Harley Benton guitars

[Henry the Hoover]

Hey folks!

I've been looking more and more into HB guitars and I must say there's some cracking looking guitars in their line up. The HB-35 plus in black with gold hardware looks fantastic, and I had a look at the Rickenbacher copies they have and I think they look great too.

What's people's experience with the HB brand? Curious to hear people's thoughts.

I did find out at the weekend if you buy a HB guitar from Thomann you can ask them to inspect the guitar before shipping and they'll do a full setup on it before sending it to you for around 50 quid which I thought was pretty good.

Any thoughts/experiences on HB guitars?

Thanks all! 🙂

[Ollie]

I have a PRS copy Harley Benton (Harley Benton CST-24 Paradise Flame) and it's a beautiful looking guitar. The volume/tone buttons are a little loose and the tuners are not too bad. I have since switched to a Jackson, mostly because it's lighter (and well... better lol). So the HB a bit too heavy for my liking. But they are incredible value for money. I also have a HB bass guitar, it cost about 100 quid, and that one cannot be faulted at all.

[Dronesandtones]

I've a Harley Benton Flying V, got it for 200e. It looks and plays great.

[ochoill]

I'd been eyeballing the Harley Benton baritones for a while.  Might grab one of these down the line for gigging:

https://www.thomann.ie/harley_benton_ja_baritone.htm

Would swap the bridge pup for a humbucker of some manner here myself and eventually slowly swap some parts up but it would be a handy spare.

[Trev]

I've a HB six string bass, got it secondhand for €70. Wasn't expecting it to be up to much for the price but wanted to start messing around with a sixer to get a feel for them and figured I'd get a more "known" brand if I liked it

Never got a new one, and the HB is nearly the only bass I use now. Only drawback is the weight, but I don't do any gigging so I'm sitting down most of the time playing it

[Rosco]

I got the amarock 6 string a few years ago. It plays and sounds great. But the output jack broke soon after I got it. Easy fix. It seems the switches and pots etc.. are a bit cheap. Overall great value for money.

[Shardknife]

I've a few HB guitars. Years ago I got a cheap telecaster. It actually feels nice enough but the bridge is quite cheap on it and the saddles rattle a bit even after I've adjusted them loads of times. I put some duncans in it and it sings but I really don't play it all too often anymore. Not stellar but you'd be happy enough playing it.

I recently picked up one of the newer fusion teles and it's leagues nicer. Crazy specs for the money, ebony board, stainless steel frets, locking tuners. I picked it up used for 200 quid and it's pretty crazy for the price. Fit and finish is perfect, this one has a trem and splittable humbuckers so pretty versatile. I'm not crazy about the pickups right now but they aren't terrible.

I also have a super cheap nylon harley benton acoustic I got from thomann years and years ago and it's still going strong. I even used it at a gig once and made more for that show than the guitar cost. Lovely thing to have lying around.

[Dronesandtones]

I've a few HB guitars. Years ago I got a cheap telecaster. It actually feels nice enough but the bridge is quite cheap on it and the saddles rattle a bit even after I've adjusted them loads of times. I put some duncans in it and it sings but I really don't play it all too often anymore. Not stellar but you'd be happy enough playing it.

I recently picked up one of the newer fusion teles and it's leagues nicer. Crazy specs for the money, ebony board, stainless steel frets, locking tuners. I picked it up used for 200 quid and it's pretty crazy for the price. Fit and finish is perfect, this one has a trem and splittable humbuckers so pretty versatile. I'm not crazy about the pickups right now but they aren't terrible.

I also have a super cheap nylon harley benton acoustic I got from thomann years and years ago and it's still going strong. I even used it at a gig once and made more for that show than the guitar cost. Lovely thing to have lying around.

The fusion range from Harley Benton looks amazing, was looking at strat model max fusion.