Harley Benton SC-550 II: Now upgraded and even more of a steal!
With new Tesla Opus 1 humbuckers
4,6 / 5,0 | 
Harley Benton has added some sweet new upgrades to one of its most popular ranges. The new SC-550 II models have a new recipe, come in a new flavour, and offer a gourmet spread for the price of a Happy Meal!
Harley Benton SC-550 II
The widely successful Harley Benton SC-550 range was already a cracking deal. Many players were fans of the single-cut instrument which offered great specifications on a budget. The company has now amped-up the quality and tweaked the formula closer to perfection, so you can look forward to a whole suite of upgrades with the new SC-550 II.
You still get a mahogany (Swietenia Meliaceae) weight-relief chambered body and matching 60`s C shape neck, which give the guitar its classic sound and feel, but with a host of tweaks to the original formula, making it an even better buy than before.
Harley Benton SC-550 II · Source: Harley Benton
Tesla Opus-1
You now get a Pau Ferro fretboard with stainless steel frets, a fancy looking AAAA flamed maple top, new Tesla Opus-1 pickups and a graphite nut, instead of the ABS one you got with the previous incarnation.
Harley Benton with upgraded Tesla Opus-1 Humbuckers · Source: Harley Benton
Alnico 5
The Tesla Opus-1 humbucking pickups feature Alnico-5 magnets and wax-potted coils for optimum tone. The two custom-voiced humbuckers, the CR-N at the neck position and the brighter CR-B at the bridge, should be exactly what players have been asking for, and I’m looking forwards to hearing what players think of them, once they get their hands on them.
Harley Benton SC-550 II, upgraded for 2021 · Source: Harley Benton
Colour options
There are a host of great finishes on launch, including Paradise Amber Flame, Black Cherry Burst, Desert Flame Burst, Faded Tobacco Flame and Silver Burst. With these upgrades, and at this price point, I’m sure these single-cut models will no doubt fly off the shelf.
More Information on Harley Benton
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8 responses to “Harley Benton SC-550 II: Now upgraded and even more of a steal!”
Good description of the new candy on the axe.. Congratulations !!
A lot of people have checked the maple cap top with Thomann. It’s actually a 6mm flame top cap and isn’t a veneer which is incredible at this price. John Robson phoned them on video and Thomann confirmed this. He then scraped away the screening painting the pick up cavity to confirm that it’s a full maple cap.
I think that I saw this video whith scraping away graphite paint from side of cavity… And so… Yes I see the maple top (I see the joint of two pieces from different wood), but I see a one solid top – the grain of wood is a solid, whithout a joint stripe or changе wood grain structure. Maybe it’s a solid maple cap with flamed maple veneer? It’s not bad because flamed maple is a decorative element)). Top is detected). But I’m not sure that is a whole top of flamed maple. I’ts just an observation)). Maybe I’m wrong.
I told about two pieces of top which must have a joint by the center of guitar if it made of two pieces of wood))
l saw the same video. By opening the rear pot access panel and scraping away the shielding paint, you can observe roughly the cross-section, about 50/50 body wood/top wood, as well as the presence of a veneer should one be present.
as John Robson indicates, you can clearly see the “join” where the mahogany and where the maple top, and it is definitely a flamed maple top, meet.
a veneer would stick out like a sore thumb and the cross section would look nothing like this.
A real flamed maple top? Stainless steel frets? Tesla pickups?
Good gravy, HB, why do you spoil us so?
The ‘flame on my top is so good and so extreme that I thought it was a print. PRS would struggle to get a better flame top.
The top on the HB 550 2 is a solid maple top, not a veneer. Confirmed by Thomann.
Amended, thanks for drawing our attention to this.
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