The Harley Benton SC 550 II PART 1, Quality Control Review see my part 2 video for the fixes

[@howardbull9001]

I've got an identical one. It needed a full hour's worth of setup (neck relief, nut action, bridge height, stopbar height) brilliant guitar. Got a set of locking Klusons coming.

[@reverendtobias]

A really nice honest review of a cheap but eminently viable guitar. Thank you.

[@guitarhobbywithdannythemedic]

thank you for watching! :)

[@fzdreaddy]

Looks every bit as nice as my Gibson. Really amazes me!! And that one has a proper volute, your headstock won't break..! 👍

[@guitarhobbywithdannythemedic]

and stainless steel frets!

[@fzdreaddy]

@@guitarhobbywithdannythemedic very nice!! That's a little shocking for the price! Can't beat it!

[@gobodega5226]

Hi Danny, what is your solution to repair the loose tuner bushings? I ordered the sc 550 II with gotoh vintage tuners and there is the same issue 🤔

[@guitarhobbywithdannythemedic]

I just put some tape on the north side of the bushings with the bushing touching the wood on the south side (string tension)

[@gobodega5226]

@@guitarhobbywithdannythemedic Thank you for your feedback. Good idea, like inserting a wedge. Haven't done anything yet, but I might as well do it this way. Greetz from Germany 👍👋

[@kazmaitalia8796]

The cheapest and low cost I have ever purchased were Squier by Fender and MIM Fenders and both are surprisingly good ! Comparing to my American Fenders and my Gibsons , there are some noticeable differences in quality , woods and electronics ! My American Fenders were well above 2k and my Gibson another 3k , My Music Man Bingo 5 another 4k so going budget is just fine if you do not plan to leave them behind to your children lol

[@guitarhobbywithdannythemedic]

have you seen thomanns harley bentons?

[@kazmaitalia8796]

@@guitarhobbywithdannythemedic Hi Danny, Your videos are getting better each time! I played a HB Rickenbacker copy and it was very descent ! Not the same tone as the “Real Thing” but a good bass for a few hundred dollars . I view basses like “Works of Art” my Gibson LP Bass or my 1978 American Fender Jazz or my Aria Pro from the 1980s and my Fodera NYC series will be treasured after I am gone . I think HB are great like Squires for beginners or musicians that want to take less risks on the road since if one of these cheap guitars gets stolen or damaged no big deal If you are ever in SF Valley or North Hollywood , please be my guest for AYCE sushi at Sushi by Jin. The best non Japanese made sushi ever ! Korean but trained in Japan Take Care

[@guitarhobbywithdannythemedic]

Very nice of you! I have no plans for that area yet.... but thank you!

[@fzdreaddy]

I've never even inspected my Gibson to that extent! Lol😂

[@davidallen346]

This is different than the Buffet review but is a pleasant surprise yes guitar collecting and maintenance is a expensive sometimes stressful hobby for sure

[@guitarhobbywithdannythemedic]

Its also a fun way to pass the time.. it may not be a relaxing positive experience to many, like, I dont understand how stamp collecting can be a relaxing positive experience.

[@davidallen346]

​@Guitar Hobby with "Danny The Medic" Yes it's a stressful and very expensive hobby I agreed been a long time player and collector myself, still doing food reviews?

[@Barbarapape]

Typical Harley Benton, the quality control starts with the customer. The loose bushing on the tuners is not surprising, this is where they save costs by fitting cheap tuners. I have 4 Harley Bentons and only the Fusion 2 was free of any issues All the others required upgraded parts and a full set up. I rejected two samples of the CST24T for cosmetic damage. I now only buy their higher range models that are made in Indonesia. Thanks for your very honest review, very few reviewers even look for any defects.

[@guitarhobbywithdannythemedic]

I feel that I am okay with doing my own quality control for this price.. I have 600 dollar epiphone that I still have to do quality control anyway.. looks like you cant escape this process unless like you said, high end!

[@steviegenoski9977]

Some of these less expensive guitars are very impressive for the price but it can be hit or miss.

[@RancidAmputation123]

The butt cheek rant was glorious

[@aaronlee4769]

I’ve been watching videos on HB and I keep hearing “if you change this and that and the other stuff out, it’s pretty good.” But then price will go up by another $3-400 or more if you have someone else do it? Is it still good value?

[@guitarhobbywithdannythemedic]

Please see my video, "how to buy a harley benton guitar from thomann in germany" kzbin.info/www/bejne/f3LdiJRqiKairrc

[@guitarhobbywithdannythemedic]

but to answer your question a little bit: Depends on what you are doing with the guitar. Are you a beginner that is trying to learn? are you a part time performer? a pro who's 3500 dollar guitar got damaged at a gig and now want a work guitar so it wont happen again? it really all depends.

[@guitarhobbywithdannythemedic]

If you are a beginner, who is gonna learn, then it dont really matter to change out stuff, because HB guitars that are 2x to 3x the price of their cheapest offering are pretty darn good and works well, you only need to do the work I was talking about in the video on how to buy. you dont need TONE, you just need a working guitar that works properly and after setting the HB up, it would do that.

[@guitarhobbywithdannythemedic]

If you are an artist on a budget, many people find that the 2x+ HB guitars reasonably sounds like the guitars that they are copying, and should work as if it was. The only bad thing about HB is that for people living far from there, they cant try in store, but luckily they are sooo cheap its kinda okay to buy sight unseen.. I have plenty of HB because I am having fun with them and they are sooo cheap... One channel which is great insite is Jon is just too loud, a singapore artist that does great reviews and as a professional artist, he tells you what he thinks of the sound too...

[@milankotevski1663]

Don't bother. It ain't worth it in the long run.

[@MrBones105]

I gotta say I've been disappointed by QC on Harley Bentons. I haven't received a guitar that didn't have some sort of issue. Most of them have been cosmetic, but I've gotten guitars with dinged necks, finishes that were buffed so poorly that it looked like someone had taken a brillo pad to it, chunks missing around fret ends. I get that it's a "budget" line, but I've owned many guitars in the same price range or even cheaper with far, far better QC. My Eart GW2 was seriously flawless. Some people say "well, they're a good deal anyways", and I would agree that they play well, but it seriously baffles me that at least in my experience, the norm with the brand is that there will be serious cosmetic flaws with every instrument. I just don't get it. Most of the responses I've gotten from their customer service have felt fairly tepid as well - basically offering me $20-40 off the instrument, which I do not personally consider a satisfactory solution.

[@guitarhobbywithdannythemedic]

Firstly, I never buy their B stock because then I have no standing for all the dings and etc... did you buy their B stock? and you cant group HBs together, they have 3 groups imo 1) the dirt cheap and crappy 2) the not so bad but cost a bit more 3) the nice ones that dont cost too much I think that HB's low end line, (1) like their standard and student series are not very guitarish. sure its 80 bucks, 90 bucks, 62 bucks even.. I once had one of their lowest strats and the E string just keep getting caught off the edge. was not a good feeling piece. I find that the more expensive stuff I got from them.. group 2/3 $150 - $300 were all good. nothing perfect in finish and etc, but really good enough.. I like those offerings with better quality components!

[@MrBones105]

@@guitarhobbywithdannythemedic I really have no reference for the cheaper HB guitars because all of the ones I’ve owned were in the 3-400 range. Never B stock, though. They do play well! (Although the bridge on the dullahan was kind of a pain tbh).

[@guitarhobbywithdannythemedic]

3-400! gosh I never get any of those! i think the highest costs ones I have is the SC550, DC Custom, CST 24... along those lines.. sounds like you got their fusion stuff?

[@MrBones105]

@@guitarhobbywithdannythemedic yeah man. Fusions and also a dullahan. I’m a sucker for super strats and I really like the neck shape a lot.

[@thomascacioppo3785]

Butt Cheeks. OMG. Now 3 of my 7 guitars got butt cheeks. So nooooow I know what to look for.

[@cammy2651]

danny do you actually play your guitars?

[@guitarhobbywithdannythemedic]

No, Its just a hobby.

[@flrpitflrp1965]

What is spinning in the boxes behind you

[@guitarhobbywithdannythemedic]

oh those are automatic watch winder boxes

[@ryant3600]

butt cheek ha never heard anyone call it that before.. I kinda like it for me it gives it a little more character and waviness to the "stripes". but that's just me

[@milankotevski1663]

Harley benton guitars are horrible instruments quality-wise. You really get what you pay for with those guitars, which is not much. My Harley Benton st-62 has a lot of issues. I bought it in september last year. By now, the tuning posts are starting to pop out, there is noticeable fret wear and divots on several frets, a piece of nut just cracked one day for no apparent reason. Horrible expereince. I ain't ordering any more HB guitars anytime soon, thst's for sure.

[@guitarhobbywithdannythemedic]

I like them because they are low priced and looks nice. I do think they require some work on the consumer end... none of my HBs have any issues that werent there when I got them.. fixed them up when they came in and they been the same since.. I have around 6 HBs.. 2 basses, 2 LP, 1 PRS looking thing, the SG looking thing, and one tele kit I made and gave away.. If I hhad your st 62, I would replace the tuners with the kind that has threads, replace the nut with a graphtec, and using a fret crowning file, level and crown all the frets.. ( I do that to almost all the guitars I have)

[@ferraridinoman]

Sorry! NOT my experience!! For the money (in my opinion) they are fantastic!

[@guitarhobbywithdannythemedic]

@@ferraridinoman I really like them, (as a hobbist, I dunno what a pro gigging person would think)

[@ryant3600]

You're right you get what you paid for, You bought one of the bottom end strats. Not sure what you were expecting for about a 125 bucks but come on you can't expect a really great quality instrument for that price. He's looking at one of their 550's which is one of their higher quality single cuts and even then theyre going for under 300 bucks. I have the SC-550 plus and there wasn't any flaws that I could find. I've had it for over a year and I play it a lot and still holding strong. Matter of fact it gets way more play time than my real Les Pauls. So to say Harley Bentons are horrible instruments is a broad statement. They're 75-150 maybe up to 200 guitars aren't great, but their made in Indonesia guitars are way better. As for your St-62 first thing you should have known was that it was going to need some work and upgrades. To keep it on a budget, I would have put on a new nut, probably a graph tech, HB locking tuners (which are think are fantastic for the price, I've been putting them on my guitars lately, cause of the price), I would have probably even put in a new set of pups. And again to keep in as a budget guitar, Dragonfire sells pickguards that are already prewired w/ the pups. And they're not bad. And then you'd probably need to do some fret filing, not to hard to do.

[@ryant3600]

sorry just say Danny's response about doing the same thing. Yeah we have pretty much the same guitars other than the SG style. I have a couple HB Single cuts ( LPs), a PRS copy (which was bad, I did have to do some work on that one), I put on locking tuners, and had to level the frets and file some fret ends. I have one bass and it was actually like 120 bucks and it was great.. i have a couple acoustic electrics as well. Both needed some fret filing. I want to get the 550 II in Black Cherry Flame. But I am not a fan of those tuners. I think i'll put on a set of gold locking tuners instead. I never was a fan of those kluson style tuners.