Harley Benton HB-35Plus Lemon

I'm strictly a home gamer and play for my own entertainment and education. I've played this guitar for a year and change now and it's been fantastic. This is the guitar I wish I could have bought in the nineties to start with. It's very versatile, reasonably priced, excellent design all around and very playable.

Some criticisms:
- There is quite a lot of passive noise/resonance. Dampening the strings between the tuners and nut and also between the bridge and stop piece helps eliminate most of it. Check youtube if you don't know the velcro trick.
- The nut is not very good. The tuners might not be the best either. So, the tuning stability isn't quite at the level of the best guitars and obviously far behind locks or headless systems. It doesn't have real problems like what Epiphones are famous for, but it needs tuning on occasion.
- The pickup switch is not fantastic, but it works fine. It's just loud and slightly wobbly and the knob unscrews easily in use.
- Several loud inlays/logos in the headstock. Probably won't bother most people.
- Frets are not glass smooth. Certainly functional and easy to polish while you look the guitar over, but there would have been room for an extra touch of attention here.

A few extra plus points:
- That delicious colour! You rarely see anything like this in a semihollow.
- Pickup switch in a useful LP/SC position instead of being in the way. Only "ES" I've seen to get this right.
- Coil splits! Maybe not for purists and not quick to switch as there are three separate controls, but there's some more neat sounds to be found.

Tässäpä mainio puoliakustinen.
Hinta ei päätä huimaa ja nyt tunsi saavansa rahalleen paljon vastinetta.

Puoliakustista minulla ei ole ollut sitten —80 -luvun lopun. Kitara tuli ostettua ehkä hieman spontaanisti, mutta hymyn se on saanut huulille.

Itsekseen soittavalle kitara on mainio ja mikrofonit toimivat kuin pitääkin. Iso plussa tulee mikrofonien kelojen puolittamisesta.

Kitara on komea katsottava ja soi hyvin.
Tarkkasilmäinen löytää jotain pientä naristemisen aihetta. Itsellä kaulanliitoksessa oli hieman lakkavalumia ja f -kolon reunassa oli pienen pientä röpöä.
Asiat kun laittaa oikeaan mittakaavaan ymmärtää olla asoista hiljaa. Jos oikein olisi ottanut päähän olisi kitaran voinut palauttaa tai ostaa uuden.

Suosittelen ylitsevuotavan paljon tätä kitaraa.

I had wanted a semi hollow for some time. A Starfire lV or a D'Angelico DC deluxe were defiantly on my radar but the price was a real barrier. Enter the Harley Benton HB-35 plus. With favorable reviews, sounding good on YouTube and coming in at only £175 - I took a chance and ordered one in a Lemon Drop finish.?I was resigned to the inevitable flaws that would come with such a low priced instrument so I waited anxiously in the UK for 48 hours while it came from Germany by road (yes, pre Brexit)?
On unboxing I was in for a shock. I could find NOTHING wrong. Nothing!?The finish was immaculate, no glue lines under the stain, no loose nuts or screws, no stickers under the pots (just paper rings) and the well documented pick guard issue had been addressed. These newer models also have block inlays instead of dots and a pau ferro fingerboard with a bone nut. (It says ?Pau Furro? on the box)?Mine has a lovely (almost) book-matched flame maple top and the scarf joint in the neck is barley visible. The neck is a sort of chunky round back (not for you if you are a wizard fan) This neck is very reminiscent of a '65 Starfire that I had recently tried.
Plugging in, the trend continued with all the hardware working. The Roswell pickups are adequate, maybe a bit hot, with the back pickup sounding harsh when the coil tap is engaged. However, the tone and volume controls work well, which can tame the pickups for a more relaxed jazz tone. I am not a fan of top hat knobs and want to replace them. Because of this I found that the knobs are VERY securely attached (not all bad if you have to pull on them for coil tapping)?I lowered the bridge and still have no buzzing.
Pros: Unbeatable value for money. Good playability out of the box (after tuning). A range of very useable tones.?Awesome sustain. Good QC on mine. Beautiful finish all round with no orange peel or glue lines
Cons: You may need to upgrade the pickups and tuners to match the big leagues like Gibson, Guild and D'Angelico but already the HB-35 is there alongside, no, dare I say AHEAD of an Epiphone with non USA pups.?The fingerboard was a bit dry but nothing a dash of lemon oil couldn't fix. You may want to polish the frets.
Overall: I'm not a beginner. I have owned / still own Gibsons, Fenders, Ibanez, Peerless, custom built guitars - the works! The HB-35 plus may be inexpensive but it is not a "cheap" guitar. It's a great instrument. I would not be at all embarrassed to show up at a gathering of Gibsons with it.?Five stars. Don't hesitate?*****

I had been hearing so much about Harley Benton instruments from friends in Europe, as well as going down the You Tube rabbit hole, that I felt it was time to give one a try. I chose the HB-35 Plus because I wanted a semi-hollow with a great color, as well as some versatility.
This Guitar did not disappoint in any way. The fit and finish is great, no blemishes or defects. The binding is done very well and the inlays are impeccable. This is the first guitar that I've owned with a pao ferro fingerboard, and I must say that I really like it. The feel is just like rosewood, but with a lighter, more woodsy color that really matches well with the Lemon color of the guitar. This guitar also came to me set up with perfect action, intonation, and was packed very well. The pickups are very decent, better than I was expecting. They are a little hot for my taste in this type of guitar (when maxed out), but backing off the volume and/or tone takes care of that and puts it in the jazzy/warm zone. This would be a great semi-hollow for rock/blues players looking for something unique.
The only complaints that I have about this particular guitar is
1: 3 way toggle is slightly loose and feels cheap.
2: Fretboard was dry.
3: Very small finish cracks at the neck joint, but very superficial and only in the clear coat.
Aside from these small issues the guitar is absolutely wonderful, and I truly feel the HB-35Plus is on par with similar offerings from Epiphone, but at a fraction of the price of those instruments. This guitar easily outperforms all of the semi-hollow guitars from most other manufacturers in the 300 - 600 range.
I would highly recommend this guitar to literally any player due to it's price, quality, and versatility.
Great job and a sincere thank you to Harley Benton and especially to Thomann for the great set up on this instrument!