Review of the Harley Benton ST-59HM Fiesta Red Electric guitar. Where to buy it?

I’ll tell you how this post is built. First I list the features of the Harley Benton ST-59HM Fiesta Red guitar. Then you have a video or two, purchase links and useful comments from other users and then you have one of the most useful parts; comparison tables with similar items so you can compare.

  • Alder body
  • Canadian maple neck with stained nyatoh skunk stripe
  • Bolt-on neck attachment
  • Maple fretboard
  • “C” Neck profile
  • Fretboard radius: 350 mm
  • Scale: 648 mm
  • Nut width: 42 mm
  • 21 Medium jumbo frets
  • 3 Roswell SK52 True Vintage staggered Alnico-5 single coil pickups
  • 1 Volume- and 2 tone controls
  • 5-Way switch
  • Single-ply pickguard
  • Gold-plated deluxe hardware
  • Synchronised tremolo system
  • Kluson-style machine heads
  • D’Addario strings, .010, .046
  • Colour: Fiesta Red High-gloss

review harley-benton-st-59hm-fiesta-red

This guitar usually has a price around 159.00 €

Now that we’ve seen the features of this guitar Harley Benton ST-59HM Fiesta Red watch these related videos to learn more.

HARLEY BENTON ST-59 HM Fiesta Red ✅

Post you may be interested in

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

Comment:

With the ST-59HM, you get a quality instrument at a great price! It plays and sounds great. Expected some minor, inconsequential flaws at that price and was pleasantly surprised when I found none! I use it for playing at home with headphones, as well as amps. With the great prices, it is good way to acquire a number of guitar types for variety and not break the bank. I am extremely pleased with this purchase.

Everything works as expected. The gold tuners work well and look terrific. The nut is much better than some of the other Harley Bentons I own, with no sharp edges. The frets are smooth in all aspects and didn’t need to have them worn in when bending strings at any of the frets. I like the pickups. They sound good enough and give you the basic tone one would expect with this style guitar. It’s fun to play and I pick it up to play all the time. All the knobs and switches are good and work as expected.

pros – I literally loved every aspect of the guitar. Looks great, comfortable to play with nice sound. A shout out to their customer service too. I changed my orders a number of times for various reasons and they handled every change I wanted perfectly. I really appreciated their flexibility. If you are in the US it will take a day or so for them to get back to you these days.

cons – None really. Only concern is that if you are having it shipped to the US during the pandemic, it is going to take a while, figure 2-3 weeks. This falls on the shipping companies, not Thomann. From tracking it, it sits at the airport for a week or two
and then when it gets to the US, it gets shipped to Chicago more often than not in my case, and the USPS has taken as long as 2 weeks to get to NY. The one order that got sent to NY (by luck), 25 minutes from my house, sat there for days and ended up taking a week once it got moving. All of this is expected in these times, but it is frustrating to not see it making any progress, staying in the same place so long. I’ve had an order prior to the pandemic and it was a little more than a week, basically what they promised. Other shipping concerns are the outside box can take a beating. When it arrives, panic might start to set in, but the packaging inside is great with no concerns. Even when the outside box look damaged, rest easy, the inside boxes that actually hold the guitar are impeccable and strong.

Comment:

This is the latest ST59HM just brought in June 2021. I already have a earlier model ST59HM circa 2019. there is quite a few alterations to this new model and the quality and authenticity of this new model in comparison is very poor in my opinion for the following reasons . The colour of the "fiesta" red is much darker and has no pinkiness in it at all , more like a Torino red. the rounded countours of the body edges are now much more square. Neither my earlier ST59HM or my ST-62 Harley Bentons are like this. The lovely one piece amber tint gloss neck with a slight V on the back has gone, a 2 piece capped neck is now supplied with a very very pale satin finish. The spacing of the double dot E markers at the 12th fret are almost on the edges of the fretboard and look ridiculous. The authentic split post vintage tuners have now gone. There are also 2 string trees fitted now , poor choice there. The bridge saddles have been changed from ’59 correct pressed steel to the cheaper cast type. The tremelo arm is very long
( something Mr. HM would surely not approve of ) and does not have a tip. A positive however is that the trem does come with a full size block. Sound wise the guitar is pretty good .
Now I understand that this is a budget guitar, but so was the previous model, so why make all of these, IMO, detracting changes .
My intention now is to use the guitar as a basis for a project, starting with neck replacement and re contouring of the body edges and a more realistic "Fiesta" red finish. Thomann you had a winner with the previous model , but sadly IMO not with this one .

Harley Benton ST-59HM Fiesta Red vs Harley Benton ST-20HSS SBK Standard Series

The guitar Harley Benton ST-59HM Fiesta Red is usually 74 € more expensive than Harley Benton ST-20HSS SBK Standard Series.

Below have a look to the video of this guitar

Harley Benton ST-59HM Fiesta Red

Harley Benton ST-20HSS SBK Standard Series
  • Alder body
  • Canadian maple neck with stained nyatoh skunk stripe
  • Bolt-on neck attachment
  • Maple fretboard
  • “C” Neck profile
  • Fretboard radius: 350 mm
  • Scale: 648 mm
  • Nut width: 42 mm
  • 21 Medium jumbo frets
  • 3 Roswell SK52 True Vintage staggered Alnico-5 single coil pickups
  • 1 Volume- and 2 tone controls
  • 5-Way switch
  • Single-ply pickguard
  • Gold-plated deluxe hardware
  • Synchronised tremolo system
  • Kluson-style machine heads
  • D’Addario strings, .010, .046
  • Colour: Fiesta Red High-gloss
  • 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

Below have a look to the video of this guitar Harley Benton ST-20HSS SBK Standard Series

Harley Benton ST 20HSS SBK Standard Series

If you want to know more about this option, click on the following link to see the Harley Benton ST-20HSS SBK Standard Series review

Harley Benton ST-59HM Fiesta Red vs Harley Benton CST-24T Black Flame

The guitar Harley Benton ST-59HM Fiesta Redis usually 52 € cheaper than Harley Benton CST-24T Black Flame.

Below have a look to the video of this guitar

Harley Benton ST-59HM Fiesta Red

Harley Benton CST-24T Black Flame
  • Alder body
  • Canadian maple neck with stained nyatoh skunk stripe
  • Bolt-on neck attachment
  • Maple fretboard
  • “C” Neck profile
  • Fretboard radius: 350 mm
  • Scale: 648 mm
  • Nut width: 42 mm
  • 21 Medium jumbo frets
  • 3 Roswell SK52 True Vintage staggered Alnico-5 single coil pickups
  • 1 Volume- and 2 tone controls
  • 5-Way switch
  • Single-ply pickguard
  • Gold-plated deluxe hardware
  • Synchronised tremolo system
  • Kluson-style machine heads
  • D’Addario strings, .010, .046
  • Colour: Fiesta Red High-gloss
  • 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

Below have a look to the video of this guitar Harley Benton CST-24T Black Flame

$200 Guitar... and it's Not Total 💩|| Harley Benton CST-24T Demo/Review

If you want to know more about this option, click on the following link to see the Harley Benton CST-24T Black Flame review

Harley Benton ST-59HM Fiesta Red vs Harley Benton Electric Guitar Kit ST-Style

The guitar Harley Benton ST-59HM Fiesta Red is usually 93 € more expensive than Harley Benton Electric Guitar Kit ST-Style.

Below have a look to the video of this guitar

Harley Benton ST-59HM Fiesta Red

Harley Benton Electric Guitar Kit ST-Style
  • Alder body
  • Canadian maple neck with stained nyatoh skunk stripe
  • Bolt-on neck attachment
  • Maple fretboard
  • “C” Neck profile
  • Fretboard radius: 350 mm
  • Scale: 648 mm
  • Nut width: 42 mm
  • 21 Medium jumbo frets
  • 3 Roswell SK52 True Vintage staggered Alnico-5 single coil pickups
  • 1 Volume- and 2 tone controls
  • 5-Way switch
  • Single-ply pickguard
  • Gold-plated deluxe hardware
  • Synchronised tremolo system
  • Kluson-style machine heads
  • D’Addario strings, .010, .046
  • Colour: Fiesta Red High-gloss
  • 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

Note: The body and neck have been primed with pore filler, making them suitable for the direct application of lacquer finishes. Before the application of stains or other surface treatments, the primer must be first removed via sanding.

Note: A certain degree of skill in handiwork is required for successful assembly of the guitar.

Below have a look to the video of this guitar Harley Benton Electric Guitar Kit ST-Style

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

If you want to know more about this option, click on the following link to see the Harley Benton Electric Guitar Kit ST-Style review

Harley Benton ST-59HM Fiesta Red vs Harley Benton ST-70 Black Paisley

The guitar Harley Benton ST-59HM Fiesta Red is usually 4 € more expensive than Harley Benton ST-70 Black Paisley, but the difference is so small that this can vary..

Below have a look to the video of this guitar

Harley Benton ST-59HM Fiesta Red

Harley Benton ST-70 Black Paisley
  • Alder body
  • Canadian maple neck with stained nyatoh skunk stripe
  • Bolt-on neck attachment
  • Maple fretboard
  • “C” Neck profile
  • Fretboard radius: 350 mm
  • Scale: 648 mm
  • Nut width: 42 mm
  • 21 Medium jumbo frets
  • 3 Roswell SK52 True Vintage staggered Alnico-5 single coil pickups
  • 1 Volume- and 2 tone controls
  • 5-Way switch
  • Single-ply pickguard
  • Gold-plated deluxe hardware
  • Synchronised tremolo system
  • Kluson-style machine heads
  • D’Addario strings, .010, .046
  • Colour: Fiesta Red High-gloss
  • 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

Below have a look to the video of this guitar Harley Benton ST-70 Black Paisley

Harley Benton ST-70 Black Paisley Unboxing & Review

If you want to know more about this option, click on the following link to see the Harley Benton ST-70 Black Paisley review

Where to buy the guitar Harley Benton ST-59HM Fiesta Red

Thomann

  • Free Shipping.
  • Full warranty. If you have any problems, they take care of everything.
  • 100% reliable payment.
  • Leader in trouble-free shipping.
  • Usually Best price.
  • Best Reputation: They are the leading online store in Europe and have the best catalogue and information.

Amazon

  • Free Shipping and possibility of shipping in one day with Amazon Premium.
  • Full Guarantee but they are no experts in music equipment.
  • Sometimes better price.
  • He’s got worse stock than Thomann.

Also look at these models with a similar price and features:

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.

Click Here to Leave a Comment Below