Harley Benton SC-200 BK Student Series

Bought this guitar as a backup for rock/metal riff playing. The sound for this kind of use is very good. I ve heard worse from guitars that are in the 300 euro range.
Not a lot of features like tremolos, split coils, extra knobs etc... but I didn't need them anyway. Hardware is basic and more than adequate.
Size feels similar to a Gibson one. Unlike Gibson neck is bolt-on and with a cutout at the bottom for easier high note access. Both features I like.
The neck is thicker than I was used to, but for some reason feels faster. However the gloss finish in the back of the neck has to be removed to really check how fast it plays.
Knobs and switch feel good and tight.
Small cons I found:
- Low E was impossible to tune. I had to change the string and re-intonate now its fine.
- Fret wires are not polished so they feel a bit rough during bends. easy fix
- There is a tiny chip on the fret-board edge. It came like this out of the box. It doesn't affect playing, just annoying to have one on a new guitar.
- Volume and tone numbering were not aligned, then I realized that it was because the volume knob screw was loose and the whole pot was creeping around. easy fix
- I had to check all screws because some were loose. Probably will do it again when the wood will settle in the new environment.

Overall amazing value for money, if you have the time and patience to tweak it a bit, it plays and feels like a 200 euro guitar, with new pickups it will probably be for more than just students.

I always wanted to learn to play the guitar , so I seen the HB SC-200 BK Student Series and thought this looked perfect for me. I have no knowledge of hardware or other details when it comes to instruments , so with no knowledge and no skill , this was perfect for me , the price could not be beat. After 2 months and learning songs , I purchased a distortion pedal and sounds pretty good for a beginner guitar.. sounds like the songs i'm playing along to. I have nothing negative to say about this instrument.

Most of a good guitar tone comes, in my (limited) experience at least, from how much time you spend selecting the right amp/cabinet/mic placement and then tweaking. This guitar did its part: the humbucker pickups provided a relatively noise-free signal, so I could get some good high gain tones out of it. It also kept its tuning rather well, which is usually an issue for low budget guitars - again, in my (limited) experience. For this price, a little gem!

This is a great sounding 6 string guitar for beginners looking to play metal music.

The build quality is quite nice. In fact, I regularly bend the neck and it's been holding up like it's nothing, not that I recommend it, though. The surface is a glossy black, so beware of fingerprints. The neck is also glossy, so the hand tends to stick better to it. Everything else is extremely nice - the fretboard feels and looks nice, the frets are level and smooth, the bridge is alright, the tuners do their job very well, and everything just works as it should. Beware that it is on the heavy side and isn't perfectly balanced, so that might be annoying when playing upright.

The sound isn't anything to write home about. However, at the price and target audience it's quite impressive. It manages to pump out quite a heavy sound, so you will definitely not be disappointed.

Overall, the guitar is the choice for a beginner who wants to play metal music. For the price it's an absolute steal. Good job.