Harley Benton SC-400 SGT Classic Series

Contrary to some reviews here from an older date, quality control seems to be on top of all issues mentioned.
First: I also own a real Les Paul standard from the seventies.

I received this guitar in mint condition.
Playability is really, really good.
Hardware is spot on.
These two makes no serious guitar teacher is going to laugh at you: it is MORE than playable, with a light to medium setup out of the box.
There are no dead spots, tuners are really good. Intonation is really good, even compared to my real old Les Paul standard.
I always test my guitars on a Pignose amplifyer, because it reveals the electronics very well, you need to use the tone and volume controls to obtain a good sound.
Well, excellent!
Don't expect real Les Paul tone, though, although the pickups aren't bad and have a sweet sound.
But you can expect better than Gibson playability. Compliments for such improvemt in factory setup.
In my days, when I started playing, I had an Eko and a Hondo (with dimargio desinged pick-ups). These two look like bow and arrows nowadays,
Excellent for beginners. A good back-up for more advanced players.

I play for over 45 years.
Guitar teachers, take note!

I own and play a lot on an Epi standard LP last 15 years, was my first and nr. 1 el. guitar. Played on a buch of different amps during that period. Guitar was sold, ended in my band for a short period, so now I wanted some guitar, LP the best, to have one and play at home or gigs from time to time, so not expensive one.

I wanted the SC450BK, but was not on stock, so I look up for this gold toppy beauty with open humbuckers (which always have sounded nicer to me as covered ones). I was really affraid for the extremely affordable price, but finally ordered.

It has arrived. First finish impressions were flawless, matt gold top looks freakin great, brown back is in perfect contrast with the top, amazing! Touch the neck to check the fretwork... what?! super great! Next tune it up, play unplugged a few chords - nice sustain, fits great in my hands, heavy (great for an LP and me), a blast! Then plugged through multieffect unit with amp simulation to the PA - HEEEY what the..., 5 times better then my Epi for 10 times this price. I am done.

Just a little cons: (thats why 4 stars)
It needed a bit of intonation tuning, after that I recognize that the nut is not place right next to the fretboard, there is a small tiny gap visible, so during the restringing I am going to move the nut, its just a milimilimilimeter. I am sure the intonation will then be supergreat.

...and ordering a tele style, another Harley (TE52) next month, as I always wanted that type too.

It’s unfair providing any real criticism. But there has to be one ‘con’, right?
The colour would be better described as copper. Otherwise what an awesome guitar for the price. It’s heavy and feels similar to the real deal. Tones are a little muddy and reserved. This could be due to timber used in the body. Make no mistake, these are not weight relieved!
The design, although more modern than a traditional LP shape, still works well. The stain finish is fantastic, although mine had a quality control issue with the rear plate routing that seems to have resulted in finish being missed on one edge of the cavity backplate. I’m yet to remove the plate to see just how far it extends.
I’d buy ten of these in all colours if I had the money! Cannot speak more highly of the rest of the quality of this guitar.
Ok, so that was two ‘cons’

I just bought my Harley Benton SC-400 SGT Solid Gold Top March 2023, and I freakin' love it. I HIGHLY recommend it if you have the same reasons as me: 1) Satin neck. I mean seriously, who actually likes a glossy/nitro/poly neck? Nobody, people just put up with it because it looks shiny. 2) Full body, no belly cut. This just fits my body better than a belly cut guitar because belly cut guitars angle away and slide down my leg when playing. I constantly have to push it back into place. Standing with a strap is not an issue either way. 3) Black fretboard with big trapezoid inlays. This is my personal preference. 4) Looks awesome! I have the gold top and in my opinion it looks really, really good. Personal preference. 5) I wanted a LP style guitar that sounds good, and believe me this sounds good for any style you want to play. To each their own. One other thing... the guitar that I received has a perfect neck, no fret sprout, very well setup from the factory, and it plays as smooth as silk. I've owned about 10 other guitars of various makes and models and this is by far my favorite. For a legit comparison, I also bought a SC Custom II: sounded good but was really heavy, had neck dive, and didn't feel great. Sold it. I also bought a SC-DLX Gotoh: sold it when my SC-400 SGT arrived and was by every measure a nicer guitar. I was tempted to also try the SC-1000 but I have no need now because the SC-400 SGT is really really good.

There is not a single flaw on this guitar! This is my third HB ... I am happy with the first two or I would not have purchased this one, but honestly, I was expecting my luck to run out and get one off the line that just wasn't as good. But, to my shock and amazement, this one arrived quickly, in perfect condition, and perfectly setup. Just amazing, really. Thanks to these HB deals, I realized that I have run out of guitar straps, lol, so I went down to Guitar Center to get a few. While there I mess around with a few "good" guitars and it just made me want to rush home and play this new one. It is that good. I don't know how they do it for that price. The gold top, as mentioned in other reviews, is more of a dirty brass, or copper, AND is not glossy, but a flat / matte finish, but it still looks great as it is. Stays in tune very well, and stock tuners work fine. Sounds really amazing with some heavy distortion, but also pretty flawless on clean tones. I was originally thinking about SD pickups but so far these are sounding great on my various amps.