“Here to make bold statements”: Harley Benton brings an elusive Gibson-inspired finish back for the masses in latest sub-$350 335-a-like – which is joined by an equally affordable semi-hollow bass

Harley Benton has spent the past few weeks bolstering its amp modeling multi-effects range – thanks to the $82 DNAfx GiT Core – as well as its DIY guitar kit offerings, but now the champion of cheap gear has returned its attention to its core electric guitar and bass guitar ranges.

To that end, Harley Benton has unveiled a new-look version of arguably its most popular semi-hollow model – the sub–$350 HB-35Plus Tremolo electric – which has been joined by two all-new HB-50 basses.

Now, the four-strings look nice and everything – you can’t go wrong with Cherry Red and Vintage Orange, after all – but it’s that electric guitar that has really piqued our interests.

The 335-a-like has been treated to an Olive Drab finish – a colorway, you might recall, that was previously issued to Gibson’s very own electric guitar range as part of the firm’s Exclusives Collection.

Even before then, Gibson’s Olive Drab finish has been one of the company’s most desirable – and also most exclusive – colorways, cropping up for a range of Flying Vs, Les Pauls and SGs across the decades.

More recently, Olive Drab was made available as an Epiphone finish, as part of a limited run of SGs and the Casino range.

Included in that Gibson drop back in 2021 was a Dot ES-335 that carried a rather premium price tag: if you wanted an Olive Drab 335, you’d have to pay close to $3k. And, even if you wanted to spend that much now, you wouldn’t be able to: it’s been discontinued.

Harley Benton’s effort, by comparison, is very much available to buy, and will only set you back $335. Not only that, this version arrives with a Bigsby-style tremolo – the first in the HB-35 range to do so, no less – which helps add to its artificial vintage charm.

Desirable finish and hardware aside, the HB-35Plus Tremolo offers a standard Harley Benton spec sheet comprising a maple body and C-shape nato neck, as well as a 22-fret, block-inlaid laurel fingerboard.

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Other appointments include a graphite nut, DLX Kluson-style tuners, a TOM-style bridge and a pair of Roswell LAF humbuckers that are wired to a faithful two volume/two tone/three-way toggle switch control circuit.

It’s a spec sheet you’d expect from a guitar that costs $335, but probably not a finish.

As mentioned, it’s joined by two semi-hollow basses, which are equally Gibson-inspired in their provenance. The HB-50, which is priced at $268, takes cues from the EB-2 bass, and offers a maple body, maple neck, amaranth fingerboard and an Artec MMC4 Vintage Alnico 5 humbucker.

Head over to Harley Benton to find out more.