Harley Benton BM-75 Trans Red Deluxe Series

So... I own two Red Special guitars - a (very) expensive custom made and the current production Brian May Guitars "Special" model. Bought this out of sheer curiosity. Let me say I was pleasantly surprised.

The scale is different and that, combined with .010 strings, gives a "stiffer" feeling in playing. The Red Special haves a 24'' scale and usually strung with 0.9's - as an advice to Thomann I would suggest 9's strings and, on the next revision, at least consider a Gibson-esque scale (24.75'').

The sound is different from a "normal" RS - pickups wired in parallel instead of the mandatory series wiring but, to my surprise, the middle pickup alone sound quite near the middle + bridge pickup combination on a RS, the one favored by Brian himself.

The construction and build, fit & finish are quite nice for this range - just a few notches under the BMG offer, but nothing serious. The fretboard is quite dark on the one I've received, almost looks like ebony (nice!).

If rewired as per a normal RS, I'm sure it will sound even better but, to my surprise, owning the "proper" models, I could definitely gig with this and get a very close sound. The trem works nice although not as good as the custom made or the BMG (but these cost 20X more on the custom and about 5X more on the BMG). I'm sure that with a proper setup (and if you want to go even further) a complete rewiring in series with proper selection switches, would get you there.

Ah a note - the volume knob is the bottom one. On a RS is the top one! Surely quite "easy" for Thomann to get this right on the next batches but also something one can switch with low effort.

Overall - recommended for that "RS" flavor if not willing to spend a ton of money!

Excellent guitar in its own right!!
Whilst some may mark this down a little as it does not do everything Brian May’s guitar does, at a fraction of the price what it does do is terrific. Judging it on its own merits.

Features 5 out of 5 (here’s why)
In its own right the amount of different sounds/tones you can get out of the 3 pick ups, 5 way selector, tone knob and of course phase switches is really incredible. Soooo many guitars around this price point you struggle to hear a difference between pick ups, Not the case with the BM-75. Each option sounds distinctly different from the last which gives this guitar one of the largest ranges of sounds you could possibly ask for. Also there is a quality Floating tremolo which you can use and the guitar keeps its tuning really well. The way the neck is shaped means reaching those very top frets is easy.

Sounds 5 out of 5 (here’s why)
As I stated above the range of distinct sounds is incredible. Each pick up sounds great. The Mahogany body was a great choice as I was really blown away by just how much the guitar resonates. Tone control is impressive as from 0-10 you can hear the sound changing as you roll the tone off or on.

Quality 5 out of 5 (here’s why)
Again as stated above the guitar resonates incredibly well. It is surprisingly light. The finish had no flaws or imperfections, the binding looked great and the fretwork was very smooth, no sharp fret edges or even lumps/raises. Fretboard was flawless. The tuners held tune surprisingly well. Out of the box tuned it up and played away for 20-30 minutes without having to do any substantial re-tune (this was using the tremolo as well). Switches, 5 way selector, volume control, tone control all well fitted with nothing loose or lacking quality.

Summary
Great job Thomann with the set up. Right across the board this is a great guitar. Does it compare to £1000 guitars, probably not. But it certainly holds it own with guitars 3 times the price. If you, like me, think strats sound great but you don’t like the body shape, this is a great guitar for you. The range of different sounds alone is worth the price but with the overall quality being this good, it makes this a great deal!
If you are tempted by this ….. get it! You will not be disappointed.

To be honest, at first sight this guitar looks quite scary. It has many buttons, the accessible neck makes it seem like you need to shred on it and even its general looks create some expectations. But rest assured you don't have to be Brian May on this one.

It is the most versatile guitar I have ever played. It is basically a Stratocaster for Les Paul lovers. It has all the functionalities you would find on a stratocaster and, with it's 3 fase switches, even more than that. And as an extra benefit it doesn't look like a stratocaster.
I use it mainly as a back-up for my Les Paul and Telecaster and actually it is able to do more than replace one of those when a string breaks. At home or when I want to travel light it's my go to guitar because all the pick-up and fase combination give you all the sounds you need.

Because of its relatively small body it's also the shortest guitar I own which for a not so super tall person is also kinda nice. Yet its small form-factor does not take anything away from the sound it produces. It is true that its pickups are not as loud as a humbucker but then again that makes sense as it is not a humbucker pick-up, so you shouldn't expect that. It can easily blow everyone away on a stage or be used practising at home; I haven't any issues on higher or lower volumes yet.
Its neck is slightly thicker than you would expect if you are used to Stratocasters but it doesn't feel as if that will ever be a problem.

I can easily tell you all day about this guitar. While my other guitars allow me to play, this one inspires me to play. I don't know if you can do anything with that info but here it is anyway.
If you are looking for a great allrounder, a great guitar for practising at home or even for your first electric guitar, look no further. This guitar has all you need and even more. It's not too heavy, it's not too big, yet they still managed to cram a huge deal of potential in this guitar.

I have owned 4 or 5 real BMG Special LEs over the past several years. I have tried so hard to like them, but I’ve never been able to get past 3 issues: 24” scale length, serial pickup wiring (though I have performed the serial/parallel switch mod on a couple of them), and the closeness of the pickups to the strings (interferes with my picking style).

This BM-75 solves all of those issues for me, while also being a ridiculously well-built and great-sounding guitar for the money. The 25” scale length is perfect. The parallel wiring is far more pleasant than series, to my ears. And the pickup(s) height is more like a Strat, leaving plenty of room for digging in without hitting a pickup with the pick.

Regarding the pickup options, I lose neck+bridge, with corresponding two out-of-phase options for it. And I lose neck+middle+bridge option with all the out-of-phase options for it. I don’t mind, though. This still gives me plenty of whacky out-of-phase tones to play with and use.

Regarding the middle out-of-phase switch: some have implied that it is redundant. It is not redundant. Sonically, it matters which pickup is out-of-phase. This guitar, in particular, produces a distinctly different tone depending on which is used in (especially) neck+middle or (less noticeably) middle+bridge. This is true on a real BMG, too. It’s true on any guitar that provides a per-pickup phase-switching option. But it is slightly more pronounced on the BM-75 than on the BMG Special LEs I’ve owned.

Anyway, great guitar. After I tested it through the AFX3 for a half hour, I said to myself, “Perfect.” Just a great value. Built well, plays well, sounds great, feels great.