Harley Benton SC-550 Plus EMG FTF

J'avoue que je ne l'ai pas vue venir, celle-là !
Quand j'ai vu cette guitare, ce qui m'a le plus intrigué, ce sont les EMG Fat 55 avec capot métal. Inconnus au bataillon, même pas référencés chez EMG.
Puis, j'ai vu qu'elle est fabriquée en Indonésie. Les autres Bentons indonésiennes que j'ai sont de très bonnes guitares, ce qui a commencé à me convaincre.
J'aurais aimé un vrai sillet Graph Tech et des frettes Xtra Jumbo, comme la EX-84 modern, mais bon, je voulais tester.

Et j'ai bien fait ! Dès le déballage, on sent la guitare soignée, 0 défaut de finition, une petite carte qui résume plusieurs étapes de contrôle qualité et un réglage absolument parfait. Ne reste qu'à accorder et jouer. D'ailleurs, les mécaniques sont très fluides, agréables à manipuler et manifestement de très bonne facture. Je ne vois pas de différence avec des Grover.
Les Fat 55, je connais. Ca porte bien son nom, surtout en disto, et j'ai retrouvé ce son gras et pourtant précis que j'apprécie. En clean, on ne dirait pas des micros actifs. Ils ont du corps, du relief, et avec ce capot en métal les aigus sont moins criard ce qui les rend particulièrement suaves.
Au niveau jouabilité, c'est là que je me suis pris la claque. Equilibre parfait assis comme debout, guitare qui ne bouge pas du genou, manche gloss qui ne colle pas, forme et épaisseur du manche impeccable. J'adore ! En prime, la tenue de l'accordage est excellente même avec des cordes neuves. Le sillet semble de bonne qualité même si ce n'est pas un graph tech. La guitare se jour toute seule dans tous les registres, grâce à des frettes bien nivelées, parfaitement polies et sans bord tranchant.
Alors, oui, 100€ de plus que la SC-550 classique. Mais d'un autre côté, seulement 368€ pour une guitare impeccable, sur laquelle il n'y a rien à redire ni rien à refaire.

Est-ce que je recommande cette guitare ? Et plutôt 2 fois qu'une !

J'ai fait une vidéo Review avec cette guitare si vous voulez l'entendre et la voir en action. Pour la trouver, puisque je ne peux pas saisir l'URL; cherchez juste "Torok" et le nom de cette guitare :)

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 ?

I don't get it.. That's the frase that came out of my mouth multiple times the past week. Recently I purchased a Sire S7 which I'm very impressed with. So it was time to add a budget type single cut to my collection. Last week I've received the Harley Benton and just wow. I really don't get it. The fretwork was spot on, no sharp fret ends. Very low action and good set-up out of the box. I really couldn't find a real flaw. Unfortunately, one of the potentiometers had died so the neck pickup didn't work. These things happen, but Thomann offered me a nice solution. Great service! Back to the instrument: this is a no brainer. Looking for a single cut with some badass pickups? Look no further. If this is the quality Harley Benton always delivers then the competition will have a hard time. The guitar is on par with PRS SE no doubt. If found in the shop for €1000,- no one would have doubts. Great instrument for a even better price.