Harley Benton SC-1000 SBK Progressive Line

The SC-1000 is an "LP-style" guitar that is the extremely reasonably priced intersection of expectations and qualities you want from a nice and simple but powerful guitar. The construction is solid and weighty, finish is durable, the features are exactly what you need (3-way pickup selector, neck volume, bridge volume, tone pot, and an output jack on the edge), and the active pickups are LOUD. Seriously, they're almost too loud, to the point of clipping my BOSS AC-3!

My only complaint about this guitar (other than a mild ding it received in transit halfway across the world, but that's a "road scar" in a sense so it's fine) is that the active pickups have a high enough power draw that I seem to go through nine volt batteries once a month or so. Perhaps I need to just buy better nine-volts! I may end up upgrading the pickups in the guitar to either more boutique active pickups such as Fishman Fluences or to a set of passive DiMarzios like my Music Man. But for now, for what I use the guitar for -- metal in D standard or drop C -- the actives are more than good enough.

This is a wonderful guitar that does everything you need it to and at a price point that will surprise you, and it can also serve as a perfectly good platform for modding electronics on in the future, thanks to its quality in construction.

This is my 3rd Harley Benton guitar purchase, and I love this one as much as the other two. It is amazing to me, the finished quality Thomann and Harley Benton combine to provide. Stunningly beautiful visually, but the fit and finish are where their skills really shine. The neck is slick, the frets are smooth, the inlays are exactly level with the neck. Others had some issues with the bridge, but I've had no issues whatsoever. Everything adjusts exactly as it should .. and holds in place. The battery pack is cool AF 😎 I've had EMGs on my BC Rich and Kramer since the 1980s. Batteries were always an afterthought, and an issue. This one is cool, just drop it in and close it. You don't even have to attach anything 🤣 Whoo .. this is a heavy beast too. Thick solid, you know when it's hanging around your neck. The tuners are great. I thought I would need to replace them with locking tuners, but these work great. That G string is the only one that gives issues, and even it stays in tune way longer than expected. The only downside for me is the neck pick-up. It is VERY "hot". It picks up every noise within 2 feet. It even picks up when you hit the back with your belt buckle. Coughs, strap movements etc. And you have to turn it way down (about 3 on the knob) before there's no distortion. Oddly this issue is only on the neck pick-up, the bridge pick-up sounds great. I think adding some foam and buffering the metal springs may help. Seriously though - straight out of the box these 3 Harley Bentons are the most impressive Quality Control I've ever seen. With the exception of floor models I bought and took home straight away after playing them - every guitar - from every manufacturer - needs a little work out of the box. Harley Benton's need almost nothing. I love this guitar and will purchase more!!

if you are looking for a GREAT guitar for a super fair price with top notch features like Active pickups and a awesome design? Your search ends here, it doesn't get any better then this for the money.

Instead of buying an 800 or even more expensive guitar you could buy 4 Harley bentons and i have guitar on the ready for every tuning you like!

* Great pickups
* Fast neck and action
* Super cool looking
* Massive bang for buck

Read more about my journey towards this guitar below!

Personally i was looking for a 2nd guitar to play E standard with. I usually play allot of low and down tuned metal stuff and wanted a guitar for some more mainstream tuned songs.

My main guitar is a Schecter Hellraiser with a 81/85 pickup set. Recently it was fully serviced at the local guitar store so it's playing the best it can.

Not wanting to spend another 800 euro on a guitar and doing allot research this Harley Benton really got my attention. You see some negative reviews about the guitar here so you hope you are the lucky one when it arrives.

Out of the package the guitar looked great, except for one little dent on the bottom and it looked as if the paint got loose there and they tipped it with a marker pen. It's a small spot and hey not a 1k guitar so i thought what the hell let's play this thing.

Plugging it in the first thing i noticed was the massive gain the pickups have. Absolutely great, playing around a little with the guitar and tuning it i have to say it is an awesome guitar, it sounds great. The frets could use a little work maybe and the action could be lowered a little (action is user preference).

The tuners aren't as steady as the Gotoh's i had placed on my Schecter. So yeah every now and then you have to tune the guitar a little but that is like once every 3 days (yes i play everyday).

My next guitar will for sure be a Harley Benton again!

so i had a Gibson Goth SG and a LTD ec-256. well i had a Gibson Gothic sg until the head stock snapped off. Thanks Gibson! Anyway i wanted to try a guitar with active pickups. everything i read said that the Harley Benton HBZ's can hold their own against active EMG's . so i decided to go with the HB SC-1000. for the price i figured i would have to do a bit of tweaking when it came in. again i was wrong everything was set up perfectly! low action, no dead frets, and the look &d feel is amazing. The active HBZ's sound incredible. I love this guitar. its my go to. the LTD is collecting dust. i will be doing a review on my channel. and my next purchase will be the HB EX-84 Modern!

. . of the much more expensive other brand guitars with 1000 in the name.

These are my initial observations; I shall update the review over the coming months as I play it for more than a few minutes.

The set up out of the box was not bad at all: it was almost in tune. The action is set fairly low which suits me. The intonation is only marginally out, and I shall correct that when I go through set up after it has acclimatised for a few days. As it comes though it is perfectly playable.

The sound is acceptable rather than breathtaking. I am using a couple of Mustang 3s and a Zoom G3X pedal. No doubt a thicker sound would be obtainable with a valve amp, but I don't have one (maybe the next purchase?) There is a reasonable range of tones available, and there is very little noise from the active circuit, less, in fact than the noise from the Wilkinson passive pickups on a couple of my other guitars.

Playability: a very nice neck profile and a smooth silky matt finish. The frets are well set and there is not a trace of them straying past the neck edge binding. The fingerboard frets cleanly all the way up on every string. Truly impressive at this price point.

Finish: almost the fly in the ointment. It's not bad at all, but clearly not anything like the finish on a much more expensive instrument. There are a couple of traces of glue on the fingerboard (easy to remove), a smudge of paint that has not quite been cleaned off on one side of the nut, and the striping on the body edge binding is a bit hit and miss, with the lines breaking up in places. The matt finish on the body appears to be flawless. The gold plated hardware does look a touch delicate in places, and indeed the bridge is - care is needed adjusting the intonation.

I bought this because I wanted another guitar with a two octave neck to pair with the playing position of my Epiphone Prophesy, and it easily and impressively fills that role.

Overall, despite not being perfect, it is close. At this price point it is amazing value for money, hence the 5 star headline rating.

Update after six weeks of ownership: It is just outstanding - so glad I bought it. I really can't recommend it highly enough.

You simply can’t beat this guitar for it’s features, playability, look, and price. I simply don’t know how they do it. The pickups are pretty decent and even when I swapped in EMG pickups there wasn’t much of a difference. The finish is smooth and very nice. The satin black color leaves a very smooth finish albeit finger marks tend to show after time but you get that with any satin finish. The action and tuning will need to be adjusted on arrival but you would expect that especially traveling over long distances in a very short time frame.
It is a clear winner so if you are looking for a close clone of the LTD ec-1000, this one comes quite close at a fraction of the price.

WOW, what a beauty. I just love the Matte/satin finish of this guitar, offset by the gold hardware. Even the p/up covers are matte black. The p/ups are Active and will not work without the 9 volt battery, but when fired up they produce some wonderful tone. Crystal clear Hi's and full bodied Lows, and everything in between. The Mahogany neck (which has an original L.P heel joint) sits nicely in the palm of my hand, and is slick and sturdy, the Headstock has a nice individuality about it, with lovely cream binding. The Blackwood fretboard (which looks like Ebony), has 24 frets and some very nice Flag inlays. The Tuners maintain the tuning well, and are finished in Gold. There is a Master Tone and two volume controls, which allows for perfect "blending" of the two pickups. In action this guitar feels very comfortable, thanks to the "body cut-away", and is surprisingly light ,for Mahogany. The neck is fast, with easy access to all 24 frets, the p/ups are excellent....This guitar is to be recommended. A Great performer at a delightful price...Something which puzzles me is, why it is called an SC-1000, when it has L-1000 marked at the 12th fret ?

I'll start with the main advantages:
Pickups: 2 Active HBZ Hi-Gain humbuckers - what this means for a beginner guitarist, which means that you can connect this guitar to a computer without using additional devices, all you need is a 6.3 mm mono jack cable and adapter 6.3/3.5 mm or adapter Cable 6.3 / 3.5 mm (Just seach this if u wanna know more about it - "
What's the Difference Between Passive and Active Pickups")
You plug this into the line-in on the motherboard of your computer, the line-in is blue
Then download ASIO, any DAW and VST plugins you like.
Use youtube to learn more about guitar with active pickups / pc connection
Neck attachment: Set-in
this means - more sustain.
Neck profile: C
This option is will much more convenient for people who have not yet gone through the way of Left Hand Positioning, as well as for those who like to play power chords.
This is my first guitar, but I know a lot about it. I have been making music for a long time.
And I wanted to learn how to play on the guitar for a long time, but I didn't want to buy myself an expensive instrument for practice.
Therefore, I chose this particular guitar, for its quality and price.
So... if you want to easy start - this is the best choice.
A guitar with 2 active Hi-Gain humbuckers is a cool and useful option to save money at the beginning.

*2 Active HBZ Hi-Gain humbuckers
*Neck attachment: Set-in
*Neck profile: C
*Double action truss rod
*Cool Matte Black colour

2nd one I have owned, decided the vintage black was for me..
Sounds absolutely amazing with my Orange 120 PRO + Behringer VT999
Active Pickups are brilliant no humming noise, if you experience this (maybe your amp) stick as noise gate on your Amp :-)
Once strings are worn in tugged about a tad after few hours and re - tuned you will have a stunning sounding Guitar for an excellent value for money price. No rough Frets edges, No Fret Buzz , neck nice and straight.
Nice action and very easy to play for all types of players.


Well done Thomann another great Harley Benton