Harley Benton BigTone Trem White

I've had this guitar for one full year now and decided it was time to review.

Originally there was no bundle offer with the white version and the corresponding case but a quick message to Thomann and they got back to me straight away saying they would amend the order to include it. GREAT CUSTOMER SERVICE AS ALWAYS!

Out of the case very impressed. Solidly built with quite a bit of weight to it. Finish was very very good, one or two minor blemishes but nothing unusual. The tail piece (bigsby) also very solid. I was anticipating this would be flimsy given the very good price but again it was solid.

Some people have commented on the tuners. I personally like the aesthetic. They are a little bit jumpy on some strings but again nothing I haven't encountered on more expensive guitars.

Frets needed work both on the edges and on the frets themselves to make them smooth. This is probably the biggest single flaw I could point out about the guitar, but this is very easily fixed even by an amateur like me.

Playability & Tone: This is why I wanted a jazz guitar, I was after the sweet round tone. I've been learning and listening to a lot of fingerstyle jazz guitar this past year and this guitar gets very close to some of the sounds I hear coming from my favourite players who would be using much more expensive and classic guitars. For the price I have to say I am 100% happy with the lovely tone coming from this guitar. Apart from some work on the frets I changed action to be a little bit closer to the strings. Again no problem for an amateur and the truss rod moved nice and easily.

Without using the bigsby It stays in tune really well.

After one year of playing the pickup switch is a little loose but that's completely normal as far as I can say.

With the bigsby set back into the neutral position the fit in the case was a bit snug. The case top is definitely pressed against the bigsby when it's closed but after a year there has been no issues with that.

This was my first Harley Benton. I was very impressed. I have since bought another HB and again was very impressed.

If you're thinking about learning or playing some jazz style guitar I can highly recommend this guitar. If it got smashed to pieces tomorrow (hopefully it won't) I would have zero hesitation in buying another.

I was tempted for some time, to get archtop guitar. I'm playing for 40 years now, I own several acoustic and electric guitars and also one hollow body LP shape. But I never really had archtop and the jazzy sound of it. I wasn't prepare to spend a lot, since I'm no pro and music is my hobby, not living. So I decided, after reading several reviews, to go and get this guitar. For me at that price, THE most important thing is quality of body and neck, all the rest can be easily replaced if needed. 200? is a gamble, I was willing to take blind.
When I received this guitar, i was pleasantly surprised. Just what I wanted (well, stil can not compare to Ibanez George Benson that I had oportunity to play) and expected. I have read in advance of all the bigsby problems, bridge problems, so I immediately unscrew top part of bigsby, put some wood under it and flattened the angle to bridge - the design is kind of silly, but managable. The only thing really annoying is the pickups, that buzz in their seats, so I guess I'll have to take the out, see the spring coil and adapt.
Neck is great, straight, in tune - if not, brige is adjustable, bigsby does it's job, not the greatest, but I have never used it before and have no technique so it's all right for me.
Without amp this guitar sounds nice and jazzy, just like I expected. It's very solid built and quite heavy.
With amp, (I use Fender Mustang) and with proper amp sound set, i prefer to use clean Fender Twin that sound great with this guitar, from jazz to rockabilly.
Pickups are nice sounding low output. tuners are ok., doing their job and keeping intonation.

All in all, I'm a happy camper.

After owning it half a year, I still like this guitar a lot. Adjusted some height of pickups to my liking, the rest is good.

I am 73 (playing since I was 10) & work on guitars for others. I also have quite a few guitars. Point being I know a great value, when I see one. The Big-tone is just that.

Cons: It is a bit heavy & I had to long gate the bridge holes, because my bridge would not go down to adjust the action. This is not the first time I have run into this & consider it all as part of a good set-up.

The Greats: This thing sounds great both plugged in and by it's self. The finish on mine is near perfect. The playability is very good. I am surprised at how well it stays in tune. This & a B-stock guitar came as advertised, in just 4 days! I live in the USA (Wisconsin) and am blown away by this very fast time. It is my first in stock order from Thomann. So, the two guitars I received are better then expected and one more still coming, with Thamann following up on that order as coming too. I will be ordering more from them and do recommend them. Thanks Thoman & my contact person: Melanie...

This review will be very short because all I can say is that this guitar is very very cool!
It looks like very expensive Gretch! All white with gold! Really impressive!
You may think it sounds not bad but... it actually sounds super cool! I don't know how they made this low price guitar sound SO good but it does! I played it in the bar the day I received it. It was all fixed well with D'addario strings onboard. With my Hughes&Kettner pedal it sounded just fantastic! Overdrive and distortion made it sound even better!
Now my dream about buying Gretch is fulfilled with this guitar!
I'm happy with it and I recommend everyone who loves this Gretch sound to buy this very guitar!

To start off my previous experience with Harley Benton Guitars has been nothing but amazing, My Jumbo and 12 string acoustic have been nothing but amazing. seriously the quality on those acoustics is incredible.

Now lets get to this guitar, First off the guitar is very beautiful Ived gotten so many compliments , I cant complain about the finish on the guitar but..thats pretty much were the good things end.

1. The build quality is just bad on my guitar , theres is so much glue left on the inside of the guitar it really paints a different picture as to my previous experiences.

2. Never complained about sharp frets before but unfortunately with this one ived already cut myself a couple times.

3. The neck angle is off on my guitar the lower E string just doesnt fall on the pick up, I messed around with the floating bridge and I sort off made it work but still.

4. Probably the most annoying you cant use the Tremolo and if you do well you are going to have to tune it because it does not hold tune at all.

I really want to Love this guitar but wow they really dropped the ball on this one, believe me ived tried to make it work I even bought a “String butler” for the tuning issue but it only does so much. If you have read this far then buyer beware at least this model, as stated before my previous experience has been nothing but great with the acoustics but so far the electrics have been a little disappointing.

I bought this just for the look of it and when it arrived yes it looked great, then I started playing it, which was a pleasant surprise - even with my heavy handed style it stayed in tune and the more i played the more i enjoyed it i gave the tremelo a good rattling and still in tune
compared with a friends very similar looking but two grand more machine it was better.. It sounded a little different but a small tweak of the amp settings and it was "there"
three months on and it continues to thrill, no real concerns, no breakdowns unlike my mates falcon which needs surgery after every gig.
Only thing is I am looking fror a wider bridge but this is because i do batter the hall out of it.
see me - well chuffed
Most fun guitar I have ever bought and it costs so little.

Used for messing about at home, nothing serious. OK looks (+), but the build quality is poor as the strings lay a bit too much towards the treble side. The result is that the 2 bass strings do not fall directly over their pickup poles. It's as if the neck is slightly off center. No amount of bridge positioning would correct this issue as the bridge floats on the body and over time would position itself back to what it thinks is normal. I had to reposition the tremolo to correct. Some of the internal wiring had masking tape around the connections which makes me think this guitar was previously returned and then reissued. I should have returned it.

When the guitar arrived the box had some damage and I was nervous that the guitar may be damaged but when opened the guitar was inside a second box that was not damaged, so I was happy to see that the guitar was perfect. This guitar does not disappoint with its looks, with all gold hardware it equals much more expensive guitars of a similar design. I was surprised that the guitar is quite heavy, also giving a feeling of quality, The guitar came fully tuned and could be played out of the box. After a week of playing the strings seem settled in and it holds tune after trem use. I have seen stories of leaning bridges due to the steep attack angle of the strings from the trem to the bridge, but my bridge is level even after a reasonable time of playing, maybe the problem has been addressed. I have checked the frets and find a few high frets mainly at their outer ends, causing some string buzzing on the Low E string, and a damped high E string at the 14th fret, I have ordered a set of flat wound strings to try , and will do the frets when I change the strings. I also ordered the recommended hard case for this guitar that has no problems. I can highly recommend this guitar to anyone who like me just love hollow body guitars, for its price it is a steal. Next step will be a better amp, already added to my wish list.