Harley Benton SC-550 II BCF

I have to admit that i was very reluctant to order this one. The last 4 or 5 guitars i sent back and i was not sure that, even though HB now has a version lll in the Fusion series and ver ll in the SC series, they had learned anything about optimizing the instruments. I got great Fusion ll guitars but the only Fusion lll i ordered i had to send back as well as an Aeolus
On top of this i just returned another SC550 ll from the previous batch. The radius on the neck and the TOM was VERY different, 9,5” on the neck, 13” on the bridge. So.. no possibility to set up the string height to fit all strings at the same time.
This one is from a new badge of guitars that came in the middle of september ‘21, so i took a chance and ordered it as the previous SC550 ll sounded really good.
Unboxing was very interesting and to my relief the neck and the bridge now had the same 12” radius, so the setup of the string ended as i wanted it.
But….. during unboxing i let the guitar slide out of the inner bag holding the neck. I didnt expect any sharp frets but i was WRONG !! Anyway, when i stopped bleeding and had cleaned the floor and bathroom i turned my attention to the guitar itself. I used to build guitars and had my own production for some years where i was into grading the guitars - for others too. So i know exactly what it takes to achieve a certain grade.
Thomann promises AAA top and the photo on the website indicates that. But this guitar is nowhere near AAA. The left bottom side has no flames at all and there are no matches between the 3-4 flames on the upper half.
This means that it would end below any grading scale.
If they promise AAA the top must have an AAA yop as minimum - not as a maximum as if you win the lottery.

I have returned so many guitars and i know it is a painstaking job to work on stainless steel frets, so i let my power tools take over. Tough job even for the tools but it worked. The top i can live with but only because the guitar sounds incredibly good and now is playable.
The vintage tuners are completely useless. I have to torn them at least half a round before anything happens and they are unable to keep the guitar in tune. For now i put some cheap chinese tuners from AliExpress on the guitar and they work FAR better than then stock tuners. The ones one my guitar would not live 3 months.

Guess i was just unlucky (again)

If you want great sound at low price this might be your dream, but like Forrest Gump (almost) said. Life is like a box of guitars from HB - You never know want you gonna get !!!

I bought this to replace a similar guitar, by another manufacturer that I had many years ago, which had high-end hardware, SD pickups and a gorgeous finish. I am very happy with this purchase!

The finish on this looks and feels great, and I really like the binding. There is one small blemish on the side of the body, which in isn't a huge deal. But, unfortunately it's right on the "waist" area, directly in my line of sight while playing. It is so small though, that I really have to look for it to notice. It's likely just a partial fingerprint or smudge in the finish, from while it was curing.

The fretboard is impressive! Yes, it needed some oil, but I'd do that anyway. The action is impressively low, without a hint of a buzz. I am not so much as touching the neck or saddles. I thought I would want to replace the tuners, but I really like them and won't replace them. They look, work and feel good and the guitar stays in tune very well.

The resonance is impressive. The tone, unplugged and plugged in, are beautiful. One of the pots feels a bit scratchy, but functions properly. That was true on my $1200 guitar, too. I don't love gold hardware, and would prefer chrome (or all black), but, this hardware is high quality and looks very good.

It's this guitar that had led to me buying four more from Thomann, and my students have purchased some as well. I'm about to get two more, but shhh, that's between you and me.