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Well, according to you, what's better between the Harley Benton E 35 vintage series and the Epiphone The Dot? Here's the specs:


1)HARLEY BENTON E 35:
*Body= maple (it isn't specified if it refers to the top or the centre block);
*Neck= set-in, maple neck and rosewood fingerboard, 22 frets, 628mm scale (24.75�?), 43mm nut width;
*Pickups= 2x humbuckers (probably Wilkinson as other HB guitars and basses belonging to the "Vintage Series");
*Electronic= 3 way toggle switch, 2x volume pots and 2x tone pots;
*Hardware= chrome hardware, tune-o-matic bridge, diecast tuners;
*Finishes= Vintage Sunburst, Cherry Red, Ebony, (no lefty model);
*Price= 149€ (179€ if you buy the bundle that includes a hardase), available only on Thomann.de/


2)EPIPHONE THE DOT
*Body= laminated maple (same for the top, no mention about the centre block but it should have it);
*Neck= set-in, SlimTaper “D� Profile, mahogany neck with rosewood fingerboard, 22 frets, 24.75� scale, 1.68" nut width;
*Pickups= 1x Alnico Classic Humbucker in neck and 1x Alnico Classic Plus in bridge;
*Electronic= 3 way toggle switch, 2x volume pots and 2x tone pots;
*Hardware= nickel, chrome hardware, LockTone tune-o-matic stopbar bridge, grover tuners;
*Finishes= Vintage Sunburst, Cherry Red, Ebony, Natural (lefty model available only in Cherry Red);
*Price= 355€ on Thomann.de/ (389€ if you buy the bundle that includes a hardase), 200-280€ for a second-hand one.

I would prefer Harley which is more than twice cheaper. I don't know how good or bad Wilkinson pups, but I definitely don't like most of stock Epi pickups I've heard. Plus I would prefer C shape neck, which I believe Harley has, to D-profile of Epi's Slim Taper.

I may be being snobby but when I type in Harley Benton on Google images it automatically makes my brain select 'no'. Would probably be decent but I had a Dot before and loved it so I'd go with that.

Ibanez AS73.

Or Sloan.

A friend of mine has a dot. I love this instrument.

The Harley Benton guitars are very impressive for the money, but I wouldn't be confident in the quality of their construction in terms of a semi-hollow guitar. There is much more involved when it comes to their construction compared to a solid body guitar and I don't know what corners have been cut in order to get the price down.

The same goes for the Epiphone, but having said that I have had really good experience with their guitars.

Was in a guitar shop years ago and there was this really good jazz guy trying out these types of guitars. No Harley Bentons right enough, but although really cheap in comparison to the Epiphones he keep going back to trying Ibanez models again and again. Think he tried the Gibsons and a few others to, but said that he really liked the Ibanez. He seemed confused and was seemingly struggling with his inner snob... When I left he seemed to have settled on a £250 Ibanez. Seems they're pretty good? Not a label junkie but struggle with Ibanez. If they'd only change thier logo and tweak the eighties matal vibe out of thier gear

I have an Ibanez AS-somethingorother that used to belong to Reece. Can't speak highly enough of it, but they are more expensive than the Epiphone, no?

Between those two I'd probably go for the Epiphone over the Harley Benton, only for reasons of snobbishness, there being more reviews about, and it probably being more sellable should you want to pass it on down the line.

The Ibanez AS73 is a really good guitar, think it costs a little more than the Epiphone though.

The AS53 has good reviews and is about £100 cheaper than the 73 but it doesn't look as flashy. Would be a good candidate for a pickup swap though!

I had a Korean Dot that was excellent, there was nothing about it to criticize. Not sure how the newer models are though.

Find an MIK Epiphone model and you will be very happy. They are usually cheaper than new as well (in the US anyway).

I've played newer MIC Dots where the neck was this dreadful wide, square-edged thing, felt way more cheapo than my '90s MIK G400 or LP Custom necks. The MIC G400s and LPs in the shop the first day I noticed this didn't have this problem though (I immediately checked).