Harley Benton SC-Custom II SPAF

First electric guitar that I've bought, love the looks, sound and feel

Pros:
- great finish - both body and frets
- low enough action out of the box
- good tuners
- good sounding pickups - quite powerful without being harsh; coil-splitting is nice too

Cons:
- out of the box, the guitar was noisy; turns out the bridge grounding wire was not soldered to anything; easy fix in ~15min with a soldering iron, but QC could be improved

Other: the guitar color is a bit darker than in the photos, but still pleasing to the eye

Would recommend to anybody, both beginner or more advanced player

Overall, I'm blown away by this guitar. Actually, it's my second SC-Custom II as I ordered the same model exactly a year ago and I liked it but ended up selling it and then regretting it and buying another one in 2021 LOL.

The 2020 model was a lot less dark, very tiger-orangy while the 2021 one has a brown tint, almost bordo - both look stunning. But I like the new one a bit better.

To specific points:

PROS:
+ Absolutely incredible look. I can't stress it enough - the guitar is a looker! I wouldn't change anything about it. The way they designed it with cream binding, dark chrome furniture, and zebra pups... I'm constantly drooling over it!
+ I couldn't find any cosmetic defects except for a couple of tiny rough spots where the neck connects to the body. Just inaccurate paint on the bottom which you can even see when playing.
+ Frets aren't sharp at all, very well rounded (something other called out but I guess I got lucky)
+ Ergonomics-wise, I love all the cuts that make it so easy to play and also light compared to old-school Les Pauls.
+ Pickups are pretty okay as long as you're not trying to squeeze some djent out of it. I was able to get some juice playing things like Gojira, but they don't have enough output to get a killer metal sound. Going to swap them pups and see.

CONS:
- The fretboard was slightly dry - easily fixed with lemon oil.
- I think wiring or grounding on my new HB is messed up a bit as I can hear radio coming through (love that new feature!). That wasn't the case with my 2020 model by the way. Need to check the grounding.
- Neck binding appears to be a little rough in some spots. Nothing major, just not sanded well. You can't really feel it, so it doesn't affect you much.

Sidenote: I heard from others that the strap locks occasionally tear through the carton box exposing the guitar's bottom during delivery and might result in some dings (I was lucky enough as mine didn't suffer from that). I flagged it to Thoman saying that removing strap locks and putting them separately in the box might help alleviate it - but just in case, don't hesitate to ask Thomann to do it upon ordering just to be safe.

That said, it's an incredible instrument which I would buy even the third time (I'm not selling it this time around!)

Grover tuners are perfect! Gift strap locks that I did not even read on the page (must have missed it) is a killer touch! Finish is just flawless, really! Pickups are hot but defined. I don't know what pots it has but it is as sensitive as my friends 2020 Gibson LPClassic! I showed him yesterday and he is legit mad at me now, because his axe costs almost TEN TIMES more. I am just simply amazed by the quality, there is not a single thing I pick on, really. I have the Harley Benton SC-550 from this march (it is the older SC-550, not the new SC-550 II). Compared to that (and that was more expensive) it is just night and day. The pots, the finnish, the accessories on it is just superb. I thought the SC-550 is a fantastic guitar but it has finnish flaws (nothing extreme, scratches, some misscolored spots at the neck joint), but after this guitar I want to sell the SC-550 now and get another of this in another color.

One thing I missed at purchase (but I was lucky I guess) is that the uncovered Roswell humbuckers in SC Custom II range are LAF Alnico 5 pups wheres this (and all the uncovered ones) are HAF Alnico 5 pups. The HAF pickups are a bit more compressed and much more hotter, which is a killer!

Ohh and the matte finnish! I am huge sucker for matte and brown wood colors, this combined just makes me look at it and just play it! Super super nice!

Setup: out of the box both bass and treble side are 2 mm at the 15th fret. I like Treble side on 1,5 mm and bass on 2, so I just lowered the treble side. Pickups were 3- 3 mm from the strings (both pups on both sides) if the last note is fretted. This pickup comes alive if you raise it to around 1,6 mm on the bridge (both treble and bass side) and 2 mm on neck pup (also both sides). The neck was spot on perfect, as well as the intonation. Factori d'addario 10-46 strings are fresh so even though I am a 9-46 hybrid slinky Ernie ball guy, I will keep them on to play them off, not the usual cheapo' basic noname strings!

Ohh and the matte headstock with the 4 staged Harley Benton logo, omg... super nice!