Wow! You must've bought a very nice Epiphone at $900!!!! That sounds pretty much top of the range. I don't know how much custom import duties would punish you for shipping a guitar from Germany but, let's face it, at 127 GBP it won't be that much and at the prices they charge, you've only got to give up cigarettes for a week to get one to your door :-)
One of the best reviews out there on this guitar. Really enjoyed the breakdown on the bench and the live demo on the pickups. Sounds phenomenal! I picked up the black one from Thomann and lovin' it. A solid LP copy for the money.
Can't thank you enough for this review!!! Saw it in the store the other day and been thinking about it as a gift for my father's 60th birthday. I am literally going to the store right now while it's still in stock. Be blessed, sir!!! 🙏🍀
Hi Miroslav and thanks :-) In my humble opinion these are the best value guitars on the market right now. The quality of construction is nothing short of awesome for the money. Cheers :-)
Hey, thanks TROKA30 :-) That's a really nice thing to say and much appreciated :-) I have to say, though, that these guitars are absolutely unbelievable for the money and they get to your door soooooo quickly (and in one piece). I've been using Thomann for a while but mostly for their Harley Benton strings which are excellent. I'm going back on their website tomorrow to see what else I can steal :-)
Great video. You’ve sold it to me. Haha. I haven’t told my wife I’ve just bought one yet. That guitar looks and sounds absolutely brilliant. I have a few Harley Benton’s and they are all fantastic. Even the sub £100 ones really are fantastic for the money. You have a new subscriber here.
Hi Luke and welcome aboard :-) Just do what she does with you regarding dresses/shoes/handbags etc. "This? I've had it for ages!" Unless she knows serial numbers and model designations, you'll be fine :-) I absolutely can't believe the quality here for the money and luckily, we've no extra taxes to pay. They ship really quickly which leads me to believe that there's UK stock. If there isn't UK stock and they're actually shipping from Germany then the Royal Mail need to sharpen their pencil. Cheers buddy :-)
Quite astounding Roxy, what a great and honest review. You have confirmed my suspicions that these guitars are amazing value and good on you for biting the bullet and buying one to test. I will be trying the McDonalds ploy on the Missus very soon, and will probably be leaving you a comment on your next video from my bed in Blackpool Victoria hospital..................Take care old pal!
Hahahahahaha, that properly made me chuckle :-) Mate, you could cut out coffee for two weeks and get one bought. If my experience is normal then I think Harley Benton could take over the world! I'll sell it on for the price it cost because I just wanted to find out if they were really as good as the reviews made out.....and they absolutely are. Take care too buddy :-)
Thanks, You are right! My brother gave me this sc400 guitar and I must say that it has a great sound, especially on the neck. I think it's not worth changing anything.
Hi there Andy, I'm still astonished that they can produce and ship these guitars such a low price. I've been wanting to get my hands on one for some time because every review has been brilliant, and justifiably so. Looks great, sounds and plays great and the price is amazing :-)
I bought same guitar last year, because price was budget friendly, but I also love the sound and quality of it. And it is guitar what I mostly use if I do recordings.
Aren't they amazing value? I'm astonished they can produce these instruments at the price they do! So long as you're not brand conscious, they're absolutely killer guitars for the money :-)
Hi JARG and thanks :-) Unbelievable value considering the construction and materials. We've got another even more budget one coming up in the next couple of months from Artist guitars. I have the greatest respect and admiration for Harley Benton products. Proper quality. Cheers, Gary :-)
Great informative video as usual. I have a few questions for you, which may be ideas for videos... What are the best and worst purchases you have made. What's your favourite guitar you own and what guitar do you want the most!
Hi Garry, great to hear from you :-) Ohhhhh, now you see, these are the same questions I've been asking myself! Brilliant ideas for future vids, too :-) Hmmm, I can feel some new Cheeky Midweekers coming on. I'll tell you what, though, I do have a few that I feel I can't manage without and they're perhaps not exactly what you might imagine. Between you and I, I bought a Sonex a while ago which had some issues so I'll probably put it up this Saturday. It will contain a cautionary tale - that's if I can get it sorted out in time :-)
Glad I saw this great review! I'm from Atlanta Georgia USA and Duane Allman is one of my faves. His "workhorse" was a 57 Gold Top so I was looking at an Epiphone 50s Gold Top at $599 US. I could buy an SC400 at $135 US and still have $464 leftover! I have 3 HBs already and they have all been winners. In my mind, it is totally worth the risk on one of these because the price is SO low. Maybe it is not fair but all my friends when they see "Epiphone" on the headstock anyways, they are like Oh, Epiphone is Latin for, "can't afford a Gibson". But who can besides the guy that owns Virgin?! Again, thanks for the review. I am going this route for sure.
Hi there Don - it's really refreshing to hear from someone who doesn't have the brand conscious hang ups. It's crazy to pay more for Levi's when Wal-Mart have the exact same thing for 20% of the price. Perhaps not a brilliant analogy but you get the point. TBH, I really don't care about brands but I do like value and I certainly insist on a good guitar. Even if for no other reason, these are great 'modding' guitars but I honestly don't think I'd change a thing. Fabulous construction, plays great out of the box, super powerful pickups. what's not to like? Also, your Latin translation is hilarious - not seen that before but I may well steal it! Cheers buddy :-)
@@FoxysGuitarShow My SC400 GT arrived and I couldn't be happier. I am not changing a thing on it. Feels and plays great. I believe you mentioned it in your review but the guitar is strangely more of a copper or burnt orange tint than gold. But I don't mind. I tseems like I should get the SC550 - 2 so it has a friend. Everyone is raving about that one. Thanks again! Cheers! Love the channel.
Hi Don. I'm in Louisiana and Duane is my all time favorite. I currently own 5 honest-to-goodness Gibsons and have owned many more, including original '62 and '65 SG Specials, and I can tell you that Epis or anything else don't come close to Gibsons. Buy and enjoy the cheaper guitars as knockabouts like I do, but don't expect them to be Gibbys.
Good stuff, Gary 👍🏻👍🏻 I bought the HB SC450 P90 GT but wasn't as lucky with the frets. I had to do a fret level to get the action down to 1.25mm on the high E.
Ahhhhhh, that's disappointing. Mind you, at the prices they charge it wouldn't bother me especially. I can normally knock off a fret dress and crown in 40 minutes or so - depending. I would bet if you had a moan at them they'd send another. Great company in my experience :-)
@@FoxysGuitarShow Yeah, it didn't really bother me and I could have persevered with the slightly higher action, I suppose. I've no complaints with Thomann, I sent back a HB ST DG57 and was sent a replacement under their 3 year warranty.
Do you know what? I really like to hear those stories about people who've received good service from a supplier. If I remember, I'll add that in at some point :-)
Ooh, no, wait now - oh you're making them up yourself! He was certainly one of my favourite comedy icons and after watching a shedload of Up Pompeii, I suppose he was bound to rub off on me - oo-er :-)
Hi Foxy, hope your feeling bit better with the covid mate, I keep coming back to this video, debating buying one of these models, could you give me an idea of what the weight and if you still like this guitar 6 months later? Cheers :)
Hi there CD :-) It only came in for a review but I can honestly say that these must surely be the best value for money guitars ever! It felt very similar (in every way) to a Les Paul Studio. Just been on Thomann's website and they're currently popping out the basic model in black, SC400, for £115 + £8 shipping. These are an absolute no-brainer IMO. Feeling much better today thanks :-)
Hi Leonardo :-) Indeed it can but it will leave an exposed screw hole from the top fixing mount and possibly a mark where the felt washer sits underneath. I'll tell you what though, these things are unbelievable value and Thomann will get it to your door within a few days with only an £8 shipping charge. Cheers, Gary :-)
the gibson wearing belt does cost more than the whole guitar. i have the same thing and there is no need to change anything. great guitar and two thumbs for the funny presentation. thomann has two more fans.
Hi there Klaus and thanks, it's much appreciated :-) These are great guitars for an unbelievable price. I love the service Thomann provides - courteous and efficient. Two very rare commodities these days :-)
Hi Michael :-) I'd say these were quite an 'everyman' guitar that's suitable for a wide range of styles and abilities. You can certainly find some warmth from it and it can definitely be set low enough to comfortably shred. The price point for these is phenomenal considering they have a set neck and decent pickups and hardware. Well worth the money. Cheers, Gary :-)
They have quite a nice website which I felt the need to checkout on the basis of watching this, funny thing is you can buy a kit for 95 quid and build one yourself, which after painting it will cost you twice as much as buying one already made and for a whole lot less effort. Still you could always give it a go, totally mess it up and then list it on eBay as a project guitar.
I bought one of their kits a few years ago. It was a really fun project, especially as I painted it with nitro and did a relic job on it. It was a really good lesson in setup and fret working, as I did stuff for the first time I'd be too scared to do on an expensive instrument. The problem was, the neck was out of alignment and there wasn't much I could do about it. Probably better off getting one of these which has had some quality control.
@@GarryParker Good to hear, I think most people who attempt such projects usually fail on obtaining a nice finish, its the professional bit as opposed to the sticking bits together process,. I'm in two minds about relic finishes, firstly I would never buy one, but secondly I totally admire how they are created, especially the custom shop stuff, is a true art. Trouble is most amatuer attempts usually result in a new guitar that looks like someone has tried to vandalise. Patina takes years to achieve and is hard to replicate to a standard that's hard to differ new from old. Think I've already told a story of a five grand Tele I sold a guy once who returned it to the shop next day starting that there was a blemish on it that didn't relate to the original road worn finish.
@@michaelwood3099 I was doing a copy of James Hetfield's old Electra Flying V, which is about as reliced as you can get. It even has doodles scratched into it. I'm quite artistic, so it was really fun. Any paint which was not perfect just added to the charm! That Tele story is really funny. Some people...
Hi Michael, as we both know, if you get a self build and cock it up and, as you say, sell it on as a 'project' you'll probably get three times the price of a fully built and painted one :-) Bottom line is, it was delivered really quickly and in great nick, too. If my experience is normal then these things are unbelievable value for money :-)
@@FoxysGuitarShow fantastic mate , got it . Thanks pal . Great honest and a bit off the wall reviews, keep it going , a breath of fresh air amongst the waffle
Hi Walter :-) Harley Benton guitars are manufactured in around 20 factories in China, Indonesia and Vietnam so I wouldn't know how to identify an individual one's origin but this one was really well made wherever it came from. Cheers, Gary :-)
Hi can you tell me the weight of this guitar please as I had to return a guitar that was just too heavy for me. By the way it cost me £22. to return to thomann.
Hi there Upcycler :-) If you're good at upcycling a range of items I'm sure you can adapt your skill to the guitar, too. Keep trying and you'll get there in the end! Cheers, Gary :-)
Hiya Roxy made up you got a good one the quality must have improved so much since I got one fantastic advice about mcdonalds think ill give that a whirl I want a maple stratocaster for£495 so if I take her too macdonalds 5 times I'll get one 👍👍👍👍take care mate
Hahahahahaha, hi Graham, that's so funny :-) To be perfectly honest, I've now heard mixed reviews about the quality issues so perhaps they've recently got their act together. I was just saying to another contributor that because they're so inexpensive I can't imagine that the import duties are terribly punishing. Do you have any information on this? It would really help me out. Take care too buddy :-)
@@FoxysGuitarShow hiya Roxy import duty is charged onthe price of the item and what the item is the price of a harley benton cant see it being much VAT is not charged within the EU but there's a charge on the cost of shipping which would be thomann hope it helps mate take care
thanks for this review. I have not owned any LP type guitar. Have tried Epiphone low end LP and Im ok with it but didn't impress me. I think I will have a go with this one in the very near future. Again thanks for sharing your thoughts on this guitar.
Hi there Vincent and thanks :-) I've had 3 or 4 Harley Bentons come my way in recent times and the quality of construction and fit and finish are superb. Sound great, easy to play and no issues of note. Best value for money on today's guitar market IMO. If you live in the UK then the website price is what you pay (no extra import duties or VAT) plus a very reasonable £8 for delivery if your order is less than £200 (I think). Cheers, Gary :-)
@@FoxysGuitarShow thanks ever so much. Yeah I’m in the Uk and I managed to purchased from them already a PB shorty bass and an electroclassical round back guitar. I really wanted to try for myself an LP type guitar and don’t want to spend much so yeah been thinking of getting a Harley Benton one. Again thank you!
@@FoxysGuitarShow I’ve never heard, but I gotta tell ya that their sound and music is quite familiar with what I was growing up with + plus the song fat girls lyrics😂
I'll be perfectly honest with you here, I can honestly tell no difference between basswood, agathis or anything else. These are all recognised tone woods and, as you correctly say, once the old fuzz box is turned up to 11 there's nothing to choose anyway. My biggest surprise was with the 335 Studio that's all maple. To my geriatric earholes it sounded even better than the Standard!
On the (increasingly) rare occasion buying guitars I'm.pleased when I have to fettle it , the first thing I do is take as many bits off as possible in past times I had to strip them to assemble them properly (I was almost disappointed when I bought one of the Pete's purple bullet Tele's from Andertons and it played beautifully out of the box)😁🇫🇴👍
Hi there Martin :-) Well, Christmas is coming and these guitars, IMO, offer the best value for money out there so you'll have to let anyone know who's likely to get you a present to give you cash or a gift card from Thomann! Good luck :-)
@@FoxysGuitarShow i hope someone could give me cash or gift card we can't afford anything because of the bills my grandma just died in september. I always want to be a guitarist so bad
Price will fluctuate pound against euro...unfortunately the arse dropped out of the pound with Brexit....you'd have probably got it for 100 quid if we'd never had Brexit.
Aghhhh, the 'B' word! I'm still puzzled as to why that happened and even more confused about the vote! A seemingly harmless trade agreement that benefitted everyone has now gone down the toilet. Crying shame :-(
@@FoxysGuitarShow completely right. Before we left EU Thomman were shipping to UK free of charge on goods over £99. Now its gone up to £149 before shipping is free. I have the 450 with P90's and I love it. So I went for the Harley Benton SC-550 II in flamed cherry with stainless steel frets for £250. Beautiful to look at. Mahogany body with a maple veneer. It is very loud as it has Tesla humbuckers. I mean 250 sobs! I won't bore you with others I've bought but you can also get great deals on their B stock stuff. I got £50 off their PRS copy and it's pristine. Good job by the way.
Hi there Mr Bozziebot :-) What you say is completely accurate for a few reasons but the main one would most likely be brand consciousness and of course quality of materials would be in the mix, too. They're still amazing guitars for the money, though :-)
