no joint (the grain is perfectly aligned from left to right) in the top inside the pickup cavity, but there is a joint in the flame maple. Nonetheless, a great guitar and even better value for money.
What I see as well !
You are right. A maple top with a bookmatched maple veneer. Flamed maple is just for the looks. It does not effect the sound. At least not more than straight maple.
Totally agree
Yes, I was going to post separately, but I'll just add my agreement here. The cosmetics are a veneer on top of what is presumably a piece of maple.
www.mylespaul.com/threads/ngd-but-1st-this-is-a-solid-flame-maple-top-right.435689/
This page shows pictures with a solid flame maple top.
I'm only posting this with the intention of helping people who are considering buying this guitar. It's a great guitar. The answer from Thomann was that "it's a real maple top" which is accurate (some older Epiphones were all mahogany with a flame maple veneer). This guitar looks better and has better specs than most Epiphone Les Pauls at 2x the price.
I've only gone and bought the Harley Benton SC-550 II DFB after your review, John. Should be arriving this week after a couple of weeks of re-stocking delay. It will join my Epiphone 1960s tribute plus, Sire Larry Carlton L7, and my Vintage V100 Icon with Tesla Opus-1s. It was the Tesla upgrade in the VIntage that persuaded me to get the SC550II. To my ears, they sound almost as good as the genuine Gibson 57s in the Epiphone.
Thank you for the video especially for mentioning Dickey Betts' tone.
Spot on John, I still have my old Yamaha 112 Pacifica, must be 20yrs old and play it more than any of my other guitars, the Benton looks like a real steal...
Same here😊👍
Great review John. The LP style isn't my cup of tea, but the point is Harley Benton guitars are nothing to sneer about, especially for the price.
Your chord knowledge is so refreshing I absolutely need online classes from you for certain...
In my brain, maple top, figured maple veneer. Still a nice step up for an affordable LP type.
Spot o . €300.00. Nice to find some sense among all these Samsung luthiers
I ended up purchasing The Oldtimer 1959 PAF pickups from Alegree there in the UK, installed them in my Harley Benton SC 550II, they sound very articulate and have great tone, just over $100 shipped to the US. I think it’s a good upgrade to the guitar.
looking at the grain of the maple on the top it is obvious that the cap is indeed Maple but there is no joint where the bookmatch would be so therefore it has a solid maple cap with a nice flame veneer.
Excellent review and demo, loved the exploration of the more jazzy sounds. Obviously a quality guitar at an affordable price; I have 4x HB’s so I know how good they can be. Tempted, definitely.
Sorry, but that top is veneered. Note the Line down the Center, where it's obvious two different sets of grain patterns meet. But when we see the view in the cavity... there is NO seam in the maple cap slab, showing a bookmatched/joined solid top was used. So YES, it does have a Maple cap over a mahogany body... But the FACE is a Veneer. Doesn't affect tone, or value or anything else really, Merely aesthetics. I'd buy one without any reservations.
I had seen the video from a few weeks ago in which the reviewer spoke of a full maple top, and I had doubt. Now I hear it again and get the Thomann service department saying it is so as well. I can't argue because I don't have this model. I have 2 of the SC-550's from the first series and those were sold as veneer's. The tops look great with the veneer's as well. I really love the sound and feel of these model's. Perfect weight and balance. Nice vid.
I replaced the tuner's on both my SC-550's. They now have Grover Deluxe. I did have to widen the holes to make them fit, but with the correct tools it is no problem. The rings are larger and the posts are shorter. The amount that these tuners extend out are sour to look at as sold from Thomann.
As a lifelong Fender man, the LesPaul has never been on my list of must- have guitars. However, the British Plexi section had me transfixed to the lino. I might even buy one. Thank you for an honest appraisal of this instrument!
By the way, the Outro is absolutely bangin’!
Outtro was amazing John, I got the sc550 in desert burst last year, I'm really happy with mine but now they've upgraded it, I'd love one in one of the other colours..... need to save some pennies up! Great value! Good catch that one John!
Congratulations on new guitar. The best part - it seems you really like it - and that's the most important. And value for money is wow worth it!
Thanks to your review, I bought this exact model axe to replace my Ibanez Deluxe 59'er in tobacco sunburst that was "disappeared" my a disreputable luthier with alcohol-abuse issues. It truly is a beauty...fit/finish, features, playability and TONE are superb. Only mod I did was to install Gotoh Keystone 15:1 tuners in place of the supplied Kluson-type machine heads. Kudos, John! :)
That is absolutely full size maple cap with a flame maple veneer on top and it is way more then 6mm thickness. I wish they make same guitar with plain top. Great review, thanks.
I love new guitar day!! I have veneer tops, full tops, solid single piece guitar bodies and every combination in between (including 2 guitars made from 22 pieces of pine pallet wood). Each has a unique sound and look and I can't imagine making a decision (other than a "resale" value) based on whether its a veneer or solid top - especially at the price point. If you want silly priced Gibson Les Paul with gold hardware craziness go for it (I have one - it sits in the case in the dark waiting for a new friend). If you want to have FUN or take it to play at a show like all my buddies locally who play Squiers and have big crowds at their gigs - this guitar should fill the bill just fine. Great job as always John!
I got a HB CST24T p90 loaded obvious clone of a PRS,2 of which I own.£200 inc customs fees.Beautifully made and the p90s sound fantastic.What a turnaround.I also own a Yam pacifica 112M bought new in 97 for£230.Still my favourite axe of the 9 I now own.A fantastic guitar,then and now.
What a cool looking and great sounding guitar, of course the player certainly helps.Great review John!
Actually I would not say that the answer you got from Thomann makes the veneer dispute any clearer. You asked about 6mm maple top, which is there. However the possibility of a 6mm maple top in combination with a veneer was not expressly excluded by the Thomann staff member...
Hi from Spain I hope you are well! I did send a comment some time ago with the problems I have had with my SC-550 II. Having returned it for repair a second time it arrived back with both pick up volume and tone controls not functioning. So I sent it back again for repair. Yesterday three months after buying it they sent my money back which I did not want, I told them I would be happy with any model of the SC-550 II but because I bought a "B" stock they said they did not have one at the price I paid of 245.00 Euro. They also told me to return the hard case I bought with my original order. Of course I had to pay for the repair to the graphite nut and all the traveling costs to my city post office three times. Maybe I was unlucky, but it seems to me all the Thomann promoted reviews the guitars are always perfect, at least your reviews are honest and fair, take care, John.
Seems like you had the same experience with Harley Benton that I had with Amplitube.
I started gigging with a mk1 sc custom years ago just because its a hard on your guitars and especially gibsons because of the risk of the neck snap! So I bought one just because i needed a humbucker guitar and its served me great ( now has iron gear pickups). They are great guitars for the price point and are not far off a epiphone or say a classic vibe. I did buy the tele p90 HB but I didn't like it at all so sold it. I have been eyeing up the new harley benton sg junior p90 as it looks awesome in blue... God the sidewinder was awesome and the only guitar I could get in Windows Newcastle in left handed in about 86 ish...I think all the chinees vintage tuners have that crappy green plastic keys.
I will continue to say it : " I have a few Harley Benton's. They were recommended to me by a dear old friend, Peter Schwenk ( R.I.P ) who raved about the quality to price ratio and who had a lovely collection of HB guitars ( electric, acoustic and basses ). It took me a while to try my first HB guitar ( which was the TE52 NA ) and after a few upgrades, it really is one of my favourite guitars. I now have a TE90 QM. a Fusion T HH EB OCT and a wee GS Travel Mahogany Acoustic.They are all fabulous ( especially the Fusion T - I LOVE it - at the price it is astounding value ) This SC550II looks ( and sounds ) like another superb guitar. Harley Benton really are raising the bar for budget friendly guitars. I salute them.
It's a maple top....with a veneer. In your pic, you can see the grain of the maple cap dosent change. But does it matter... no not in the tiniest bit. You can change pups to change tone, change amp to change tone.... even a pick ( plectrum ? lol)
I have a old SC 450 vintage. I changed out everything. Rewired it to 50' wiring, Lallor low wound Imperials pups hipshot locking tuners bone nut. $300 usd pickups in a $160usd guitar ha. It's a dream to play and hear now.
$625 in all I think, but it's way better then a $800 ephiphone.. . It just what you make it
Maple cap makes it have to right combo, paper thin veneer just make it look awesome!!!
I have Harley Benton's version of a LP jr. Absolutely love it.
I am looking for a LP custom.
Harley Benton, here I come again!
New camera is a great improvement 👍
Kind of looks like a. 5inch of maple cap with a veneer. Used to be the HB and Vintage v100 had a. 5in maple cap with veneer only on the AFD models. Appears to be built like the PRS SE guitars as far as the specs on the maple cap goes.
At the end of the day, it's all about the connection you get with the instrument. I found myself going back to my modded first guitar instead of the Gibson Studio LP I bought, simply because I didn't bond with it (end up selling it).
Nice video
I did the same with my Gibson LP studio. Was a glorified cricket bat. Awful guitar.
Great review and playing RJ! I'm happy I found this channel,
" Pipe smokers phlegm " ha ha ha .... brilliant John - you do come out with some belters bonny lad ! ha ha ha
I have the same 550 deluxe and grover tuners is a plus but I paid 200 cash and 100 for Gibson pick gaurd and love it its my favorite for sure.im so happy with it play everyday can't put it down and looks amazing,perfect to me
Hey John thx for sharing that review on the HB SC 550ll; I subscribe to your channel and enjoy your insights on guitar stuff. Your review was very informative and helped me decide to order the guitar. I own several higher end guitars and been playing since the 60’s. Hopefully the guitar will encourage me to play more and inspire me. Thx brother 👍 Ed A from AZ in America
4:18 I dont think I see a joint there John, if you look the grain underneath looks to be continuous, surely if it had a joint it would be very clear as the grain would not match anywhere. I have some wood veneers that I bought to use as shims and they are very very thin at .55mm, that said I have no idea of the veneers they use on guitars but I still dont see the grain matching maybe it has a plain maple cap and a better veneer?
ps. it looks and sounds great
pps. Like the new camera and glasses too and agree with you 100% about Thomann raising the game within the industry, a decent guitar has never been so affordable.
Yeah, a maple top and probably a beautiful veneer on top of it.
Yeah, I think it may well be a plain cap with a veneer. But at the price, even that is pretty good.
Agreed
John you are a great host with a shit load of knowledge and you are also a fucking incredible player!!!!!
Thanks mate 👍
@ 4:20 what you have circled is the annual rings of the tree / looking down the tree. we call this end grain. notices the annual rings are complete from left to right that makes it on piece in that area. so the top is likely 3-5 pieces off lower grade maple. being a cabinet & chair maker i can say that it is flat sawn with the center off the tree it's core pointing upward. what this means is the solid may cup/warp at some point and the edges will break free as that is where the most stress is.
I might buy one of these. Nice review. Back in the day I got 1980 Columbus Les Paul copy. £100 new but bought second hand for £80 on a wage of £60 per week before tax. Neck like a banana, sounded like a 4 engine prop plane taking off regardless of pickup chosen or tone settings, had to drop from 10's to 8's if I remember rightly to straighten the neck. The truss rod moved it 1/4'' one way or 1/4'' the other nothing in between (not that we had much of a clue of what we were doing and guitar techs laughed at us if we turned up with something like that). The good old days.
As for frets wearing down. I bought a £350 Yamaha FG830 3 years ago and play it lightly. Frets are already wearing down in places, unlike my 25 year old cheap Aria which gets a daily thrashing.
I'm a beginner at guitar and I am awaiting the delivery of my SC-550 II Harley Benton early this coming week. This is the second review i've seen and both have similar points. I'm very happy with my purchase and i haven't even received mine yet!
I have an SC-550 II PAF, and a XT-22 Paradise Flame, among a couple others. Other that some fine-tuning, fret dressing, etc, they're great guitars and are my regular players.
Hi from Spain again! And I do hope you are well. Well I wrote to Johann Thomann and got a very positive response, they are replacing the "B" stock model with a normal model. Now I just need to learn to play it as well as you, kind regards, John.
Got mine a couple of weeks ago.
It’s a keeper.
Yeah, it's got a maple top. But the flame is just a veneer, there was no join under that shielding paint. Not for 240 quid. I mean,my epiphone is a veneer and that cost twice that much.
So - based on this review I bought one too. My thoughts:
I'm in broad agreement with you, this is a phenomenal guitar, not just for the money but in general. For me, out of the box, the action was way too high - which took all of 15 seconds to fix but the intonation was perfect. There are no extraneous paint blobs or anything like that. I did have a few frets near the nut sticking out a bit, but 2 minutes with a file cleaned that up and I've had to do that with guitars that cost 10 times as much. It sounds amazing! It's relatively lightweight (so about half my 82 Les Paul Deluxe)
I don't fully agree with you regarding the tuners. Granted they look a bit strange but for me, the number one thing I need is that they hold tune, and these ones are rock solid. Lots of bending doesn't affect them at all and there's no obvious backlash that I can feel, meaning tuning is really easy. They're also comfortable to grip when tuning, so I'm not going to change them.
I do have one scratchy tone pot. I'll try blowing some air into that. If that doesn't work, I'll change it but if I do, this will be my only extra expense on a guitar that cost me less than 300 Euros.
Hi Justin, did you use a regular fret file instead of a levelling beam and sandpaper?
This is my only concern with this guitar when I receive mine, obviously the stainless is much more destructive on the tooling so just wondered the best approach to sort it.
Thanks
Dave
@@3rdtonefromthesun I used a fret file and levelling beam. Truth be told, the frets were only sticking out a tiny bit, so it wasn't a big deal. It was more of a minor discomfort when playing rather than rip your hands to shreds that I've had on other guitars.
@@Justin_the_Analog_IC_architect Oh fair, was it out enough to cause fret buzz or just a discomfort thing?
@@3rdtonefromthesun They were protruding off the side of the fretboard. It was a discomfort thing. It was really minor. I could feel it, but I couldn't really see it and it was just the first 4 frets nearest the nut. Last guitar I bought prior to this one had nearly all the frets visiby sticking out and mentioning no names, it came from a factory in Fullerton California.
@@Justin_the_Analog_IC_architect ah great, I was worried about fret buzz big time after recently sending back an Epiphone…
Sounds like you had a Fender Bender!!🤣
Almost bought the sidewinder in 88..ended up with another ply plank..the columbus series 3 superstrat, in a guitar shop on bond street in Ealing....still have her..just to remind me!
Thx, John, for this review. I share Your opinion about the SC-550 II in DFB. It is really a great instrument.
Hi John, great looking guitar that sounds amazing, just proves you dont have spend thousands to look and sound great. Sorry I can't join you for a beer tomorrow because I am out for my 65th birthday cheers for now👍
Nice job on this John. I have a Les Paul Deluxe and an Epi Les Paul Special. I also have 3 Harley Benton's and I have always been happy with the quality of the builds at the price point. I have been waiting for the SC-450 P90 GT Classic Series for a while as I am just curious as well. I do think that based on your review I will try the 550 guitar while I wait. Thanks for the solid review.
The first Harley Benton I've ever ordered was a CST after your review. I didn't trust any of the other TH-cam reviews, but did trust yours. The same for this guitar, I may sell my vintage v100 and order this guitar instead.
Thx for the review mate.
Looks and sounds great John... I did look at one of these before I bought the slightly higher priced and slightly higher spec Vintage TC!100 that i currently have. Guitars in the 250-400 pounds/ euros price point are insanely good for the money these days. BTW....i'd be interested how the HBSC550 ll sounded through a Harley Benton Tube15 amp..... these are also very good value for money. :)
I'm wondering about this too. I've been scoping them out a lot lately.
Well John on the strength of your review I purchased one last night (.albeit a bit drunk) looking forward to playing it when it arrives . Thsnks for all your reviews I really enjoy your TH-cam output.
You can totally see the veneer line just left of the mid-seam. half the veneer has paint, the other half does not, and you can see the edge where it joins the top.
Also, 4:15 there's not a 'faintest' line... the grain doesn't just coincidentally continue perfectly through a bookmatch line... smh.
No veneer. It was confirmed it’s solid maple flame. Thomann
@@aliengrey6052 That was a salesman.. use your own eyes...the top grain carries across the top completely.... the veneer does not..
@@Luckyrider1958 I have this guitar now. Rang Thomann. They said it was a solid top and it looks as good a top as any Gibson I’ve seen and plays just as well. If it isn’t then it doesn’t matter as this guitar plays as well if not better than any of my previous Gibson Lps and the frets and access to the upper register are certainly a lot better.
I’m very pleased at 234.00 bargain!!!!
@@aliengrey6052 Iv'e got HB's too.. love em.. just saying, that is NOT a solid, bookmatched top!!! The grain would NOT line up if it was... and you can see the veneer edge... who cares if it's veneer or not?? if it WAS REAL AAA solid Maple.. they could not sell it at that price. if it sounds and plays good, it IS good. Enjoy.
I had a feeling you couldn't resist the siren song of the LP. It looks and sounds great. The hiccough is that nut. For the price, it's a great buy. Great demo and call to customer service.
Plain maple top with a flamed veneer! Most definately! There is no split on the top, the wood grain is continuous BUT who really cares for that price? Looks great, sounds good, killer price! I wish there'd been guitars like that when I was young!
Great for the new camera! It was about time. As always excellent review!
6mm is hardly what I’d call a “full maple top” but it’s thicker than a veneer (or a “photo flame”as they used to call it decades ago) which could be 1-3mm thick. I would’ve removed the painted shielding from other cavities (anyone can repaint those with an acid brush and experience with nail polish) to examine more of the wood grain., but that’s just me. You did well enough for this video. 👏🏽
You can see with your eyes that cap is more like 16mm possibly 10mm plain maple with 6mm veneer on top of that.
I got one of these. First of all the appearance in person is more stunning than the video portrays. I wasn't impressed with the Tesla pickups. The pots are 500k and I decided to swap out the Teslas for Seymour Duncan Slash Alnico IIs. Now it has overtaken my Les Paul Studio and Classic by miles.
this is what I intend to do with mine!
John, good review Mate. I just got that guitar, and am loving it. Reminds me of the Gibson Standard, Ice Tea, I sold a while back, to get cash together for my Gibson Custom Shop '61 reissue. I am going to sell my 2 Epiphone Customs, which should sell used, for more than what the Harley Benton cost, $275 plus shipping to the States. I just lowered and changed the strings, had a pint or two , and rocked out, on my back porch, the neighbors loved it! Hope you enjoy the guitar as much as I am digging mine, Cheers!
Good honest review John! Didn't know how Yamaha changed the game with electric guitars. We know how they changed the game with affordable acoustic guitars back in the 70s. So many musicians here in the states will only consider Fender, Gibson. Martin. I could only afford a Yamaha FG 300 in 1971...still have it and it plays and sounds great. Today we have so many affordable options that are decent quality. Are you going to replace pickups with Vanson's?
For us to buy Vansons in the States means paying high shipping rates. Always on the lookout for solid affordable replacement pickups.
Excellent informative video my friend. Love the deep purple SHIRT...BRILLIANT !
Thanks for your review
If you watch one of the videos on the PRS SEs you can see them apply a veneer to their maple top. It seems as if it's thinner than paper. So, I suspect this is a super thin veneer on a full thickness maple cap....which is basically the same difference as a full figured-full thickness top IMO - either way - BRAVO to HB for doing this.
Congratulations on your new guitar John. Lovely sounding/looking thing.
Woww!! That is a solid figured maple top!! I think too?! I'm super surprised!! Like you said most at this price point do just the maple top with a thin figured maple veneer. Which are still nice, but a solid one piece figured maple top through in through is friggin awesome mind the language! I own a import vintage v100 lemon drop LP. It is a copy of peter green and gary moore's famous "greeny" 59' les paul. Awesome little guitar!! High recommend it! But it was $600 american dollars new and only has the maple top with a thin flame maple vaneer cap. So for an import harley benton to use real deal solid flame maple top for under $300 dollars is pretty amazing. Your definitely getting your moneys worth right there. Swap the stock pickups out for some vinage style PAF's. Put tones pros hardwear throughout, bone or tusq xl nut, kluson or grover tuning pegs and bam you got a pretty raging more than semi authentic les paul. Maybe if your good enough sand it down and put Nitro finish on it... Thanks for sharing very cool guitar man! Rock on!
I could easily be considered a gear snob because of my gear that being said... because of your content I will be buying this guitar.. because I keep all my guitars anyway so resale isn't it an issue..if it looks great if it feels and sounds great it's all a keeper for me...I will be checking it out.. thanks again.
it is veneer over a solid maple cap 3:57. notice a center seam in the very top but no vertical seam going down in the maple
so all he could state is it is a solid top and we can see that in the photo. but no declaration of the veneer. even the store does not know. likely few would. even it the pictures it is hard to be 100%. but if you sand trough the finish where the humbucker ring covers you will likely sand trough the veneer.
It has a maple top but it is not book matched as can be seen in your picture. They put a veneer atop of the maple top to make the book matching. Nothing wrong with that because is a matter of price. Nice guitar.
4:45 To my eye it looks like a flatsawn (plainsawn) Maple top with a ~paper~ thin flame Maple veneer. Every one of the growth rings carries acrost the joint line on the veneer.
SC550VII looks good and sounds better than good, in the hands of John! Harley Bentons are pricey to import to Canada, so I keep modding my old 2008 Korean PRS SE SC Trem as I can afford. BTW, the new high res video is awesome, wall-axes look even better!
Fab review and great guitar for the money. The body shape follows the contours of the Aria Japanese PE series that came out late 70s/early 80s. Andy Summers used one on tours alongside his Tele. Veneers can be very, very thin. Remember the ‘foto-flame’ tops too?
I agree with you on Dicky Betts' tone on Live At The Fillmore. I would add Gary Moore to that list for "Still Got The Blues" live for the neck pickup tone.
To me, it almost looks like there is no seam in the 6 mm maple, but there is a line visible on the top. Wouldn’t that automatically mean that there is a veneer on top of the maple cap?
Could mean they have put a photo-flame decal under the finish, rather than a veneer. I agree that the grain looked seamless, but you can never really tell unless it's in your own hands. Camera can be deceiving
I was sceptical but unless the chap from Thomann was lying, I'm prepared to accept it's a proper top. Definitely not a photo flame, by the way... The grain actually moves in the light, which is something a picture doesn't do
@@JRobsonGuitar
The Thomann guy answered correctly that being a full maple cap, but wasn‘t asked if there is an additional flamed maple veneer on top of it. I exclude a photo. A picture has no 3D effect, but a veneer surely has it.
@@JRobsonGuitar I thought I could see evidence of a joint in the maple layer at the point directly below the obvious union on the top, although rather subtle. Would there be any point in including a 6mm layer of maple sandwiched between the mahogany and a flame veneer anyway? Great video, as usual, thank you.
@@JRobsonGuitar he only said this guitar has proper maple top, you didnt ask if there is a veneer, why? This guitar has mahogany body, with proper maple cap and thin flamed veneer on top of it, thats all.
I've got an HB P90 Gold top, superb, stands up against my Gibson Les Paul for tone, playability and fun!
are beginning guitarists really that "anti-veneer" ? I doubt they would care two hoots if it is a veneer or a top. Fans don't care either.
My only problem with veneers, it's like a lipstick on a pig ;) I wouldn't mind to buy plain top guitar at all. Some Epiphones SG's has 3-5 piece mahogany body with nice mahogany veneer on top and botom, why? It's s weird and fake looking. I don't get why are people so obsessed with guitar looks.
@@podfuk If you're primarily focused on the LOOKS of your guitar, then you're not playing a guitar. You're playing YOUR EGO.
Never contacted Thomann but my 2013 149 EUR HB Les Paul has a maple top.
This video tipped the scales and I bought one in this finish. Very very good. It took me a few times to adjust where I wanted it. But it screams.
Thank you very much for your honest video. I'm also going to be honest with you ..., now I'm 279 euros poorer than before .....
😁🎸💪👍
Great video John, oddly enough I had a 112 back in the day and wish I'd have hung on to it instead of chopping it in.
HB really have got some very nice affordable guitars in the range now. Nice one. The new camera looks very Good too.
Great, my modified V100 PGM does me for Les Paul stuff but that Harley looks great, I'm about to add Split Coils to my my Vintage so that it can do most anything I need it to - plus I just got a second hand 'String Butler' for £22 (half price) and that should hopefully make the tuning rock solid as Les Paul Tuning peg arrangement forces the middle strings into a bit of a tight angle that can cause binding at the nut and I noticed sometimes when the Distortion is off (I know, why would you do that?) they can sound a bit off - it's all so I can switch into Dire Straits mode with just the Les Paul when playing live and naturally everything is done on a budget just for the hell of it...
1) I understood, but am far from sure the Vintages and the HBs are from the same factory. 2) Coincidently recently I was looking for a Peter Greenish guitar. Vintage have some, it seems, over 400 quid, but the spec are very unclear and there are at least two models that seem to qualify, 3) I have two Vintage DCs, but they both broke down within a week, and one of them has the plasticides dripping from the wiring. So I'm not to keen on that brand. 4) I think/hope/ would suggest HB might make a Peter Green electrics LP, since Epiphone does too.
My fav Gibson sound was from the guy who played along side Dicky betts, Dan Toyler🎸
Dangerous Dan... One hell of a player 👍
Hey John, another informative video buddy. I ordered this aswell and feel the same about the tuners. Can you do a vid on what tuners you are going to use and if you replace them , then a vid on that would be great. Thanks for your content buddy.
No way this is a full thickness flamed maple top, as many have pointed out. I believe the Thomann guy didn't fully understand your question. Just look at the wood: There would have to be a seam going through the top, but there isn't. Also, they don't seem to be all that sure about the specs themselves, as in Thomann website they state "AAA-maple top", while on the Harley Benton website it's a "AAAA-maple top". So which is it?
Its probably printed computer stuff or sth. on the lines of that. I doubt that in the last 30 years many guitars have been built of real good woods, those don't exist/grow for decades anymore, thats over.
Another fantastic review. Thanks John.
This video looks more like a guitar lesson than a review of a guitar, still gave it a thumbs up.
Well I always make sure to have a pot of coffee ready for your videos Mr Robson ;)
Love the Deep Purple t-shirt John, my favourite band.
Brillant stuff!! Very interesting. Subscribed and look forward to next video
Hi from Spain. I always enjoy your videos and really like your technique. I bought my SC550ii PAF in June 2022 and it arrived unplayable. The graphite nut slots set so high it was impossible to play even simple chords without intonation issues. Both volume controls simply acted as on / off switches with no variation in volume. Both tone controls not functioning, no variation between bass and treble and finally the selector switch didn't work. I returned it to Thomann for repair on 11th.July and got it back on the 1st.August....and still both volume and both tone controls don't function but they did replace the selector switch. They asked me to make a video which I did to demonstrate the problems and now I have to return it again. Their quality control I have to question. I bought this guitar based on all the positive reviews on you tube and there are numerous. What concerns me is do Thomann send "known" you tube reviewers guitars that have been checked thoroughly before despatch because it seems I am the only person who has had a problem or are there others? I really do like the guitar in terms of construction, the frets, the neck, perfect and the balance and weight are exceptional, I just hope they will repair it properly this time. Kind regards, John.
Seems you just were unlucky. Looking at the forums etc. people are quite happy. They really stepped up their QC but you might just have gotten a bad one. Happened to me too. Hope you'll get it sorted out. At least Thomann have excellent customer service.
I got mine last week and it's fantastic apart from the 13th fret is high which means the action won't go below about 2mm at 12th fret. Working with Thomann to come up with a resolution as it's so good in every other way I want to keep it. I can tell the action will go super low once fret is levelled and nut filed a bit lower.
It's so good will take it to luthier for proper set up and level the dodgy fret as it's still a bargain even adding that cost on.
It is a maple cap, but with a flame veneer on top of that.
If its just one fret that's high, is it seated properly? A wee tap with a suitable hammer might do the trick.
@@Forest_Fifer Was wondering this. Never done anything like this though suppose I just need to take a special brave pill and have a go and he careful.
Pretty sure it just the one fret as checked neck relief, lowered bridge and it was only choking around 13th fret area - when fretted around 12th and 12th it chokes, everything else ok
Great looking and sounding guitar, if only it had a Rosewood or Ebony fretboard.
The white nut against the binding realy pokes you in the eye, at least the horrid
colour tuners are easy to change
Harley Benton are at last upgrading their range of guitars, but at a higher price.
They are still a great buy, if you get a good one, but not the bargain they were.
There are a number of new brands from China that a producing some excellent
mid price models with good specs.
I have just bought an Eart E-3S and was lucky to win it off ebay at a good price,
excellent guitar with high spec and no issues, the fretwork is well done with no
sprouts or buzzing.
Now that the big names have realy increased their prices this year, i think more
players will be looking at other brands.