New Harley Benton ST Modern guitars

SpiritOfTheAge · June 11

SpiritOfTheAge · June 11

Tm5Al35.jpg

Tall_martin · June 11

Ohhh, nice

I have two perfectly awesome strats and do not need another just because of a stripey neck.

But I'm tempted

The knobs just look like strat knobs in the photos

SlopeSoarer · June 11

It certainly looks like it has the bones of a good guitar for a very decent price, oh and pretty. Enjoy!

BobHillman · June 11

Looks good - and I say that as somebody who generally dislikes anything pink. Pity they don't do it in seafoam gren with a maple board.

What are the "luminous position markers"?

Jono111 · June 11

Interesting trem cover, needs a couple of nose holes to complete

SpiritOfTheAge · June 11

BobHillman said:

Looks good - and I say that as somebody who generally dislikes anything pink. Pity they don't do it in seafoam gren with a maple board.
What are the "luminous position markers"?

I would have had the seafoam green if it came with the maple fretboard, lovely combination. The dots on the top fo the fretboard are green surrouned by black and they do glow if charged up with light.

I just broke a string lol, gives me an excuse to put on 9's now.

Having played it back to back with my Stratocaster for an hour or so the main difference is the satin finish on the back of the neck and fretboard, the Strat is gloss and the neck is thinner front to back, the HB is less chunky feeling in the hand. Also the fretboard being a 12 to 16 inch radius compared to the 9.5 feels different to what I'm used to, not bad just different.

Plugged in it sounds excellent, livelier than the Strat but it's hard to do a comparison as the stings on the start have done a couple of gigs and rehearsals and the stings on the HB are brand new. One issue has cropped up in that the low E is loud in comparison to the other strings when using the bridge pickup, I've dropped that side of the pickup down a bit to help balance it out but it's not solved in completely.

I'm liking it but I'll have a better idea when I've set it up with 9's and got used to the different shaped neck. It seems pretty good value for money but I'm not sure I'll be letting the Strat go just yet :-).

edit:- I've was playing it and looking at it all evening after putting 9's on and tweaking the action, relief etc as a string broke (my fault for over stretching the original set).

The good.

It nows feels and plays great (for my taste), the action is about 1.9mm bass side and 1.75mm treble side, just a hint of relief in the neck. Stays in tune after some relatively judicious use of the vibrato system. The frets are smooth with no scratchyness at all, even with a multi-repeated bends on a string. With the 9's it feels slinky now rather than stiff like it did with the 10's . I like the easy access truss rod, cut away heal, locking machineheads, large strap buttons, smooth frets lovely neck (both looks and feel) and the bridge is very stable in use. The intonation was spot on from the get go so no need to adjust that or the saddle height yet so can't comment on how well they work.

The bad.

A couple of the scratchplate screws are sitting proud as they went in at angles, not a deal breaker but little things like that should be easy to get right. Two or three of the machineheads are a little stiff compared to the others (excellent locking system on them though) and the knobs are cheap feeling/looking ( I can't put my finger on the reason but they are). These gripes aside it's a very solid guitar for the money and if it performs well at this Sundays rehearsal there will probably be a USA Stratocaster in the classifieds at a good price :-).

I've seen a few Youtube reviews of the ST Modern models, most have much more flame on the necks than the one I received, I suppose it's the luck of the draw.

I used my phone torch to charge the luminous dots, quite how practical it would be on a dark stage is to be seen.

BobHillman · June 11

Thanks for the info.

Dave_Mc · June 11

SpiritOfTheAge said:

One issue has cropped up in that the low E is loud in comparison to the other strings when using the bridge pickup, I've dropped that side of the pickup down a bit to help balance it out but it's not solved in completely.

Drop it a bit more and/or raise the treble side. Basically all of my guitars have a massive angle from bass to treble on the pickups, lol (well apart from dogear P90s where you can't really do that, I just make do with the polepieces).

The guitar itself looks awesome

Dave_Mc · June 11

Nerine said:

I get a bit wary when people say x is equally as good as y.

I can usually very easily tell whether I’m playing a USA Les Paul or a Gibson Custom Les Paul, for example. Same with American Strats and CS Strats.

I’ve never played or owned a non CS Gibson or Fender that’s been as good as a CS Gibson or Fender, sadly.

I think Harley Bentons are likely very good for the money. But I do also think it’s a bit disingenuous to say they’re equally as good as guitar/brand x. Some players would definitely tell the difference even if it’s quite nuanced and slight or unnoticeable to some people.

I think it's fair to say that I'm a Harley Benton fan, and I agree with you. (Apart from the CS comments, I haven't tried enough of them to know! I mean about the HBs being "very good for the money".)

But they can still be a ton of fun. Especially when you remember what they cost!

Offset · June 12

What a great review @SpiritOfTheAge - thanks. Extremely informative.

I have to say on looks alone, that guitar is a total winner. Sounds like it plays well too - and at the price, what's not to like?!

Nerine · June 12

Dunno if it’s an illusion (probably is) but in the picture looking at the neck straight on around the 14th fret, it looks like some of the frets on the treble side don’t reach the edge of the fretboard?

HerbieTheRadDorklift · June 12

Nerine said:

Dunno if it’s an illusion (probably is) but in the picture looking at the neck straight on around the 14th fret, it looks like some of the frets on the treble side don’t reach the edge of the fretboard?

They are semi-hemispherical frets and don't reach the edge (at least I hope they are)

Fortheloveofguitar · June 29

@SpiritOfTheAge ;

Are you still enjoying the HB?

I’ve been looking at a Fender Ultra Strat and I’m thinking I may just grab one of these and save myself a tonne of cash.

SpiritOfTheAge · June 30

Fortheloveofguitar said:

@SpiritOfTheAge ;

Are you still enjoying the HB?

I’ve been looking at a Fender Ultra Strat and I’m thinking I may just grab one of these and save myself a tonne of cash.

Hi. Yes I am. I will get around to putting the usa up for sale but I'm in no hurry for the money. It did have a high fret or two which i dealt with, 16th and 18th, which caused a choke/buzz when bending up the top of the neck but apart from that it's a nice guitar with excellent specs for the money.

Fortheloveofguitar · June 30

SpiritOfTheAge said:

Fortheloveofguitar said:

@SpiritOfTheAge ;

Are you still enjoying the HB?

I’ve been looking at a Fender Ultra Strat and I’m thinking I may just grab one of these and save myself a tonne of cash.

Hi. Yes I am. I will get around to putting the usa up for sale but I'm in no hurry for the money. It did have a high fret or two which i dealt with, 16th and 18th, which caused a choke/buzz when bending up the top of the neck but apart from that it's a nice guitar with excellent specs for the money.

Sounds like a winner.

Thanks for your reply

Gizmo · June 30

Great pics and review/round up many thanks for you feedback.

Can i ask is the neck profile a D or a C ? im seeing spec and ppl in YT vids state it's a D, but the pics make it look more C..

a D i expect to have flat shoulders of 1-2mm below the fretboard level/wood,i can't seem to find any good angles or down the neck profile shots...

TBH the nick johnston diamond & J&D modder i have are really all the "strat" types i need but these do look really nice, i just sold on a Eart strat (didnt get on with the 7.5-8.5" radius board) so have some ££ burning a hole in my pocket

OW Or SFG, as you say SFG with a RM neck would look super....

BobHillman · June 30

Jeremiah said:

Has anyone used one of these Babicz tremolos?
From pictures, it looks like the strings sit in quite deep grooves in the saddles. I think this would make palm muting awkward, as I find it easiest when I can rest my palm on the string where actually goes over the saddle and there is hardly any groove (as on e.g. a Gotoh 510).

@SpiritOfTheAge How is the bridge for palm muting?

SpiritOfTheAge · June 30

BobHillman said:

Jeremiah said:

Has anyone used one of these Babicz tremolos?
From pictures, it looks like the strings sit in quite deep grooves in the saddles. I think this would make palm muting awkward, as I find it easiest when I can rest my palm on the string where actually goes over the saddle and there is hardly any groove (as on e.g. a Gotoh 510).

@SpiritOfTheAge How is the bridge for palm muting?

I've not noticed any difference from other bridge types, could just be I'm not bothered about how the string sits. I played I wish today at rehearsal which i mute for the whole song and didn't have any issues but like i say I've never had issues palm muting any guitar I've played.

The guitar works well in a band nix, we play disco/funk numbers and I've found the middle pickup is perfect for cutting single note stuff and rhythm.

The neck is definitely flatter on the back than the strat i have but is not as obviously D shaped as another Harley benton i have.

It does feel lovely in it satin finish, very smooth no stickiness at all, after going back to the usa strat with a gloss finish feels cumbersome now.

hollywoodrox · 12:48AM

Very very nice ,congrats

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