It’s guitar shootout time again: today, it’s my 2014 Epiphone Les Paul Traditional Pro against the Harley Benton SC-450 gold top (with a few mods).
These are two affordable singlecut guitars, sure, but they’re actually quite different beasts in terms of specs. Probably the biggest difference is the pickups. We have P90s in the Harley Benton, and humbuckers (with a coil split option) in the Epiphone. So it’s P90s vs humbuckers (and split coil buckers!).
In this video, I play the two guitars in a variety of styles to compare how they sound, feel and perform. Each riff is played three times – with the Harley Benton P90s and the Epiphone pickups in full humbucker mode, and split coil mode. Which do you prefer?
This is the Harley Benton SC-450 gold top: [ Ссылка ]
They don’t make the Epiphone Les Paul Traditional Pro any more :( But this is as close as you’ll get in 2021 – the Epiphone Les Paul Classic Worn HC: [ Ссылка ]
Here are the links to the different playing samples and talking parts:
00:00 Hello!
00:35 Intro and prices
02:19 Specs
03:25 Pickups – P90s vs humbuckers (with a coil split!)
Clean Channel
04:33 Ringing poppy chords with open strings (middle pickup selector)
05:17 Strummed cowboy chords on each pickup setting
06:27 Bluesey southern rock ballad riff (middle pickup selector)
07:44 Indie pop chords (neck pickup)
08:18 Country picking riff (bridge pickup)
08:41 Hendrix-inspired classic rock riff (middle pickup selector)
09:31 Singer songwriter cowboy chords (neck pickup)
Clean Channel with Greer Lightspeed Overdrive
10:12 Picked indie arpeggios (middle pickup selector)
11:09 Indie rock chords (bridge pickup)
12:31 Choppy indie barre chords (bridge pickup)
13:00 Southern rock picked arpeggios (bridge pickup)
Crunch Channel
13:35 Classic rock rhythm (bridge pickup)
14:25 AC/DC inspired classic rock riff (bridge pickup)
15:12 Airbourne inspired classic rock riff (bridge pickup)
16:17 Another AC/DC inspired classic rock riff (bridge pickup)
17:05 Groovy classic rock rhythm (bridge pickup)
17:52 Indie rock riff (bridge pickup)
18:30 Pop punk riff (bridge pickup)
Lead Channel
19:14 Glam rock riff (bridge pickup)
19:59 Hard rock riff (bridge pickup)
20:50 Another hard rock riff (bridge pickup)
21:39 Alt-rock riff (bridge pickup)
Clean Channel with Revv G3 distortion pedal (Drop D tuning)
23:00 Chugging hardcore punk riff (bridge pickup)
23:45 Metalcore riff (bridge pickup)
24:18 Hardcore punk riff (bridge pickup – note, I had to reshoot the P90 version of this riff, hence the different shirt! All settings were exactly the same)
25:01 Hardcore rhythm riff (bridge pickup)
25:33 Mastodon inspired modern metal riff (bridge pickup)
26:05 My thoughts – and your opinions wanted!
26:35 Which guitar do I prefer, and why?
27:40 Playability and setups
28:14 The differences between the necks – size and finish
29:43 Thanks and goodbye
Here’s my full review and demo of the Harley Benton SC-450 gold top: [ Ссылка ]
I ran the guitars through a Greer Lightspeed overdrive pedal, a Revv G3 distortion pedal and my Hughes & Kettner Black Spirit 200 head. That went from the Red Box DI straight into my Focusrite Scarlett 2i4, which went into Logic Pro X. That's it. No post-processing on the sounds was done.
Here’s some links to those bits of gear:
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H&K Black Spirit 200 head: [ Ссылка ]
Greer Lightspeed: [ Ссылка ]
Revv G3: [ Ссылка ]
Focusrite 4i4 (this is the newer equivalent of my 2i4, which they don’t make any more!): [ Ссылка ]
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Enjoy!
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Backing music from the YouTube Audio Library: Controlled Distress – Biz Baz Studio.
#HarleyBenton #Epiphone #GuitarShootout #HarleyBentonSC450 #EpiphoneLesPaul #RichWordsMusic
