Review of the Harley Benton SC-Junior Vintage Sunburst 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-Junior Vintage Sunburst 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.

  • Body: Mahogany
  • Set-in mahogany neck
  • Fretboard: Amaranth
  • Fretboard inlays: Dots
  • Neck profile: C
  • Fretboard radius: 305 mm
  • 22 Medium jumbo frets
  • Graphite nut
  • Nut width: 43 mm
  • Scale: 628 mm
  • Pickup: Roswell P90D Alnico-5 Dog Ear single coil
  • Volume and tone controls
  • 3-Ply black pickguard
  • WSC Wrap Around bridge
  • Vintage style Wilkinson machine heads with 15:1 gear ratio
  • Strings: .010-.046
  • Colour: Vintage sunburst

review harley-benton-sc-junior-vintage-sunburst

This guitar usually has a price around 169.00 €

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

Harley Benton SC-Junior Vintage Sunburst - Sound Demo (no talking)

Post you may be interested in

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

Comment:

I bought this guitar because I wanted a 2nd sc junior. I have a 2005 Gibson Les Paul jr too and this guitar is really not far from the original. For the price I will say that this Harley Benton is absolutely 5 stars, but compared to the original I think I have to drop it to a 4. Out of the 2 I find Harley Benton is by far the best value for money.

This guitar looked just fantastic when I unboxed it. I checked it and could not find any imperfections at all. The finish is perfect.
It also came really well set up straight out of the box. I prefer my strings really low so I decided to lower them a bit anyway. The tuners of this guitar feels very cheap, but the guitar stays in tune so there is really nothing to complain about. I wish this guitar had a heavier bridge and I really don’t like how the intonation adjustments rubs/cuts my hands when I palm mute. Both tuners and bridge can be changed without much work or cost so I do not see it as a problem.

This review of the Harley Benton SC Jr will be a comparison to my Gibson and I give you my honest opinion on what I found to be the major differences.

Quality: I do not find the huge differences in the wood and build of the guitars. The harley Benton has better access to the higher frets because of it’s angeled neckjoint. The Gibson has got higher quality on the electrics and hardware, but all of that is easy to change and upgrade.

Playability: The Gibson got a satin nitro finish while the Harley Benton has got high gloss polyurethane. I prefer satin necks so I just rubbed the HB neck with a scrub sponge and suddenly I find them quite similar to play. The HB is slightly ligher than the Gibson, but there is not much difference. I have to say that I really can’t put one in front of the other when it comes to playability so I will call it a tie.

Sound: This is where I think you can find the biggest differences between the 2. The Gibson has a warmer tone. Gibson also have more note separation and a clearer sound when strummed. The Harley Benton sounds a bit sharper and tend to sound a bit messy when strummed. All of this has got to do with electrics of the guitar, so it’s easy to upgrade and improve.

To wrap it up I will say that the Harley Benton SC Junior is an amazing guitar for the money. I also think it’s a great guitar to upgrade and improve. The fact that it’s got 1 pickup also makes it easier if you are a beginner on upgrading electrics.

I will really recommend this guitar to everyone who consider a one pickup single cut. I would buy again for sure, and to be honest I consider buying the Harley Benton DC Junior as well.

Update after starting upgrades of the guitar electrics:
After playing this guitar for lots of hours I decided that this is a really good platform for upgrading. I just want to tell that during this process I found that the pots must have been switched. The B pot was for volume and the A pot for tone. I have never heard of any guitar who got wired this way before, and I hope it is just a mistake happened during production.

I swapped the pots for CTS 500K and decided to put an alnico 2 p90 pickup in it. The tone got warmer and less agressive, something that fits my playing well. I also wired it like the 50’s Les Paul Jr, and now I suddenly have my dream guitar.

Comment:

I love this guitar, lots of fun to play. I really like the single Roswell P-90, it just sounds nice. As to the fit and finish, all spot on with no flaws. Nut, frets, and neck board are all correct and playable right out of the box.
If I have one minor complaint, it is the tuners. Not the functionality of the machinery, it’s the white knobs. They seem to stick out a bit too far which can make the headstock look a bit "big-eared" and also gives the impression they are not super sturdy.
That aside, the guitar is great and plays like a champ. All in all a very good guitar for the money.

Harley Benton SC-Junior Vintage Sunburst vs Harley Benton ST-20HSS SBK Standard Series

The guitar Harley Benton SC-Junior Vintage Sunburst is usually 84 € more expensive than Harley Benton ST-20HSS SBK Standard Series.

Below have a look to the video of this guitar

Harley Benton SC-Junior Vintage Sunburst

Harley Benton ST-20HSS SBK Standard Series

  • Body: Mahogany
  • Set-in mahogany neck
  • Fretboard: Amaranth
  • Fretboard inlays: Dots
  • Neck profile: C
  • Fretboard radius: 305 mm
  • 22 Medium jumbo frets
  • Graphite nut
  • Nut width: 43 mm
  • Scale: 628 mm
  • Pickup: Roswell P90D Alnico-5 Dog Ear single coil
  • Volume and tone controls
  • 3-Ply black pickguard
  • WSC Wrap Around bridge
  • Vintage style Wilkinson machine heads with 15:1 gear ratio
  • Strings: .010-.046
  • Colour: Vintage sunburst

  • 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-Junior Vintage Sunburst vs Harley Benton CST-24T Black Flame

The guitar Harley Benton SC-Junior Vintage Sunburstis usually 42 € 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-Junior Vintage Sunburst

Harley Benton CST-24T Black Flame

  • Body: Mahogany
  • Set-in mahogany neck
  • Fretboard: Amaranth
  • Fretboard inlays: Dots
  • Neck profile: C
  • Fretboard radius: 305 mm
  • 22 Medium jumbo frets
  • Graphite nut
  • Nut width: 43 mm
  • Scale: 628 mm
  • Pickup: Roswell P90D Alnico-5 Dog Ear single coil
  • Volume and tone controls
  • 3-Ply black pickguard
  • WSC Wrap Around bridge
  • Vintage style Wilkinson machine heads with 15:1 gear ratio
  • Strings: .010-.046
  • Colour: Vintage sunburst

  • 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-Junior Vintage Sunburst vs Harley Benton ST-70 Black Paisley

The guitar Harley Benton SC-Junior Vintage Sunburst is usually 14 € 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-Junior Vintage Sunburst

Harley Benton ST-70 Black Paisley

  • Body: Mahogany
  • Set-in mahogany neck
  • Fretboard: Amaranth
  • Fretboard inlays: Dots
  • Neck profile: C
  • Fretboard radius: 305 mm
  • 22 Medium jumbo frets
  • Graphite nut
  • Nut width: 43 mm
  • Scale: 628 mm
  • Pickup: Roswell P90D Alnico-5 Dog Ear single coil
  • Volume and tone controls
  • 3-Ply black pickguard
  • WSC Wrap Around bridge
  • Vintage style Wilkinson machine heads with 15:1 gear ratio
  • Strings: .010-.046
  • Colour: Vintage sunburst

  • 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

Harley Benton SC-Junior Vintage Sunburst vs Harley Benton ST-57DG Black Tribute

The guitar Harley Benton SC-Junior Vintage Sunburst is usually 10 € more expensive than Harley Benton ST-57DG Black Tribute, but the difference is so small that this can vary..

Below have a look to the video of this guitar

Harley Benton SC-Junior Vintage Sunburst

Harley Benton ST-57DG Black Tribute

  • Body: Mahogany
  • Set-in mahogany neck
  • Fretboard: Amaranth
  • Fretboard inlays: Dots
  • Neck profile: C
  • Fretboard radius: 305 mm
  • 22 Medium jumbo frets
  • Graphite nut
  • Nut width: 43 mm
  • Scale: 628 mm
  • Pickup: Roswell P90D Alnico-5 Dog Ear single coil
  • Volume and tone controls
  • 3-Ply black pickguard
  • WSC Wrap Around bridge
  • Vintage style Wilkinson machine heads with 15:1 gear ratio
  • Strings: .010-.046
  • Colour: Vintage sunburst

  • Body: Alder
  • Bolt-on neck: Canadian maple with stained nyatoh skunk stripe
  • Fretboard: Maple
  • Neck profile: C
  • Fretboard radius: 350 mm
  • Scale: 648 mm
  • Nut width: 42 mm (TUSQ XL)
  • 21 Frets
  • Pickups: 3 Roswell SK52 True Vintage Staggered Alnico 5 single coils
  • 1 Volume control and 2 tone controls
  • 5-Way toggle switch
  • Single-ply pickguard
  • Synchronised tremolo system
  • Kluson style machine heads
  • Chrome-plated hardware
  • Ex-factory stringing: D’Addario .010 – .046 (article no. 104555)
  • Colour: Black high gloss

Below have a look to the video of this guitar Harley Benton ST-57DG Black Tribute

If you want to know more about this option, click on the following link to see the Harley Benton ST-57DG Black Tribute review

Where to buy the guitar Harley Benton SC-Junior Vintage Sunburst

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.

Also look at these models with a similar price and features:

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.

Click Here to Leave a Comment Below