Harley Benton ST-62MN SB Vintage Series 5-stars Reviews

Baffling quality for the fraction of the cost

I bought this guitar almost on a whim: saw a couple of very favorable reviews, etc, needed a strat for recording purposes, finally got this, was very low on funds. I have been playing guitar for over 10 years as a band member, as a session player, etc, had my fair share of expensive stuff, at this time just happened to need a strat relatively quickly, and only had a tele and a les paul, which didn't fit the job. Was I surprised.. First of all, the guitar was in tune right out the box (albeit the slightly sharp high E string). The finish looks great, way better than on the photos. The guitar itself is pretty light, just about right for a strat. The neck is, well, not too slim, but not too fat as well, feels like a MIM Fender strat neck, almost identical. Freatboard finish is spectacular, no blemishes, high polish and all. Now the good stuff. I was worried about bad frets/warped neck/electronics/tremolo. None of these things are bad in any way. All it needs is a proper set up (And what I mean by that is , obviously everyone likes a certain set up for a guitar, so it can't be perfect for everyone, I like a floating bridge, a two spring setup, angled claw and so on), after that, it plays like a dream. The pickpus are nice, jangly, just as a strat should be. You'd have to be insane to complain about this guitar, would recommend to anyone looking for a decent strat. Only thing that it needs is a setup according to personal specifications, after that, it's a spectacular piece of equipment. (P.S - When set up right, ya can dive bomb it for a half an hour and it doesn't go out of tune, I was quite pleasantly surprised).

UPDATE:

Okay, it has SOME issues, of which ALL are fixable without much hassle. The issues that mine has are - some frets aren't fully set into the fretboard, which makes them stick out just that much, AND makes some strings at two or three positions buzz. While this is a very low maintenance job, it's still a little annoying, as everything else works perfectly (well, change the string trees, unless You never bend. then again, every strat with non-roller string trees has this problem.) and this seems as such a silly thing to miss. I've carefully set the frets fully into the neck, and now it plays great, but just a word of warning - when buying this, I mean, even with these issues, it's still a complete steal! Sounds great, the tremolo works fine, the finish is fantastic, the neck is comfortable and smooth, even the electronics are absolutely fine.

UPDATE No.2:

I've had it now for four years, so here's my recap. Everything is still working, the neck has been sanded down to a silkier feel, the wiring was resoldered to a different configuration, but as it stands it is still fully original and in working order. It survived gigging, bad conditions, etc. The only thing that went wrong with it is the tremolo arm - it broke off inside, due to me abusing (aka diving till I hit the scratchplate) it all the time during a certain song. (YES it keeps tune if You set it up properly, did it during live shows!) That and the ruined thread of the trem block is sad news, but having in mind my somewhat violent playing, I guess it was to be expected. Even so, it broke only recently, so it was able to whitstand three and a half years of abuse. Overall - fantastic guitar, worth every penny.

really really good!

This thing is great!

I gave my four star rating for quality without considering the cost. For the price, it's way better than it should be.

I was expecting a budget guitar, and would have been very happy with that, but this is a really nice guitar. I have a Fender American Strat, an Ibanez strat-style, and a very cheap Chinese strat-style, and this one better than all but the Fender. And it's not far off the Fender. If it came with a better fret job, I'd call them even.

Looking at the pictures on-line, I guessed that the body had a veneered top, but it isn't, it's solid ash, or something similar. It's not too heavy, but it's definitely hardwood. The sunburst is just like it looks online, and the surface is perfect. Shiny and smooth. There aren't any flaws that I can find anywhere. All the woodworking is spot-on. There are no fitting gaps or blemishes. The neck is aligned and seated tight.

The neck is thick, and the fretboard is wide for a strat. The frets are fairly big. The tuners work well and feel smooth. The nut is cut well, needing no adjustment.

The setup was pretty good out of the box. I put half a turn on the truss rod, lowered all the bridge saddles about 1/2mm and set the intonation on a couple of the strings, but otherwise nothing at all was needed. The fretwork is good, not great, nothing that needs fixing.

It sounds good! Very middle of the road in terms of tonality. Not too weak, not too hot. It pretty much sounds like a '62-ish fender, which makes sense, given the model number.

Overall, this guitar exceeded what I expected in every aspect. I'm really amazed. With some slightly better tuners and a bridge, and a better fret job, this guitar would be the equal of any guitar.