Review of the Harley Benton SC-450Plus VB Vintage Series Electric guitar. Where to buy it?

I’ll tell you how this post is built. First I list the features of the Harley Benton SC-450Plus VB Vintage Series guitar. Then you have a video or two, purchase links and useful comments from other users and then you have one of the most useful parts; comparison tables with similar items so you can compare.

  • Vintage series
  • Body: Mahogany
  • Arched top: AAA flamed maple
  • Set-in neck: Mahogany
  • Fretboard: Pau Ferro
  • Fretboard inlays: Trapezoid
  • Neck profile: C
  • Fretboard radius: 350 mm
  • Cream bindings on the body and neck
  • 22 Medium jumbo frets
  • Scale: 628 mm
  • Nut width: 43 mm
  • Double action truss rod
  • Pickup: 2 Roswell LAF Alnico-5 Vintage-Style humbuckers
  • 3-Way pickup selector switch
  • 2 Volume controls with push/pull function for coil split
  • 2 Tone controls
  • Chrome-plated DLX hardware
  • DLX Tune-o-matic bridge
  • DLX Kluson Style machine heads
  • Ex-factory stringing: .010 – .046
  • Colour: Vintage burst high gloss

review harley-benton-sc-450plus-vb-vintage-series

This guitar usually has a price around 168.00 €

Now that we’ve seen the features of this guitar Harley Benton SC-450Plus VB Vintage Series watch these related videos to learn more.

Harley Benton SC-450 Plus VB Vintage Series Review

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Some comments from people who come to the forum about this model:

Comment:

I thought about this guitar for awhile myself, reading reviews but not knowing what I would really get. Then I finally pulled the trigger and bought it. My first reaction?
WHY DID I WAIT SO LONG??!?
This guitar is beautiful. The pictures actually don’t do it justice, it looks better "live". Playability out of the box was decent, almost good enough to go with but I will still get my usual guy to run a set-up on it so it plays top-notch.
One issue I had was one of the push-pull pots for volume. I pulled it up and the whole shaft came right out of the guitar. I’m not reading too much into that as once in awhile electronics will be faulty. It’s just the way it is. Thomann customer service was A+++ 100% in looking after me. They made it right and did so quickly.
I’ve played many a Gibson and Fender in my time, including some vintage 60’s Gibsons. This guitar feels as nice as some of them, not quite as nice as others, but some of those guitars would sell now for 5 figure prices. Consider that I’m comparing a guitar that would sell for approximatley 40X the price I paid for this Harley Benton (40 times!!!) and they really aren’t that far off. That is CRAZY when you put it in that perspective. Even a brand new LP (so NOT what the colletors and hardcore musicians want) with the same finish is selling in my local music store for 16X what I paid for this one. I just can’t justify that.
Shipping was fast to Canada, even in the COVID environment. My shipment left on a Friday and I had it the following Tuesday. I paid exactly what the web site said I would, and UPS dinged me another $43 CAD in duty, taxes etc., which I actually expected would be a bit more. Factor that in to your decision, but from the comparable prices I see in the stores you still can’t beat the value this guitar brings.
Trust me, put it in the cart and check out! You WILL LOVE THIS GUITAR!

Comment:

Brilliant guitar at this price. My one was only let down by the tuning machines, with some being very difficult or jumping that makes tuning possible but not easy. Suggest you budget for another set, but even with that cost added still a good value guitar that could cost you twice as much elsewhere or possibly even more. (You can also contact Thomann’s good Customer Service who will always try to resolve.)

The Roswell pickups are good and should not regarded as a no name low quality as they are not. Certainly here in the UK they are available from some dealers as an aftermarket replacement. From what I can determine Roswell have been making pickups for other brands for a number of years and have only in recent years decided to market under their own brand. The only thing is whether the type of music you play fits well with these pickups. I think most who likes blues, classic or hard rock, etc or like me plays a bit of easy jazz as well will. However not being a shredder a thrash metal player cannot comment on that aspect. Having had to, over the decades, coil tap/split my guitars that is an additional benefit these days on many guitars including this one.

The fretboard was well finished, no fret sprout with good intonation out of the box. The fret ends were nicely finished.
Yes they could be more rounded and polished, thouhg that is more of a personal preference than requirement, but they don’t catch your hands. The neck for me was great; not being too thick or too narrow. The neck was also straight and did not require any truss rod adjustment. Not a big job if required but nice when you don’t have to, particularly if you were a new player and don’t have the experience. The nut looks plastic as a lot of low to medium price guitars are these days though it does the job well. If you want you can always buy a bone, graphite, Tusq, etc and replace it. Or you could just buy a much more expensive guitar but that would appear to be an overkill just to get a preferred nut.

The bridge and stop tail piece are chrome plated cast, and do their job well. They are much better than some I have seen on less expensive guitars over the years.

Overall a good instrument and I will have no hesitation in buying one of the other Harley Benton guitars especially at the prices that they are offered at. However if you are looking for a high resale price then you are unlikely to ever get that with a HB guitar, but if looking for a good instrument that will last and be good got gigging then look no further. If you are into brand status along with a good resale price then look elsewhere and expect to pay a hell of a lot more.

Harley Benton SC-450Plus VB Vintage Series vs Harley Benton SC-550 II BCF

The guitar Harley Benton SC-450Plus VB Vintage Seriesis usually 87 € cheaper than Harley Benton SC-550 II BCF.

Below have a look to the video of this guitar

Harley Benton SC-450Plus VB Vintage Series

Harley Benton SC-550 II BCF
  • Vintage series
  • Body: Mahogany
  • Arched top: AAA flamed maple
  • Set-in neck: Mahogany
  • Fretboard: Pau Ferro
  • Fretboard inlays: Trapezoid
  • Neck profile: C
  • Fretboard radius: 350 mm
  • Cream bindings on the body and neck
  • 22 Medium jumbo frets
  • Scale: 628 mm
  • Nut width: 43 mm
  • Double action truss rod
  • Pickup: 2 Roswell LAF Alnico-5 Vintage-Style humbuckers
  • 3-Way pickup selector switch
  • 2 Volume controls with push/pull function for coil split
  • 2 Tone controls
  • Chrome-plated DLX hardware
  • DLX Tune-o-matic bridge
  • DLX Kluson Style machine heads
  • Ex-factory stringing: .010 – .046
  • Colour: Vintage burst high gloss

Harley Benton SC-550 II Black Cherry Flame; deluxe series; electric guitar; mahogany body (swietenia meliaceae) (weight relief chambered); arched & flamed AAA-maple top; set mahogany neck (swietenia macrophylla king); pau ferro fingerboard; 60`s neck profile; 305mm (12,00″) fingerboard radius; 1th fret thickness 20mm; 12th fret thickness 22mm; pearloid trapezoid inlays; 22 stainless steel frets; 628mm (24,72″) scale; 42mm (1,65″) nut width; graphite nut; 2x Tesla Opus-1 Alnico-5 humbucker pickups; controls: 2x volume & 2x tone; 3-way switch; DLX chrome hardware; DLX tune-o-matic bridge; DLX Kluson style tuners; strings: D´Addario EXL-110 10-46; finish: gloss black cherry flame

Below have a look to the video of this guitar Harley Benton SC-550 II BCF

Harley Benton SC-550 II Demo

If you want to know more about this option, click on the following link to see the Harley Benton SC-550 II BCF review

Harley Benton SC-450Plus VB Vintage Series vs Harley Benton ST-20HSS SBK Standard Series

The guitar Harley Benton SC-450Plus VB Vintage Series is usually 83 € more expensive than Harley Benton ST-20HSS SBK Standard Series.

Below have a look to the video of this guitar

Harley Benton SC-450Plus VB Vintage Series

Harley Benton ST-20HSS SBK Standard Series
  • Vintage series
  • Body: Mahogany
  • Arched top: AAA flamed maple
  • Set-in neck: Mahogany
  • Fretboard: Pau Ferro
  • Fretboard inlays: Trapezoid
  • Neck profile: C
  • Fretboard radius: 350 mm
  • Cream bindings on the body and neck
  • 22 Medium jumbo frets
  • Scale: 628 mm
  • Nut width: 43 mm
  • Double action truss rod
  • Pickup: 2 Roswell LAF Alnico-5 Vintage-Style humbuckers
  • 3-Way pickup selector switch
  • 2 Volume controls with push/pull function for coil split
  • 2 Tone controls
  • Chrome-plated DLX hardware
  • DLX Tune-o-matic bridge
  • DLX Kluson Style machine heads
  • Ex-factory stringing: .010 – .046
  • Colour: Vintage burst high gloss
  • Body: Basswood
  • Bolt-on neck: Maple
  • Fretboard: Amaranth
  • Fretboard inlays: Dots
  • Neck profile: Modern C
  • Fretboard radius: 350 mm
  • Scale: 648 mm
  • Nut width: 42 mm
  • Double action truss rod
  • 22 Frets
  • Pickup: 1 Humbucker (bridge) and 2 single coils (middle and neck)
  • 1 Volume control and 2 tone controls
  • 5-Way pickup switch
  • Synchronised tremolo
  • Die-cast machine heads
  • Black hardware
  • Ex-factory stringing: .009″ – .042″
  • Colour: Black, matte

Below have a look to the video of this guitar Harley Benton ST-20HSS SBK Standard Series

Harley Benton ST 20HSS SBK Standard Series

If you want to know more about this option, click on the following link to see the Harley Benton ST-20HSS SBK Standard Series review

Harley Benton SC-450Plus VB Vintage Series vs Harley Benton CST-24T Black Flame

The guitar Harley Benton SC-450Plus VB Vintage Seriesis usually 43 € cheaper than Harley Benton CST-24T Black Flame, but the difference is so small that this can vary..

Below have a look to the video of this guitar

Harley Benton SC-450Plus VB Vintage Series

Harley Benton CST-24T Black Flame
  • Vintage series
  • Body: Mahogany
  • Arched top: AAA flamed maple
  • Set-in neck: Mahogany
  • Fretboard: Pau Ferro
  • Fretboard inlays: Trapezoid
  • Neck profile: C
  • Fretboard radius: 350 mm
  • Cream bindings on the body and neck
  • 22 Medium jumbo frets
  • Scale: 628 mm
  • Nut width: 43 mm
  • Double action truss rod
  • Pickup: 2 Roswell LAF Alnico-5 Vintage-Style humbuckers
  • 3-Way pickup selector switch
  • 2 Volume controls with push/pull function for coil split
  • 2 Tone controls
  • Chrome-plated DLX hardware
  • DLX Tune-o-matic bridge
  • DLX Kluson Style machine heads
  • Ex-factory stringing: .010 – .046
  • Colour: Vintage burst high gloss
  • Deluxe Series
  • Mahogany body
  • Flamed maple arched top
  • Set-in mahogany neck
  • Roasted jatoba fretboard
  • “C” Neck profile
  • Fretboard radius: 350 mm
  • 24 Frets
  • Pearloid dots fretboard inlays
  • Neck and body binding
  • Scale: 635 mm
  • Nut width: 42 mm
  • Graphite nut
  • 2 Roswell HAF AlNiCo-5 open coil humbucker pickups
  • 3-Way switch
  • 1 Volume- and 1 tone control with push/pull function for coil split
  • DLX chrome hardware
  • Wilkinson WVPC tremolo
  • DLX machine heads
  • Colour: Black Flame

Below have a look to the video of this guitar Harley Benton CST-24T Black Flame

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=My-sIpvnx2I

If you want to know more about this option, click on the following link to see the Harley Benton CST-24T Black Flame review

Harley Benton SC-450Plus VB Vintage Series vs Harley Benton ST-70 Black Paisley

The guitar Harley Benton SC-450Plus VB Vintage Series is usually 13 € more expensive than Harley Benton ST-70 Black Paisley, but the difference is so small that this can vary..

Below have a look to the video of this guitar

Harley Benton SC-450Plus VB Vintage Series

Harley Benton ST-70 Black Paisley
  • Vintage series
  • Body: Mahogany
  • Arched top: AAA flamed maple
  • Set-in neck: Mahogany
  • Fretboard: Pau Ferro
  • Fretboard inlays: Trapezoid
  • Neck profile: C
  • Fretboard radius: 350 mm
  • Cream bindings on the body and neck
  • 22 Medium jumbo frets
  • Scale: 628 mm
  • Nut width: 43 mm
  • Double action truss rod
  • Pickup: 2 Roswell LAF Alnico-5 Vintage-Style humbuckers
  • 3-Way pickup selector switch
  • 2 Volume controls with push/pull function for coil split
  • 2 Tone controls
  • Chrome-plated DLX hardware
  • DLX Tune-o-matic bridge
  • DLX Kluson Style machine heads
  • Ex-factory stringing: .010 – .046
  • Colour: Vintage burst high gloss
  • Deluxe Series
  • Body: Basswood
  • Bolt-on neck: Maple
  • Fretboard: Amaranth
  • Neck profile: C
  • Fretboard radius: 350 mm
  • Fretboard inlays: Dots
  • 21 Medium jumbo frets
  • Scale: 648 mm
  • Nut width: 43 mm
  • Pickup: 2 Roswell STA Alnico-5 vintage ST-Style single coils and 1 Roswell HAF Alnico-5 humbucker
  • 2 Tone controls and 1 volume control with volume push/pull function coil split
  • 5-Way toggle switch
  • Hardware: Chrome
  • Wilkinson tremolo
  • Stringing: D’Addario EXL110 .010 – .046 (article no. 104555)
  • Colour: Black Paisley

Below have a look to the video of this guitar Harley Benton ST-70 Black Paisley

Harley Benton ST-70 Black Paisley Unboxing & Review

If you want to know more about this option, click on the following link to see the Harley Benton ST-70 Black Paisley review

Where to buy the guitar Harley Benton SC-450Plus VB Vintage Series

Thomann

  • Free Shipping.
  • Full warranty. If you have any problems, they take care of everything.
  • 100% reliable payment.
  • Leader in trouble-free shipping.
  • Usually Best price.
  • Best Reputation: They are the leading online store in Europe and have the best catalogue and information.

Amazon

  • Free Shipping and possibility of shipping in one day with Amazon Premium.
  • Full Guarantee but they are no experts in music equipment.
  • Sometimes better price.
  • He’s got worse stock than Thomann.

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Jaime Echagüe

Hi! I'm Jaime Echagüe, a musician and an authentic fan of musical instruments. With this blog I want to give general information about musical instruments in an easy, direct and honest way. I hope you enjoy my website and that you find it very useful.

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