Harley Benton ST-70RW Deluxe Series

solid,great sounding guitar

good weight to this guitar...sound is good in all pick-up positions..looks great aesthetically...not the best quality hardware..but for the price point...really good value for money..maybe not the guitar for gear snobs..but i like to take this guitar on the road occassionally....it plays really well

Great guitar for the money

For years I bought SX strats and teles to hotrod, so I know a really good guitar when it's in my hands. This HB is every bit as good as the SX guitars I bought. Put in some better pups, tusq nut, Grover tuners and 500k pots and you've got a pretty decent guitar for under $350. Beat that, Fender!

Love it!

Great Strat, can’t believe I got such a good guitar for so little money. I upgraded the tuners (they weren’t terrible, but they weren’t great either) but everything else is good to go. I wouldn’t hesitate to gig or record with this guitar, and I’d put it up against a high end Squier or a mexican Fender Strat any day of the week.

very happy beautiful looks finish sound and playability

Not for me

I was initially quite skeptical about buying a guitar online without playing it first and this proved to be well founded. When the guitar arrived, I was excited to get my hands on it and to see what it could do.

First impressions weren't bad - the finish on the body was ok for the money and the chrome hardware looked good. Playing-wise I noticed the action was set a bit higher than I would have liked and on inspecting the neck/fretboard I found out why. The finishing on the fret ends were very poor and a couple of the frets at the lower end were sitting too high making a lower action impossible without fret buzz.

On the plus side, the guitar did stay in tune very well even with some tremelo playing and the pickups provided some excellent tones.

However, overall I am disappointed as having read previous reviews I thought you could get a bargain at this price point, but the quality of the neck and fretboard have confirmed my initial fears - "buy cheap - buy twice" and the guitar has been returned.

Fantastic Guitar

Recently recieved my order and I am very happy with the product i recieved. Fantastic value for money, great delivery service

amazing price/value ratio! very happy!

I am a metal guy, I have decided to learn blues and I wanted a cheap but nice guitar next to my seven string. I was happy to see this guitar from the Deluxe series and it did not dissapointed me. Really great single coils, surpised how different sounds you can get of coil splits. The finish is very nice, fret ands are not sharp, not cutting (as I have read on some other Harley Benton reviews), tuners are holding great, not de-tuned after a week of not using the guitar. Tremolo could be better, but thats due the .10 string set is too thick, IMHO. Probably a .09 set would fit the guitar better. Anyhow, I can recommend this instrument for anybody for a single coil strat guitar!

I couldn't fault it!

I've had good experiences with Harley Benton instruments in the past, so when it came to looking for a cheap Strat copy, they were my first port of call.

I was originally looking at the vintage models when I noticed the Rosewood version and although it was a little more expensive (not much more), I feel that it was worth every penny.

Good Points:

- fit and finish were excellent.No sharp fret ends, no fret buzz.

- truss rod operates smoothly and does what it's supposed to.

- pickups are great. I've honestly felt no need whatsoever to upgrade them. It sounds like a really nice Strat!

- the rosewood finish looks lovely!

- Hardware does what it's supposed to - tuners hold their tune and the tremolo functions as expected (just don't go divebombing on it!)

- Soundwise, the bridge gives you the classic Strat twang, the middle pickup sounds suitably quacky and the neck pickup is my favourite - nice and mellow. The two humbucking configurations (bridge and middle / middle and neck) have that slightly scooped sound that you expect.

- I didn't even have to tinker much with the setup out of the box!

- nice vintage tinted glossy neck (if you like that sort of thing as I do)

Bad Points:

- I honestly couldn't think of any - the stock strings were D'Addario if I recall.

It's a great-looking and sounding Strat - give it a go!

Good looking and good sound

Needed little setup, throstrod adjusted, action little high and looking to replace nut with tusq do or something like that( just need to measure it correctly:).

Very happy with my purchase and this was my second Harley Benton and third one has made it's way home also so loving this brand :)

One weird thing, very light guitar, like extremely light, not sure if it is a sign of anything...

It has been nearly a year since I bought it and only thing that needed adjustments was the neck, which is easy (1/4 turn right and straight as it should be) with the supplied tool.

Recommended

Monstrously good guitar

I'd already got a TE-70 so was well aware of the awesome value these guitars are. Now I've got its twin, I feel like I've got a pair of pro-level guitars for silly money.

On this one, though, I did have to toy with the set-up a little: the guitar came with 10s and an action slightly higher than I like. After a bit of fiddling with the truss-rod and placing a shim under the heel of the neck, I've got the action right down on 9s. My fingers now slip around the neck with real ease and the guitar is a joy to play.

The palette of sounds is strat-tastic - I don't know how it compares to a prestige instrument, but I can hear everyone from Ritchie Blackmore to Stevie-Ray Vaughan to Robert Cray.

I'm tempted to dock it a mark because one of the grub screws in the bridge saddle has got mashed. That would be unfair, though - for the money this guitar is simply sensational!

I recommend it without hesitation.