The Best Electric Guitars of the HARLEY brand

Let’s go with a selection of the most valued Electric guitars for this brand. This is a selection based on different parameters such as quality, sales leader and positive reviews.

Guitar Harley Benton ST-20HSS SBK Standard Series

This guitar usually has a price around 85.00 €

  • Body: Basswood
  • Bolt-on neck: Maple
  • Fretboard: Amaranth
  • Fretboard inlays: Dots
  • Neck profile: Modern C
  • Fretboard radius: 350 mm
  • Scale: 648 mm
  • Nut width: 42 mm
  • Double action truss rod
  • 22 Frets
  • Pickup: 1 Humbucker (bridge) and 2 single coils (middle and neck)
  • 1 Volume control and 2 tone controls
  • 5-Way pickup switch
  • Synchronised tremolo
  • Die-cast machine heads
  • Black hardware
  • Ex-factory stringing: .009″ – .042″
  • Colour: Black, matte

review harley-benton-st-20hss-sbk-standard-series

Now that we have seen the features of this guitar Harley Benton ST-20HSS SBK Standard Series watch this related video to learn more.

Harley Benton ST 20HSS SBK Standard Series

Some comments from people who come to the forum about this model:

Comment:

I’m certainly not a guitar expert, when I saw this model for the first time online I instantly had to have a closer look. Upon watching a few too many unboxing videos and videos of the guitar in action. I decided to bite the bullet and buy this as my first ever electric guitar.
I love the look of this guitar, it’s absolutely my style and Harley Benton written on the headstock makes it seem less beginner-ish to the untrained eye. Rather than blowing over a grand on a big name for my first guitar.
I ordered full well knowing it would be a while to arrive, as it was a back order.
It finally arrived today, I noticed the box had taken some damage in shipping although thankfully it was just an outer layer.
The guitar itself, was checked and signed off as part of the QC process, both in the warehouse and by the manufacturer, so the process was obviously pretty stringent.
I inspected the guitar, upon opening to find perfect paintwork, no sharp frets and surprisingly shipped with strings already fitted.
I tuned up to test it and I was actually very impressed with the sound, the setup felt pretty good too.
Although I will let my guitar tech friend take a look at it to check all is well in due course when we do some sessions on the basics of playing.
I restrung with his help and recommendation too.
I get a feeling I am going to enjoy learning to play with this guitar.

Overall, I am very very impressed with the quality of this guitar, it feels and looks like an item that should cost twice as much as it does.
It makes a great beginner guitar or even a good backup for a professional, given some love and setting up.

Comment:

Obiously you shouldn’t go into this purchase thinking you’re ending up with a top-of-the-line product that could compete with an actual Fender Stratocaster, however, for less than 1/10 of the price of one, it is an amazing guitar.

Right out of the box, the guitar is perfectly set up. No sharp frets, straight neck, no paint-job fails – flawless QC.

The sound is OK. With a certain amount of messing around with amp settings, EQ, and such, it can sound pretty good. I found the guitar tends to do better with clean tones, rather than distorted ones. The one thing I dislike about the sound is that there is just too much treble (on the humbucker too) which can make dialing in tones a pain.

Hardware-wise it’s ok, nothing spectacular. The tuners hold the guitar in tune better than I expected, however, they aren’t the most pleasant to tune with. The pickups are cheap, but get the job done. In addition, while I like that there is a whammy bar bundled with the guitar, using it is another matter. If used to achieve slight vibrato, it’s fine but will eventually detune the guitar. Don’t expect to be doing any dive bombs with it tho.

Overall, it’s a solid guitar and the fact it doesn’t even cost 100€ is baffling. It is obviously aimed at beginners, or maybe just someone who wants a wall decoration, so if studio work is what you need it for, you should probably look elsewhere.

And you have the following options to buy the guitar Harley Benton ST-20HSS SBK Standard Series.

And if you want to know more about this model you can find here the review of this guitar Harley Benton ST-20HSS SBK Standard Series.

Guitar Harley Benton Fusion-II HSH Roasted FNT

This guitar usually has a price around 339.00 €

  • Ergonomically shaped sapele body
  • Top: “Ultra Flame” flamed maple veneer
  • Matching headstock
  • Bolt-on neck: Roasted Canadian maple
  • Fretboard: Roasted maple
  • Neck profile: Modern C
  • Fretboard inlays: Clay dots
  • 24 Medium jumbo stainless steel frets
  • Graptech TUSQ XL nut
  • Nut width: 42 mm
  • Scale: 648 mm
  • Fretboard radius: 305 mm
  • Binding made of natural wood
  • Pickups: Roswell HAF-B Alnico-5 (bridge) and Roswell HAF-N Alnico-5 (neck) humbuckers and 1 S74-C BK Alnico-5 single coil (middle)
  • Volume and tone controls
  • Pickup Switch: Single coil / Humbucker
  • 5-Way switch
  • Wilkinson 50IIK 2-point tremolo
  • Chrome hardware
  • WSC staggered locking die-cast machine heads
  • Ex-factory stringing: .010 – .046
  • Colour: Gloss Flamed Natural

review harley-benton-fusion-ii-hsh-roasted-fnt

Now that we have seen the features of this guitar Harley Benton Fusion-II HSH Roasted FNT watch this related video to learn more.

Harley Benton Fusion II HSH - Detailed Review Part 1

Some comments from people who come to the forum about this model:

Comment:

I’ve been playing for 49 years, owned over 40 guitars in that span. Mostly hobbyist playing, but lately I’ve started clubbing with a small combo on sporadic dates. As I get closer to retirement, I’m looking to expand my clubbing with a guitar that can cover a wide variety of rock, pop and country from late 50’s through 90’s.

After much researching around, I found both Henning Pauly and Jonathan Koh’s video reviews of this guitar on the YouTuber, both of which combined convinced me to take a chance on this beauty. Subscribe to both of them if you haven’t by now… both are wonderful and honest in their reviews of these guitars.

The purchase process was great. I live in Minnesota, USA. Guitar arrived in 10 days from Germany. Packaging was great and finish-wise the guitar was pristine on arrival. Setup was good, with slightly too much relief in the neck for my liking, so about 1/4 turn of truss took care of that. 2 of the intonation lock-down hex screws on the bridge needed tightening, otherwise setup and intonation were great!

All electronics except the 5-way switch worked fine. The 5-way was intermittent, so I shot with electrical cleaner and that seemed to fix. With an eye on future upgrades and/or maintenance, I asked Thomann for a wiring diagram and was surprised to hear they don’t have one. Please supply these with your instruments, Thomann!!! PDF’s in the Support Page would be Awesome!!!

I play through mostly Positive Grid products using a ’63 Gibson Skylark played clean, and the tonal choices on this guitar are terrific. I can get anything from Tele to Strat to LP and combos thereof. Love it.

This guitar has a neck to die for! Beautiful roasted maple, stainless steel frets (which are perfect), GraphTech nut and roller tree. Man, you can dive the crap out of the whammy and it holds tune! It’s thinner than the other guitars I’ve owned, but not weirdly so: very comfortable and capable of supporting much faster players than me!

All in all, I’d rate this guitar as the nicest playing instrument I’ve ever owned, with the possible exception of my Gretsch Electromatic. (No, they’re tied for first!). And my faith in Harley Benton and Thomann is 100%. So much that (again, Thanks to Henning and Jonathan) I put an order in yesterday for the CST-24HB Tortoise Flame. Dying to get my eyes and hands on it!

Keep up the good work, Thomann! I’ll be spreading the Harley Benton Gospel here in Minnesota for ya! – Cheers!

Comment:

Due to the current pandemic, I’m not playing out. I have yet to gig out with the guitar.
I’ve had the guitar for over a month. First what I liked about the guitar. I was always wondering what the big deal was with "roasted" necks. Well, if you haven’t tried one, please do. This is the smoothest playing neck ever. I have over 20 guitars, Tele with maple, Les Paul with rosewood, Schecter with ebony. IMHO this is the best neck of all.

Next the pickups.
I wanted a guitar that could do it all, humbucker and single coil. First of all despite some of the You Tube reviews, I like the pickups and will not be changing them. The humbuckers would not be confused with the Seymour Duncan Custom 59’s but they have a good tone, compare them to the Epiphone Probuckers. When split I’m able to get very close to the Fender Strat sound, playing clean, think of Jimmy Vaughan or Robert Cray. I have played this through my Fender Hotrod Deluxe to check out the tube sound with volume, and the Fender Champion 50 XL for around the house. I was able to get myriad tones with both amps.
Looking forward to gigging out with this.

The guitar was set up very well, I have a slew of luthier tools, but needed none. I adjusted the action and intonation. I had to go to You Tube for a video on how to adjust the Wilkinson bridge, which BTW is much better than the Fender vintage. Electronics all worked well. Cavity is shielded, no name large pots, smooth action on volume and tone, with no big drop offs. Locking tuners are a real plus on any guitar with a tremolo, BTW the arm is adjustable, no flapping around.

Cosmetics.
The guitar cosmetics were well done, no flaws found. The flamed finish looks great. I had to get use to a little different style of picking as there’s less than 3/4" inch between pickups. I had ordered the "bundle" which is supposed to come with a HB gig bag, it came with a GEWA economy gig bag, which I actually consider an upgrade as I can compare this with my HB.

The only negative was the shipping of the guitar. I was aware that there would be delays due to the current situation, however there was a mix up in either their shipping or DHL. The order showed my address as correct, but somehow the mailing label hat was printed out had a zip code from an old address over 300 miles away. It was lost for a while until someone in the Postal Service here corrected the address by hand. The good news is that there was no damage despite a round about route to get to me.

Question, "Is this guitar suitable for the Blues?"
Answer, "All guitars are. It’s the player that puts the Blues out there."
Yes, when I return to gigging I will be playing this guitar, but for the B.B. King songs it’ll have to be my Gibson.
I’m happy to have this guitar in my arsenal.

And you have the following options to buy the guitar Harley Benton Fusion-II HSH Roasted FNT.

And if you want to know more about this model you can find here the review of this guitar Harley Benton Fusion-II HSH Roasted FNT.

Guitar Harley Benton Fusion-II HSH Roasted FBLB

This guitar usually has a price around 339.00 €

  • Ergonomically shaped body made from sapele
  • Flamed maple top featuring an ‘Ultra Flame’ veneer
  • Bolt-on neck made from roasted Canadian maple
  • Roasted Canadian maple fretboard
  • “Dots” fretboard inlays
  • Modern C neck profile
  • Fretboard radius: 305 mm (12.008″)
  • Scale: 648 mm (25.512″)
  • Nut width: 42 mm (1.654″)
  • Graph Tech TUSQ XL nut
  • 24 Medium jumbo stainless steel frets
  • Wooden binding
  • Roswell HAF-B Alnico-5 (bridge)-, Roswell HAF-N Alnico-5 (neck) humbucker pickups, and 1x S74-C BK Alnico-5 single coil (middle) pickup
  • 5-Way switch
  • Single coil/Humbucker pickup switch
  • 1 Master volume control and 1 master tone control
  • Wilkinson 50IIK 2-point tremolo
  • Chrome hardware
  • WSC staggered locking diecast machine heads
  • Original strings: .010 – .046
  • Colour: Gloss Trans Flamed Blue Burst

review harley-benton-fusion-ii-hsh-roasted-fblb

Now that we have seen the features of this guitar Harley Benton Fusion-II HSH Roasted FBLB watch this related video to learn more.

Harley Benton Fusion II HSH - Detailed Review Part 1

Some comments from people who come to the forum about this model:

Comment:

I retired two years ago after 56 years as a pro guitar player. I sold the Strat, the latest in a long line of Fenders, Gibsons, and PRS. I lost the desire to play, and only rarely touched the B team guitars I had left.
I then found out Harley Benton was Thomanns own brand of guitars. I had bought from Thomanns before, and was always pleased with the products, and service. I could not believe the choice, and value, and started looking at Youtube Videos about the guitars. I was drawn to the Fusion 11 HSH in blue, with the roasted neck. I had to wait a few weeks for it, but boy was it worth it. I can not fault it. It looks fabulous, the variety of tones from the 3 pickups is amazing. A big help has been videos by Max Solo Music, ( unbelievably detailed reviews ), and Jonathan Koh, ( beautiful guitar player, and really helpful ). I now have the guitar bug again, and am enjoying playing.
Some reviewers have felt it necessary to improve the pickups. Maybe if I was still pro, I would go down that route, but for my present day needs, it is perfect.
Having taken advice from Thomanns guitar gurus, I have altered the trem to make it more fluid. This has meant adjusting the action. It is now really low, as I like it, without any fret noise. No other guitar I have owned has been so silky to play. With the right adjustments, I think this guitar could be made to suit most players.
I bought my first Strat in 1962. ( wish I still had it ), and have owned dozens of quality guitars. If Harley Benton guitars had been around during that time, I would have saved a lot of money. I am now making a list of future purchases. As I am 75, I suppose I had better get a move on.

Comment:

Before the COVID-19 Pandemic hit world wide I would spend a good chunk of the last few years on the road touring, USA, Canada and Europe, as lead guitarist and backing band leader for Canadian legend THOR and wow do I wish I had this guitar with me then!

Once Touring is safe again this will be my main guitar to take on the road.

I also found this to be a great guitar for studio work as well.

I used this guitar exclusively for tracking the traditional metal songs I contributed to the upcoming THOR album and I had no problem getting good high gain classic metal tones from this guitar,

But this instrument is far from a one trick pony, I was able to take this into a session for a ballad and run clean the entire time and the Roswell pickups delivered.

Pros: High end features such as Stainless Steel Frets, Locking Tuners, Roasted Maple neck, and vast switching options at an unbeatable price.

Cons: Pickups may not be for everyone. some may prefer real flame top instead of veneer.

Guitars with similar features will cost at least twice as much.

Harley Benton really delivered the goods!

And you have the following options to buy the guitar Harley Benton Fusion-II HSH Roasted FBLB.

And if you want to know more about this model you can find here the review of this guitar Harley Benton Fusion-II HSH Roasted FBLB.

Guitar Harley Benton CST-24T Black Flame

This guitar usually has a price around 211.00 €

  • Deluxe Series
  • Mahogany body
  • Flamed maple arched top
  • Set-in mahogany neck
  • Roasted jatoba fretboard
  • “C” Neck profile
  • Fretboard radius: 350 mm
  • 24 Frets
  • Pearloid dots fretboard inlays
  • Neck and body binding
  • Scale: 635 mm
  • Nut width: 42 mm
  • Graphite nut
  • 2 Roswell HAF AlNiCo-5 open coil humbucker pickups
  • 3-Way switch
  • 1 Volume- and 1 tone control with push/pull function for coil split
  • DLX chrome hardware
  • Wilkinson WVPC tremolo
  • DLX machine heads
  • Colour: Black Flame

review harley-benton-cst-24t-black-flame

Now that we have seen the features of this guitar Harley Benton CST-24T Black Flame watch this related video to learn more.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=My-sIpvnx2I

Some comments from people who come to the forum about this model:

Comment:

After doing my fair bit of research and coming to a personal conclusion that there isn’t something exclusively as a ‘perfect beginner guitar’, but its all a matter of personal choice and most importantly the available budget to spend towards said guitar.

My initial options or favoured choices were more inclined towards the Fenders, and other bigger name brands, due to their quality, etc. But couldn’t justify some of the prices keeping in mind I had to still keep aside enough money for a good amp, and other miscellaneous expenditure towards my first set up.

Until one of my friend mentioned Thomman, so I found my way here and was truly surprised and impressed. Went through all the offerings in ST and T style guitars, zeroed in on this model and then went back to the internet to check a variety of reviews and demos on YouTube, which only gave me far more confidence in taking a chance with Thomman’s offerings.

Made the purchase, bid my time and it finally arrived.
Beautiful finish with no issues, dents, chips, etc, aesthetically the guitar is on point.

Functionality: no sharp frets, came with good quality D’Addario strings, and just overall well set up. The final check was done thoroughly. I will be changing the nut eventually, I’m sure it will only improve the instrument. The Roswell pickups are great, and oh the sound and tone from this guitar, does way more than what I expected it to.

Go to YouTube yourself check out videos from a bunch of reliable sources (there are quite a few) < my purchase surely confirmed that personally>, and read the reviews from other purchasers here as well.

Take a chance if you feel like going for a ""budget guitar"", and on receiving this well crafted instrument you’ll soon realise it is and does what its supposed to as a guitar.

Best value for your money, by a country mile.

And then what, just plug in and surrender your offerings to the altar of music, whatever be the kind your into and enjoy playing.

Comment:

Before ordering this guitar i was a little bit worried that it might be too heavy for me. I watched reviews on YT and heard people say that it was a heavy instrument. 4 K plus. Thomann must really love me because my copy only weights 3.2 kilo’s. It’s a light guitar in my book. And it feels like it….It came very well & safely packed as always…it arrived absolutely flawless…no dents, stains, wrong binding areas No sharp fret ends. nothing. The glossy finish is spot on..the flame on top looks gorgeous.
The pics on the Thomann page shows that the side and back of the guitar look brownish…this is not the case on my copy. It’s beautiful black gloss. The neck has the same color. Glossy black. it’s a great feeling neck. Fits perfectly in my left hand and feel fabulous. The tuners feel sturdy and of good quality. The Wilkinson trem looks and feels good too. it’s not ‘stiff’ feeling at all for my liking and it bends just right for me. When strapping the guitar and putting it round my neck it feels really well balanced. Lovely to hold…I could have it hanging there for hours without any pain. The pickups sound great…both give a good sound. Humbucker mode is my favorite…sounds fatter and the tones generated are top! When applying the push-pull mode one goes into single coil..the humbuckers split..this makes the sound a little thinner…but still good sounding. The CST is the 4th Harley Benton electric guitar i bought in one year. It’s definitely the best. It is also one of the nicest guitars i have ever played on…among them guitars which have cost a lot more. I have been playing it for two days now…the only thing i did was lowering the saddles a bit and align them a little more to the neck ‘curve’…..I am very, very happy. An absolutely stunning buy!

PS: 3 days later…i now have the pickup height set-up according too PRS’s advice for a model like this guitar…this results in a much better sounding coil-split mode…the overall sound became better.

And you have the following options to buy the guitar Harley Benton CST-24T Black Flame.

And if you want to know more about this model you can find here the review of this guitar Harley Benton CST-24T Black Flame.

Guitar Harley Benton Electric Guitar Kit ST-Style

This guitar usually has a price around 66.00 €

  • Complete DIY (do it yourself) kit
  • Bolt-on neck attachment
  • Rengas body (wood colour may vary)
  • Maple neck
  • Double action truss rod
  • Amaranth fretboard
  • Dots fretboard inlays
  • Radius: 350 mm
  • 22 Frets
  • Scale: 648 mm
  • Nut width: 42 mm
  • Truss rod
  • 3 Ceramic single coil pickups
  • Electronics: 1 Volume, 2 Tone, 5-Way switch
  • Chrome hardware
  • Diecast machine heads
  • Tremolo
  • .009 – .042 Strings
  • Colour: Natural

review harley-benton-electric-guitar-kit-st-style

Now that we have seen the features of this guitar Harley Benton Electric Guitar Kit ST-Style watch this related video to learn more.

Harley Benton Electric Guitar Kit ST-Style - Unboxing, Assembling, and Sound Demo (no talking)

Some comments from people who come to the forum about this model:

Comment:

The body is made up of three pieces of wood and is very light. However, it is surprisingly resonant. On mine, the grain and width of the two outer sections match perfectly. The centre section has a very straight and contrasting fine grain. As I have varnished the body using rub on thinned varnish after hand sanding all over with 400 and 600 sandpaper, the grain shows through and looks good. The result is an ?aged, natural? look, which is precisely what I was looking for. So for me, it is very pleasing aesthetically.

The neck is a perfect and very tight fit into the body pocket. It is an even better fit than the two other Harley Benton kits I have built (Single Cut and TL) and I was very pleased with both of those. The rosewood finger board is smooth and blemish free. The frets are very level for the price range. Only one fret (4th) being slightly high. A quick sand and polish sorted out the problem. The slots in the nut all wanted additional filing to lower the strings for good action and ensure intonation. The groove positioning was perfect. This extra work has resulted in a good low action and enabled me to set the guitar up to Fender strat specifications. Remember you have to shape the head stock yourself. I used a router to cut a strat style shape without a problem. The back of the neck finish is very smooth and only has a light matt varnish. Left as it is, which I have done, it is a perfect smooth playing action. I would question how long the varnish will last though, before sanding and refinishing is necessary. All in all the neck is very good and well worth a little time and effort to get perfect.

As far as the pre-drilled holes go, only the low E tuner retaining screw was slightly out of place. All the others were okay, so no serious complaint, but as it was out by approximately a screw width, I had to plug the original hole and re-drill, as I was concerned the screw may not grip if I just left it.

The scratch plate needed slight sanding on the low E side of the neck in order to get a good fit. It does look good with the gold lettering on the volume/tone controls. The electrics worked well. The pickups are bright, but not very powerful. Setting up as close to the strings as specs allow is recommended. However I found the overall tone to be as good as a Squier, so at this price range, no complaints. To suit my personal taste, the neck pickup could be warmer, but this is personal and not everyone may agree.

The tremolo fitted well, but in my opinion could do with a larger block which would most likely improve sustain. Once again at this price range, perfectly acceptable.

The strings need to be replaced. After using them for setting up, I changed them for D?addario 9 ? 42?s. This made a vast improvement to tone. Definitely change the strings!

Without tweaking, this guitar is better than the cheap range Strat copies, which are twice the price. The neck is worth putting in a little extra effort as the overall quality is very good and if you put the effort in, the result is a guitar equally as good as a Squier.

I am very pleased with this guitar and apart from the fun/pleasure derived from building it, the resulting guitar is very playable. Even if you were unlucky enough to have more issues than I did, Thomann after sales service is the best I have experienced of any musical instrument supplier, so you do not have to worry. Delivery was incredible, equally as quick, if not quicker than some UK suppliers. If you are considering a kit guitar, I would recommend buying one of these without hesitation.

Comment:

After seeing videos on YouTube and varying quality (it appears the T-style kits are the best by far, which will be my next purchase), I was pleasantly surprised by the entire kit.

Firstly the body. Smooth and well cut, it could have been left as is but the sealant had to go so I could prime it for painting. Sanding by hand using 120, 400, and 600 grit sandpaper as I went, the sealant varied from very little along the back and front to seemingly truckloads along the belly cut. Still, when I couldn’t get anymore out, it didn’t look too different and I couldn’t see any defects. Although the painting process would reveal some anyway (sanding and spraying over the two sections along the back resolved that).

The neck feels extremely smooth and shaping the headstock didn’t take long (cutting by hand with a Japanese saw). The frets felt smooth enough out of the box that only an absolute perfectionist would be sanding and polishing them. More importantly, they’re also level. Which happily saved me some work! 🙂

The pickups are decent ceramic ones without much in the way of breakup at the extreme ends. Functional and certainly on a par with guitars that use ceramic pickups from any brand that cost upwards of £200 (depending on how cheeky the brand is). If you want Alnico pickups, either buy a prebuilt Harley Benton (from £110+), a Kramer VS-211 (£109+), or buy a set of Alnico pickups either to immediately replace or later on down the line (set aside £20-£30).

The tuners are much the same as any inexpensive electric guitar. They work and, with the guitar setup properly, stay in tune. Although locking tuners would be advised at some point.

The same can be said for the strings, good enough for setup but I replaced them with a set of 9s I had laying around (budget Johnny Brook brand but they sound better to me).

The real joy though is having a guitar that you painted and put together without any need for soldering. Straight out of the box, you could have this all put together in about an hour or so – although if you’re going to be painting this, obviously expect to add days to the build time to allow for adequate drying time as you build up the layers. Paint and lacquer (or clear coat if you go with that instead), expect to set aside around £15 or monetary equivalent for primer, main colour, and lacquer. Of course. if you have unused paint/varnish laying about…

Overall, I’d say if you’re willing to budget about £50 extra to cover any tooling and materials you’ll need, you’ll have a perfectly playable guitar that will not look like any other and, provided you can play well enough, will impress all around you. Expect to tell the story of your kit build many times over! I built this for my sister for her to learn to play guitar on. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if I get requests…

I give this kit 4/5 overall – but the enjoyment I derived from the entire project means it gets top marks 5/5 from me!

And you have the following options to buy the guitar Harley Benton Electric Guitar Kit ST-Style.

And if you want to know more about this model you can find here the review of this guitar Harley Benton Electric Guitar Kit ST-Style.

Guitar Harley Benton ST-70 Black Paisley

This guitar usually has a price around 155.00 €

  • Deluxe Series
  • Body: Basswood
  • Bolt-on neck: Maple
  • Fretboard: Amaranth
  • Neck profile: C
  • Fretboard radius: 350 mm
  • Fretboard inlays: Dots
  • 21 Medium jumbo frets
  • Scale: 648 mm
  • Nut width: 43 mm
  • Pickup: 2 Roswell STA Alnico-5 vintage ST-Style single coils and 1 Roswell HAF Alnico-5 humbucker
  • 2 Tone controls and 1 volume control with volume push/pull function coil split
  • 5-Way toggle switch
  • Hardware: Chrome
  • Wilkinson tremolo
  • Stringing: D’Addario EXL110 .010 – .046 (article no. 104555)
  • Colour: Black Paisley

review harley-benton-st-70-black-paisley

Now that we have seen the features of this guitar Harley Benton ST-70 Black Paisley watch this related video to learn more.

Harley Benton ST-70 Black Paisley Unboxing & Review

Some comments from people who come to the forum about this model:

Comment:

This guitar is awesome. I just bought mine this year and I love it! I researched it as much as I could before buying it. The neck is glossy so if you like satin you’ll have to deal with that, but I just love the skunk stripe. It is thin with a C shape profile which can fill your hand a lil, but the board is rather flat (12 inches) compared to the small radius of a vintage Strat, but very, very, quick for chords and soloing. The tuners are nothing special but they do hold a tune especially if you tighten the screw in the center of the knobs. However, that’s the first mod I would/will make with probably some locking tuners from Grover. The neck is amazing in terms of the fretboard (not rosewood, much darker looking, almost ebony, and looks dry out of the box, but that’s just the type wood it is) and the frets, although they didn’t come shining, were perfectly cut along with the nut which is perfect in terms of height and cut. Frets will need some polish! The nut may need some graphite here and there as it is plastic I believe. Eventually I might change it down the road but it’s not a big deal. The bridge is absolutely beautiful with a slight hint of gold brush on the saddles (very slight). I have it floating and it is just great for a good tremolo sound when you need it. No dive bombing though, but the block on the trem is one of the thickest I’ve seen. Note: the trem bar has a little tiny screw behind the bridge that you will need to tighten to keep the bar from falling out of its hole (took me a minute to figure that one out bc it doesn’t screw in like most trem bars… lol). There’s a tiny Alan screw provided with the guitar to adjust that. I want so bad to change the pickguard to either a light translucent green or a milky metallic cream white or gold to enhance the colors in the beautiful paisley finish. Any type of gold accents on this guitar would really enhance it! And believe me it really is beautiful! The paisley pattern is truly amazing and one of a kind that doesn’t really look like anything else to me that I’ve seen. In terms of overall color though it has more black on the body than I anticipated. Headstock is nice. The guitar feels very solid, a little heavy though at maybe about 8lbs – you will notice that if you like light guitars. But this guitar is not fragile at all to me. It will last for sure! Comparing this to other guitars from about $500.00 to $1,000 at my local guitar center, it truly shines imho. Just as good if not better than any Strat, Schecter, Gibson, Squire, or PRS in that price range in terms of quality and sound. You never feel like you’re holding a cheap guitar in your hands. I would not change the pickups either! To me they’re perfect for this axe. They have that glassy Alnico V pickup, Strat-like tone, but at the same time there’s something unique about it’s tone that I haven’t found in any other Strat-like guitar. It’s really subtle, but you can hear it when someone else plays it! There doesn’t seem to be any shielding which is really a bummer because there is truly a 60 cycle hum to these PUs, so get ready for that. That’s my next mod along with the tuners is the shielding! That’s about all I can think of right now. I wish I could have found a review like this about it before I bought it, but I’m very very happy with it! Overall this is a great guitar and I love my purchase. Still making up a name for her. Lol. If you like fender Strats, you will love this axe, trust me!

Comment:

First Impression

Looks right, feels right, nice weight, no damage, no obvious flaws. Overall it looks shiny, beautiful and professional

Second Impression

Fret ends feel good, frets look good, fretboard looks dry (as everyone says – that’s why I have lemon oil). Fretboard is quite a light colour, partly due to the wood used and partly to the dryness. Also knobs look a bit cheap and need adjusting so that the "10s" are facing me when I look down and they are all turned up. The push-pull for the coil tap feels very good quality and the pots turn smoothly. Pickups look good – can’t wait to hear them.

Looking over the body and neck for flaws I though I saw a bit of glue around the neck pocket – turns out it’s just the film on the pickguard. The paisley printing doesn’t look absolutely perfect when looking at it up close – so I won’t look at it up close. The effect from a smallish distance is really good, if slightly lighter than I was expecting.

Crikey, this is as well-finished as my PRS SE Santana for a fraction of the price.

Intonation sounds spot-on to my ears – will measure it later. And it’s in tune! (apart from the G being slightly flat). The neck feels good but the strings don’t – I’m used to coated strings and I’ll be changing these pretty soon. Unplugged it sounds as it should but the frets are unpolished and feel "graunchy". So I’ll polish them when I’m changing the strings. No obvious problems with fret alignment or buzz and the action is actually lower than I usually have it.

Handling

Pickups are clear and "chime-y" with good sustain but slightly less attack and "teeth-curling" sharpness than my Pacifica – which is exactly what I wanted. The humbucker has the bark you’d expect and, when tapped, does sound like a single coil that matches the others, though it may need adjusting as it’s a little quieter than the others. I think it may be a compromise so that the humbucker doesn’t sound too loud when it’s not tapped. The tone controls are progressive (turn up and down gradually) as they should be. The sounds in each pickup siwtch position are distinctly different and as you would expect.

The neck feels slightly deeper at the nut than it does at the 15th fret, which is a little unusual but I’m not complaining about the extra strength. Ffrets are even, no buzz problems just in need of a polish. The A and D string saddles have been set noticeably too high compared with the other strings. I hope that’s not to hide buzz problems. I’ll investigate later.

I can’t find any significant dead spots on the fretboard (unlike the Pacifica which has a dead spot around the 12th fret on the G and, to a lesser extent, the 8th fret on the B – this is a common problem on Pacificas and is due to a body/neck resonance). However the D string sounds slightly quieter and duller than the others. This may be due to the strings or the pickups, or even just that it is set too high.

Actually Playing!

Even without a setup this thing plays fine. OK I can feel that the A and D are high but that will take a few moments to fix. The fretboard doesn’t feel as dry as it looks but the frets do feel gritty. The pickups aren’t the best in the World but I don’t feel as though there is any need to change them – at least not for a while. It feels comfortable and sounds as Strat-like as any other copy (and more than most). It has the ridiculous Strat two tone control system so I may have to change that (either PTB or active tone controls) but that’s not Thomann/Harley Benton’s fault. Let’s get it set up!

After Setup

The intonation was slightly out on the lowest three strings (E, A and D) but only about 10 cents at the 12 fret. The A and D saddles have been lowered to match the camber of the other strings. The action is now about the equal lowest of any of my guitars and still no buzzing. I have polished the frets with a leather strop on a wooden block with some polishing compound and they feel fantastic. I find it comfortable to "wear" standing or sitting. I like to look of it. It plays beautifully now that I’m getting used to the pickups and adjusting my amp settings accordingly. I love it!

Conclusion

I had to remind myself that this is a £130 guitar. The last guitar I bought was about £500. This stands up to it in almost every way and is better in some – AND it needed less setup! It gives me what I wanted, looks and feels great and makes a great complement to my PRS. It is versatile and feels good enough to the point where I feel I’m playing better. You can’t ask much more than that.

If I had to be critical the only thing I would say is that the headstock seems a little too short – the distance from the nut to the low E peg puts quite a sharp angle on the string. I’ve seen MUCH more expensive guitars which are worse but, hey, this is only if I had to be critical!.

Only time will tell if the wood will hold stable enough for it to remain such a good guitar but… £130! Wow!

Summary

This is a good mid-range guitar which plays well, gives Strat and Fat Strat sounds and looks great. The surprise is that it is about a third of the price of a mid-range guitar! The hype is true: Harley Benton guitars (at least this one) are great guitars at an excellent price!

Postscript
I always had a slight reservation about the sound of the pickups. There was a slight high-frequency harshness and excessive attack at some settings, only noticeable on headphones. The guitar had shipped with a non-floating trem setting (bridge hard down against the body). I had left it like this as it is supposed to improve sustain and I don’t tend to use the trem much (and have a Floyd Rose equipped Washburn for when I do.

Out of interest I adjusted it to a floating trem for a particular recording project. That harshness disappeared and the sustain hasn’t been affected, as far as I can tell. It now has exactly the tone I wanted!It is now my favourite guitar – at least until my new HB CST-24HB is properly set up (a couple of frets need taking down slightly).

And you have the following options to buy the guitar Harley Benton ST-70 Black Paisley.

And if you want to know more about this model you can find here the review of this guitar Harley Benton ST-70 Black Paisley.

Guitar Harley Benton ST-57DG Black Tribute

This guitar usually has a price around 159.00 €

  • Body: Alder
  • Bolt-on neck: Canadian maple with stained nyatoh skunk stripe
  • Fretboard: Maple
  • Neck profile: C
  • Fretboard radius: 350 mm
  • Scale: 648 mm
  • Nut width: 42 mm (TUSQ XL)
  • 21 Frets
  • Pickups: 3 Roswell SK52 True Vintage Staggered Alnico 5 single coils
  • 1 Volume control and 2 tone controls
  • 5-Way toggle switch
  • Single-ply pickguard
  • Synchronised tremolo system
  • Kluson style machine heads
  • Chrome-plated hardware
  • Ex-factory stringing: D’Addario .010 – .046 (article no. 104555)
  • Colour: Black high gloss

review harley-benton-st-57dg-black-tribute

Now that we have seen the features of this guitar Harley Benton ST-57DG Black Tribute watch this related video to learn more.

Some comments from people who come to the forum about this model:

Comment:

Update: As mentioned below, I have contacted Thomann and submitted a photo of the issue. to their credit, they have given me a £50 credit on my account, which I have used towards another purchase.

Not sure if Thomann will publish this review, but I will write it anyway. Received this guitar on 29/03/2021. It was not in stock at the time of ordering, so was placed on back order, with an arrival time of late February. The QC label has a date of 05/01/2021, so I am assuming the the QC happened at the place of manufacture. This guitar looked like it had been preowned. The black gloss finish has numerous fine scratches all over it. The neck is not properly sanded, and is quite rough in places, and certainly does not have the fine satin finish shown on the Thomann web site. In fact the neck looks like untreated bare wood. I’m not sure why Thomann have allowed this guitar to be sent to a customer, particularly one that has spent alot of money with them. Prior to this guitar, I had purchased 3 others, all of which had no QC issues, and were all of excellent quality. So I am very disappointed with this guitar. I have emailed Thomann about these issues and await there response. Given the price of the guitar, it is not worth the hassle of having to sent it back. So I suppose I will probably have to accept it. As mentioned, I have other HB guitars, and one thing which is very apparent, is that the guitars made in Indonesia are much better quality in finish and built quality, than the ones made in China. I’m not sure why this is, but it is certainly the case. If this review is published, I will update it in due course.

Comment:

At first I was happy with the delivery. At first glance, beauty. The guitar has weight. The guitar neck is elegant, satin and lightly tinted. It is pleasant and comfortable to the touch, straight as a bayonet. The frets of the guitar do not bite, wide, aesthetic. Kluson style machine heads are beyond praise. Nut TUSQ XL, although it does not have a label. The strings lie deep in the nut, but the top can be removed. Nut is set well.
There are no large gaps anywhere, everything is fitted. Still, a little tuning of the string height is needed. The pickups are a little high, but this is subjective.
It is not clear, but the edges of the pickguard do not have a chamfer. Will have to change.
The tremolo system is successful.
Potentiometers are good. 5-Way toggle switch is not heard.
In general, the body and neck of the guitar without flaws.
Sound like a stratocaster can’t be said anymore. It’s good.
Harley Benton ST-57DG Black Tribute is no worse than Squire, and in some places even nicer.
In the end, I was pleasantly surprised by the products of Harley Benton. I also bought a JB 75 bass, this will be written in another place. But also satisfied. I can advise friends.

And you have the following options to buy the guitar Harley Benton ST-57DG Black Tribute.

And if you want to know more about this model you can find here the review of this guitar Harley Benton ST-57DG Black Tribute.

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Jaime Echagüe

Hi! I'm Jaime Echagüe, a musician and an authentic fan of musical instruments. With this blog I want to give general information about musical instruments in an easy, direct and honest way. I hope you enjoy my website and that you find it very useful.

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