Harley Benton SC-500 WH Vintage Series

This is a fabulous guitar for the price. The finish is flawless and is one of the few solid color finished guitars I own. It is a great color. I didn't think the super access heel would make much of a difference but it really makes playing up the neck easy and fast. The headstock is quite nice considering there are only so many ways to change the headstock. The diamond design is very cool. Even nicer that the "G" word diamond, IMHO. It needed only minor adjustments on the set up. It has a good low end growl and a very warm mid range. Action was low. Frets are even and well polished. It weighs a bit more than my other Les Paul' but I will be sitting most of the time so that makes no real difference. I am very excited about this purchase. So much so, I just purchased 4 more Harley Benton guitars with cases for my 2 boys. Yes, I bought them 2 each. The people at Thomann have been wonderful. They have responded very quickly to my questions and have been professional and polite. You can't go wrong with this purchase. Looking for more gear now!!!

I am a semi-pro singer wannabe Randy Rhodes cream LP enthusiast who so far had the choice of the HB, the Burny, or the FGN upto £1400.00 I went with the HB as the reviews read fab. On opening I was really pleased to say the colour leans more towards a cream white than artic and I cannot see any blemishes or scuffs which to me isn't an issue as its gonna be a working guitar. (packaged impeccably - lots of soft stuff and doubled boxed)

On pluggin in, I noticed the action too high for me. Not to screw things up, I rang thomann support and like no other business in the modern world, I didnt get given 12 options to meander through, Thomas pick up the phone and told me to go bridge screws before truss rod. etc. very helpul. Action was lowered and the games began. No fret buzz or loss of note occurred on bends in the 12-21 fret area :-)

I have a GIBSON LP STANDARD in tobacco 1950s, a custom TOKAI (chuckier neck) and this HB is up there. The neck is definately wider at the 10-15 frets but that suits my funny hands. At first I thought there was a definitive fret resistance compared to the LP due to the price and quality etc etc, but through the evening of playing, my left had started to not try too hard and the gliding began. All my standards I play from CRAZY TRAIN to BEAT IT, or IS THIS LOVE were a breeze.
The sustain and easy to bend and hold a note seemed comparable to my Tokai if not better. And in fact the clarity of lick when playing fast seemed better to my ear which gives you confidence to keep fretting better. But that could be my ear and over excited opinion. Please note I practice through a YAMAHA THII 30 and go live with a POD GO so much sound will be pretty generic with any guitar £100 or £5000.
But for me, the fret work was excellent

Compared to other reviews commenting on this, I have tuned the guitar once, and not had to retune and feel the tuners are quite sturdy and reliable but lets see how this go's in the future.

BTW its lighter than my Tokai no idea of actual weight but sat great on my shoulders with no weight distribution issues.

To conclude, I was after a Randy / MIck Ronson guitar look for my new act and this axe works and feels great so ME happy !!

All I can say is Thomann / HB provided a great product and support service to me here in the UK. Ill look at another guitar for sure.

**** Maybe if you request Thomann provide to guitar to a low action during set up prior to delivery, then I am sure they would accomodate to a job ***

Thank you to THomann

* Ill re-review in 3 months if there any updates.

What can I say. After reading lots of reviews online I took the plunge and bought this guitar. I have been playing guitar now for 48 years and have had many guitars during that time. I currently have 8 guitars now including a Gibson Les Paul Custom but I can honestly say this HB is my favourite to play. I had pre conceived ideas that I would have to change out the pickups on this but can honestly say the pickups are really good.

Just a couple of very small issues (which won't spoil things for me) The Gold coloured Bridge and Tail piece are slightly different colours and the pickup selector switch wiggles about ( I am going to replace it) The tuning heads are okay and hold tuning but aren't brilliant, something else I may change in the future. BUT, and I say that in capital letters, this a £149 guitar!!!!!!!! Great, great value for the money even with a few very small niggles

Buy one, you won't be disappointed!

This guitar plays, sounds, and feels about as good as it looks. I’m not talking Gibson Custom Shop like quality but definitely along the lines of Epiphone. The neck profile actually feels a lot better than Epiphone’s slim D profile neck as it has a bit more meat to it. The fretboard kind of resembles a form of Ebony but very dry. The pickups actually sound good; clear and defined. They are warm and seem to be low output but sustain notes really well. The finish on mine was almost flawless with a minor paint run on the binding issue but not a big deal. Thomann set this guitar up perfectly achieving low action with no fret buzz with what seems to be cheap 10-46 strings that will need to be changed. Did I mention the guitar stays in tune! I strongly recommend this guitar for your first guitar or another to add to your arsenal.

I've been lusting after a white LP Custom style guitar for many years but there was no way I was paying Gibson prices and I didn't think the Epi was worth what they charge and wasn't that impressed with it.
The SC-500 WH is the guitar that first turned me on to HB though it was a year before I pulled the trigger after loving the TE-52 and JB-75.
All I can say is WOW, do I like this axe!
I've watched all the reviews and considered what they cited as shortcomings...not great tuners, microphonic pickups, finish flaws...mine came nearly perfect, the only flaw I can find is a barely visible 1.5" line of wood colour between the binding and the neck on the high E side...barely visible and invisible while I'm playing.
Fretwork is very good (maybe not custom shop level but better than most more expensive guitars), finish is otherwise flawless, no tooling marks on any hardware or pickups, tuners are very smooth (though not high ratio) and stable, nut is very well cut, the blackwood fretboard is tightly grained and smooth, dark enough to mimic ebony and the medium jumbo frets were a little scratchy so I thought I should polish them, but 2 hours if playing took care of that. Even the single ply pickguard is cut nicely, no rough edges.
So that's build and finish quality...now for how it performs...
This thing plays like butter!, lower action than anything I own. Substantial neck but slim enough to be very comfortable for my average sized hands, sweet and silky ckean tones and a real growl with some gain, no squealing with high gain, where it just sings and sustains like a pipe organ. Everything from ballads to Randy Rhoads or Zack Wylde is possible and convincingly authentic sounding with those nameless "vintage humbuckers". Access to higher frets also really is easier with HB's unique neck heel, it's well balanced and the basswood body is lighter than most LP style guitars but I can't discern any lack of tone or sustain.
Overall, I am thrilled with this guitar and I've been playing nearly 50 years and owned lots of Gibsons and Fenders in that time. It's a beautiful instrument, plays and sounds great and I just can't believe what I paid for it...I can't stop staring at the elegant white/gold/black colour combination.
If anything were to happen to it, I'm just going to get another one.
They don't stay in stock long (waited 3 months for mine), so pull the trigger if you're thinking about it, you won't be disappointed.

Yes it is a cheaply priced guitar but it is also so much more! The build quality of this Guitar is as good a model twice the price. The sound is simply exceptional for the price. When it arrived it was in perfect condition with the physical settings as near perfect as you could expect. playability is first class, The general look of the guitar is really smart with first class with the gold hardware and the pleasant white paint used. The hardware is obviously the best but is acceptable. Strings need to changed as the ones supplied are not really perfect. I found the tuning keys good and the pickups far better than expected. Locking tuners could be fitted in the future. This guitar is worth upgrading in my opinion. It is not a badly built cheapie but instead a guitar far above its price.... My other two guitars are both ep's and this one produces a far better sound and is more comfortable to play... You really need to see and play it to get a good feel. The pictures go no way in giving an actual true representation of the quality of this £144 baby. I would just like to add that My appraisal is based on the guitar I received. Yes if your looking for a guitar not costing the earth that will preform like an instament twice or three times the cost, then this is the one to go for.

Hi! First of all I must say I play guitar at home. I own a HB CST-24 which I'm so happy with but I wanted to try and switch to a Les Paul model, and what better than trying another HB guitar?

The guitar looks really pretty. The finishes are good enough (you can see some imperfections in the binding but nothing important).

In terms of sound, I think a pickup swap would be great to have a better experience but it sounds really good and it is powerful enough for home. I use a Blackstar Id:core 20 watt amp and the mix guitar-amp sounds great. It stays in tune without any problem. I think HB make a really with work with the tuners of their guitars because my CST-24 never gets out of tune and the same happens with this one.

An advice, please, please, please change the strings as soon as you receive your guitar. I played with them and it is not a good experience, changed them by new ones and everything went really smoother.

Not so much to add. It is a really good guitar as starting (and continuing) point because it is beautiful, solid and sounds good even if it is not made of basswood. It worth every euro it costs.

Pros:
Beautiful.
Solid.
Good sound.
It keeps in tuning.
Cheap.

Cons:
Strings by default are crappy.

Enjoy that pretty and cheap great guitar!