Harley Benton ST-57DG Black Tribute Reviews

Killer Guitar

I bought this to my little cousin, who's starting to play the guitar. Man what a sound! I have a Fender Strat and this comes really close to it ... It's amazingly built, the pickups are great, and it's strikingly beautiful. Hopefully Harley Benton keeps the same quality, because this is a no brainer of a purchase. It blows Squiers away.

You probably can't get better gear for the price. It really feels like a guitar from higher league. Finish is great, came well set, vibrato bridge does not de-tune the guitar (which is really suprising). If you're looking for spare guitar, or want to try ST style without spending too much money I totally reccomend this one.

I wanted a project guitar

I’ve been a Pink Floyd fan since I was a kid in the 70’s, I bought the DG model because it’s The Black Strat, and I have some outdoor gigs that I’m a bit squeamish about taking my more valuable guitars out into the heat or rain.

The quality of this one is ok. It arrived very quickly - I was shocked how soon I got it. The truss rod needed adjustment and the neck needed a shim. The nut needed replacement, but I was going to do that anyway. The pickups are next, and maybe sanding and repainting the body - there is a definite line along the contour of the body.

Pros: best value around. Cons: will need a setup from a very good luthier.

Neck feels great. Pickups a bit thin compared to a “real” Strat

A player’s guitar. Most screw holes were stripped

Buy this one, and one or two more - they’re great for everyone from beginners to weekend warriors in a bar band.

The frets are a bit rough and every screw on the pickguard are not in straight. Tone and volume knobs look cheap.

Difficult to find fault at this price point

The overall fit and finish is easily as good and in some cases better than many Strat type guitars at higher price point, there were no high frets, no fret sprout and no sharp edges at the ends of the frets and the body seems to be a bit thicker than usual on low end Strats. The guitar arrived set up pretty well though I lowered the action to personal taste, only small niggle was that the e,b and g strings were badly corroded and tonally dead, no big deal but I should've ordered new strings with the guitar, once new strings were fitted the guitar held tune very well even with light trem use, out of interest, unlike the usual for Strat type guitars the bridge is not set floating, it is flat against the body so the trem only works one way, not an issue for me . For personal taste I will probably swap out the pick ups and up grade the electrics. Overall a very good guitar for the money, punches well above its' weight.

Quite decent for the money

After a few days of testing I might say that considering its price, the guitar fulfilled my expectations. Here are some pros and cons which might help you decide which cheap strat-like guitar you want to buy.

+ Overally good manufacturing

+ Very decent fretjob, not common in this price range

+ Knobs and pickup switch do what they are supposed to do

+ Exceptional tuning mechanism - holds the tone over days

- Whammy bar wouldn't fit in the hole. When I finally managed to screw it inside for at least a few turns, it was obviously stuck in the position and wouldn't move at all, making tremolo useless.

If it weren't for the whammy bar, the guitar would have received 5/5 for quality from me. As I only use the guitar for home practice, I can't really tell how good it is for gigs, but it certainly is a good choice for both beginners and advanced players. Moreover, "raw guitar" might be a good starting point for further upgrades.

Not to forget to mention, when I unpacked the guitar, it was actually tuned. However, one string was out of the nutbone. This was probably a mistake made by the setup team.

Big dissapointment

Failed to deliver on expectation with this one, I am not sure if its the pickups or just me, but the sound is a bit flat and lifeless., tried 8s 9s and 10s to see if I can get a better tone out of the guitar but still lacking...Looks good though on the wall...

Good guitar, mixed quality

The guitar feels and sounds great, however the frets were uneven in my case.

I realised this after getting rid of the original package, which meant I could not easily return the item. A fret job from a luthier fixed the issue, but it is not great to buy something new with such low quality control.