Harley Benton HB-35LH BK Vintage Series

Affordable left-handed semi hollow guitars are not easy to come by so I was excited to see Thomann offer the HB-35 LH.

The HB-35 is a semi-hollow inspired by classic designs with maple body, maple neck and mahogany sustain block. Arched top and back of course. I really wanted the shape of their previous E-35 model but that was discontinued a few months ago. This latest design has sharper horns, jack on the outside edge (a la Les Paul) and pickup toggle switch on the upper horn (also similar to Les Paul style). The only one of these design changes that concerns me is the position of the toggle switch. On my LP style guitar I often accidentally hit the switch.

It really is beautiful...finish is perfect, binding front and back is flawless to my eyes. No rough edges in the f-holes.

The only flaws are - a roughly cut pick-guard, a small dent in the neck pup cover and a nut that's cut slightly too deep on the low E.

Oh..and in common with all Harley Benton leftys the tone pots are reverse wired righty logarithmic pots.

Action out of the box was okay.. about 2mm on low E at 12 fret. I've lowered it but am getting some fret buzz on low E open string, neck is dead straight so some truss adjustment probably needed. Frets are level but could do with a polish. Fret ends are smooth as any I've seen.

Intonation on most strings was perfect out of the box. Exception was the low E with the catching nut slot - I need to put some pencil graphite into the nut slots and will probably replace it entirely at some point.

I haven't weighed her but it feels about the same as the L400 les paul style. Hefty enough.

As regard how it actually sounds...well it's much brighter than expected. I was kinda hoping to be able to easily dial in some BB King tones but what I have been able to dial in fairly easily are some Tom Petty/early REM type tones. I'd imagine it would be perfect for rockabilly sounds too.

Also it has really great sustain to my ears...better than the L400. That mahogany center block really does the job.

It's very comfortable (much better than LP shape when seated) and has great upper fret access..about a fret better than a Tele or Strat ...about a fret less than the SG style. The tuners feel pretty solid too.

In summary, this is an excellent guitar for the money. Harley Benton's still deliver the good in terms of price/quality ratio.

This is my first guitar and I like it a lot! I was specifically searching for a semihollow guitar and chose this one. I have never played a string instrument but this baby made me love it and practice every day for 2 months now on - this I think is the most important, if you like the instrument and enjoy playing it then you made the right choice.

The guitar looks and feels gorgeous but has some flaws:
- You have got to fully set it up before you start, and I don't mean just tuning.
- The wiring isn't properly hidden and can be seen in the holes which spoil the view a bit if you don't do something about it.
- My guitar didn't have the knobs that are shown in the picture and their color was a bit out of place, so I bought new ones.
All this can be explained by one thing - this is a budget guitar and this negates all its flaws. For this price, it is amazing and worth every penny.

P.S. Going to buy a bass too, all thanks to this guitar)

Firstly I?m a beginner that has been playing guitar for less than a year and before my Thomann order (HB-35LH & ST-62 RW SB LH ) I owned 2 guitars; a Epiphone G 400 (SG) and a Yamaha C Series Classical. During the week I play rocksmith and on weekends I play through a Blackstar HT5.

My order from Thomann arrived in less than 2 weeks, which is excellent considering that it sometime takes 2 months for me to receive an international package in South Africa. While there was some damage to the outer box, everything was received in perfect condition.

I have being playing the HB-35LH for a week now and I love it. The set up out the box was good (a bit a fret buzz on the low E string) and it is well made.

As a beginner, my definition of a great guitar is one that inspires me to play, and the HB-35 does just that. I have trouble walking pass the guitar without wanting to pick her up and play. Sometimes I don?t even plug her in, and while she is not an acoustic she is loud enough to practice with out an amp.

While I love this guitar she is not perfect, but then for the price I was not expecting it to be. The pickguard looks like it was cut in the dark, the binding on the F holes was a little ?furry? (easily fixed with a sharp blade) and the tuners while they hold tune are not the greatest.

In summary, this guitar is great and I love playing her but I think Harley Bentons should come with a warning label ?might be addictive?, I own 2 and am already trying to decide on the next one or two or maybe I should collect them all.