Harley Benton SC-550 Plus EMG FTF

Powiem na wstępie - jestem fanem stratocasterów, który chciał spróbować czegoś pokroju Les Paula. Mimo wszystko uważam, że gitara sama w sobie jest na prawdę godna polecenia, potężne przetworniki EMG czy też świetne klucze i progi ze stali nierdzewnej to spełnienie marzeń. Niestety nie przekonałem się do kształtu single cut, więc długo miejsca u mnie nie zagrzała. Jednak granie na niej było czymś więcej niż świetnym doświadczeniem. Egzemplarz trafił się nie najgorszy, jednak po godzinie grania zaczął przerywać switch. Po prostu jakby nie łączył wybranej pozycji przetwornika, więc tu był problem. Jednak pomimo tego, wciąż jest to super sprzęt do grania

I'm very happy with this guitar. From the beginning, I wanted a Les Paul-style instrument — something that looks good and makes me want to pick it up and play. In that regard, the SC-550 Plus delivers 100%.

I don’t have much experience with guitars, but this one feels comfortable and easy to play. The neck suits me very well, though of course everyone has their own preferences. For me, it’s just right.

I also didn’t want to immediately invest in replacing parts like the bridge, tuners, or pickups, so I was looking for something ready to play out of the box. This guitar didn’t disappoint — everything works as it should, and the EMG pickups leave a great impression.

As for the sound quality, I’ll leave that to more experienced players to judge. I use it with a NUX MG30 and play mostly through headphones. For me, it’s all about having fun, and this guitar really makes me want to play more often — and that’s probably the best thing you can say about an instrument.

Well I waited, (expecting for it to arrive two weeks later) to find a pleasant surprise on my doorstep. Yes five days later it was delivered!!!!!! ( I did pay the 74.00 pounds import charge to the U.K. proactively from the ups website). Now for the unboxing.
I bought this after reviews from the mad German Henning and Steve from Boston had reviewed it, both said they were shocked at the quality and the sounds they produced from it were well.......in their words “shockingly good”.
On opening the box I must say at least I concur with the the both of them. Unbelievable build quality, beautiful flame top ( veneer) it looks very similiar to the Gibson desert burst, maybe a touch lighter brown in the darker areas with quite a beautiful carve.
Now I did notice the action was a little high but it was no problem to lower this (very low as I like it) with buzz free results, meaning the fretwork was spot on, in fact the frets were beautifully rounded on the ends and the binding was perfect, I was SHOCKED!!!!!! ) no truss rod adjustment was necessary!
And that’s it, it was now set up to my liking ie like my Sg standard exceptionally low.
Well! Time to plug it in to my Marshall jvm.
I THOUGHT I’ll hit an E ( that always sorts the men from the boys) and wow this thing kicks ass!!! I mean on playing it (Henning was right) it was fabulous, it was a joy and almost played itself.
How do I describe this sound.......as Henning said it’s not a les Paul.......I think ( and I got my Sg out to compare) it sounds somewhere in between an SG and les Paul classic ( which I used to have) which is fabulous as I never really liked the heavy thick bass on les Paul’s ( yes that’s their signature sound) but through my jvm I always had to dial it down.
The thickness of the neck very near to a sixties profile and they carved back the bout again made this much easier to play on the higher register(much better than the on a traditional model. Overall this guitar is damn beautiful, perfectly built with really great locking tuners and I can’t put it down. You’re going to find it hard to buy one of these as I believe the word is out now, Thomann you did it! The shift to Cort in Indonesia of production of these higher end HBs was a stroke of pure genius, Thankyou Thomann. What about a double cut Sg model in white next time ?