Anybody have a Harley Benton HB-35Plus??

[sazista]

I can't explain it, but for some reason I fell in love with this thing after reading about it and listening to reviews. I have NEVER liked these kinds of guitars, nor anything similar. But THIS one has me on edge; of course the price plays a big part in it too. I like the SG-ish pointy-ness that it has to the cutaways.
I am most worried about the weight. I'm spoiled forever by SGs. I do not like heavy guitars. Any feedback is appreciated.

 

[DrBGood]

Is it just me ? In the first sequence up to 2:00 and then again at 3:40, there's a visual lag, audio is not synchronized.

Anyways, it looks like it can sound great, but you never know what it's going to be like in your own tone chain.

 

[SG standard]

I like the SG-ish pointy-ness that it has to the cutaways.
I am most worried about the weight. I'm spoiled forever by SGs. I do not like heavy guitars. Any feedback is appreciated.

So far I haven't come across a heavy hollow body guitar - something to do with air being lighter than wood I guess.
Seriously, the hollow bodies I've owned have been in the 3.4kg (Reverend, chambered large bodies but Korina) to 3.7kg (Gibson, chambered small body but mahogany), with traditional large bodied archtop construction in between at 3.5kg. My SG's have all been around 3.4 to 3.5kg.

Personally I don't see that body shape as pointy, but I guess I'm used to this:

 

[brashboy]

I can't explain it, but for some reason I fell in love with this thing after reading about it and listening to reviews. I have NEVER liked these kinds of guitars, nor anything similar. But THIS one has me on edge; of course the price plays a big part in it too. I like the SG-ish pointy-ness that it has to the cutaways.
I am most worried about the weight. I'm spoiled forever by SGs. I do not like heavy guitars. Any feedback is appreciated.

The HB35 is a wonderful git for the price, much better than a Firefly n I've played both. Expect 7 to 8 lbs bc of center block, prob a little heavier than most SGs, just the price of poker.

 

[sazista]

I will see if it's possible to get one here in Chile. We have an incredibly expensive Customs system here where they tack on an additional 24% of the value of any international item. Sometimes they will just 'happen' to hold on to the goods for awhile before alerting us, then charge us per day for storage!! Anyhow, I've also compared it to the Artcore AS73 in GREEN. Wow, that is a beautiful machine.
That Reverend looks fantastic too! I'd take that any day, but it's a bit more in price.

 

[Biddlin]

A friend of mine ordered a HB 35 from Thomann in Dec 2019. In May 2020 he got a notice that his credit card had been charged and that the guitar had shipped. When it had not arrived a month later, he contacted Thomann who informed him that there had been an issue with shipping to California and his guitar had been put back in stock, but they would retry. It finally arrived at the end of July, rough fret work, just OK flame top, good pickups and push-pull pots, cheap knobs and tuners. Sounds decent, but not better than similar knock-offs from Monoprice or other Asian discount brands.

 

[sazista]

A friend of mine ordered a HB 35 from Thomann in Dec 2019. In May 2020 he got a notice that his credit card had been charged and that the guitar had shipped. When it had not arrived a month later, he contacted Thomann who informed him that there had been an issue with shipping to California and his guitar had been put back in stock, but they would retry. It finally arrived at the end of July, rough fret work, just OK flame top, good pickups and push-pull pots, cheap knobs and tuners. Sounds decent, but not better than similar knock-offs from Monoprice or other Asian discount brands.

Thanks for the feedback. This is helpful.

 

[Jim Nihil]

My HB Les Paul GT was a horror-show. Wobbly tuners (stayed in tune though), nut cut with a chainsaw, pickups were set in a 30 degree angle, and the frets needed leveling, polishing, and desprouting. You are really gambling when you go for a HB. I've since put some work into it and made it playable, but it's not worth the trouble in my opinion.

 

[sazista]

Lol!! Oh my goddess!!! Wow.. did you buy it unseen? Where? Did you try and return it? Lol!! Sorry.. you've a way with words. Post some pics of the 30 degree diving pickups!!!

 

[Wound_Up]

I've been looking at a 550(LP-style) with an amazing flame top. They want 219 plus shipping, etc....!!!


Edit:

My HB Les Paul GT was a horror-show. Wobbly tuners (stayed in tune though), nut cut with a chainsaw, pickups were set in a 30 degree angle, and the frets needed leveling, polishing, and desprouting. You are really gambling when you go for a HB. I've since put some work into it and made it playable, but it's not worth the trouble in my opinion.

Jeez! Guess I'll take that one off of my list. The other guitar I'm looking at is Goldtop from another company that's supposed to get a setup and gone through by a tech here in the US before I get it.

What was causing the 30 degree lean? The mounting rings? Bad humbucker routing?

Lol!! Oh my goddess!!! Wow.. did you buy it unseen? Where? Did you try and return it? Lol!! Sorry.. you've a way with words. Post some pics of the 30 degree diving pickups!!!

You sort of have to buy Harley Bentons sight unseen. You can only get them from Thomann's and we don't have those in the US. So you're religated to purchasing sight unseen from their website and hoping you get a decent guitar 10+ weeks later, shipped from Germany.