Sorry, another Harley Benton thread! (SC Junior questions)

zepp76

Has any one tried one of the Harley Benton SC Juniors? I can only find YouTube clips of the double cut but I'm guessing they are the same pickups? The only thing confusing me is the use of Amaranth for the fretboard, what is it exactly? What would be the closest in feel to it please? Maple, Ebony or rosewood or does it have a feel all of its own? I would love a TV yellow single cut but alas they only do that with the double cut so the black with tortoise shell pickguard would be my choice. If anyone has any experience with these I would very much appreciate your feedback, thank you.

Sorry for yet another Harley Benton thread but at their price point they can't really be dismissed.

abw1989

Amaranth is purpleheart by another name:

https://www.wood-database.com/purpleheart/

Probably similar in feel to rosewood I'd have thought.

thegummy

Wonder when the first fretboarder will name their child Harley Benton

breakstuff

thegummy said:

Wonder when the first fretboarder will name their child Harley Benton

And will they change the nappy, or keep the original on.

Matt4887

I have had one of the SC Juniors for the last couple of weeks and cant say the fretboard has any noticable difference from a rosewood one.

Very impressed with it overall, the pickup sounds decent and the controls feel solid. The wilkinson tuners work well and tunining stability is good.

The bridge is adjustable (an improvement on the usual bridge deployed on these type of guitars if you ask me) but it does look a bit cheap when compared to the rest of the guitar. That said it is a relatively affordable guitar built to a price so that is probably just me being picky.

I would recommend getting one. Unless you can find a used Vintage V120 it is probably the cheapest option for this type of guitar.

zepp76

Matt4887 said:

I have had one of the SC Juniors for the last couple of weeks and cant say the fretboard has any noticable difference from a rosewood one.

Very impressed with it overall, the pickup sounds decent and the controls feel solid. The wilkinson tuners work well and tunining stability is good.

The bridge is adjustable (an improvement on the usual bridge deployed on these type of guitars if you ask me) but it does look a bit cheap when compared to the rest of the guitar. That said it is a relatively affordable guitar built to a price so that is probably just me being picky.

I would recommend getting one. Unless you can find a used Vintage V120 it is probably the cheapest option for this type of guitar.

@Matt4887 Thank you for the reply, that's great to hear. How is the finish and fret ends on yours? Am I right in remembering there is only two finish options i.e sunburst and black? I would have really liked a TV yellow one but alas that's not an option unless I get the rattle cans out 

Sassafras

thegummy said:

Wonder when the first fretboarder will name their child Harley Benton

Only if it can be upgraded.

Sassafras

Other guitars are available.

Matt4887

Fretwork is pretty good on mine, no sharp ends and it plays really well. The action was fairly high at 3mm when it arrived but I lowered it to approx 1.5mm treble and 1.75mm bass and haven’t had any issue with buzzing or fretting out. 

The frets could do with a polish but that can wait until I restring it. 

I went for the sunburst one rather than the black and finish wise 99% is absolutely fine. There is a slight ding on the rear of the guitar but it is a good player so I didn’t want to send it back.

I did raise it with Thomann and it was dealt with pretty quickly by their customer services, I got a slight discount so I was happy with that rather then risk a replacement that wasn’t as good. 

All in all I don’t think you can go wrong with these. A great guitar for the money. 

Barnezy

I do love this. 

Fender change their fretboard to PF, a known fretboard wood, and people spend months febating its differences compared to rosewood. 

HB use a wood no one has ever heard of and the feedback is "there is no noticable difference to rosewood". 

Funkfingers

Rickenbacker habitually applies clear varnish over their rosewood fingerboards. Discussions about the tonal benefits of this are scarce. 

zepp76

Matt4887 said:

Fretwork is pretty good on mine, no sharp ends and it plays really well. The action was fairly high at 3mm when it arrived but I lowered it to approx 1.5mm treble and 1.75mm bass and haven’t had any issue with buzzing or fretting out. 

The frets could do with a polish but that can wait until I restring it. 

I went for the sunburst one rather than the black and finish wise 99% is absolutely fine. There is a slight ding on the rear of the guitar but it is a good player so I didn’t want to send it back.

I did raise it with Thomann and it was dealt with pretty quickly by their customer services, I got a slight discount so I was happy with that rather then risk a replacement that wasn’t as good. 

All in all I don’t think you can go wrong with these. A great guitar for the money. 

Thank you for your replies, they've been most helpful. 

TTBZ

Interested to hear how these compare to the Vintage ones - quite like the look of the black one. The contoured body and neck heel look nicer to play. I imagine the Roswell pickup would want replacing but is all the other stuff good to go?

zepp76

TTBZ said:

Interested to hear how these compare to the Vintage ones - quite like the look of the black one. The contoured body and neck heel look nicer to play. I imagine the Roswell pickup would want replacing but is all the other stuff good to go?

As is my nature I would probably change the pickup, I'd love to stick a BKP Pig 90 in it!

clarkefan

Bought a lefty one to have something with Gibson short scale to knock about with.  Stuck an old Dimarzio Super Distortion in it, it's fun

Weighs a bit, and it's a bit neck heavy for my taste, but no issues with the frets.

I thought the truss rod was knackered when I got it, the adjustment seemed to be at the end of its travel, but Customer services told me it was double ended or something and to keep turning the Allen key.  They were right and it adjusted fine.

Not bad for 96 quid delivered

zepp76

clarkefan said:

Bought a lefty one to have something with Gibson short scale to knock about with.  Stuck an old Dimarzio Super Distortion in it, it's fun

Weighs a bit, and it's a bit neck heavy for my taste, but no issues with the frets.

I thought the truss rod was knackered when I got it, the adjustment seemed to be at the end of its travel, but Customer services told me it was double ended or something and to keep turning the Allen key.  They were right and it adjusted fine.

Not bad for 96 quid delivered

@clarkefan  Crikey, where did you get it for £96? 

clarkefan

Thomann?  A black student model or something, I'll find a link.

Edit - right handed version:

https://m.thomann.de/gb/harley_benton_sc_200_bk_student_series.htm

zepp76

clarkefan said:

Thomann?  A black student model or something, I'll find a link. 

Ah my bad, for a second there I thought you'd found the SC junior for that price!

clarkefan

zepp76 said:

clarkefan said:

Thomann?  A black student model or something, I'll find a link. 

Ah my bad, for a second there I thought you'd found the SC junior for that price!

I'm confused mate This is an SC Junior?
https://m.thomann.de/gb/harley_benton_sc_200_bk_student_series.htm

zepp76

clarkefan said:

zepp76 said:

clarkefan said:

Thomann?  A black student model or something, I'll find a link. 

Ah my bad, for a second there I thought you'd found the SC junior for that price!

I'm confused mate This is an SC Junior?
https://m.thomann.de/gb/harley_benton_sc_200_bk_student_series.htm

No the SC junior comes with a single P90 at the bridge.

https://www.thomann.de/gb/harley_benton_sc_junior_black.htm

clarkefan

Ah, different SC Junior model, got it.