Twincam Posted November 4, 2014 Share Posted November 4, 2014 Bought a guitar for a friend who has had a crap time of late. Obviously es355 inspired. Was worried it would be a bit cheap, but is actually really nice for the price. Well put together. Does have some minor flaws in the finish. The pickup switch is junk but works, pots feel really smooth have a good feel to them, machine heads are ok tuned fine and held tune. Pickups seem ok im not a guitar player but they certainly are very usable, tested through a bass amp so hard to judge. Strings seemed a bit cheap or could be just me thinking that. Only real flaw was the pickguard is cut a bit rough. The rosewood harley benton use on both basses and guitars always seems a bit odd and in need of a little oil. Frets are cheap metal but are even. Binding to body and neck done surprisingly well. The set neck is nice too and unlike there basses (which seem wide and flat) has a nice shape. Guitar was setup well out the box too. Overall very nice. As said i was worried it would be a real cheapo. Some quality strings,tuners and pickup selector and better cut pickguard and i would of happily paid alot more. Flaws in the finish were very minor. My friend who does play guitar was very pleased and said it plays very well. Mileage will vary on the qc of these i imagine. Some quick pics. [url="http://s330.photobucket.com/user/Twincam2008/media/IMG_20141104_110056937_zps179b5d3f.jpg.html"][/url] [url="http://s330.photobucket.com/user/Twincam2008/media/IMG_20141104_110117483_HDR_zpsb8f76c75.jpg.html"][/url] [url="http://s330.photobucket.com/user/Twincam2008/media/IMG_20141104_110403837_zpscad0cc7c.jpg.html"][/url] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gjones Posted November 4, 2014 Share Posted November 4, 2014 My brother in law bought a Harley Benton Les Paul Goldtop for £100 from Thomanns. It needed a set up but sounded excellent. He's a pro player and usually plays teles and strats. He just fancied a change and decided to take a risk on a £100 chinese copy. He's very pleased with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gafbass02 Posted December 12, 2014 Share Posted December 12, 2014 I really fancy one of these, it looks great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkG3 Posted January 2, 2015 Share Posted January 2, 2015 I've been eyeing up one of these in red to fulfil my love for Back To The Future and Marty McFly! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drax Posted January 2, 2015 Share Posted January 2, 2015 I need to find a friend who will buy me guitars! What a great gift Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GarethFlatlands Posted January 3, 2015 Share Posted January 3, 2015 [quote name='Mark_88MPH' timestamp='1420223853' post='2646915'] I've been eyeing up one of these in red to fulfil my love for Back To The Future and Marty McFly! [/quote] BttF set in 1955. Gibson ES 335 released in 1958! Looks like a nice instrument, and that was a really cool thing to buy it for a friend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkG3 Posted January 3, 2015 Share Posted January 3, 2015 [quote name='GarethFlatlands' timestamp='1420312139' post='2647993'] BttF set in 1955. Gibson ES 335 released in 1958! Looks like a nice instrument, and that was a really cool thing to buy it for a friend. [/quote] Didn't know that it doesn't match up with dates etc but still it looks good just missing the bigsby I think....? Definitely a cool thing to buy for a friend! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
floFC Posted January 3, 2015 Share Posted January 3, 2015 [quote name='GarethFlatlands' timestamp='1420312139' post='2647993'] BttF set in 1955. Gibson ES 335 released in 1958! [/quote] Does it matter when you can time travel? :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkG3 Posted January 3, 2015 Share Posted January 3, 2015 [quote name='floFC' timestamp='1420315862' post='2648054'] Does it matter when you can time travel? :-) [/quote] That must have been a deleted scene, Marty goes to 1958, picks up his guitar then goes to 1955 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twincam Posted January 3, 2015 Author Share Posted January 3, 2015 Just a quick add to this, the guitar still going well used most days not a mark on it, looks fantastic honestly theres not many stunner out there for cheap but this is one of them, pretty honest guitar, i think my review was pretty fair. On several occasion my friend has told me he has left it out for others to see, and they have all said very nice things about it. Really for the price you cant fault it. Anyone interested in one i would certainly say go for it, yes there will be some duds and don't expect something fantastic what you will get is a useable guitar which looks the part to. Oh i think subzero gear 4 music's own range now do one has a fancy tail piece on. They are a little more expensive and i bet there made in the same factory. The only thing i would actually say was crap on the hb is the pickup selector but it is likely to last a while. Oh and to add im not a guiatar player well im a failed one but the neck on the hb model is really nice feels right in the hand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cybertect Posted January 4, 2015 Share Posted January 4, 2015 [quote name='Mark_88MPH' timestamp='1420317229' post='2648075'] That must have been a deleted scene, Marty goes to 1958, picks up his guitar then goes to 1955 [/quote] It would have to be 1959. Marty plays an ES-345 (with a retro-fitted Bigsby trem) in BTTF, which was first available in '59. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gafbass02 Posted April 28, 2015 Share Posted April 28, 2015 I just got one of these, a B stock with sort of damaged binding. It's fabulous. Not gigged it yet, but in rehearsal it blew me away! Love it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Annoying Twit Posted May 8, 2015 Share Posted May 8, 2015 I once played a Vintage ES335 copy and really liked it. I went back to the shop to buy it the next day, but the shop had closed down. Despite the shop telling me that it wasn't a closing down sale. I've been looking at these for a while, wondering whether to pick up a deko. But I must admit that when I play the sound demos for the HB on Thomann, the sound doesn't blow me away nor sound different enough compared to my Vintage LP copy. I don't think I'm going to be buying one of these, but does it sound better in real life than the demos? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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