Harley Benton ST-57DG Black Tribute Reviews

Harley Benton ST-57DG Black Tribute

The guitar arrived quickly. I opened the carton and found it packed and protected in the best possible way. I couldn't resist and then I connected it to the amplifier. The Saund is simply amazing, sounds like a 1970s Stratocaster. it came With a perfect finish I admitted a little the height of the strings. perfect intonation there was no need to tune. Highly recommended.

Great for the price

Overall quality was good. I had no problems with it and everything was as expected. The setup was fine right out of the box. The only thing that I didn’t like was the sound on the bridge pickup but that is personal preference.

Excellent quality guitar, arrived perfect and setup spot on

I was shocked to find that this guitar arrived absolutely perfect, no flaws, perfectly setup with a nice low action and decent tone. I love the neck shape and the natural finish of the neck which is a little chunkier than Im used to, but very nice indeed. The pickups are decent, I can get the tones out of them that I want and the tone pots are a little unresponsive until the last 1/4 turn but hey I have had much more expensive guitars that have been not even half as nice as this. The whammy bar is a pain, it doesnt lock into the hole so it can just drop out although I may be missing something here as Ive never had a push in whammy bar.

Overall a really nice guitar that may or may not be upgraded in the future.

Amazing

Blows fender out of the water,,,,period.

Good Strat!

I am a Pro Musician, Got this for the road..one of my favorites now for songwriting. Simple, solid, good neck and pickups, also, not too heavy. Good job guys!

Best guitar for the buck

It is amazing that we can get such a quality guitar for such a small amount. While it is not the perfect, flawless guitar, it's definitely the best for the money.

More than I expected

Beautiful guitar I’m very pleased.

Great guitar for the price

A bit of background first; I'm a working drummer who has always played a bit of guitar, but never seriously. Recently I decided to get into the guitar seriously. I've owned a Gibson Sonex since 1983, but I've always wanted a strat. A guitar player friend suggested HB.

Overall, I'm quite happy with this guitar. It looks beautiful, and the finishing is pretty good, except for the frets. The ends are a bit sharp, and they could also use a good polishing.

Sound wise, the guitar was unplayable upon delivery due to a strong back bow. I had to tighten up the truss rod quite a bit, which was a first for me. From there I just had to adjust the intonation and all was fine.

The guitar sounds good, but there are a few spots where weird overtones creep in. Tuning stability isn't the best. Aggressive bending or moderate whammy bar activity will put it out of tune in no time.

Having said all this, I can't put this guitar down. I've put in more practice in the 4 months I've had this guitar than I have in the last 10 years. It's a blast to play, and it certainly has all of the classic Strat tones. I'd say it's even good enough for bar gigs and home recording.

Overall, it's great value for the money, and I already have my eye on a few other HB guitars.

Pretty bang on.

This guitar is pretty spot on for the money. Alder body has a good weight. The satin neck is very playable, the Tusq nut provides good stability. The pickups are fine, no need to upgrade. Tuners and bridge saddles feel good (bridge comes hard tailed) all I had to do was restring, adjust action and intonation and it was good to go. Frets may need a polish but no sharp ends. All in all I would say the quality is as good as my £375 classic vibe strat. Well worth the money, great product.

Good guitar

The guitar is good, i came like greasy but apart from that it was good

Terrible quality control

I was very excited ordering this guitar after watching and reading the reviews.

However when i received it a was extremely disappointed.

The fingerboard has a dent in it on the 8th fret, the shaft on the first tone pot is bent and the selector switch is very noisy. This may have happened during transit as there was a hole in the box exactly where the selector switch is. The finish on the guitar is also very poor; there is a very visible joint where the wood was glued together for the body during manufacture.

Seems quality control by inspector 1593 didnt do a great job on my guitar

Stellar!

There isn't much to say about this one, it plays great, it sounds great. Fit and finish is flawless on the one I was sent and it can easily nail a lot of the Pink Floyd tones you'd be looking for!

Very good value

I had a MIM Fender Strat before this one, and the difference between that and this HB is very small. The Fender's pickups are a little better, but the HB came set up way better (Fender's tremolo system wasn't functional, HB's works and holds tuning quite well) at 1/3 the price! Definitely recommend.

Another masterpiece made affordable

I already own a Fender re-issue (one of 14 guitars now 16) and I am quite impressed how Harley Benton ST-57DG sounds and plays as good at a fraction of the cost of the Fender. Awesome. Excellent setup, no intonation issues, no buzz, all in all good.

Very good playing and sounding guitar

Would recommend if you want the strat sound for a cheap/ish price. Pickups sound good and the neck is very comfy. also the trem system holds tune well.

Unfortunately unplayable

I bought this guitar hoping it will come with at least some basic setup. Unfortunately, all of the strings just have this awful buzz, and the guitar is unusable. Other guitars that I've bought through time came with at least some kind of a setup, and this one is...dunno even what to say. I hate leaving bad reviews, but this particular guitar (not saying that the entire series is like that) is just awful. Too bad, I had high hopes and good recommendations from a couple of friends.

Pros - It's a guitar, and it's cheap. For someone who wants a little project, it's probably great. For the end user not so much.

Cons - Based on all the reviews, I thought it was going to be at least half decent. It wasn't.

very very smooth gutiar

looks killer. and I play as much on my strat, as on my expensive Charvel... It feels like a mexican standard strat for 3 times less money.

The fingerboard is a little flatter, and that's the only difference in feel I can describe...

Great bang for the buck

superb for the cost unbelievable product

With this price tag there is nothing to complain about. The only negative observation i have - it loses tuning when im using the bar. Very nice looking and sounds more expensive than it is.

Impressions

At first I was happy with the delivery. At first glance, beauty. The guitar has weight. The guitar neck is elegant, satin and lightly tinted. It is pleasant and comfortable to the touch, straight as a bayonet. The frets of the guitar do not bite, wide, aesthetic. Kluson style machine heads are beyond praise. Nut TUSQ XL, although it does not have a label. The strings lie deep in the nut, but the top can be removed. Nut is set well.

There are no large gaps anywhere, everything is fitted. Still, a little tuning of the string height is needed. The pickups are a little high, but this is subjective.

It is not clear, but the edges of the pickguard do not have a chamfer. Will have to change.

The tremolo system is successful.

Potentiometers are good. 5-Way toggle switch is not heard.

In general, the body and neck of the guitar without flaws.

Sound like a stratocaster can’t be said anymore. It's good.

Harley Benton ST-57DG Black Tribute is no worse than Squire, and in some places even nicer.

In the end, I was pleasantly surprised by the products of Harley Benton. I also bought a JB 75 bass, this will be written in another place. But also satisfied. I can advise friends.