Harley Benton SC-Custom II Honey Burst Flame

If you're not a gear snob and think accessible guitars can be good too, get this one. I have the SC-550 II PAF as well and I believe this one is a bit better put together. I also think it's a more original take on the classic Les Paul style of guitars with the thinner body, beveled cut outs and a single push-pull tone knob (which in my book gives more dynamics than using a single volume and two tone pots). Frets are ok (they could be a little more polished), nothing raised or sharp, the colour burst is a bit more appealing than other Harley Benton bursts.

Not perfect, of course. Construction wise it looks perfect but then you notice that the bridge pickup is a bit off center which, as hard as I try can't understand why this is so complicated. Also, the pickup switch stopped working properly after a few uses. I recommend taking cap off from the back of the switch and spurt a bit of contact cleaner on the metal leafs in the switch, then work it a little, the guitar will come alive and sound even fuller then before. I guess the metal leafs get corroded easily when shipping over sea, I had this issue on all my LP style guitars and solved it with a few drops of WD40, they still work fine after a few years.

I looked at all the reviews and sellers available online for a LP type guitar. There were a number of companies selling instruments that looked very close if not identical to this guitar. There were a number of good reasons to go with Thomann and Harley Benton.
1. Prior experience. My past transactions with Thomann have been better than my purchases from large US retailers.
2. They provide sound samples and photos that are descriptive and honest.
3. Their customer service is reliable, responsive and customer oriented. My guitar arrived in So. California from Germany in 6 days in perfect shape.
4. The guitar is beautiful, not a flaw to be found, electronics work as they should. (And I love the coil split function. Its not a tele but it does have a convincing single coil sound.)
The fit and finish is as good maybe better than much more expensive guitars with the same specs. UPDATE April 2021. i've had a few months to try this instrument and am still quite pleased. I have only 2 minor caveots:
1. It does have significant neck dive whether sitting or standing. for me even if sitting the lower horn is nnot sufficient to hold the guitar in a proper playing position. solution? i will propbably try weights either in a back elec. cavity or attacha counter balance to the lower strap button. Or more probably i'll just live with it.
2. The strap locks will not accommodate the common 2 ply leather strap ends on a guitar strap. I finally unscrewed the knurled thumbscrew from the lock inserted it through the hole in the strap and screwed it back in. This seems to be a workable solution. I'm likely to replace the OEM locks with a set that works without compromise. I would really be unhappy if the guitar took a dive. These 2 points are really minor I'm very happy with the instrument still and have ordered the SC custom 2 with the Floyd Rose tremolo. (I just wish it was available in some color choices. I'll probably have it painted by a pro service and add different pickups. If the twin of this model with the EMG pups came in color choices I would buy it. It will end up being more expensive to modify my order but I'll have the guitar I want.) Another picky guitarist? Yea I feel silly even writing this.
So a good job all around and I will not hesitate to purchase from Thomann again.
Thank you Thomann from a satisfied customer.

I ordered this guitar I believe on a Thursday it shipped the following Wednesday and was here on Friday to Indiana USA that's pretty fast in my book.
Arrived in great shape and was even in tune.
The finish was flawless no scratches nicks or any type of fade marks.
The binding was smooth and lines very defined no chatter on the edges.
Fret board straight no adjustments needed on truss rod.
Frets were nicely finished no burrs on the edges.
Came with strap locs, Grover tuners nice and tight stay in tune.
String height was fine but I dropped the bridge down just a little for my own preference.
Pickups sound nice and full with the coil split push pull you can get a variety of sounds options.
Still have a few guitars on my list to purchase!