Three Harley Benton Guitars And A Guitar Snob - What Could Go Wrong? 

I'm an old retired musician who made a living playing for decades (mostly on Fenders and Gibsons), and although I've never heard of these things until literally yesterday, I have to say that hearing them just through computer speakers (especially that Les Paul-ish copy), they sound amazing. I almost want to buy another guitar, even it's a cheap guitar. Nice video guys. Thanks!

Entry level instruments are off the charts now!

Tuning issues are usually because of the string getting stuck in the nut - lubrication or/and filing in correct will fix it.

I bought an emerald green HB CST-24 a few years back when everyone was going crazy about them. I've been very impressed on the feel and play-ability. I would use it on a gig if I had to without too much concern. Like you guys, they are way better than my first guitar (Teisco 335 style) where the action was like an inch above the fret board. Great show!

Paul you make playing effortless. Enjoying your vids plus I learn something. Huge thnx as always.

I got a Tele TE-50. Sounds amazing and oh man, the neck is smooth as butter! Great for slides and bendings. I love it.

I bought a Harley Benton Fusion II a few years ago. My bandmates keep asking me to bring it to gigs it sounds so good. I like it as much as some of my guitars that cost ten times as much.

Thanks for doing this video, I’ve been interested in these guitars. I’m definitely ripping off a few riffs that Paul laid down today. Nice work.

I’d love to see you demo the new 25th Anniversary Strat mate. It’s my very first Harley Benton and I’m so impressed with it. Comes with upgraded components and great spec

Adding my experience - I had a Harley Benton Amarok-6, which is more expensive than any of these. It had A BUNCH of quality issues. But specifically on the tuning, the Amarok came with a Graph Tech TUSQ nut and Grover locking tuners. It still had tuning issues. It turns out it was due to the noodle-y neck. I'd basically have to adjust the truss rod about every week or so. If I picked it up and just tuned it it would often get noticeably buzzy. The frets that weren't very level made this very easy to notice.

Great review. Also it shows how a great amp is more important than a top end guitar sometimes.

I love this kind of tests on RU-vid. The only thing is why starting a test with a thick distortion. It flattens differences between guitars. But yes, it's quite amazing how good cheap guitars these days are.

Geez, if I ran across that HB 550 in my local pawn shop for near what you paid it would be in my house already. I own a couple Epi LPs and a few Specials, and a Squier Tele and a couple Mustangs. I think Thomann is doing some great stuff in the 'affordable' class.

@7:38 - the headstock reminds me of the ESP FRX range 🙂

I have a few. Sent them all to a luthier to set up, he replaces what needs to be replaced and they all sound great. I gig with a $99 tele and people always ask me about it because it's super sharp looking.

I have two HB's and I love them. Harley Benton SC-Custom FR (single cut like a LTD) Harley Benton TB-70VS Deluxe (basically a Thunderbird bass) They fit in well with my Gibson guitars.

I own and use 4 HB guitars. Two aren't changed one bit, only some minor adjustments. The other two, a LP from 2013 has got other pups from Donlis because I think the Wilkinsons are too hot. The other one is a Tele 52 copy. I put on brass compensated saddles, smoothed the rough fret edges and put in Donlis pups. I have a set tuners still waiting but that's only because I don't like the ratio of the originals. I've gigged with all four of them several times.

I've four HBs. The DC Custom has Grovers so no tuning problems and it's Wilkinsons are nice. My HB35+ (335 shaped) also had Wilkinsons but they were a tad dull. I put locking Klusons and a pair of IronGear Blues Engines after four years of happy playing. Happy after a DIY fret levelling, that is. The SC450+ with Roswell pickups (better than Wilkos IMO) is a sweet LP copy. The Big Surprise and the least expensive of the lot is my SC450 P90 at £108 in 2017. She is a killer and her no-name p90s put some SD pickups to shame for their p90’ness.

you guys need to try the CST24 hard tail, their really great.. Also try the Fusion Pro line with the roasted maple neck, you wont be dissapointed.

I own a lot of expensive guitars, but if there's a guitar you've always wanted, but didn't want to spend a ton on, Harley Bentons are great. I always wanted a Charvel Guthrie Govan, but I bought a Fusion II instead and it satisfied my JONES for one. I hope that makes sense. I have guitars that I only use in the studio and for home practice, but I never play live with them. So my advice is to scratch the itch for something different with HB. PS - I have on of HB's LP Junior models being delivered tomorrow.

The Harley Benton SC-550 II PAF you are playing is the older version. The newest version uses TESLA pickups and is made in Indonesia.

One huge spec you guys forgot to mention about the SC-550 and the CST24 is that they come with STAINLESS STEEL FRETS!

I have a Fusion Pro and the roasted maple neck, locking tuners and lightweight body are all outstanding. The pickups aren’t great but for a couple hundred bucks in that department you could have a very nice super Strat for under $500.

I have 3 harley benton guitars! And all i can say is that it is best bang for the buck! A little bit of set-up and you can already sound great!

The CST 24T comes with Blacksmith Stainless frets, Wilkinson bridge, and trem, I've had one for 2yrs now and it still gets grabbed quite often, over my Les Paul, Fender Strat, or Tele?

The black Telle with white binding. Where the strings come out of the body and cross the bridge. On mine, The strings actually touch the body of the bridge before they get to the bridge tuners. It doesn't seem to create a problem, is yours the same way?

He could of course sound good but the point was, how much better cheap guitars are today! Those three are great guitars and I have one of them myself the PRs style and I love it. Getting them second hand is even cheaper. I’ve owned nice guitars, Parker USA fly etc. but these are still very good and fun!

I wonder if you could tell me how to find 2nd-hand auctions in the UK, you mentioned. Much obliged.

Wow, thanks for the cool and honest video!

Nice! I've had a few harley bentons (including that black CST), and played a few more. I've been really impressed in most ways with most of them. They can definitely be a bit hit or miss, but in my experience, you can buy a $150-$250 guitar, and worst case spend another $100 to get it up to par. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ As far as tuning - most of the problem is probably the nut. The tuners on some of them aren't the best, but it's rare the tuners are the cause of a guitar not staying in tune.

yo that intro tone is banging

Guitar snob. You said it not me. I would love to see you have the honesty to do truly blindfolded tests with these types of guitars. It’s amazing how many reviewers made comments that were overly influenced by the name on the headstock.

Anyone who’s actually built a decent guitar from scratch knows that these guitars are exceptional for the money. The amount of work required to machine the wooden components, assemble the parts, finish and test is significant. I defy anyone to acknowledge the monumental achievement in that. Machine heads are commodity items and I doubt that it’s those that are the problem, moreover, the guitar just needs playing in. I’m lucky enough to own several Gibsons, Fenders, PRS, Musicman, Ibanez, Yamaha, Eastman, and some custom made instruments, but I have just purchased a few Harley Benton guitars second hand and I’m totally smitten. As a guitarist community, HB offer fabulous options for that we can chose from, how lucky are we! Thanks to the efforts of the team who’ve achieved this feat for our benefit!

what are you pluggin into?? sweet tone!!!!

I recently discovered Harley Benton and will soon be adding one to my collection of other inexpensive guitars. Mostly Epis and Squires. These seem to be awesome bang for the buck.

🤣it’s funny, I picked up a Harley Benton TE-30 telecaster here in the States from a buddy for 60 dollars and a case. Did the fret ends and a polish and I think it’s fantastic, sounds like a tele and as crappy as my tuners are, the bugger stays in tune. 🤷‍♂️. This is a channel I always look forward to watching and you are both great guys.

The HB guitars are truly impressive but for me this video shows that the player and the amp/effects are more important in creating the sound.

Have around ten HBs in my collection, incredible quality at the price. I know some people report getting a dud on occasions but for me all good so far.

That first thump before the actual sound is that because of reverb, delay, lots of bass or because you are using a 4x12?

Harley Benton is king of affordable imports. Even their guitar kits are amazing. I paid $90 for the trem prs kit. It sees a lot of action and I own 22 nice guitars.

Thanks guys

Curious what you guys would say about the top of line HBs. Not sure which is which but the super strat looks awesome

i own a harley benton sc550 plus. great guitar, stainless steel frets/ chambered body. really nice guitar, came with some fender parts stuck on, which suprised me

Paul could make a shovel sound great ! Love his style and effortless playing

I think I watched a video once and the chap phoned Harley Benton to find out if the SC550 has a maple top - they said it was maple AAA. The newer SC550 on Thomann website are all listed as maple top. Not bad. I have loads of Harley Benton guitars and I play them more often than my Fender Performer Strat.

I have wintage guitars worth a new Camaro, but my absolute favorite "on stage" guitars are Harley Benton DC Jr's. 3years in, & I haven't altered a thing.

I bought a second-hand, but unused Harley Benton TE62CC DR for a ridiculously low amount of money recently. It is a fabulous guitar. The guy who owned it bought it to mod, but his guitar tech friend forbade him to change a single thing, it was that good. So he sold it to me.

Hey Snobs, I mean Rats lol great video you definetly opened my eyes and ears to HB guitars. Thanks!

I have the SC 550 Deluxe. I changed the pickups "Duncan JB's" but the Roswells were ok. I just wanted something different. I changed the NUT too. Was a hollow piece of plastic. other than that, it's a fantastic guitar.

Looks like a decent platform for modding.

Computer-controlled cutting and shaping - - those technologies are giving players for $250-350 US what we used to pay $1500 for 15-20 years ago. Finishing on Asian imports rivals what you find in guitars three or four times the price. If you are able to perform basic setup work, Harley Benton's better guitars are wildly good values. I will say that I've had $2000 Fender Strats that took more time and effort to get into shape than the HB CST and SC guitars. And they did not come with stainless frets - - but the tuners were better.

Been gigging an SC450+ for 5 years now. Did need some initial work. Think i was supplied with B stock.

I have a PRS and the HB copy The PRS hangs on the wall and pretty much stays there. The Harley Benton is actually a better guitar with a little set up work done. It has better sustain, better action and jumbo frets. The graphtek nut will wear in after a while both will hold tune with even heavy trem movement. Oh and the set up work, the PRS I spent 3 days on its set up the Harley Benton I spent 3 hours on.

The nut can be a big cause of tuning isssues, easy to replace with a graphtech or something.

Roswell is not a Thomann inhouse brand. You can purchase them from competitors like Musicstore/ Cologne for example.

Thanks guys. Which auctions do you frequent?

I know tele's tend to be a little bright, and PRS darker. Where would these sit for you?

The black one is like a MIJ Boxer also. I guess maybe the Boxers don't have binding.

I bought the CST (PRS) and replaced all the hardwear and electrics with quality items just as a modding platform to see how good it could be /I could get it.. It's awesome, better than any of the PRS SE range I've tried.

If they are second hand, do they have the original electronics and pickups, or have they been changed?

Have 5 HB's..335 copy is very good as well as LP kit(modded wutg Fishman fluence & Piezo, great guitars for modding at such a cheap price.

Would love to see you get your hands on a schecter Nick Johnston PT and put it through its paces!

Lucky enough to have some very nice guitars, but the ones I play most are 3 HB DC juniors… fantastic guitars for about 150€ each!

I bought a bunch of HB LP's before they switch to the newer head stock like you boys have on this one. A bit of TLC, with some fret work, new pickups and electronics, they're just fine. I

I agree with other commenters... These do not feel like the models they represent, but for the money they are passable for sure... I recommend letting the beginner play someone's good guitar so they know what it's like for it to stay in tune then they will not get frustrated as much

What auction did he get them so cheaply for? What was the problem identified at 3:02? Interesting channel. First time watching but I'm intrigued to watch in future. But they do tend to skate over some details on the evidence of this video. Of course it may be because they have aimed their channel at guitarists who can read between the lines of what they are saying and doing.

I own a cst with p90... It was a b stock from Thomann.... i just wanted to try p90 ... i later discovered the neck was warped after a mate of mine pointed it out ... i couldn't be arsed to send it back ... the tuners are disgraceful ahah but every time i pick it up it really inspires me ...even more than a ce24 prs that was worth 10 times more than that HB ... the warped fretboard is jatoba wich is not the smoothest and i always put tons of olive oil ( extra virgin ahaha) n lemon oil too ... eventually i'll put some grover tuners on ... i tightened the tuners so much they barely turn but i love the damn thing .... yes the headstock is a bit poo for sure but heyho is gonna stay with me until i die ... some other guitars won't ... in a way that HB has more personality than me Ce24 .... crazy ahaha Yes it's all in our fingers and it's true a finer instrument will make things easier but won't necessarily inspire u more ....if u drop lucky and are prepared to do some set ups n change parts u are good ... Hb pick ups apart from the Rosewell are usually quite forgettable ...i 'd definitely keep me stock p90 ....

Did you do any upgrades action fret work tunners

They are excellent and well made punch well above there weight for price

I bought a HB SG-style guitar. Came with Gotoh Hardware and a Graphtec nut. Has better tuning stability than my Ibanez Prestige RG with locking tuners and also a graphtec nut. Only the frets needed a lot of polishing. Otherwise great.

Got 3, a jazz, a dc junior and a 25th anniversary tele. Great guitars especially the 25th tele which has stainless frets, locking tuners, roasted neck, Wilkinson bridge with compensated brass saddles, double bound body..... Lovely guitar 👌

I bought an Harley Benton Flying V from a thomann a few months ago, and it needed less work than my Ibanez rg550 Genesis that I bought new, that was so bad that I sent back..

For the record, I believe that is based on the Joe Perry model from Gibson. Vintage had a great couple of not so signature model's, probably less expensive twenty years ago...now there classics, lmao!!!

I have owned 4 HB guitars so far and not a single one was a disappointment - taking into account the price.

I have an SC-400 SGT Classic (about as cheap as you can get) and it plays as well as my real Gibson LP's. It also has a very comfortable sculpted neck heel that puts Gibson to shame. My SC-450 P90 is an excellent guitar, too. I bought a CST-24T also, but its neck turned out to be crappy huge and not to my liking at all. It didn't stay around long.

How did the Germans at HB get labour cheap enough to get down to this price point? Did they resurrect Organisation Todt, or something? The thing with cheap guitars is the hardware? That's true even on my Mexi Fender Strat. I love the neck profile and the fret work was pretty much perfect. Hardware is a bit meh. Pickups were okay, i.e., bang average. The five-way selector switch recently fell to bits. I had an Ibanez RG 550 Genesis and sold it after a week. I did not like the ultra skinny and flat wizard neck. MIJ did not add up to high quality like I expected. The switch was dodgy on that guitar too. Overall the guitar had a plastic toy feel to it. I was very surprised, because an older MIJ Jackson DK I had was great, apart from the licensed Floyd not being as good as the real thing or something like a Gotoh - I had a 1996T and it was really good. One impressive thing about the RG 550 though was the Edge locking tremolo. Good trem. Very good. Fret work was decent, but not as well levelled and dressed as the Fender. Even my Gibson SG Standard '61 original series does not get a 100% rating. It does not have the G-String tuning issue, but it gave me trouble when I got it new. Two gripes. The faux ABR bridge posts are not a tight fit and have far too much play for my liking. The neck would not set up and stay put. I nearly returned it. I had the truss rod cover off for weeks, adjusting the truss rod most days. In the end, it got used to Auckland humidity and settled down. Now it plays so nice and is my favourite guitar. I am 53 now, so have had a few guitars. I used to buy cheaper ones to take to sea with me -- after damaging a 1990s Gibson custom shop Les Paul Elegant I used to take out there. The thing I have noticed about budget guitars is the frets wear out faster than on more expensive ones. A lot faster. I suspect they use softer metal for the frets. That would speed up fret work in the factory etc. Your daughter who is six will play it? Have you fed her steroids from birth? I got my niece a Squire Hello Kitty mini Strat when she was about eight. Too big for her. Her older brother ended up playing it lots, and now he is 26 he looks after it for her at his place, i.e., he annexed her axe.

The SC is a veneer not a photo. Should have tried the DLX SC it’s got nicer hardware and pickups for not much more. Just fewer “cool” finishes:

These are perfect modding platforms, first & foremost.

My experience with HBs is that they're quite good at their price point and I'd recommend them to any beginner or not too high level intermediate student, but if you're looking for guitars that have an absolutely perfect setup, any of them are going to require the services of a very skilled guitar tech to take them to that level. And that will increase what you pay for them.

The key to HBs is that they always need tweaks. Not recommended for a beginner unless someone can set it up for them. Having said that I have an HB Les Paul Jr. that gets as much play-time as my Strats, after a few hours dialing it in it's a great guitar. BTW my money is on poorly-cut nuts causing the tuning issues.

They all sound great but I have found the attention to HB detail when it comes to frets, fret buzzing and dead notes is a real constant problem. Sent many back. Even if I have asked then to look at the problems they would rather send another with similar problems. You know that saying, ' If it seems to good to be true...................'

That is a beautiful HB LP

We can’t get these Harley B’s in Canada I don’t believe, they seem quite good for the price. I’m quite impressed with that Les Paul style, can’t believe James got it for $100 quid. I think it’s ok to be somewhat of a guitar snob, but no denying the top brands are selling for far more than their worth.

So minor upgrades and it’s a killer

The CST-24T is heavier than the PRS it copies, but for those of us who can do without those goofy birds on the neck and want to save a few bucks, the HB is a nice option, especially in their black cherry flametop.

I have two Fenders, one Ibanez, and four Harley Bentons. They have three others I want. I haven't had to do anything to them. Maybe one, if I actually have a problem...

I have never had tuning problems with cheap tuners. They do make it harder to tune with the slop going different directions, but they hold tune ok.. Just stretch the strings....lube the nut.

The tops are 1mm veneer. I ckecked. Maple veneer comes in .6 to 1.5 thickness.

At least the cavities on these guitars have conductive paint on it. That is more attention to detail compared to some higher brand guitars out there.

The dude liked it so much he didnt want stop playing

Seems insane to me that they don't make an SC 550 II or SC Deluxe Gotoh in black.

Be good to hear the clean tones.

You nailed it. I bought a HB (ST-90SA) and I did a little fret leveling / setup / bone nut and put all new electronics in it and it's as good as any higher end guitar I have now sound and playing wise. It's a great starter guitar for sure just like it is and SUPER inexpensive. I 100% bought mine to check one out and planned on modding it and it's a keeper and not leaving my lineup. Fun to watch!

The sound bleeding through on that Les Paul style guitar is because it has a 50s style wiring any Les Paul Style guitar with 50s style wiring will do the same thing. Explained to be by my guitar tech

I've asked the question about the strings contacting the tune a matic bridge body at several different guitar reviews sites. No answer. I'm guessing no one has noticed...

PS: the tuners are not great but once tuned it stays even after using the whammy. They are just harder to tune. I’m replacing them.

I've had a couple HBs - an EX model and an ST model - and the necks seem to be thicker than the models they are inspired by. Other than that, they're brilliant especially for the money.

new guitars and new strings dont stay in tune at first. Mine stays in tune all day. Guitars normally need a tweek on the tuning after a day. If they stay in tune after two hours of playing, they are ok, even my cheap tanglewood does that, and it has notchy tuners.

Hi Guys for some reason comments have been restricted for this video. this is not our doing and im currently working on it.

The pickups are passable, the neck, body, and fretwork are good. I only own one.