I've been intrigued by Harley Benton guitars for some time now, but was always a bit of a snob in terms of what name was on my headstock. But I was drawn to the excellent looks and styles of the HB range on Thomann.
I spent a good bit of time researching these guitars; there are a lot of YouTube video reviews of them, and the vast majority were positive. Overwhelmingly positive for that matter. "How can this guitar be so good for such a small price tag?" was the general conclusion to most of the reviews. And even the less positive reviews admitted the guitar was still pretty good.
I own Epiphones and Squires, as well as Gibsons and Fenders. So eventually I figured what harm would it do to give HB a try, and I ordered it. Nervously I might add! There was a slight delay before it shipped as it had to be quality checked, but I figured this could only be a good thing.
It arrived six days after I ordered it (including a weekend), and it was well packaged. No damage spotted and no issues. Taking it out, my first impression was that the guitar is beautiful out of the box. It gleams. The colour is fantastic. It feels solid, heavy, like a "proper" guitar. Nothing flimsy, no rough frets, no dry fretboard, no loose switches or knobs. Wow.
The set up was perfect, string height was spot on (the strings it came with are supposed to be 10s but feel lighter). Often with Gibsons and Epiphones I find you have to use a set of 11s with a wound 3rd, otherwise it plays out of tune, but not this time. The intonation was perfect. And after stretching out the strings a few times, it seemed to stay in tune perfectly. The tuning heads may be cheaper, but they feel the same to me as anything I've used on an Epiphone before.
Plugged it in and it sounds amazing. Like, super beefy and loud and with great sustain. You can split the coils which I never really bother with but good to have the option. The three pick up options are clear and distinct.
Soloing, chording, everything sounded and felt good - fast, smooth, and while the neck is slightly chunkier than on Fenders or Squires, it's not too big. You just feel like you are playing a really solid, quality guitar.
I had a Gibson SG that cost €1,500 and I can safely say I prefer playing the HB. I had so many issues with that SG; the set up was terrible and it never really stayed in tune. The intonation was never right. The tuners felt plastic and cheap. Bit shocking for a guitar that costs nearly ten times the amount for this one. And I don't have the same problems with this guitar!
Harley Benton are obviously doing something right and are changing the game for budget guitars. But don't think of it as a "budget" guitar - think of it as a quality guitar that just doesn't cost that much. The quality here has really gotten me thinking about what guitars I'll be buying in the future.