Harley Benton ST-62 VW Vintage Series Reviews

Doesn't need much.

The neck feels a wee bit thicker than Strats I've played but for the price, I am very happy to have bought this guitar. Easy, minor mods will improve it.

Amazing guitar for the price

Very gorgeous, sounds pretty nice, although better if the strings are replaced. there isn't any noticeable defects. I love it and will cherish this guitar. Its a little heavy but you get used to it!

Good guitar

Its a good guitar. I had no issues with damage or other issues. Plays well. Would recomend

Good enough for a beginner

Since I didn't have the money to buy the guitar I wanted, this was my choice to have an electric guitar at all.

However, I am not an expert to be able to write about the details, but it is very clear that the magnets are not very good and it often makes noise when it is turned up and put on the crunch effect.

We say: the more money you invest, the more music you get.

All in all, the guitar is good for a beginner who wants to practice.

Thank you

Great vintage

I love the original sound of the strat out of the Roswell single coil pick ups, quality guitar.

After 4 gigs and countless rehearsals...

I have only good things to day about this guitar. Sounds great, stays in tune like a champ and is super nice to play. First thing I noticed when I unpacked the guitar was how comfterbale the neck is and how good it feels in the hand. Sure this is a personal preferance but for me it was just right. I bought the guitar like many just because I wanted a Strat to try out and did not want to pay brand name prices. During the years I have owned about 10 guitars from various brands. And this one is one of my favs, this one is the guitar I tend to pick up and play the most these days. For the last few shows I have been using this one as my main guitar or a back up to my Gibson SG. Only negative point was that the string hight was set way to high, almost unplayable for me. But that is something I can live with for the price. A trip to the guitar doctor and now she sings.

It is hard to belive what quality gear harley benton is putting out when they ask for so little in return.

Still buying them

From payment to receiving item too USA 🇺🇸 4-5 days!

Really like the vintage cream color finish once again is flawless.

Great sounding pickups coming from a guy who mainly used EMG SA pickups in Fender guitars over the years.

I now have 3 of the ST-62 Vintage Series guitars and plan on buying a couple more.

Nothing more than string height adjustment (my preference) this particular guitar has some slight fret barbs or burrs as I call it from being in the Orthopedic industry most of my life.

Very easy fix.

A wonderful guitar

This guitar has a wonderful neck. The maple is satin smooth

Better than my American Stratocaster

Set up was great right out of the box. The intonation was set. The pickups have a bit of a brightness to them which is quite nice. Neck is super smooth. I play this guitar more than any other and sometimes cannot put it down. Move over Leo Fender, Harley Benton has the stage

Good for the money

Bought this guitar on whim, as I often do.

First off, I'll say it's good value for the money.

If you want an entry level into a vintage-esque feeling guitar for very little money, this is a good way to go. By vintage-esque, I mean that the neck is a bit chunkier than a modern Fender. It feels a bit closer to the Fender American Vintage neck profiles but with a flatter radius.

The painwork is fantastic. The pickguard looks great.

The weight is comfortable at 3.48 kg (7 lbs 11 oz) - It balances well and doesn't feel to heavy on the shoulders.

The machine heads are a bit stiff feeling.

The guitar holds tuning well, but only after a set up with my local guitar tech. The fret ends were sharp and they needed levelling. At this price, I kind of expect that.

The pickups are a bit lacking in the sound department. A little dull and a bit noisier than a higher quality Seymour Duncan or Dimarzio set.

The Knobs and switch feel very cheap quality and the output jack doesn't give a reassuring grip that the likes of a switchcraft one would.

You can tell that this guitar is definitely built to it's price point, but for the money, It is the best value in terms of functionality and looks.

If you are seriously looking at a getting a quality, gigable guitar, I would recommend paying a bit more for a Fender Player Series guitar.

Great value

Very cool Old feel 👍🏽

Fantastic guitar for the price!

I bought this guitar because I was living overseas and didn't want to risk buying an expensive guitar and having it shipped to me. Straight out of the box I was very impressed. It needed a slight set-up (new strings, adjust the bridge) but other than that, it was great. I already owned a Les Paul Studio, but I find myself reaching for this guitar more often now. It just feels and plays great.

Pickups a bit messed up, fretboard scratchy, bridge volume pot broken

Great guitars, bad quality control. About 10 minutes into playing, the bridge pickup stopped working, and the bridge volume pot was super loose and broken. I opened the back where the wires are, moved them around a bit, and then it started working. Now it starts and stops working sometimes.

A great budget guitar, punches above its price point

I got this guitar after playing on some squier guitars, so those are the only one electric ones I can compare this to. I went with Harley Benton because I already had an acoustic from them that was also very good for it's price. At first I wanted to cheap out and get the ST-20, but after some online reviews, decided to try this one instead.

After opening the package I was a bit disappointed. Not because there was anything wrong with the guitar, but because the colour that you see on the screen is quite different from the real life colour. Both the body and the neck look a lot more yellowish in real life. I got used to it after a week though and it didn't bother me anymore. While inspecting the guitar, I also noticed that the neck pocket has a bit of a gap, but nothing too serious, does not affect the guitar in any way, but it was definitely noticeable.

After tuning the guitar up, I was pleasantly surprised. It was a lot easier to play than I was used to. And it felt pretty good in the hands, it had a more "real" guitar feel than my squires. The sound is ok, nothing impressive, but not too bad either.

A quick comparison to squires:

- It is definitely better than a bullet strat in terms of both sound and playability.

- It also beats the affinity strats because those are annoyingly thin and do not feel as full sized guitars, although the sound was on the same level.

- It will not beat the Classic Vibe squiers, those are really good.

To summarize:

- Great value

- Was very playable out of the box

- Sounds just OK, a bit too muddy for my taste

- The colour took some getting used to

- I would recommend this guitar to a beginner over the bullet and affinity.

Out of the classic ST style guitars, I think this is one of the best budget options. Probably the best at this price.

Tremenda guitarra

La recomiendo para cualquier nivel

It's now my number one!

I didn't know what to expect as this was my first Harley Benton guitar but I was very happy considering the cost. I usually tinker with affordable guitars but this took the least amount of tinkering. Pretty much all I did was set the neck relief, saddle height and polish the frets.

The best part of this guitar for me is the neck, very comfortable and fast with quite a flat radius too. Chords and soloing are a breeze on this neck being quite slim. The fretboard is gorgeous and a vintage tint to the neck and headstock really makes it pop. Unbelievable for the price 👏

Absolutely Phenomenal

It feels, looks, plays and sounds like heaven. At just over €100 I would say it is an absolute steal! I had a little issue with my payment but it was resolved over the phone in a matter of seconds. By far the best customer service I've gotten.

Lots for the money

Not my first Harley Benton, already rated them as great practice/chilling/modifying guitars. Bought this one to leave lying around the house to jam and noodle on. Did not expect it to take the front spot in my guitar rack... now I need another one for leaving around the house!

Absolutely fabulous guitar to hear, pickups are punchy and lively, really the classic tone. Through a hot and overdriven 6V6 amp you get that real "Texas" sound, but it cleans up nicely too for some shimmering fusion or jangly indie riffs just as well.

Quality of the parts is good, very good even. Switch and pots are sturdy, the bridge is reasonable, tuners are a great vintage look and although there's the occasional dead spot I'm keeping them as-is to maintain the overall look and feel.

Perhaps not the most obvious of colour schemes - off-white with a tort guard and "rosewood" (Pau Ferro) neck, but it's really grown on me. The amber tint of the neck is well executed and makes this guitar look like it's several price brackets up compared to its similar-cost competitors.

A few other good tweaks - whilst most people will just pull it off, the slotted spring cover on the reverse allows for a great out-of-the box compromise between fast adjustment of the bridge and not getting things like clothes caught on the springs.

Also very lightweight but without sounding thin as a result - I could play this for hours (and I do!). Very easy player and holds its own against more expensive models.

Negative points for me primarily come from the fretboard. In fact, pretty much exclusively so. The wood was exceptionally dry (which I expect and was sorted quickly), but also the frets were very, very dull to the point of being overtly scratchy for bending. Likewise, the fretboard radius is flat, much flatter than most S-type guitars, somewhere around the 14" mark rather than even the more "modern" 9 of most guitars in this style, let alone the original 7.25".

Best points: sound, neck feel, weight, price.

Even Better If: Fretboard radius was smaller, frets were polished.

Great Guitar

Punches above it's weight class for the price. Hardware is all great. Neck was great, and with 45 minutes of polishing frets and treating the fretboard, it plays like a dream. I ended up swapping out the pickups; the Roswell pickups are fairly low-output, which may or may not be an issue for some.

My only aesthetic issue was the mismatching of white/cream with the knobs. I ordered cream knobs and swapped them out and it looks as beautiful as anything any major manufacturer sells.

With small upgrades, this became my primary gigging guitar. It plays and sounds like a dream, and if I damage it I won't cry. Every pro should have a few of these handy for rough gigs, and every beginner should be so lucky as to start off with one of these.

Great guitar

This is a super cool guitar, not even considering the low cost. The pickups are quiet, vintage (in a good way) and have an expensive sound. Would definitely recommend.

BUT it is different in color from the photograph - actually more yellow, like a lemon milkshake. It was unexpected, but the guitar is still amazingly beautiful!