Harley Benton SC-550 II Silver Burst

I saw a friend playing a Harley Benton guitar and I asked him about it and he had great thing to say about his guitar. I figured for the price, why not give it a shot. So I order this Silver Burst on a Saturday and it arrived 5 days later!!! From Germany to California! Amazing! Thomann did a great job with packing and shipping because I opened the box and the guitar felt like it was meant for my hands! Amazing! I mean the setup was perfect (intonation, fret shaping, action) amazing! The paint is perfect and all the hardware is flawless as well. Amazing! And then I took it to my practice room and plugged it it in! I’d never heard of these Tesla pickups but they sound great. The guitar has resonance. It is balanced nicely when strapped up and it’s lighter than my other LPs. For a guitar that cost me under $400 US including shipping to be this perfect is simply….amazing! I’m putting in a bunch of overtime at work so I can buy another!

For starters, Thomann should update the photos for this model because mine came with a black nut and that small change makes a big difference esthetically. I purchased this guitar about 7 months ago now, and upon arrival I knew it was an instrument that was going to get a lot of use. The fit and finish are spot on, no blemishes, nothing under the finish (except for some notable flame figuring under the paint around the bridge area, what?) tuning machines weren't crooked or missing screws, awesome! So it looks good, that's great but how does it play and what does it sound like? Well, all I can say is I really, really like guitars coming out of Indonesia at the moment. The neck for the 550II feels closest to the PRS 'pattern thin' neck shape, it's fast and smooth and with the Blacksmith SS frets it is so effortless to play! The set up from the factory was fine, no adjustments required. The Tesla pickups also deserve some praise, they may not be the most articulate pickups I've owned but they don't sound 'cheap' in any way. Even running a dry, clean channel they have great depth and definition, needless to say I was pretty surprised because I thought pickups would be the first thing that I felt I needed to upgrade. Happily I can say it isn't necessary for my playing needs. All said and done, I couldn't be happier with this purchase. This guitar sits right next to my PRS and Gibson guitars proudly, and always surprises my friends when they pick it up and play it. You guys did a hell of a good job on this one!