Harley Benton DC-Junior FAT vs SC-Special TV
Reasons to Get
Harley Benton DC-Junior FAT over SC-Special TV
Reasons to Get
Harley Benton SC-Special TV over DC-Junior FAT
Other Key Differences
Harley Benton DC-Junior FAT vs SC-Special TV
Shared Features
Harley Benton DC-Junior FAT vs SC-Special TV
Common Strengths
- High-Quality Nut
- Top Pickup Brand
- Expensive Wood
Common Weaknesses
- Neck-Through Build
- Weight Relief
- Locking Tuners
- Stays in Tune (Evertune)
- High-Quality Frets
- Compound Radius Fretboard
- From a High-Quality-Standards Country
- Luminescent Sidedots
- Strap Lock
- 21:1 Tuner Ratio
- Active/Passive Preamp
Table of Contents
Price History Comparison
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Which One is Better Overall?
After going through our comparison algorithm, the results show that both instruments scored 66 out of 100, which makes them similar in terms of quality.
The Harley Benton SC-Special TV wins when it comes to sound. On the other hand, the Harley Benton DC-Junior FAT has the upper hand when it comes to build quality.
If you got small hands, none of these instruments will make a big difference when it comes to comfortability.
Which One is Better for Beginners?
Both meet 4 out of our 8 criteria items for beginner friendliness. This takes into account the type of frets, scale length, nut width, bridge type, fretboard radius, and neck profile to determine the easiest combination for new players. If you're looking for your first guitar to learn how to play, you can't go wrong with either of them.
New Player Friendliness
Harley Benton DC-Junior FAT- Comfortable shape
- Easy-to-use bridge
- Tall frets
- Comfortable neck
- Comfortable fretboard
- Narrow nut
- Short scale
- Locking tuners
New Player Friendliness
Harley Benton SC-Special TV- Comfortable shape
- Easy-to-use bridge
- Tall frets
- Comfortable neck
- Comfortable fretboard
- Narrow nut
- Short scale
- Locking tuners
Nevertheless, when it comes to choosing an instrument, you should pick the one more compatible with your personal style. Still, below we'll try you to give you our results as objectively as it's possible to help you decide.
Harley Benton DC-Junior FAT Overview
- From Harley Benton's 2020 Vintage series
- Made in Indonesia
- 6 strings
- 24.75"'' scale
- 12" Fretboard Radius
- Mahogany body
- Mahogany neck
- Ebony fretboard
- Bridge pickup: Roswell P90D Stack STK4P Alnico-5 Dog Ear Humbucker (Humbucker/Passive)
- 1 volume and 1 tone Bell knobs
- Wsc Wrap Around bridge
- Harley Benton Fat '59 Set neck
- 22 Medium Jumbo frets
- Wilkinson Vintage-Style Machine Heads With 15:1 Gear Ratio tuners
- Compare Specs >
Harley Benton SC-Special TV Overview
- From Harley Benton's 2020 Vintage series
- Made in Indonesia
- 6 strings
- 24.75"'' scale
- 12" Fretboard Radius
- Mahogany body
- Mahogany neck
- Purpleheart fretboard
- Bridge pickup: Roswell P90S-N Alnico 5 (P90/Passive)
- 2 volume and 2 tone Bell knobs
- 3-way Switch
- Wsc Wrap Around bridge
- Harley Benton C Set neck
- 22 Medium Jumbo frets
- Vintage-Style Machine Heads With 15:1 Gear Ratio tuners
- Compare Specs >
Sound Quality Comparison
The wood used in an electric guitar or bass is not as important to determine the final tone. However, some people prefer specific wood types, so we'll take a look at those first. Then, we'll take a look at the electronics to determine the versatility and sound quality of each instrument.
Woods Used in Both
Mahogany is a fairly rare wood nowadays. It's used mostly for bodies due to its relatively lightweight. Gibson popularized it with their Les Paul guitars during their golden years, so this wood has a lot of good reputation behind it. The most expensive type comes from South America and it's still used by Gibson even today. Find out more about Mahogany.
Woods Used in the Harley Benton DC-Junior FAT
Ebony is a high-end wood, so it is not cheap. It's only used for fretboards because it's also very heavy. It does an excellent job as a durable material while looking elegant. Find out more about Ebony.
Woods Used in the Harley Benton SC-Special TV
Purpleheart (also known as Amaranth) is a hard, dense wood with a brilliant tone. As its name suggests, the purple color makes this wood look exotic.
Winner: Harley Benton DC-Junior FAT.
Pickup Configuration
The Harley Benton DC-Junior FAT has an H configuration while the Harley Benton SC-Special TV has P90P90 pickups.
A single H pickup gives you the advantage of having a little longer sustain (all other things being equal) because there will be less magnetic fields from other pickups affecting the strings' vibration. However, they also give you the least versatility because you won't have other pickups at different distances from the bridge to create different tones. A single humbucking pickup is used for noiseless high output, which is used mainly for Hard Rock genres.
On the other hand, P90P90 gives you two P90s for a crunchy vintage tone. The tone sits somewhere in the middle between typical single-coils and humbuckers. They also produce less hum than single-coils, but they don't cancel it completely like humbuckers.
Pickups Quality
Both come with very good pickups from at least one of the specialized brands in the market. With pickups like these, you probably won't need an upgrade anytime soon.
However, the Harley Benton SC-Special TV has a slight sound quality advantage when taking into account other factors like the type of pickups, magnet, position, etc.
Both use Passive pickups. This is what's used for most music genres. They have a regular output and will serve you for both high-gain and clean tones. The alternative (Active pickups) offer a higher output that is mostly used for heavy music.
Winner: Harley Benton SC-Special TV.
Versatility Comparison
Some instruments offer you more ways to explore your creativity than others. Below you'll find how both compare when it comes to versatility.
Switch Options
The Harley Benton SC-Special TV gives you 3 switch options while the Harley Benton DC-Junior FAT gives you 0. This means that the Harley Benton SC-Special TV gives you more options to find the right pickup combination for the type of sound you want to achieve
Only the Harley Benton DC-Junior FAT comes with some kind of pickup modification: Coil Split.
Coil Split lets you disconnect one of the pickup coils. When used with humbuckers, it turns them into single-coil with lower output and cleaner tone.
The Harley Benton DC-Junior FAT doesn't come with pickup switching options.
When evaluating versatility, we also take into consideration bridge and neck joint type, number of frets, switch options, amount of pickups and more.
Winner: Harley Benton SC-Special TV.
Final Sound Quality Scores
Build Quality Comparison
When it comes to build quality, we like to take into account everything used to build the instrument. This includes materials, hardware and the quality control expected depending on the country where it was built. Let's see how the Harley Benton DC-Junior FAT compares to the Harley Benton SC-Special TV.
Country of Origin
The manufacturing country can tell a lot about the build quality of an instrument. Both in this comparison where made in Indonesia.
Indonesia is becoming the most popular country for guitar building because they can make good instruments for a low price. Some people think that they're 'the new China' when it comes to build quality. But the truth is that Indonesian guitars are more consistent, although Chinese quality has improved a lot in the last few years.
Winner: Tie
Nut Material
If you want your guitar to stay in tune and sound good, you need a well cut nut. Nut quality can be inconsistent even when comparing two copies of the same model. The best way to make sure you're nut will be well done is by getting a nut made by an expert company like TUSQ or Micarta.
In this case, both have Graphite nuts. It's a self-lubricating material that will allow the strings to slide over the nut without a lot of friction. It's a good type of nut if you want to have better tuning stability than with plastic, although it's not as resistant as Bone or Tusq.
Fret Material
Most fret wire is made of nickel silver. This material eventually wears down after a lot of use and most instruments end up needing a complete fret replacement. However, some expensive models come with stainless steel frets. This is what you should aim for if you can afford it.
Unfortunately, none of them come with stainless steel frets.
Winner: Tie.
Bridge
The perfect bridge for you will depend on your playstyle because they all have advantages and disadvantages. However, some bridges are more expensive—like Floyd Roses and Evertunes—and thus add more value to a guitar.
Both come with a similar bridge: Fixed. It's a simple bridge that is very beginner-friendly since it doesn't require any set-up. You can swap strings easily. It might also give more sustain since it doesn't have complex moving parts that make the strings lose vibration. However, it doesn't have the same versatility as a tremolo bridge.
Since we need to be objective, the most expensive type of bridge will be the winner of this section. In the end, this doesn't matter if you're not going to use the bridge for its original purpose, so choose the bridge that fits your playing style better.
Winner: Tie.
Tuners
Both come with regular tuners. The Harley Benton DC-Junior FAT's are Wilkinson Vintage-Style Machine Heads With 15:1 Gear Ratio while the Harley Benton SC-Special TV's are Vintage-Style Machine Heads With 15:1 Gear Ratio
Winner: Tie.
Neck Joint
Contrary to popular belief, the difference in sustain and tone that some neck joints give to a guitar is simply unperceivable—if they're all well built. However, some of them do have advantages over the others.
Both have a Set neck joint. This neck is tightly glued to the body. They give you the least versatility because you can't swap them for a neck that fits your hand better if you want to, unlike bolt-on necks. Some people think this gives more resonance and sustain, but there's no real difference if the bolt-on joint is well built.
Winner: Tie.
Here is the list of features that were considered when choosing the winner in the Features subcategory:
Harley Benton DC-Junior FAT
- Expensive Wood
- Top Brand Pickups
- Coil Split Pickups
- Cheap Fret Wire (NS)
- No Locking Tuners
- Made in Indonesia
- No High-Quality Nut
- No Neck-Through Build
- No Weight Relief
- No Luminescent Inlay
- No Tremolo
- No Compound Radius Fretboard
- No 21:1 Tuner Ratio
- No Strap Lock
Harley Benton SC-Special TV
- Expensive Wood
- Top Brand Pickups
- Cheap Fret Wire (NS)
- No Locking Tuners
- Made in Indonesia
- No High-Quality Nut
- No Neck-Through Build
- No Push Knob or Extra Switch Option
- No Weight Relief
- No Luminescent Inlay
- No Tremolo
- No Compound Radius Fretboard
- No 21:1 Tuner Ratio
- No Strap Lock
Final Build Quality Scores
Playability Comparison
Let's now compare their playability. Bear in mind that the instrument will feel different depending on your hand size and play style. That's why you should always test before buying. But if you can't or want a second opinion on it, we can still take a look at each of the important measurements of the instrument for you. This way, we can predict how easy a guitar might be to play, or how different it will feel compared to the other.
Remember that, even though the difference might seem small, every inch counts when it comes to feeling of the instrument in your hands. Any variation can completely change how comfortable a guitar feels in your hands.
Nut Width
The nut width will affect the separation between strings at the nut. In this comparison, both have a nut width of 43mm (1.693'').
This is within the most common range of nut widths for a 6-string guitar. It offers a good balance of string separation at the nut. It's the size that most guitarists prefer as it gives them just enough space to play open chords without muting the strings, but without spreading the strings too wide and making bar chords difficult to perform.
Scale Length
The scale length is one of the things that influences playability the most. This is the distance between the nut and the bridge and will affect everything from low action allowance, difficulty to perform bends, fret separation, and even tone.
In this case, both have a scale length of 24.75".
This is the scale length that Gibson uses for most of its Les Paul guitars. It's a smaller scale than the typical Stratocaster's 25.5''. Short scale lengths like this make it easier to bend the strings, which is pretty important if you have a fixed bridge. They also have a shorter fret separation, which makes it easier to change position fast at the fretboard.
On the other hand, a shorter scale like this one will make fret buzz more likely, which can affect you if you want to use thicker string gauges.
Lastly, remember that you can also affect the tension of the strings by changing your string gauge. You can use a thicker gauge for more tension and a lighter one for less tension.
Neck Profile
No single neck shape is better than others. However, most people tend to prefer a thinner necks because it doesn't get in their way when playing fast and most hand sizes can adapt to it pretty well. However, some people still prefer thicker necks for a better grip, especially if they have big hands.
In this case, both have different neck shapes:
The Harley Benton DC-Junior FAT has a Vintage type of neck. This means that it's thicker than most modern necks, and makes it a better fit for playing chords and slow solos. Some people prefer this type of neck because it gives them a better grip thanks to the extra mass. Still, the vast majority prefer a thinner, faster, and more ''modern'' neck.
The Harley Benton SC-Special TV, on the other hand, has a C neck. This is what you'll find in most modern guitars. Most people feel like the thickness of a C neck is simply the less intrusive one for playing fast, while at the same time allowing you to grab the neck easily for resting if you want to.
Fretboard Radius
Most guitar fretboards are not flat; they usually have a curve or arc across their width. A curved fretboard will make it easier to perform chords without muting strings, while a flatter one will make it easier to play single notes, which is good for bending and soloing in general. The best fretboards have a compound radius that varies across the fingerboard, but they're not common since they take a lot more work to build.
Both the Harley Benton DC-Junior FAT and the Harley Benton SC-Special TV have the same fretboard radius of 12". This is the radius used in most Gibson guitars. It gives you a good balance for playing chords without muting, but also good comfortability for playing single notes and bending.
Hand Size Comfortability
Everyone has a different hand size, and that's why it's recommended to try a guitar before buying, even if others tell you that it's comfortable to play. However, we can know whether a guitar favors small or large hands just by knowing its exact measurements.
After taking into account the scale length, nut width, neck profile and fretboard radius, we can conclude that both in this comparison are balanced for most hand sizes.
Harley Benton DC-Junior FAT:
Harley Benton SC-Special TV:
Fret Size
Both have a Medium Jumbo fret size. These are slightly shorter than full Jumbo frets, so you'll still feel the fretboard when pressing down the strings. However, they interfere less with your fretting hand than medium-size frets. This is a good size if you like easy-to-press frets, but would still like to feel a bit of the fretboard when playing.
