Harley Benton SC-400LH SBK Classic Series

Here's the bottom line up front: this guitar is playable, sounds good and is astonishingly good value. I can recommend it wholeheartedly to anyone on a budget. There are some rough edges, but it's a fundamentally good instrument.

The guitar arrived perfectly set up, with a low action and no fret buzz. Strummed acoustically, the instrument has a nice lively resonance with good sustain. Plugged in, the pickups sound remarkably good. They're similar to a classic PAF, with slightly hotter output. The knobs, switch and jack all work smoothly with no crackles or pops. The pickup selector switch is a bit wobbly, but that's to be expected of a vintage type switch.

Cosmetically, you can see where the money has been saved. The frets are slightly gritty. The fretboard is thin and has a lot of colour streaking. There are some glue traces around the inlays and the plastic parts are quite flimsy. The matte paint finish marks easily. None of this matters very much, because it doesn't affect how the instrument plays or sounds.

I did have one significant problem - one of the tuning heads was slipping during tuning, then failed completely within a week. I promptly received a replacement part under warranty, so I can't complain too much.

In summary, I think you'll be pleasantly surprised at how much guitar you're getting for the money.

I have ordered this guitar for a friend, who started to play the guitar back then. It was playable and nice out of the box. The delivery was fast. The guitar needed a little bit of a setup and maybe the strings were a bit high to my liking. I could not really tell anything about the playability as I am right handed. My friend is extremely pleased with it. The only problem so far was the input jack connector which was a bit loose, but we fixed that pretty quickly. I would recommend this to anyone, who would like to start playing the guitar. There are no bells and whistles, a good rock and roll machine out of the box.

As a Lefty, I have become well acquainted with brands and types of guitars that are unfamiliar to most. Always, the question is- is the guitar worth it? This one is. For the price, there's nothing as well built and musical. The problems, are fairly easy fixes- a toggle switch that's fairly loose, a few rough frets, and a bridge set a bit too high. I'd consider that to be "standard" quality issues, in the sub 1000 dollars range, so, I wouldn't call that a quality control issue. The sound, being the most important consideration, is solid. If you are looking for that two-humbucker, set neck, single cutaway sound- regardless of brand, this guitar will land you squarely in the target. It's hefty, and balanced, so it feels right, and is quite playable, right out of the box. I truly enjoy the beefy neck with the contoured heel, and can honestly say I have never played better above the 12th fret. I'd call that well worth the price.