Harley Benton HB-35LH BK Vintage Series

Affordable left-handed semi hollow guitars are not easy to come by so I was excited to see Thomann offer the HB-35 LH.

The HB-35 is a semi-hollow inspired by classic designs with maple body, maple neck and mahogany sustain block. Arched top and back of course. I really wanted the shape of their previous E-35 model but that was discontinued a few months ago. This latest design has sharper horns, jack on the outside edge (a la Les Paul) and pickup toggle switch on the upper horn (also similar to Les Paul style). The only one of these design changes that concerns me is the position of the toggle switch. On my LP style guitar I often accidentally hit the switch.

It really is beautiful...finish is perfect, binding front and back is flawless to my eyes. No rough edges in the f-holes.

The only flaws are - a roughly cut pick-guard, a small dent in the neck pup cover and a nut that's cut slightly too deep on the low E.

Oh..and in common with all Harley Benton leftys the tone pots are reverse wired righty logarithmic pots.

Action out of the box was okay.. about 2mm on low E at 12 fret. I've lowered it but am getting some fret buzz on low E open string, neck is dead straight so some truss adjustment probably needed. Frets are level but could do with a polish. Fret ends are smooth as any I've seen.

Intonation on most strings was perfect out of the box. Exception was the low E with the catching nut slot - I need to put some pencil graphite into the nut slots and will probably replace it entirely at some point.

I haven't weighed her but it feels about the same as the L400 les paul style. Hefty enough.

As regard how it actually sounds...well it's much brighter than expected. I was kinda hoping to be able to easily dial in some BB King tones but what I have been able to dial in fairly easily are some Tom Petty/early REM type tones. I'd imagine it would be perfect for rockabilly sounds too.

Also it has really great sustain to my ears...better than the L400. That mahogany center block really does the job.

It's very comfortable (much better than LP shape when seated) and has great upper fret access..about a fret better than a Tele or Strat ...about a fret less than the SG style. The tuners feel pretty solid too.

In summary, this is an excellent guitar for the money. Harley Benton's still deliver the good in terms of price/quality ratio.

Firstly I?m a beginner that has been playing guitar for less than a year and before my Thomann order (HB-35LH & ST-62 RW SB LH ) I owned 2 guitars; a Epiphone G 400 (SG) and a Yamaha C Series Classical. During the week I play rocksmith and on weekends I play through a Blackstar HT5.

My order from Thomann arrived in less than 2 weeks, which is excellent considering that it sometime takes 2 months for me to receive an international package in South Africa. While there was some damage to the outer box, everything was received in perfect condition.

I have being playing the HB-35LH for a week now and I love it. The set up out the box was good (a bit a fret buzz on the low E string) and it is well made.

As a beginner, my definition of a great guitar is one that inspires me to play, and the HB-35 does just that. I have trouble walking pass the guitar without wanting to pick her up and play. Sometimes I don?t even plug her in, and while she is not an acoustic she is loud enough to practice with out an amp.

While I love this guitar she is not perfect, but then for the price I was not expecting it to be. The pickguard looks like it was cut in the dark, the binding on the F holes was a little ?furry? (easily fixed with a sharp blade) and the tuners while they hold tune are not the greatest.

In summary, this guitar is great and I love playing her but I think Harley Bentons should come with a warning label ?might be addictive?, I own 2 and am already trying to decide on the next one or two or maybe I should collect them all.

Im an older beginner and a night shift worker who bought this to have a guitar I can toodle about with on my nights off without waking the entire neighbourhood or faffing about with headphones and amps. Its an absolute joy to play and makes me want to pick it up whenever I glance in its direction.

Pros; see above. I pick it up often enough that Im practicing multiple times a day. The intonation is solid. It holds a tuning without any complaint. The action is delightful.

Cons; fret fuzz from the low E string. I think that's easy to fix though if I were brave enough to try. No access ports so no real possibility of upgrading the pots and pickups at some future date but the ones that are in there serve my needs so admirably that I simply dont care.

Really liked the sound, I decided to go for this one over the more expensive plus model because I could hear in the sample sounds that the vintage pickups of this model were more close to the sound of an old gibson 335, which are the best in my opinion. And I wasn't dissapointed. The pickups have great outputs, bridge is 9.28 and neck 8.25. So they are hotter and more clear than an epiphone 335 for example. The action is good, low and easy to play. The only things I noticed that are not good are: the tuners are weak and it is not easy to keep them in the right place so the strings go easily out of tune, the pickguard had scratchings, and the strings are too flexible. They feel like 9 although allegedly they are 10. At least new tuners and strings will fix two of these problems. Compared to an epiphone 335 dot, I would say that it is much better value for money. I have tried the ephiphone 335 pro which has the push and pull like the Harley Benton HB35 plus and I do not like the sound. Compared to a few expensive old Gibson 335 that I have tried and sounded great, the epihpone dot and this Harley Benton HB35 have been the ones that sounded closer to them. The new Gibsons 335, especially the models under £2000 do not sound as good as this Harley Benton HB35 or the epihpone dot. To me, pickups sounds and how the work with the guitar body is number one priority. Then guitar neck and action. Sometimes even when you upgrade pickups you do not get an improvement, they do not work as expected, do not fit the guitar body well. So, all in all I am very happy with this guitar, just need new tuners and strings to make it great.

To begin, this is my first purchase from Thomann. The experience has been excellent throughout - great communication and speedy delivery.
The guitar arrived well packed, and looked fantastic straight out of the box. On closer inspection there were no flaws to the paint work, and only some very minor roughness around the f-holes. The 3 way switch feels rather cheap, but does its job.
As you will read in other reviews, the pick guard is disappointing. Whoever cut it was either blind or drunk, or perhaps both. Removing it from the guitar, and some gentle sanding has improved it to an acceptable extent.
An hour spent setting the guitar up correctly, and putting on some Elixr strings have resulted in a great looking and great sounding guitar. For the money, this is a phenomenal bargain. You really can't go wrong. Buy one.

I am totally amazed, as a southpaw, I struggle to find decent kit at an affordable price. Was browsing and saw this guitar. thought " it looks pretty !!" for £130 I can get rid of the rubbish and put some decent kit on her and paint properly. Best money i have ever spent, the finish is amazing, So much better than either the Gibson or Gretsch that i have bought in the last year. Set up was good, the action was a little high for me. easily fixed with a screwdriver. the downsides(nit picks really) The scratch guard is not the best. the neck pickup seems a little weak, and lastly the volume and tone switches seem to stand out from the body. I would have been happy with this guitar if i had paid 4 times what i have. This is not a good guitar for £130. It is a great guitar Full Stop..