Harley Benton ST-Modern Plus MN HSS LH PUBL

I've purchased this guitar and had it for a few months now. I am a US customer and was a bit hesitant with the added import fees but my goodness what an awesome guitar! Setup was perfect, only a couple strings needed tuned and that was it. Packaging was excellent. I've had Yamaha, ESP, and Schecter guitars mailed and they weren't packaged as good as this Harley Benton.

The finish on this is great. It's mostly black with just enough purple accents to stand out. For me though, the best features on this model hands down are the neck and fretwork. The roasted Canadian Maple neck is just my favorite of any guitar I own. It's so smooth, has great sustain and the dark, rich color looks great. The rounded frets are perfect. No sharp edges and feels wonderful. I purchased a few guitars over the years, each well over the $1000 mark and they had no where near as good of a neck or fretwork as this model for a third the price.

Tesla pickups sound great, especially the bridge humbucker. Great rock and metal tones.

I'll go so far as to say this is probably the best guitar purchase I've ever made for price, looks and overall quality. I'm a home/practice player but I'm so impressed that honestly Harley Benton might be my only choice going forward. Outstanding quality and no one beats their selection of lefty models. Highly recommend!

After a month with this guitar, I can say that it offers excellent value, but it is definitely aimed at players who don't mind doing some setup work or upgrades.

The good:

The finish is excellent. The Purple Burst looks beautiful in person, and the roasted maple neck is outstanding. Coming from a custom guitar with an Ibanez Wizard II neck shape, I was surprised to find the Harley Benton's neck thicker but actually comfortable. The satin finish and overall feel are excellent.

The guitar comes very well equipped for the price, featuring stainless steel frets, locking tuners, a compound-radius fretboard and an HSS configuration. The body contours are comfortable, and the instrument feels more "classic".

The stock pickups were usable, but since I already had some DiMarzios available, I installed those instead.

The bridge has performed well so far and generally stays in tune. I plan to upgrade it in the future, but for the price, it is doing its job.

The less good:

The stock switch on my guitar was problematic and had to be replaced.

The locking tuners work, but they feel somewhat plastic and stiff compared to premium brands. They are usable, but not particularly inspiring.

The biggest issue on my particular guitar was the fretwork. Around 12 frets required some recrowning and polishing before the guitar played perfectly. Because I perform my own setups and repairs, these issues did not bother me much. But players expecting perfection out of the box may need a professional setup or some fretwork.

Overall:

At €415, some may argue that it is expensive if you are planning to replace much of the hardware and electronics with premium components. However, when you consider the quality of the finish, the excellent roasted maple neck, the stainless steel frets, the comfort, and the overall platform, I believe Harley Benton has created a very solid foundation.

This is not a perfect guitar, nor is it pretending to be. Yet despite its flaws, it has become a comfortable and enjoyable complement to my much more expensive custom instrument rather than a replacement for it.

Would I buy it again?

Yes. Despite the issues, I genuinely enjoy playing it.