Harley Benton HB-35 VB Vintage Series

Firstly. Hats off to Thomann. They have always provided great service.

Now the guitar. . . . I put off buying this for weeks and weeks as I was unconvinced by all of the good reviews it had received. I eventually bit the bullet and thought if it isn't any good I can always return it. Well, I have to say that I was very surprised when I opened the box. The colour and lacquer finishes are surprisingly very good with only a small imperfection on one of the cut-away's at the binding. I was expecting it to be quite poor as far as the sunburst goes but it is really very good. The neck is nice too and the headstock finishes it off with a nice motif. I've owned a couple of Epi dots (vintage sunburst and blonde) that have not been any better. All of the tuners are in line, something I have seen on several reviews as an issue. The frets are well finished too. All of the electronics work fine. I only use it at home so I have no need for a massive sound and I don't use lots of effects. If it is going to be used professionally then the pickups may need swopping out. I changed the strings immediately for D'Adarrio 10's and set the neck relief and action to my liking.
There are some other minor issues such as a very dry finger board, comes up nice with lemon oil. The wiring loom is visible to through the lower F hole, no big deal. The pick guard looks like it has been cut out with a craft knife by a five year old, something else that comes up regularly in reviews. I always intended on removing it anyway. The body is a bit smaller than the original 335. It is probably in between an Epi Dot and the coupe. I have to say for just north of £100 delivered it is pretty amazing. I don't know how a guitar can be produced for this kind of money. The only disappointment is that I would have preferred it in the Cherry red, but I was not prepared to spend an extra £20 for the colour (not sure why it is more expensive), plus it was out of stock at the time I ordered. All in all I am very pleased. If you are having doubts, go for it, don't expect Gibson quality and you will not be disappointed. I may be tempted to try a HB acoustic shortly.

Finish and looks: Perfect 10. (just remove or use a file and some sandpaper to reshape the pickguard which is plain dreadfull).

Electronics: Switches do the job well and seem durable. The pickups are very nice too, with ample output, producing a variety of tones especially with the help of the tone knobs.

Playability: Playable out of the box but:
Action a bit high. Also the frets were badly finished (file marks) and in my opinion, badly levelled. Also the nut was sit waaay too high which made the guitar kinda uncomfortable to play.

Conclusion: It took me about 1 1/2 hour to remove the pickguard, file down the nut, level, shape and polish the frets. Now the guitar plays as perfectly as it looks. A tech could do it in 30 minutes or less I guess.

I know it is ridiculously cheap! But still, with a little more lovin' it can play 10 times better! So why thomann? Why not spend that time to let this instrument reach its full potential? I think you should. It deserves it, and you plain simple underestimated your own creation! And I (and everyone for that matter) would pay a little extra for that.


Still highly recommended but you have to promise to give yours the love it needs.... and for 185 euros you got lots of ...love to spare

I never bought anything from Thomann/Harley Benton before, so I was a bit on the fence about it. I also never had a semi-hollow body guitar, so it was 2 new experiences in 1. However, I must say I'm very impressed overall.
It's sounds good, feels good to play (although it might be a bit "rough around the edges", but I actually kind of like that), it even sounds alright without being plugged in to an amp and you can't beat the price. It's not perfect, but having in mind that is a cheaper instrument and not made by a major brand like Fender, Gibson, etc., I doubt you'll find better

The only reason I knocked off some points in the final score is because I had a somewhat bad experience. The first guitar I received had a crack on the finish all around the bottom of the neck; I've returned it and they sent me another with the same problem... I returned it again and they sent me another one, this time it was ok. I didn't spend any extra money and they even offered me a partial refund if I wanted to keep the 2nd guitar, but this whole process took 3 guitars, several UPS pickups and deliveries and a total of 1 month, from original purchase until I got a proper, non damaged guitar, which I think it would be avoided with a simple inspection prior to delivery, especially after the problem had been reported once already.

I was a bit disappointed. The head stock was chipped when it arrived and I understand that can happen, however the packaging could be better considering the shipment was coming from Germany to the US. The frets were not polished up (a bit tarnished) as it looks like the guitar sat around in inventory for a while. I am returning the guitar due to the chip but if it didn't have the damage I would have had to do a complete fret polish and clean the fret board. The pick guard was so-so as well. The machining is not smooth. It almost looks like it was shaped by hand in a few areas. The ding, fret tarnish and pick guard quality are similar to issues I had with some AliExpress guitars. Also, the return process from the US to Germany is incredibly bureaucratic. Thomann has no partner agreement (corporate contracts) with any US carriers (USPS, UPS, FedEx, etc.) and this means shipments from the USA back to Germany are costly ($80 USPS International to Germany) and this has presented challenges in getting the guitar back to Thomann since they capped their return shipping costs at $60 (55 EUR); $20 lower than the actual cost to get the guitar back. I'm still working through a solution with Thomann. I'm hoping to have it resolved soon. The staff is very professional.

UPDATE: Thomann sent me an email letting me know I can keep the guitar and they will ship out a brand new HB 35 for free. That's exceptional customer service. Thank you.

This is a replacement for the first one that was damaged in transit.
The replacement HB-35 VB arrived better packaged than before and appeared to have survived the journey. On inspection there was damage to the binding near the jack in put, looked like a bad repair at building / manufacturing stage but for the cost of the guitar and the hassle of having to return the last one I am gonna live with it, 'call it patina'.
The guitar played more or less straight out of the box, very slight fret buzz on the 6th E but I am going to wait and let it settle before making any alterations. All in all it fits the bill, I wanted a semi hollow but without the price tag and this looks the part and plays well so far.

After ogling the HB-35's for a long time, I finally took a leap on the base model with a hard case. I was very impressed that it only took a week for it to arrive in the US.

Out of the box, I was underwhelmed. The guitar looked great. Only flaws were a sloppy bit of binding on the underside, and the fretboard has a few small indentations around the 2nd-3rd fret (these weren't visible until after I took the strings off to give the fretboard a Linseed Oil treatment). Neither are noticeable except on close inspection.

But it didn't play well. The factory strings were junk. Even after I replaced them with a good set, the action was stiff, and the stock pickups were tinny and harsh.

So, a bit of work: I installed a cheap set of Wilkinson ceramic PAFs and brought the action down with a truss rod tighten, and now this is a much better guitar. These pickups are really too hot for the body style, so I will be replacing them again, but fixing the action made it much, much more enjoyable to play. As they say, "For the money..." it's a good bet.

First of all, the Thomann service was excellent, the guitar well packed and protected. The guitar is a very good option for players searching for a semi-hollow axe at an affordable price. Also, it can be a nice choice for experienced players. Of course, it can't be compared to a relic instrument, but the HB can fight with more expensive instruments.

Look & Feel:
The sunburst is fine. Just fine, it's not perfect and has some little stains on the back. The overall look is good. At a close look, the pickguard is really bad shaped and somewhat annoying. Excellent neck and headstock finishing. The guitar is well balanced and not too heavy (compared to other semi hollow bodies, of course it requires a good strap)

Sound, usability etc.
Starting from the cons, the selector switch looks unstable as if, after some use, it might get loose. I asked to Thomann support and bought a replacement for the switch. The guitar came almost in tune (guys at Thomann checked it bf shipping), the strings are HB 10-46, soft for the fingers but also soft for the sound. I changed them after a week with GHS 10.5 Gimour's signature, warmer and richer.
Pros. The 2 volume, 2 tone knobs controlling the humbuckers rotate smoothly, I feel comfortable with their position and configuration. Tuning pegs are good, the bridge is solid. The sound with a good set of strings is really good. The construction and the performance is generally very good and satisfying.