If you going to spend a lot of money on an instrument then you need have no worries in buying it from Thomann, I'll start right at the beginning, be sure that it will come packaged well.
It took me some time to open the package which arrived in just a few days and was crammed with large bubble wrap to protect the contents, which were in another box inside, I suspect that guitars costing very much more than I paid for mine would be package the same.
The HB 450 is primarily used for practice and entertaining the family, though it would definitely not look out of place in far more demanding situations like on the stage, or on the street where it will certainly get noticed because of its looks which are great.
When I finally got the Harley Benton SC-450BK Classic, (which can be regarded as a relatively cheap Les Paul, considering you can pay large sums of money for them) out from the packaging, don't let the price of the HB 450 fool you.
From the box the first thing you notice is the weight and on further inspection the quality and workmanship of the instrument with plenty of thought to detail being put into it. The finish is superb, very glossy with a nice sheen to it. Frets are nice and level with the sides of the neck with no sharp edges like some models costing lots more. the finger board inlays look like real inlays and not stuck on transfers.
The machine tuner heads are good and solid looking though I found that the fifth is a little slack, but from reading on the web this is easily fixed, not a problem.
The pickups are fine and quite good for the type of music that I play. If I need to get better ones then Thomann can supply them but I dont think that I will have to as the ones supplied on the HB450 are most adequate.
From the box the guitars set up was almost perfect with no alterations or adjustments to be made and if you wanted to adjust them its easy to do.
The selector switch is fine but when you put the guitar in the bag put the little foam protector back on so it doesn't get broke as an earlier one on a different guitar did.
The sounds are superb and very mellow which I like a lot,
the volume and tone knobs look great as does the general overall appearance of the guitar. In all I would say For the price first class.
buy one and find out for yourself.
