Harley Benton ST-57DG Black Tribute 4-stars Reviews

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.

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

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.

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.