Harley Benton BigTone Trem White

Outside of the box the guitar had many issues. Bridge was not properly placed, intonation was not good and the fretboard work was REALLY REALLY poor.

It was not unplayable, but it was not good at all. For instance, on the 5th string after fret 15 it only played one note due to a severe alignment issue.

Sent it to a complete setup to the local luthier, and after a 250eur investment which included fretboard work, replacing the plastic nut with a bone nut, fixing the bridge placement, intonation and setting elixir .11 strings, it became a really really nice instrument.

Pick ups are decent, the wood is surprisingly good and the sound it produces... Lovely! Ended up paying probably the same as a low-end gretsch but this guitar sounds really good now, and I love the aesthetics.

I think Tomann could put a bit more effort in the QC for their guitars as some of these issues can be significantly minimised (it really needed A LOT of work on the fretboard), but after a setup it was sorted.

Given the materials not being bad at all, and even considering the luthier expenses, I consider this worth it.