Harley Benton SC-Special TV Yellow

In de bijna 20 jaar dat ik gitaar speel heb ik vrijwel altijd gitaren bespeeld met humbuckers. Die klinken lekker vet, maar missen de dynamische subtiliteit die ik wel heel tof vind. Omdat ik goede dingen over P90's hoorde ben ik me gaan oriënteren op een Les Paul Special-achtig instrument met die elementen. Zo kwam ik bij de Harley Benton SC-Special TV Yellow. En wow wat een gitaar, direct uit de doos merk je dat de afwerking goed is en door mijn versterker klinkt hij fantastisch.

Ik ben zeer te spreken over de klank van de gitaar. Van subtiele blues tot scherpe rock toverde ik uit mijn versterker door alleen maar te spelen met de volume en tone knoppen. Hij klinkt lekker agressief als je wilt en zelfs bij high gain-werk (metal) blijft hij aardig overeind. Daar is hij niet voor gemaakt en je merkt dat hij het best tot zijn recht komt met iets minder drive.

Sound - Felle, maar toch veelzijdige gitaar
Afwerking - Heel fraai, doet beslist niet onder voor andere premium merken. Alleen de frets voelen in het begin nog een beetje ruw, maar dat verdween na een avondje spelen en beetje oppoetsen.
Speelbaarheid - Ik speel meestal op SG's en deze nek is vergelijkbaar. Speelt heel goed en ligt fijn in de hand
Kleur - TV Yellow zou ik het niet noemen, 'Dirty Mustard' klopt beter

Ik heb er een hele mooie gitaar bij en dat voor een hele scherpe prijs. Top!

Highly recommended! What a great take on the classic LP special.

Bought this because last week I bought the HB DC-Junior faded cherry single p90-pickup guitar. I was so impressed with that Indonesian made guitar, that when I saw this was available and made in Indonesia (probably the same company) I knew I wanted it.
I've been playing, building and fixing guitars for over 50 years. I went over this guitar inch by inch when it arrived. It's FLAWLESS.

The finish, fretwork and setup is spot on. Intonation is almost perfect (I'll be setting that up later when the guitar gets used to the humidity here in Nashville TN) . The nut is cut perfect and feels like bone. The neck is straight with no dead spots. Pickups sound great with minimal buzzing, so probably good shielding inside. Pots sound good and spin well. Fretwork is very nice with no sharp edges and reasonably polished for this price point. The fretboard wood looks and feels exactly like ebony - really! All the side markers are in the right position and spaced perfect. The wraparound bridge is well made and solid as a rock. Plays like butter and sustains well. Good balance, no neck dive when you hold it.

Like others.. I'm astonished at the value you get for the price. I know guitars, this guitar literally is a good as guitars costing thousands more. More importantly, it is really fun to play. It sustains and sounds good "unplugged" which makes you want to play it more.

Note: The finish is not "satin". It's gloss (just like in the photos). Mustard color is exactly like in the photos. Also, I'm pretty sure the neck is one of the "fat" necks that HB sells on their "Jr" models, because it's thicker than my DC-junior. Guitar weighs 6 pounds 14 ounces (almost 7 pounds). Looks like the body could be 2 or 3 pieces of mahogany glued together.

I'll be doing a full "set up" on this guitar later.. but I won't be changing much. Someone who knows nothing about setting up electric guitars could pull this out of the box, tune it up and play it with no changes.

Cons: This guitar is new and shiny and sparkly. It's covered with polyurethane and not nitro. So if you are looking for a vintage look, this is not the guitar for you.

Hats off to Harley Benton and Thomann regarding this guitar, quality control is spot on.

Update Dec 2020. This thing acoustically rings like a bell! My personal test of any electric guitar. You can always swap pickups... but if a guitar is dead you can't do much about it.

This guitar is "Alive"

My 2nd Harley Benton and again very happy i bought it.
Body: Really nice processed. No faults at all. Color isn't TV yellow but light brown leaning more to orange then yellow. No complaints - I like it.
Bridge: Ok. I had to file sharp edge on 6th saddle that was hurting my palm. Not a big deal. Design of the bridge is a little problematic if you only need to change one of the strings since pickup is very close to string holes. But I think most wraparound bridges have same issue.
Pickups: Ok but not so happy as I am with Roswell Filtertronics on Harley's FLT90 Telecaster. They sound decent but my ear missing something. Can't say exactly what. Always had trouble explaining sound to others. It's not so important since sound is very subjective thing. I'll just say that they don't match so well in my setup as the rest of pickups I already own (setup: Marshall JVM with 4x12 Greenbacks 25).
Elektronics: Great. Feels and works even better than on HB FLT90.
Neck & fretboard: Really nice. Feel and shape is almost the same as on my Gibson SG 2008. Really comfortable to play. Some frets needed sanding. No sharp edges - good job on fret ends. Fretboard was really dirty and all frets needed polishing but I am not counting that as a bad thing.
Nut: Not cut as it should but it's not a big deal.
Tuning machines: Great. They don't hold tune so well but that could be cause of the headstock design (eternal Gibson problem) or because of the nut not cuted as it should.

Why I gave 4 stars on quality?......Bridge desing is very high so you cannot raise pickups close to the strings. Because of that I had to put 8mm thick wood shimm, screw it underneat bridge pickup and drill holes through it for pickup screws. Now its posible to raise or lower bridge with ease. If any of you going to do the same you don't need 8mm shimm, 5mm thickness should be enough.

Would I buy HB again?.....Of course.

Rock on!

Let me tell you my story. I bought a Gibson Special Jr in faded cherry with two P90's used and absolutely loved the way it sounded, but couldn't keep it in tune for even one song. That is ground zero critical for me. I lubed it, and did what I could without spending as much as I did for the guitar with string locks, Gibson fine tune bridge, tuners etc. so I sold it. The guy who bought it from me worked in a Guitar Store, and I almost cried selling it listening to it in my Fender Blues Deluxe Tweed Tube amp; the tone was that incredible. Well the guitar used in price has gone up double since then. I wish I knew about the String Butler back then. So, this has been a heartache I have never satisified until now.
One day I woke up and thought, for this kind of money, why don't I take a chance and buy the Harley Benton SC Special? What if I luck out and get the same tone, and for even way less money. So, I took the chance, and WOW, BINGO, hit the lottery kind of joy. This thing sounds amazing, plays like a dream, and is mint/flawless in every way. Sounds every bit as good as the one I sold. The fretboard edges are smooth, the frets are polished, I lucked out and got one where the mahogany was so even in color it looked like it was a one piece block of wood, and only upon very close inspection along the edges did I see that, yes it was 3 pieces.
I actually have 3 Harley Benton guitars with P90's and they all sound like they are in the same ball park, but this SC Special with solid mahogany throughout has an edge in tonal qualities. It's hard to describe, but it has a special clarity in there, a little more pronounced mids, and sparkling highs especially in the middle position sounding like bells, but without any chiminess, and yes, having full depth of tone there as well. I am blown away by this guitar. Just walking by it, seeing it there in the case, I have to go over and take it out, plug it in, and smile, especially considering what I paid for it. I could see this selling for ten times this price, and being even better than the ones that do in the big name brand. I'm thinking if they come out with one in Cherry red, I might even get another one. Not that I don't have enough guitars already. Highly, highly recommended.