Watch It First
Alright so here’s the thing. Harley Benton has been slowly winning over the guitar community for years now, and the BigTone Trem in Vintage Orange might be their most eye-catching guitar yet. A full hollowbody with a Bigsby-style trem, maple construction, block inlays and that gorgeous orange finish. At £285. Yes really.
I know what you’re thinking. „Harley Benton at that price, how bad is it actually?” Fair question. Lets find out. If you’re curious about whether Harley Benton guitars are actually worth it, this one is a pretty good test case.
First Impressions – That Orange Though
The Vintage Orange high gloss finish is just stunning in person. Its one of those guitars where people across the room ask „what IS that?” before you’ve even played a note. The full body binding, transparent acrylic pickguard and chrome hardware all work together really nicely. It looks expensive. Genuinely.
Build quality out of the box is solid. The neck feels great, the frets are well dressed, and nothing rattles or creaks. For a hollowbody at this price thats not something you can take for granted, so its worth noting.
The Bigsby-style tremolo (50s B-Style Deluxe) is the thing that really sets this apart from most guitars in the price bracket. You just don’t see proper vibratos on hollowbodies at £285. It adds a whole extra dimension to what you can do tonally.
Specs
- Style: Hollowbody
- Body: Maple
- Top: Maple
- Neck: Canadian Maple
- Fretboard: Laurel, 20 frets, block inlays
- Scale length: 648mm
- Nut width: 43mm
- Fretboard radius: 350mm
- Pickups: 2x Deluxe Alnico double coil humbuckers
- Controls: 3-way switch, 3 volume controls, 1 tone control
- Bridge: Tune-o-Matic roller bridge with floating ovangkol base
- Tremolo: 50s B-Style Deluxe (Bigsby-style)
- Hardware: Deluxe chrome
- Strings: D’Addario EJ21 .012-.052
- Color: Vintage Orange high gloss
Neck and Playability
The Canadian Maple neck feels comfortable and fast. The 350mm fretboard radius is pretty flat which suits rhythm playing and jazz chording really well. The 43mm nut width gives you enough room for fingerstyle work without feeling like you’re stretching across a motorway.
The block inlays look great and are easy to read on stage. IMO this is one of those necks that just gets out of the way and lets you play, which is exactly what you want from a hollowbody guitar. If you want to understand more about how wood choices affect feel and tone, this guide on guitar wood density breaks it down well.
Scale length is 648mm which is pretty standard. No surprises there. The action out of the box was good on most user reports, might need minor tweaking depending on your preference but nothing major.
Sound – Warm, Woody and Full of Character
The Alnico humbuckers deliver exactly the kind of tone you’d want from a guitar like this. Warm, full, slightly dark with a natural woody quality that comes from the maple hollowbody construction. Its a genuine hollow body guitar which means theres real acoustic resonance contributing to the tone before you even plug in.
Clean tones are excellent. Jazz chords ring out beautifully with nice note separation. Blues playing feels at home here. Rockabilly is practically written into the DNA of a guitar like this especially with that Bigsby trem adding just the right amount of vintage wobble.
Light to medium overdrive works great. You get that classic warm crunch that suits everything from blues rock to indie. Heavy gain isnt really what this guitar is designed for and honestly you wouldn’t want to, but for the right genres its plenty versatile. Pair it with some of the best jazz pedals and this thing really opens up.
The Bigsby-Style Trem – Actually Usable
This is honestly the headline feature. The 50s B-Style Deluxe tremolo is a proper Bigsby-style unit and it works really well. You get that classic subtle vibrato effect, the strings return to pitch reliably, and it adds a dimension of expression that you just can’t replicate any other way.
The roller bridge helps tuning stability significantly. A floating Tune-o-Matic with a vibrato can be a tuning nightmare on cheaper guitars but Harley Benton clearly put some thought into this. Its one of the better implementations I’ve seen at this price point.
If you’ve been wanting to explore that vintage 50s/60s vibe without spending ES-335 money, this trem setup genuinely delivers. Light dive bombs, country chicken pickin bends, classic rockabilly wobble. It handles all of it.
Who Is This For
Honestly quite a few different players could love this guitar:
- Jazz and blues players who want warm hollowbody tone without breaking the bank
- Rockabilly and country players who need a Bigsby vibe at a realistic price
- Indie and alternative guitarists looking for something with real character and a unique look
- Beginners moving up from entry level who want something that actually inspires them to play more
- Gigging musicians who want a hollowbody on stage but don’t want to risk an expensive guitar
If you play heavy metal or need super tight high gain tones, this isnt your guitar. But for pretty much everything else in the warmer, more vintage-influenced end of the spectrum it covers a lot of ground. If you’re also exploring what to pair with it, check out some great pedal options for indie rock that work well with hollowbodies.
Any Downsides
A few things worth knowing before you buy:
The hollowbody design will feedback at high volumes with heavy gain. This is just how hollow guitars work, not a flaw specific to this model. Keep the gain reasonable and its a non-issue.
The stock .012 gauge strings (D’Addario EJ21) are on the heavier side. Some players will love this for feel and tone but if you’re used to .010s it takes a bit of adjustment. You can always restring to your preference.
No case or gig bag included which is a bit of a miss at this price. Factor that into your budget.
Final Verdict
The Harley Benton BigTone Trem Vintage Orange is a seriously impressive guitar for the money. The looks are genuinely stunning, the build quality is solid, the tone is warm and characterful and the Bigsby-style trem actually works properly. At £285 it really shouldn’t be this good.
If you’ve been sitting on the fence about trying a hollowbody guitar, this is a low-risk, high-reward way to do it. The Vintage Orange finish alone is worth the attention it’ll get you at your next rehearsal.
Check current pricing and stock on Thomann below.
