Harley Benton ST-Modern MN HSS FBB

I don't think it's possible to find a better guitar considering the price. Looks and finish are great and the neck feels amazing to play, especially if you like a smooth satin finish. The guitar came perfectly intonatated even if the action was a bit higher than i would like.

After playing it for a few months i could only find 2 flaws:
1) Frets were not polished well enough giving it a gritty feeling out of the box wich is never great (It' a very easy fix by polishing them but begginer players might be intimidated to work on an instrument)
2) I would describe the pickups and electronics as "barely ok". Considering it's a cheap guitar i wouldn't complain too much but an upgrade to those components is mandatory in the long run.

All things consider i would recomend this guitar to anyone especially beginners, it will not disappoint you!!

Arrived (eventually, more anon) in perfect condition, flawless finish, comfortable body and neck.

I lowered the action, half expecting, to have to deal with high or uneven frets, but no, they were all really good and even.

They felt a little "gritty" initially, and I did think of polishing them, but after a bit of playing they were fine.

The fretboard was also quite dry, but I conditioned and its nice now.

I did encounter a "warbling" clashing kind of resonance sound from the G string when played at certain points which disappeared when I lowered the pickups a bit.

And the pickups sound very good to my ears, a good range. Bridge is good, basic enough, simple to set intonation and action, unlike some.

One thing I noticed is that the back cover doesn't give much access at all for restringing, there's very little space to see where you're threading the string through.

As others have mentioned, it looks a little different at home than in the pictures, but not necessarily in a bad way.

This guitar compares VERY well in every way to my MIM Strat. Yes, the pots are probably cheaper etc, but they work and should for a long time yet.

On the delivery, this aspect was disappointing. It sat for almost two weeks with the delivery company and it took quite a bit of emailing etc with Thomann before anything was done about it, having initially been told (contrary to the visibile tracking information showing that the item was still in Germany) that the delay was the fault of the postal service in Ireland...

-That's not the quality of iservice Thomann is known for, but I guess things can happen from time to time...

Anyway, all is good now and I'm happy, be because this is a great instrument, particularly for just €199

Edit: A couple of weeks have now passed since receiving it, and I've since set it up with full floating tremelo on a fresh set of 9s (not sure if it came with 10s or not) and it is spot on. It stays in tune fantastically and plays so well and looks great.

Arrive three days early. Undamaged product and packaging .
Set up good, a little low for me, with bass buzzes which probably wouldn't be noticed when plugged in. Half a turn of the grub screws enough to fix. Perfect intonation, good stability of vibrato and tuning stability. I usually block off the vibrato, but I would like to try some gentle action for a change, so I am going to persevere. I am a whammy bar novice so not sure how to stop it falling out. I presume that some sort of friction O ring find tunes the ease or otherwise of swing. I need to learn more.
The tuners are consistent in feel and maintain the tuning accurately.
The frets are very slightly rough in some places but will play in easily, or a general polish will leave them perfect. Otherwise the frets are perfect with no individual buzzes and perfect intonation.
I liked the slightly narrower frets as compared with my HB 35. The neck is perfect for me. Nice and chunky, smooth, allows me to play in a classical style position right up to the top frets. Access to these top frets is unbelievably good.
Finish was incredibly, perfect, pots a little sticky for violining, ( not a word), but hey they are new and need a clean/ lubrication. Push pull coil split not easy but I have a push push one waiting in the wings. One the HB 35 I changed to more grabbable plastics knobs, but I am not but I am not going inside to change. The ST modern will get metal knobs I think
Sound, I was a bit surprised that the acoustic sound was not very "quacky" but might be the cheaper strings. It was bright enough for my style of playing. I have not had chance to plug in but I think it will not be have a vintage strat tone, but I it would be a bonus, which I am happy to get somewhere else.
To conclude, my negative points are close to nit picking and not important.
I am totally satisfied with the guitar which as an ancient pro who plays most styles, will do gigs with and other guitarist will be amazed when I tell them how good it sounds and how much it cost.
Will. I change the pick ups? probably not. Other mods? Screening if it buzzes, otherwise
no.
Incredible value. I have owned the originals similar to this guitar and my semi acoustic mentioned earlier. Bad choking frets, out of centre bridges, peeling chrome on tail pieces that cut me, gold finishes that disappear and worse, no improvements. I will never buy again, even if I could afford one.👍

I purchased this guitar because it has some stand out features such as a roasted maple neck and fretboard, 12"-16" compound radius fretboard, locking tuners and graphite nut. The guitar plays very nicely out of the box and is staying in tune very well so far. The neck feels smooth to play and there are no major flaws with the frets. With the HSS pickup configuration and split coil I have got some great tones from clean, crunch, blues, rock and metal. The finish is gorgeous and the pickguard and binding really compliment the gloss top. When I asked my family (who are non-guitar players) how much they thought thought it was worth they both said £500+. This guitar is a joy to play and amazing value for money.