Harley Benton BigTone Trem White

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!

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.

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.

Canadian Maple Body & Neck gives the guitar its weight, It resonates beautifully without being plugged in. The finish is Great, no cracks or dents, The Paintwork and bindings are really good and what I would expect of a much more expensive model.
Tuners feel quite sturdy and the set up straight out of the box was fairly good, Intonations slightly out in places but nothing major. However probably the lowest, worst point is the floating bridge. Its not a great fit to the body, I can actually see daylight underneath it. also, Its very flimsy. This could be caused by the fact that the bigsby based tremolo is the incorrect type for this type guitar. The string break angle is very acute causing the bridge to bow forward when any pressure is put on the tremolo. Set up with 12`s, there is a lot of pressure over the string rollers. However, having given the guitar a good test, I found the bridge did stay I place and tune. This all prior to plugging it in. Once plugged into my amp, wow. Fantastic. The volume and tone pots are very responsive and work even when turned to almost off, (Very Rare With Cheap Guitars) I found all the electrics to be very good. The Scratchplate is not the prettiest but not a major problem for me. overall, As a owner of an original Hagstrom Jimmy, The Harley Benton is fantastic value for money and I will be using mine live with my band once I have sorted a few minor set up issues relevant to me. Very Impressed.