ST-70 Black Paisley : For the money - fill your boots

I am an ageing guitar player/collector and own quite a number of guitars, sadly these days all played solely at home. As I am now on a limited income I have to be a bit careful with my funds.

Very recently I bought a Harley Benton EX-76 Classic AN and was overwhelmed by the build quality, playability and value for money so I decided to have another dabble.

I already own a number of strats but have never had a Paisley one and, feeling nostalgic about the 60's, decided to scratch the itch so to speak. I ordered a Harley Benton ST-70 Black Paisley (at roughly a seventh of the cost of a similar 'branded' guitar).

The guitar was delivered on the promised date, very well packaged with no damage suffered during transit.

Upon opening and inspecting the guitar I was surprised by the quality (it isn't quite on par with the EX-76, but is in a different price range). Running my hand down the edges of the fret board I expected a few sharp edges at this end of the market, but was delighted that the sides were smooth and polished.

The guitar certainly looks the business and the heaviness of the product adds to the feeling of quality.

A thorough inspection of the guitar revealed no scratches, blemishes or imperfections.

The guitar was a little difficult to play at first and I assumed it was the fact that it was fitted with 10s in the string department, where I normally have 9s on a strat. However, playing a while longer I decided to drop the action by adjusting the bridge saddles, and it transformed the playability of the guitar.

The Roswell pickups perform very well for house use, the neck pick has a particularly pleasing tone.

Pros

Nice, heavy, quality feel to the guitar.

Lovely finish.

Visually pleasing.

Excellent value for money.

Great sound.

Cons

Guitar arrived with quite high action but this was rectified relatively easily.

The die cast machine heads are far from top quality but a replacement set won't break the bank.

The "Amaranth" fretboard is obviously dyed at the factory as whenever I am finished playing, my fingertips are covered in a dark coloured dye, however, I am sure the more that I play, the less there will be to come off.

The coil tap switch for the humbucker is quite low quality, but for playing in the house it will suffice.

In conclusion, for this type of money I expected to have to replace a few items on the guitar to get it up to standard, but this isn't the case. If you are considering one of these guitars then take the leap, I certainly haven't been disappointed.