Harley Benton ST-62CC MN Dakota Red

I play a lot of guitar, and play the occasional pub gig. I have a handful of guitars but inexcusably no strat. I really fancied that classic shape but didn’t want to spend too much then heard good things about these.

It arrived after a week (very reasonable considering how far it’s come!) and was well packaged in 2 boxes.
Out of the box after a quick tune up it played pretty well for a guitar of this price range. The neck was good and all the frets level and indeed crowned, no sharp fret edges either with a slightly rolled fingerboard.
The biggest downsides were tuning issues from the bridge (easy fix detailed below) and the nut slots not being quite deep enough.

So for the setup I used my nut files to lower the height to the first fret which made the open chords easier ring out a bit better.

The other was getting the trek to sit better, I slacked the springs off a bit as they were VERY tight and tightened down the two outer screws on the trem.

Last things I have done are lubricate the nut with a pencil and adjust action at the saddles and set intonation.

After this pretty standard setup the guitar is now beautiful to play. It’s my go-to and I can even do repeated dive bombs and the tuning barely budges.
The pickups have a bit of power in them for single coils so it’s a really versatile guitar that can even do hard rock tones.

Another point is the quality of the woodwork, the neck pocket is better than any strat I’ve seen! Everything is so neat and precise with this guitar, I would definitely recommend.

Bad point: trem atm is screw in and can be a bit wobbly, but it’s a minor point.

There were a few adjust

I did some research across a wide range of affordable stratacaster style guitars and came across the Harley Benton range, being 65 years old and on a limited budget i purchased the Harley Benton ST 62CC MN in Dakota red.

On unboxing and inspecting the guitar i was quite suprised at the fit and finish of this model. Tuning keys work very smoothly, nut fitted SPOT ON! neck of guitar finished very well with no frett sprout at all. All i had to do was tune it up and start STRUMMING!

Overall i am highly satisfied with my purchase.

Would recommend this stunning guitar .

I've been playing guitar for 50 years and have owned too many guitars to count. I took a chance on one of these and I have to say I'm blown away. The fit and finish are excellent, the nut was cut well and no sharp fret edges or sprout at all. I put Wilkinson tuners and better bridge saddles on mine but really, this guitar is pretty good stock. I like this ST-62 better than the Squier Classic Vibe I used to own; the Squier CV felt "cheap" to me, but this guitar with upgraded tuners and saddles is GREAT. My only "complaint" is that the trem arm is a little tight and I wish it would screw down a little further. Overall, great value. I also own one in the Vintage White and it's also flawless.

Bought because of previous great experience buying an Ash body HB '52 Telecaster Natural - a truly amazing budget guitar. This '62 Strat tribute is not quite in the same class as that Tele. 1) There's something strange about the Neck or the Bridge placement in the body, so that the Top 3 strings are pulling the saddles off-line towards the Top E edge of the fingerboard, making the strings unable to stay in the centre of the saddles. 2) Out-of-the-box imo this guitar is not really ready to play - it needs a full Set-Up which if you cannot do it yourself will cost you to have done. The intonation is out on all strings, and the action is way too high - not comfortably playable. So you or your tech guy might need to get busy on the basic three parts of a set-up : Neck relief; Action; Intonation. Having said all that i really like this cheap-as-chips Strat for its looks, (excellent paint-job) its nice neck, and its sounds; and after the set-up, its playability. Defo not for returning !