Harley Benton HB-35 CH Vintage Series

The guitar i have received (manufactured late 2020) is inspired by 335 guitar style. It is quite big and not extra light (compared to LP). The body is standard laminated maple with scarf jointed neck with comfortable C shape. The neck feels chunkier, than the shape used on HB450+. Upper fret reach is fine, but it does not have the super accessible (HB-450+) neck joint shape. The binding is nicely cut.

The pick-guard is LP style and is probably better than the previous version, but I believe, that these guitars look best without one (and red marker can help to hide the drilled holes). I was a little afraid about the screw from the pickguard denting the top (because the pickguard seems to be placed quite low) - I have found a really small mark form the screw but only visible form close up. Little bit worse was uneven lacquer under the top pickguard screw – it was screwed on with some wood dust on still soft lacquer and the lacquer around the screw-hole is (sadly) a little wobbly.

The hardware is quite good. The guitar is equipped (produced late 2020) with standard die-cast tuning machines that holds tuning, probably Sung-il BM 003 bridge and Sung-il TS 001 tailpiece and unbranded “vintage-style” humbuckers (ceramics magnet). The quality of the HW is better than the HW used on HB-450+ line of guitars. I have experimented and replaced the ceramics magnets with Alnico V and it was a nice surprise with more dynamic sound. The tailpiece was a really tight fit.

The wiring is surprisingly fine, but for those who want to upgrade the electronics, there is multiple small “catches” that could surprise you. Positioning the switch like on LP style requires quite long wires that leads to the switch (under bridge pickup), compared to similar style guitars with switch near the knobs. The knobs are oriented differently – bridge volume and tone are shifted behind the neck knobs (in playing position) so if you are used to play LP style guitar, you might be little confused. The original output jack has a little bit longer thread, than is usual, so it is possible to screw it though the pretty thick layer of wood. Standard sized output jack could barely reach to the surface (it is like a 1-2mm difference). And of course – putting new switch and other components into place through the “hook” holes is a real pain.

Otherwise it is an amazing guitar that I really enjoy to play. Great looks, playable out of the box and with nice acoustic sound.

Owing to the fact I had already bought some Harley Benton Guitars previously I did not enter into this purchase with any trepidation.

Guitar was delivered to my door (in Scotland) within a few days of odering, as usual it was well packaged by Thomann and as expected there was no damage found whatsoever upon opening.

Lets start with the initial appearance of the instrument...it looks fantastic, the paintwork is superb, its just a real nice looking guitar, in fact it got the seal of approval from my wife, who for some reason has absolutely no interest whatsoever in guitars...weird I know...and she thought it was beautiful. The binding is something I will discuss later.

Overall Quality was good, one minor complaint was that the fretboard was as dry as a dry thing on a very dry day, but a few minutes with some fretboard reconditioner easily sorted that out. The pickguard is in my opinion not a thing of beauty as it has a weird small squared off section, this is probably HB's way of making this their version of the G****n ES335 rather than a rip-off of the original. Its a very minor point and just my opinion. The Bridge, saddles, control knobs and switches look good and do their job just fine as do the tuners.

Out of the box the guitar was playable and almost in perfect tune, plugged into my amp the sound quality from the pick-ups was good, quite mellow, not the loudest but suited this style of guitar.

I let the guitar aclimatise for a few days and the checked it out in some detail, the intonation was out and the string height slightly to high, the neck wasn't at flat as I like so I set to work on thes issues and within 1 hour of minor adjustments I had a super playing guitar that had cost a little over £100...amazing.

Now lets discuss the binding, I had noted that a couple of online reviewers of this guitar had commented that they didn't think that the binding was real and simply painted on, these comments certainly didn't put me off buying the guitar especially at the price offered by Thomann. Now I am no Luthier or expert in any sense when it comes to Guitars and their construction but I have looked closely at the binding around the body and inside the 'f' holes and conclude the following;

I think that the binding is real but if it isn't it is probably the best bit of painting I have seen, it is pure quality.

Thomann have done it again with the HB-35, it is exceptional value and id your in the market for an inexpensive ES335 style guitar you wont go far wrong with this

I'm really impressed with this guitar. There are a few imperfections here and there, but all in all it really feels and plays like a guitar worth 2-3 times it's modest price.

Some minor imperfections: a fretboard inlay was raised up a bit. I'll need to get that sanded down. The pickup switch is really wobbly. And the input jack is constantly getting looser (I need to tighten it often). These are minor issues which are easily fixed. Though the fretboard is rather dry, the fretwork is excellent (no sharp ends and they all seem to be level).

Cosmetically, it's very good. A slight blemish that is detectable under the finish here and there, but you have to really be looking for it to notice. There appears to be a very, very slight "ripple" in the binding on the top of the neck as it gets closer to the nut, from about the 5th fret. Again, this is something that you only notice if you're really, really looking for it, and it has no impact on playability or the structural integrity of the guitar.

Sound: It sounds awesome! I do plan on swapping out the pickups for some warmer alnicos, but even with the stock pickups, this guitar has loads and loads of 335-esque overtones. A really thick overdriven sound. I really love how it sounds. Really nice resonance and sustain. Overall, a very complex tone signature for such a cheap guitar. The sound alone makes this guitar punch WAY above its weight class.

This is my third Harley Benton guitar and while one of them I sent back to be replaced (the first one they sent me seemed more of a B-stock quality level), I really love all 3 of them (the other two are an SC-450 P90 and an SC-450 Plus). I don't know of a better value for guitars out there. And with every new Harley Benton I buy I'm more and more surprised that they can produce such solid guitars at such a low price. And they are excellent as modding platforms! Highly recommended.