Harley Benton SC-550 II PAF

I don't want to ramble. I purchased this guitar, one of HB's most expensive, expecting to have to fine-tune it. I'm skilled at doing my own set-ups, geometry, etc. I didn't expect a perfect guitar at this price point. I expected some finish issues, fret issues, tuner issues, possible pickup issues. Here's what I found when it arrived, most important to least, (at least for me):

1) I love the stainless frets and they were polished/finished pretty good except for 2 or 3 frets. They had obvious tool marks on the frets that caught the strings. I had to clean them up and polish them. While I was at it, I did some additional buffing on all the frets since I was already working on it. If not for those two frets or 3 frets, it would have been nearly ready to go.

2) Output balance was off between pickups. I assumed one of the pickups was bad and had planned on replacing them anyway. I put a pair of Gibson '57 Classic's in it, (two-wire, so the wiring was pretty much drop-in), but the neck put out nearly twice the power of the bridge pickup. It was odd. I had the the neck pickup below the surface and the bridge almost touching the strings and they still weren't balanced. "

Long story short, I did a complete rewire using standard H-H wiring with one toggle switch and everything balanced out and the TONE changed. I honestly don't know if they were drunk when they wired it or what but rewiring it turned into the guitar I expected!

3) I don't like, "Kluson" tuners, period. But, I figured, if I have to live with them, then I'm putting good ones on it. I installed Grover vintage-style, "Deluxe" tuners, simply because the gear ratio was higher. Did it matter? Not too much. The stock tuners were about the same.

Finish-wise, I only found one issue and it was hard to spot. When the light is shining just right on the neck, there's a fine line that runs from the back of the nut to the edge of the fingerboard, at a diagonal. It's just a finish crack and it took me a while to find it.

I would have given this 5 stars for sound if it had been wired correctly but I couldn't find a wiring diagram online that matched this mess. And when I rewired it to a more conventional H-H wiring, everything worked!

It was well worth the work and effort. I wouldn't change a thing. It's now my #1!

The Looks
- The guitar looks nice overall. The flamed maple looks a bit photo-veneered on close inspection but overall, the guitar looks much more expensive than it is.

The Playability
- Despite supposedly being chambered, my guitar is HEAVY. I don't mind this, as it's what I expect and even like, from a Les Paul type guitar.
- The stainless steel frets are great, very smooth, especially at this price.
- the neck is glossed, which I don't really like, but a fairly slim profile, which I like.
- The "vintaged" tuners are too green and cheap looking as you can see the "seams" on the mould, but function well. The guitar stays in tune very well.

The Sound
- Pickups sound great and very LP-esque, to my ears. No point changing them.

The Horror
The nut looks horrid.
It's white, whereas the binding, pickup mounts, 3 way switch tip etc are vintaged cream. It looks incongruous.
It's too narrow for the fretboard width, which means that I can feel the sharp edges of the binding where it meets the nut.
Visually, it seems to be mounted on a slant, higher on the bass strings' side than the treble.
Nonetheless, it seems to be cut ok and the guitar holds tune, and intonates well at the first and second frets. It's for this reason that I didn't bother changing it. The nut is fugly, but it works ok.

Negatives: The maple top is far from AAA. I have seen grain more consistent on building lumber. The back and neck have a toffee apple level of opaqueness, unlike the photos on the web site which appear quite translucent. Again, less pretty than I hoped.
Also came with the wrong size truss rod hex key. Luckily I have my own tools, as it did need a set up to be playable. Came with fret buzz.
Positives: Once the truss rod and bridge were adjusted the action and playability are good. The frets are even and level enough to get en extremely low action.if needed.
Overall: A decent player and decent sound for the money. Not one to get if you are not used to setting up guitars. I have a B Stock FTF which has a far better wood grain and finish but the bridge was drilled far to deep. The price point does come with issues. With some work and time they are eminently giggable.