Harley Benton BM-75 Trans Red Deluxe Series

I have had my eye on this guitar for quite some time and when it became available again I had to snap it up, and I don't regret it at all. The price of this guitar is extremely competitive for the quality and sound.

The pickups are nice and bright, as is expected from a SSS layout, and the build quality if good.

Pros:
- switches are solid and positive feeling.
- No crackling when turning the pots, I will come back to this later after extensive use.
- tuning machines are nice and tight, not too loose or tight.
- smooth trem performance with it coming back to tune after use regularly.
- fret ends and bindings are nice and smooth.
- frets are seated properly

Cons:
- although the 5 way switch works well, it's a shame that the individual pickup on/off switches were removed. I like playing with bridge and neck so I will need to modify the tone to be a push/push style to get that functionality.
- guitar was very dirty when received, the but was very dusty so I had to properly clean the guitar before use, but this is more nit-picking.
- neck/body joint seemed to have leaked some adhesive and it was not cleaned properly and just painted over so there is a visible raised imperfection on the top of the guitar and I hope it does chip over time.
-frets are not polished so bending is quite gritty but that is easily fixed.
- wiring seems to be parallel, but would have liked it to be series. Maybe a future mod.

Overall this is a solidly built and sounding guitar. For those who want the red special feel without the BMG or custom made guitar prices then this is the way to go.

Only had about an hour to try it out before work, but my main takeaway with it is...wow!!

Good range of sounds, not every single one of the Brian May tones, but that wasn't my main reason for the purchase, I was just after an all rounder that wasn't the standard single cut/double cut style. After much research I finally decided to pull the trigger.

Hardware is excellent for the price point, tuners are smooth, frets are well finished, neck is straight, action is nice and low already, and doesn't immediately need any truss rod adjustments. If I could pick any shortcomings, the intonation is slightly out, and the factory strings are not good at all. I shouldn't really mark it down for that, but it'll be getting a new set, and a setup to correct the intonation. Trem reliability remains to be seen, probably throw on some better springs as it's a little soft for my taste, but it'll still be a sub £300 quid outlay for a guitar that feels worth a lot more.

The guitar is cosmetically good with no obvious flaws. It’s structurally sound with no major problems with the neck or body. It needed setting up and I replaced the cheap nylon nut. It is great value for a £250 guitar.

But, the main issue is that it’s wired like a strat and nothing like the red special. The pickups are wired in parallel, not in series like Brian’s, and the phase switch on the middle pickup is completely redundant. It’s a very straightforward mod to rewire the middle pickup phase switch as a series / parallel switch. That gives you strat sounds in one position, with bridge and neck humbucker sounds in the other. Plus you’ve got the additional out of phase sounds.

Now it still doesn’t sound quite like the red special. But it gives you 7 sounds in the strat position and 4 sounds in the humbucker position. And it actually is a great sounding guitar with a fairly cheap and simple mod.

I went the whole hog and replaced the stock pickups with the Burns Brian May Tri-Sonics. And it now sounds absolutely fantastic. Not cheap, but well worth the money.

First off, the quality of the guitar build itself is excellent. Everything from the headstock to the body feels pretty good. The finish is good, the fret edges are smooth and the guitar came to me ready to play. The three phase switches give a lot of options in terms of sound but the differences will only be noticable to those with experienced ears. The thing i would change is the pickups. Altough they sound decent, i wouldn't go into the studio with it. They sound almost too bright and snappy. The guitar itself is beautiful and would reccomend it for someone wanting to upgrade from a cheap and less quality guitar.

I am a Queen fan. I am a Sir Brian May fan. Since forever. So when I saw this guitar it was a no brainer to add to my collection. I have now had it for about 2 months and it is becoming my "go to" guitar.

It is light and responsive. The neck shape and feel is the most compatible to my way of playing of all the guitars I have. I could wax lyric though there are a couple of negatives to take into account, though not game changers:

1. A fret buzz that has needed 2 trips to the workshop. Now sorted
2. Tuners that are very variable in quality in that a couple are tight and easy to tune and remain tuned and a couple that are loose and de-tune as I play. The workshop has not been able to fix this

I recommend it 100%. If you want a do all be all guitar and only think you can afford one guitar choose this one!