Harley Benton HB-35 BK Vintage Series Guitar - Custom Upgraded 2024 - Glossy Black

GFS Crunchy Rails + Power Rails • Upgraded Electronics • Extremely Versatile!

This is a Custom-Upgraded Semi-Hollow Guitar with high-output rail humbuckers. I bought this guitar specifically as a project because I wanted an inexpensive semi-hollow that I could customize. I started with a vintage 60’s style Semi Hollow body guitar from Harley Benton, removed the original humbuckers and electronics and replaced them with upgraded components, including a GFS Crunchy Rails bridge pickup and GFS Power Rails neck pickup.

The result was so good that this ended up becoming one of the guitars I used most in my own music. I've used it on a huge number of songs, covering just about everything: folk, easy listening, jazz, blues, classic rock, folk rock, swamp rock, blues rock, hard rock, punk, alternative, grunge and heavy metal. It has proven to be an exceptionally versatile guitar, and I honestly haven't found a style that it can't do.

The Guitar's Details & Specs:

The HB-35 is a semi-hollow design with a maple body, arched maple top, F-holes and a solid mahogany sustain block running through the center. The center block helps increase sustain and reduce unwanted feedback at higher volume. It has a set Canadian maple neck, 22-fret laurel fingerboard, 24.7" scale length (628mm) and 42 mm nut width and a fingerboard radius of 305mm.

Other factory specifications include:

• High-gloss black finish
• Cream body and neck binding
• White pearloid dot inlays
• Tune-o-Matic bridge
• Chrome hardware
• Sealed die-cast tuners
• 3-way pickup selector
• Individual volume and tone controls for each pickup
• Double-action truss rod
• Original Blues Humbuckers also included

The original guitar is already a very good platform for a semi-hollow, but the upgraded electronics and pickups completely change what it can do.

The Pickups:

The GFS Crunchy Rails in the bridge is GFS's hottest humbucker, with a 16.2K winding. It has a tight, focused response, pronounced lows and highs, and plenty of output for aggressive rock and metal tones.

The GFS Power Rails in the neck are also extremely high-output, using powerful ceramic magnets and a 10K winding. GFS describes them as having a modern sound with a warmer vintage PAF-style bottom end, and they are designed to cover everything from hard-edged classic rock to hardcore metal.

That combination is what makes this guitar so useful. You can get warm, full neck tones, classic rock crunch, nasty bridge distortion, or big modern high-gain sounds without the guitar feeling limited to one particular genre. And despite the aggressive pickups, the semi-hollow construction still gives it that open, resonant character that makes this type of guitar so appealing.

Condition:

The guitar has been well used and loved, but also well cared for. There isn't so much as a single scratch, ding or sign of wear whatsoever. It does not need fretwork or any kind of repairs, or even so much as a setup to play perfectly.

I've spent a lot of time actually using this guitar for writing and recording rather than just having it around as a project or practice guitar, and it has become one of the most dependable guitars in my collection. I have several songs of different styles where it is the main guitar used that I can provide as samples so you can hear what it sounds like and what it can do.

Why I'm Selling It:

So you're probably wondering: if I love this guitar so much, why am I selling it?

This is actually a pretty unusual reason to sell a guitar - I used it way too much.

After I finished the upgrades, I liked the guitar so much that I kept reaching for it whenever I needed an electric guitar to record with. And I used it in countless recordings over the last couple years. Eventually I realized that I had used it on so many songs that I was starting to feel like I was overusing it...and then I kept using it some more until I was sure that I had overused it and that it was definitely time to move on.

So now I'm finally selling it to make room on my guitar rack for something new.

But let me reiterate that there is absolutely nothing wrong with this guitar. Rather the opposite: after the upgrade, it sounded so good that it became my favorite electric guitar, and I used it far more than any other electric that I own.

So if you're looking for an electric guitar with that classic vintage look and feel of a semi-hollow, but also want something with far more output, versatility and tonal range than just any old blues guitar, this is a particularly interesting one that I think you're going to love the sound of.

And be sure to check out the song samples I've provided where this is the main guitar, so you can hear exactly what it sounds like in different styles of music.

Bonus Package:

The guitar also comes with:

·Both original Harley Benton Vintage Blues Humbuckers

·Black Fender guitar strap

·Guitar cable

·Allen wrench

·A selection of 25 of the best picks for electric guitar

So you get everything you need to plug in and start playing, plus the original pickups if you ever want to experiment with a different configuration.

Custom upgraded. Proven in real recordings. Ready to play.

Price - $453 - Specifically calculated to give me back exactly as much money as I put in.

If you're interested, send me a message and I'll be happy to answer any questions or provide additional photos, details, or sound samples in any style.