Harley Benton BigTone Trem White

A very big and well made Jazz guitar.

I was surprised by the very slim neck and how low the strings can be set.

I use flat wounded strings which, in my opinion gives a very Jazzy style of sound and playing.

The pickups are good but can give some screaming due to the big sound of the body of the guitar. But when adjusted right, its not a problem an issue.

If you want a different and exiting guitar, I will recommend you to by this - great value for the money

It has a good sound and does not lose tuning when using the tremolo arm normally, which is the case with many other guitar bridge systems.
The guitar has one design flaw that is easy to fix. The bridge is screwed into the top plate, but has nothing else to hold onto underneath. I have therefore inserted 2 wooden blocks myself, so that the screws are now firmly fixed. They do not change the sound or anything else as they are only approx. 2x2x3 cm each.

I've had this guitar for one full year now and decided it was time to review.

Originally there was no bundle offer with the white version and the corresponding case but a quick message to Thomann and they got back to me straight away saying they would amend the order to include it. GREAT CUSTOMER SERVICE AS ALWAYS!

Out of the case very impressed. Solidly built with quite a bit of weight to it. Finish was very very good, one or two minor blemishes but nothing unusual. The tail piece (bigsby) also very solid. I was anticipating this would be flimsy given the very good price but again it was solid.

Some people have commented on the tuners. I personally like the aesthetic. They are a little bit jumpy on some strings but again nothing I haven't encountered on more expensive guitars.

Frets needed work both on the edges and on the frets themselves to make them smooth. This is probably the biggest single flaw I could point out about the guitar, but this is very easily fixed even by an amateur like me.

Playability & Tone: This is why I wanted a jazz guitar, I was after the sweet round tone. I've been learning and listening to a lot of fingerstyle jazz guitar this past year and this guitar gets very close to some of the sounds I hear coming from my favourite players who would be using much more expensive and classic guitars. For the price I have to say I am 100% happy with the lovely tone coming from this guitar. Apart from some work on the frets I changed action to be a little bit closer to the strings. Again no problem for an amateur and the truss rod moved nice and easily.

Without using the bigsby It stays in tune really well.

After one year of playing the pickup switch is a little loose but that's completely normal as far as I can say.

With the bigsby set back into the neutral position the fit in the case was a bit snug. The case top is definitely pressed against the bigsby when it's closed but after a year there has been no issues with that.

This was my first Harley Benton. I was very impressed. I have since bought another HB and again was very impressed.

If you're thinking about learning or playing some jazz style guitar I can highly recommend this guitar. If it got smashed to pieces tomorrow (hopefully it won't) I would have zero hesitation in buying another.