HARLEY BENTON SC-JUNIOR

S
ingle pickup guitars
occupy a strange space;
limited? Misunderstood?
Well, they look certainly
cool. There’s something
utilitarian, no-nonsense but
self-assured and classic
about a Junior.
The Gibson Les Paul Junior
may have been designed as an
entry-level model back in 1954,
but it’s won favour for good
reasons. One P-90 pickup can do
a surprising amount of things with
the right tone and volume – and
player, of course. There’s no doubt
that is where Harley Benton’s
SC-Junior is drawing its infl uence.
And at a price to tempt even those
who have hesitated to travel down
One Pickup Avenue before. But
how good can it be for £177?
Well, it’s light. For a mahogany
single cut guitar 6.8lbs is good
news. And the general build
standard here is testament to
Harley Benton’s Indonesian
manufacturing. The exception is
the fretboard dye merging with
the black gloss fi nish at the top of
one side. That ’board is amaranth
(aka purpleheart) and it feels akin
to ebony to our hands. Most
importantly, the frets are polished
and level with no sharp ends.
There’s Vintage Sunburst and
even a Silver Sparkle option in the
SC-Junior range (the Thomann
brand’s double cut DC-Junior
range off ers even more spec
choice) but there’s something
about the black / red tortoiseshell
contrast here that has a punk
rock vibe we love.
The neck profi le is very much
a slimmer C as opposed to a clubbier
vintage 50s aff air, and after a quick
truss rod tweak we fi nd the action
surprisingly fast and springy in all
the right places. We’re pleased
to see an angled neck heel for
improved upper fret access and
though we’d prefer a satin fi nish at
the back of the neck for speed, that
would be an easy fi x with a couple
of minutes, some care and 0000
ultra fi ne steel wire wool.
It’s nice to see a combination
wraparound bridge here, too, as,
unlike the ‘lightning’ variety, the
saddles allow you to intonate the
individual strings. But there’s a rub;
the bridge profi le and those saddles
raise the strings a little too far above
the Roswell (another Thomann
brand) P90D pickup for our liking.
Nevertheless, it gives a good enough
account of itself, even if we don’t
get to judge it at its clearest capacity.
It’s a good introduction to a P-90
and shows off the resonance of this
guitar, too – single notes sear with
sustain, chord work can be beefy;
but back off on the volume and
it cleans up well.
There’s room for upgrading here
on a good guitar build that’s
worth that investment, but the
remarkable out of the box value
is undeniable. Bravo to Benton!
Rob Laing
A GOOD GUITAR BUILD THAT’S
WORTH THE INVESTMENT
HARLEY BENTON
SC-JUNIOR
More than the sum of its parts?
1
2
3
£177
AT A GLANCE
FEATURES
SOUND QUALITY
VALUE FOR MONEY
BUILD QUALITY
PLAYABILITY
OVERALL RATING
SUMMARY
Photography: Phil Barker
1
FINISH AND
SHAPE
Despite the influence
of Gibson’s Les Paul
Junior here, the SC’s
upper horn is notably
sharper. But even
Epiphone don’t
currently offer a black
single cut Junior... And
an Ebony Gibson is
£1300 street price.
2
TUNERS
For £179, Harley
Benton could have cut
corners on the tuners,
and yet these 15:1
vintage tuners are
Wilkinsons. Yes, we’d
prefer off-white
cream buttons but
let’s not punch
a gifthorse in
the mouth.
3
BRIDGE
Because you can’t
raise the dogear
pickup itself out of the
cavity (it’s screwed
down to the body),
you can close some of
the string to pickup
distance in three
pretty simple ways;
make or buy a shim to
go under it, upgrade
the bridge and,
easiest, raise the
pickup pole
pieces.
ORIGIN: Indonesia
TYPE: 22-fret electric
guitar
BODY: Mahogany
NECK: Mahogany (set)
SCALE LENGTH: 628mm
(24.72”)
FRETBOARD: Amaranth,
305mm (12”) radius
FRETS: 22, medium
jumbo
NUT: 43mm, graphite
PICKUPS: Roswell
P90D Alnico-5 dog ear
single coil
CONTROLS: 1 x volume
and 1 x tone
HARDWARE: WSC wrap
around with adjustable
saddles, Wilkinson
vintage-style tuners
with 15:1 gear ratio
LEFT-HANDED: Yes
(Vintage Sunburst only)
CASE: No
FINISH: Black
(reviewed), Vintage
Sunburst, Silver Sparkle
OPTIONS: Harley
Benton DC double cut
available in standard
and FAT interactions
(latter has 50s neck
profile and stacked
P90D humbucker
with coil split)
CONTACT: Thomann
www.thoman.de
JANUARY 2021 TOTAL GUITAR
REVIEW
91
TGR340.gear_harley.indd 91 03/12/2020 18:54