Elmo - Thank you for yet another kickass, yet educational video! I thought all of these guitars sounded great in your hands. I don’t always care about the particular guitar you’re playing, rather I come for the awesome sounds you create. Thank you so much for all of your time and presentation of these videos.
Hi from Málaga (Spain)!! Thank you very much for all your videos. They are a great help for all of us. You are a fabulous guitarist and musician. Chears!!
You are making such exceptional videos. You do a great job on being specific about what you're evaluating, I'm looking up terms as you're mentioning them and learning so much. It is very rare to find someone who is clearly talented and extremely knowledgeable, but also focused on being honest and educational rather than making marketing videos. I am new and enjoyed using a PRS Silver Sky in a shop, I was planning to ask your opinion on the guitar if you've used it, but I saw you've already made an entire video on PRS vs HB so I'm in luck! I hope your channel blows up, the amount of work you are putting into this channel really comes through, this is the best guitar related channel I've found.
Really really enjoyed this video Elmo. Especially since I'm in the market for a strat and i love Harley Benton guitars. Even with shipping to the US they're still cheaper than buying an equivalent in the States. For the most part anyway. Im curious about something though and this isn't directed at anyone in particular but ive often wondered why people are so quick to mod Harley Benton guitars? My SC 450 plus is beautiful since i got it. I genuinely love the tones i get out of the Roswell humbuckers and I even bought a set of Roswell humbuckers for another guitar. The ones in it were microphonic and just squealed. I don't look at swapping the nut as modding, because to me that's just preventative maintenance. It prevents a person from chucking the guitar out the window when it doesn't hold tune😂. The simplest solution ive ever found for pickups is an EQ pedal. If they aren't active or microphonic, pickups are pickups. Some have a little more gain or clarity but it's nothing that can't be remedied with a little extra EQ. I bought a used Walrus Audio EB-10 EQ pedal that works for all my guitars and saved a boatload of money by not throwing new pickups at everything. Even the stock pickups in my LTD HSS guitar sound good with a little help. My Roswells sound fantastic. The stock Roswells in my old Fusion 3 were brilliant. I just added 2db of treble and middle with an EQ pedal and it was fantastic. For anyone reading this, it's just a little food for thought.
As an Australian I can’t easily get my hands on Harley Benton products but listening to you I find myself believing they are at least worth the asking price. I’m pretty sure Artist guitar S type objects, which are similarly specified and also considered budget, of which I own many, are at the very least a good bet. I have Mexican strays, affinity and bullet squiers and these all have strengths and weaknesses. For the sake of this argument, my favourite and most used,practice and live guitar is a hss Artist SType , probably equivalent to Harley Benton , price, features and playability
I have the st -70RW Deluxe serie. Comes with Wilkinson bridge. Changed the pickups for Tex Mex pickups. Have the bridge laying to the body. Now I'm happy with it.
I've got a few ST62 models and the ST90, ST20 - I love them all. Just as good as my Fender Performer USA model. Sure there is a bit of fret sprout on the ST90 but I still love playing it. Great vid as always Elmo - keep up the good work.
Hi, John. I am thinking on getting the ST-90 over the ST-62. How is the tremolo and the pickups on yours? even though the HB ST62 is the highest rated, I find that wood color so beautiful on ST90.
@@entretantosmundosgaming4974 Hello, The ST90 is a higher quality/grade guitar the the 62 range. Whilst the ST90 states its a VT series on the head stock I feel this is an error by Harley Benton and on Thomans website this is listed a "deluxe" series. As far as I am aware, only one model of the ST62 is a DELUXE RANGE, the ST-62DLX VW (it states deluxe on the head stock - other ST62 state VINTAGE VT) Take a good look at the 2-Point tremolo system on the ST90. Much better than the other style on the ST62. Please keep in mind its a heavy guitar(ST90). The pickup are the same in the ST62/ST90. If my ST90 was lost or stolen I would buy it again.
@@johnsmith-nd9yo Thank you for your insight. I think I might take the plunge and get the ST90. I’m not worried about the weight, as I usually play sitting in my living room.
I know you had the Vintage brand Strat I still would take them over a HB I own the V6P it was a 2017 model with 3 stacked P90's what I love is the full size staggered trem block and I will be honest the guitar stays in tune even slamming on the whammy bar the neck is brilliant , but let's be frank HB has given a decent option, and like with many they will require a full setup , can't knock them , as always Elmo you give an honest no bs review ,
I have the ST-62cc (in the charcoal frost finish, which looks great in my opinion) - and I love it. It sounds good, plays great, and stays in tune really well, to the point where I rarely need to mess with it. The two things I would say to keep in mind about it is that the trem arm feels very stiff, so its either tight or loose, not a huge middle ground. (although maybe its just mine?) And the other thing is that the neck was pretty thick compared to a fender Strat I played, so it feels pretty different to me, but that's a preference thing. I think its great for the price regardless. EDIT: unrelated, but I also just bought the Harley Benton DNAfx GiT Advanced that just came out, and its my first ever amp sim/multi effects pedal thing. And I'm finding it to be a lot of fun, even if I'm confused on how to use this sort of thing with the IR stuff and all that. But considering that no one has a video about this model yet - that I guess is supposed to be in between the pro model and the base version, it would be cool to see you compare it to other stuff in its price range if you felt like making a video like that. (maybe a bit of a tutorial for dumb folk like me too?)
The only Strat style guitar in my house at the moment is a Jet JS400 belonging to my teenage son. Really nice budget option provided you get a good one - I've seen claims that they are a bit hit and miss but his is a little gem and still his "go to" most of the time. He is about to graduate, probably to a Sire S7 or a Fender Player series as reward for his past year's progress. (That's a secret though). As far as Harley Benton guitars go, we own five between us. My favourite is my TE-62 DB, a wonderful T Style guitar for its price point and I probably play it more than anything else I own - aside from my Sire T7 and that's quite surprising, but it just makes me want to pick it up. We each own a SC-450 Plus Vintage which I think is one of the nicest budget single cut LP copies out there, great value for money and they look beautiful - we have one in Lemon Drop and one in Vintage Burst. My son also has a cherry red HB-35 Plus semi-hollow 335 copy, and a JB75 MN Jazz Bass in sunburst - again, for the money, both are very good instruments. Sound wise, I've never had any complaints about any of them but of course such things are subjective and I'm sure some players would find fault somewhere. The Roswell pickups used in most of them, be they single coils or humbuckers, have always sounded pretty good to me. To date, I've not bought a Harley Benton that had any significant problems - I almost always put new strings on any new guitar and aside from that, a quick setup is the most I've ever needed to do....intonation and maybe a slight truss rod tweak but to be honest they've all been playable right out of the box. The frets on my son's SC450 were the only ones that needed slight attention - they were scratchy and dirty on arrival but after a quick polish they were perfectly fine. No sprout and no uneven heights or other issues requiring tools on any of them. Sure, the fretwork is inferior to that which you would find on more expensive guitars but that's not to say it's bad, far from it. My own Sire is a case in point - a lot of time and work was put into that neck and board and the finish is streets ahead by comparison. However, it cost considerably more than the humble HB so you would expect, or at least hope it would be. To anyone who is thinking about a reasonably priced T-Style I'd highly recommend considering/trying the Sires - the T7 represents amazing value at around £500 and they now have the cheaper T3 that comes in at only around £350-£390 and which some players have said they prefer over the 7. If you want a budget Tele though, the TE-62DB is a great choice - £135.00 delivered is quite astonishing value for money.
Not a strat but I have the Harley Benton sc 450plus vintage and I’m in love with it iv had it a year now and for a les Paul copy it’s Damm near perfect and the lemon drop finish is incredible
The other day I said to myself "hey where's that guy on UA-cam who was a genuine help to you when buying some instruments awhile back?" Today you showed up in my feed. I apologise for not subscribing back when you were great in helping make an online choice. I've amended this today ;) I think it's great that this generation of kids / new learners has Harley Benton out there. I was born in '67, so my cheap instrument buying days were in the 80s, when cheap was cheap. You pay cheap, you get it back. My first Bass was a Fender copy by Memphis. The action was so high on it, but I had no clue it was, because no one told me it was. How would I know? So I learned Squire, Clarke, Harris, Graham, Butler on a Bass with action so high it's a miracle I never stopped completely. Ignorance is bliss. When I finally bought a decent Bass, which was an Aria Pro II, I found out I could actually PLAY! Why Aria Pro? Because that's what I could afford still in High School, working a part time job, and selling off my comic book collection. Gibson? Fender? These were dreams. I got what I could get. Just like all my other friends who played instruments did, unless they inherited the instrument from someone else. Harley Benton really should be congratulated, and it's kind of cool to be witness to a brand starting to rise up, and redefine what the build quality of an instrument is, and how much you should pay for it. It feels like now, if someone said, "my first guitar was a Harley Benton", no one's going to laugh at you. It's not a joke to get something for under £300 (I'm in the UK) and have it be a working, playable, pleasant instrument to play, and record with. I have a few Harley Bentons, and the most prized is the JA-60SB, which I STILL HAVE NOT CHANGED THE STRINGS ON IT FROM PURCHASE 2 YEARS AGO. It was such a great guitar out of the box, I dared not change a thing to alter its tone. And £139.00, in a bundle deal. It's not that they're accurately replicating the brands they're in design spec with. Though I did hear a Harley Benton ST Modern middle position come very close to the middle position on a Fender CW Stratocaster in a video the other day! It's that they're offering you an instrument that kind of has it's own sound. And it's a decent sound. It's value for money. No it's not a Fender (or a Gibson) but you're still getting something that sounds good. Sometimes, depending on what you're looking for, maybe better? Sorry that was so long, I just think Harley Benton are gamechangers. But we won't see how much of one for another 10 years or so. I also wanted to apologise for not subscribing back a bit, and correct my error! ;) Thanks for your uploads, you do truly help.
PS - out of these, the ST-70 gets my vote. Harley Benton knows it's the player, not the instrument that makes them sound good. But giving the player the right tools to do this, is what Harley Benton are trying to strive for, and also allow it to be obtainable on a budget. Which is really great nowadays, cuz you have to rent Adobe to read a PDF, ya know? You're a fantastic player, and every Harley Benton you played, allowed you to demonstrate your ability. Some better than others, which is what it's really down to. But that's great for a person who is just starting to learn on an instrument, and maybe their parents are buying it for them as a gift, or they're somehow coming up with the money themselves working at McDonalds. Either way, they can come here, watch you play great, on an instrument less than ........... it says "hey, I can do that too one day. And this guitar is good enough to allow me to get that good." And that's what matters. That a manufacturer can inspire someone to be creative, to be something else. So once again, thanks for what you do. It's valuable. You may be helping the next Jimi Hendrix (there will never be another one, just saying) to go for it, and Harley Benton is not a bad place to start. Yes, get a Fender or a Gibson one day, I have Fenders myself, and one day, I'd love to get a Gibson Nighthawk (I have the Epiphone version from 2011, not those new ones, those are fugly.) But I record with Harley Bentons, Epiphones, Squiers because they do put out affordable versions of what you dream for. And sometimes THEY'RE BETTER.
Ah shit, I just got to the whammy bar test. The ST-70 didn't do all that well!!! I retract based on that. The sound of it was great. The whammy lets it down big time.
Hello there, love your vids. I've learned alot technic wise, and the shredding tips have been helping very much. I bought a second hand St62 and i love it, incredible fretwork, tremolo is really good too, tuners are meh ( couldn´t be all good) but the thing i love the most is the neck shape. It feels full but it sits really good in the hand, its something one must try to understand it. Anyways, excellent work and keep doing this great work, Cheers!
I have their cheapest telecaster (TE-20) (please do a telecaster comparison video too!) to learn everything about electric guitars. To play them, to maintain them, to customize them myself, and so on. I haven't learnt to play yet but I've upgraded some parts on it such as locking tuners, string trees, neck nut, bridge saddles and changing the strings. As I do not know much about guitars and how to play them my impression of the TE20 IMHO is very good, I was contemplating between their DIY-kit and this model as the price is almost the same. As far as I remember the setup on it when it arrived was fairly good, had to adjust intonation and string heights first when I changed the bridge saddles. Everything seems just fine to my eyes and ears. I really only have two complaints after owning it for some time: 1) One of the pots have been getting a bad connection when turned down really low (if I remember correctly it's the tone pot) 2) Thomann's Harley Benton locking tuners are not consistent. Some are really precise and good, some feels really loose. At some point I'll probably get into switching out the electronics, pickups and locking tuners to something better. The funny part is, if I for example upgrade the locking tuners to an actual quality brand then those tuners alone will cost more than the whole guitar from the store.
I thought the ST62 was the best as well Elmo. HB guitars are however a bit hit and miss so you never know. Well done again man and keep 'em comin'. A the K
Still have my ST62 from 8 years ago. Works very well for me. I just upgraded the string string tree to roller, applied graphite in the nut and switched the bridge pickup to a cheap amazon hotrail humbucker clone. The guitar has not moved at all and is very well built. The pickups and electronic could be a point to upgrade depending on taste.
I have one from 2017 that has held up well, except the trem arm has ground its windings in the bridge plate and I would need to replace both parts. Everything else is fine and I would not change the pick-ups.
I recently sold a HB TE53-KR Keith Richards Tribute Tele....that guitar had a gorgeous finish BUT it weighed 10lbs ! Once I sold it, I got a HB SSS ST62 VW Strat style/..same model you demo'd...and I agree it's probably the best model S type. . Best $200 USD (incl tax) from HB US distributer; Reverb. I have ever spent on an electric guitar AND was pleasantly surprised weighed just under 7lbs ! BUT you always need to be aware of potential sharp frets and heavy ass guitars.
very awaited video, well done,. I concluded that from st 62 these strats have chunkier tremblock don't they? Next comparison could be a jet 300 vs st 62. I really like your gear tests.
This is exactly the video I needed, at this exact moment in life. You have inspired me to give a strat style guitar a try. We'll, David Gilmour helped a bit too. But thanks!😊😅
The reason why none of these guitars really feel like strats IMHO is the fretboard radius. HB doesn't do 7.25" or 9.5" radius, which is typical for Fender. They're all 12" or more.
Good job! A very thorough video. I’m certainly not suggesting this, but it would be interesting to see a “6 Cheap Strat” comparison using six of the exact same model of HB Strat. From what I hear about HB guitars, you’d probably get six different results. Harley Benton seems like such a love/ hate brand, and I think it’s due to inconsistent builds and quality control.
The fretwork is a problem in general by Harley Benton guitars, i have one that has no..... no problems at all, i onley have changed the pick-ups for now! You have to invest to get your final juicy guitar IMHO! Thank you for this astonishing test...... 😊
Maybe the ST-62 has to be premium(er) because only the ST-20 was the other SSS option for lefties. While the latter has much brighter sound, neck wins on the 62 imho. Nice video Elmo, thank you!
Very nice comparison. Should have been here two months ago. Bought a Jet JS-300 in May. A first batch apparently with high gloss neck and nicer logo. Did I make a wrong decision?
I have the ST-25Th bit more expensive and I am sure it is sold out, but it had issues when I first got it. I have heard that some come to users perfect. I had to adjust the trust rod, and had to file down some of the edges, it has fret sprout. I got it as a mod platform. The pickups are a bit dark for my tastes, so I will change them out at a later time when I have some extra cash. I can say the best guitar from HB I have is the CST24 IT is a PRS knock off, but it is absolutely fantastic, low action and easy bends as well as fits a smaller hand if you have one, like me.
I have a harleybenton cabronita copy. It's a tele style guitar with filtertron pickups. I love that instrument. Price was ridiculous. At such prices you should expect quality to be a lottery. Try before buy.
Out of the ones you have tested i only have the HM 59, which took a lot of setting up and upgrading and it is still a bit mehh. Harley Benton's like other brands entry level samples are so hit and miss that i don't buy them anymore. Save up and try a Fusion model, they are way better spec'd and tend to be playable out of the box. Buy cheap, buy twice comes to mind.
Hey Elmo, love your videos man. Also if possible Can you review the Cort G300 pro ? I’m searching for a modern-ish reliable stable guitar around like 500-600 pounds. Cheers ❤️
I have two Harley Benton guitars-a TE-20 in metallic blue and a JB-75 MN bass in black. I really like them both. I’ve since modded the fudge out of the TE-20 because I wanted to try that. Everything with the exception of the scratch plate, body and neck have been swapped and that includes the nut. The only thing I don’t like about both of them are the necks; they’re a bit thick. I understand this may be to teach newcomers the proper distance between your palm and the back of the neck. But then I don’t know if that’s for certain.
I’m a lefty and three years ago they only had the 62 in black so I bought it then recently they had green and blue around the time of their 25th anniversary or whatever it was I got the green one different neck than the black one same pick ups sound different but sound similar and I change the pick guards on the black one to mint green and the mint green one to black my little book ends love them
I bought the ST 62. It had some fret sprout and a few that I had to hammer in because they had lifted. One of the frets had a ding in it like the B string had at some point been hammered into it. Things like this make a guitar unusable for a beginner in my opinion so I would stay away from the cheaper Harley strats and try to find something used. But aside from these fret issues there was always something a bit off about it., if you know what I mean. The neck was uncomfortably shaped. It felt very different from the Strats I have owned, and the pickups sounded a bit cheap and hollow to my ear. I much prefer the Squire. And if you can get one used that has had all these juvenile problems corrected that would be the best thing. I have two other HB guitars, A double cut and an absolutely brilliant HB35 semi hollow, so I have nothing against the Harley Benton brand.
Do you think the Strats dont feel like Strats, as you said in the end, is because of the 12 inch (in some cases almost 14) radius? I think one of the things Jet has over the HB is the traditional fret board radius
On a whim I bought into the hype and got a Jet JS300, S-style; and given the identical headstock shape, I believe it came out of the same factory as H-B. Again it had poorly finished frets which needed a LOT of work to get to an acceptable playing condition. I think it's safe to assume that cheap guitars are not going to benefit from the same time-consuming attention to detail as more expensive alternatives. My other Strats (Fender 70th Anniversary MIM, and Special Edition black and gold MIM), are in a different league altogether; that said there was a period, not so long ago, when Mexican Fenders also had issues with poorly cut nuts and shoddy fret work. In my opinion if you want a decent S-style which won't have gritty frets and fret sprout, spend a little more on a Yamaha Pacifica.
I have owned a few.. including an old ibanez like one which was not so good but i made it work with some care.. however.. i have also owned a higher line benton - namely th ex84 modern and that was a brilliant guitar.. one of the best i have ever played while it was still quite cheap. grover tuners, impecable fretwork.. i didnt like the roswell pickups but there is an emg version of it for about 50 extra euros.. i regret deeply that i sold it
I thought the comparison was very good, though I wish you had been able to add the HB ST-Modern/Modern Plus. It is probably out of the price range you are targeting, but it is an HSS, has locking tuners, Tesla Pickups, Babicz trem, Graphite nut, stainless steel rolled frets and rolled fingerboard edges. Significantly higher in price, but does not need any upgrades at all. They seem to be getting very good reviews, though I think there are some initial production issues and inconsistencies that need to be ironed out. I am seriously considering one.
One other thing, I think it is a really good idea to have HB or Sweetwater for that matter, do a full setup, even PLEK if you can afford to, before it is shipped. This should catch most QC issues and most guitars are going to need a setup anyway. Just my two cents.
@@wlkalong Guitars are set up to their strings just like seat and mirrors in a car are set to the driver's size and preferences. Learn to do it yourself and you'll have optimal playability. Pay someone else and you'll get a compromise.
@@Leo_ofRedKeep I can actually do basic setups on LP's and Teles/Strats, but the advantage of having somebody like HB do it is they will probably do a better job because they do it all the time and in the process they will find things that might be wrong with it, like bent neck, dead pickup, very sharp fret ends, etc. and not ship it to you in the first place. Returning guitars is a huge pain in the ass for me. Not to mention, the whole process of proving it needs to be returned.
@@wlkalong So what you really want is another quality check and hope that paying for a set-up will make this happen. Maybe. But serious flaws would have been found the first time around already so you'll still get uneven frets and action set higher than you could do yourself.
@@Leo_ofRedKeep With the vast volume of online orders and the number of people who get guitars (including myself) that should never have been shipped in the first place, I don't think QC at the factory or even large companies is consistent. It seems like many are shipped without the factory box even being opened. I know most new guitars need a setup, new strings, and a thorough inspection (which a setup requires). This takes care of these things for a reasonable amount of money. Well worth it to me. It might not be worth it to you.
Cool test! What's the weight of the ST 90 swamp ash guitar? I have a TE 52 from Harley Benton and while it's a great guitar in terms of quality and playability, it's heavy as fuck...
I didn't bother to buy a Strat as I have a Yamaha Pacifica, but I got a Harley Benton TE-62CC as I've always fancied a Tele and it had decent reviews. I have to be honest, I don't like it. Frets lovely, it looks nice, it has the slight Telecaster twang but it just sounds a bit rubbish to me, maybe it says more about my playing. I also bought a Harley Benton SC-450Plus GT Vintage Series (on your recommendation) and that one is lovely to play and sounds great and makes me want to pick it up all the time. Even with your amazing playing skills, the sounds those Strats made were hurting my ears so I'm surprised you didn't say to avoid them all
I know it would be hard to organise but it would be great to do a comparison of the winner of this video with other budget S types like Soloking, Sire, Jet, Vintage, Squire, etc🎸🤘🏻
broo !!! on tuesday the fender player II came out with rosewood and rounded edges on the fretboard, kluson tuners and new ash and mahogany body woods (these last two will be released in october of this year). They came out for $800 in my opinion it would be better if they offered them between $650 and $700. Sorry for the google translator
These sort of remind me of Rondo Music guitars SX strat copies. Even down to the headstock shape. I liked the sound of the 90, shame it came with the worst fret job.
The fret job is a matter of random luck. I had several Harley Benton and they all needed some levelling, some more than others. Do not buy any unless you are ready to do that. Then they'll play just as well as anything else. The ST-90 will always be heavier because swamp ash is heavy.
@@Leo_ofRedKeep there is a reason why Fender put a skunk stripe on the necks that were solid maple. It's not just for looks. Those that had rosewood fingerboards didn't need them as the truss rod was installed under the rosewood. It didn't need a routed section to fit the rod. Hence the skunk stripe to fill that in.
I know it would be hard to organise but it would be great to do a comparison of the winner of this video with other budget S types like Soloking, Sire, Vintage, Squire, etc🎸🤘🏻And on QC, I have long commented HB should add £10 or 20 to each guitar to ensure excellent fretwork, customer would bare that slightly extra cost so they don’t have to aggro of a rough guitar or have to spend more with a tech. I believe HB’s biggest problem is the variable QC, for example they finally lost me as a customer after one too many of their guitars had to go back and I basically lost confidence in the brand😔
Hi Elmo, a texhnical question. Could you tell me of we take 2 humbackers and strings from a Les Paul guitar and put them as a replacements on a sample ST guitar with 2 humbackers then the ST guitar will sounds like the LP?
There is hardly any difference in sound when compared side by side in Audacity. The ST-20 comes with the cheapest strings on the planet, so that might explain a slightly duller sound (unless they were replaced with good ones for the demo). Fretwork quality is fairly random in this price range so I would not base my choice on this and simply expect to have some levelling to do on any model. I think weight, balance and neck profiles are better deciding factors, in case they differ from one another. Does the size of the block really make a noticeable difference?
Ho 2 ST-20, una recente in Pioppo (bianca come quella provata nel video, solo meccaniche aggiornate) ed una di qualche anno fa con il corpo in Tiglio e tastiera in acero con i pickup e meccaniche aggiornate, e anche due ST-62MN, sempre una più recente con i pickup Roswell ed una di qualche anno fa con i Wilkinson, ogni chitarra sembra suonare a modo proprio a prescidere dal modello, la migliore la prima ST-20 in Tiglio, la ST-62 Wilkinson un po' più scura, suono più brillante con meno bassi sulla ST-62 Rosewell, la più equilibrata l'ultima ST-20 in pioppo. Credo sia sbagliato pensare ad un suono relativamente al modello, in questa fascia di prezzo ogni singola chitarra suona a se stante. Sia per i legni che per l'elettronica. Solo un esempio, i potenziometri del volume economici hanno una grande variabilita, su una chitarra può essere da 270 KΩ, sull'altra da 230KΩ, una risulterà molto più brillante dell' altra. Riguardo al blocco del ponte con più spessore su una simil PRS (Greg Bennett UM4) ho sostituito il suo ponte Wilkinson WVS50 che aveva il blocco in acciaio bello massiccio, con un ponte economico a 6 viti con blocco sottile e sellette standard (non mi piaceva il sistema di regolazione delle sellette del WVS50) con mia sorpresa il suono è anche migliorato.
I own a HB TC62cc tele style. It doesnt feel cheap at all. As for playability, its really decent and just doesnt get out of tune. As for the tone... it sounds pretty tele to me, although its the only T i got so i have no comparison to other tele's.
I like your videos, but it struck me as odd to do this one without including the ST modern plus that just got released. Is it because it's a bit more expensive than these and doesn't qualify as cheap? Anyway, I hope you get around to that one eventually. It's your style of playing that I'm particularly interested if it's suited for. And I live in America, so there's additional shipping costs for me. Thanks!
Hi! Awesome guitar playing and reviews! Thank you! Have you heard/ read the sound and specs of Harley Benton ST-Modern plus. Would love to see you reviews that guitar,
I'm sorry, but, in the "ranking" section, when you say "this one is my favourite" pointing at the one in your hands, i didn't get what's the model u have in ur hands...can u tell me what it is?
I wish I had been able to see this before I got the ST-90sa. It has been a hot mess. Bad (needing complete replacement - bad) output jack, 5 way switch, nut (horrible) and tuners. Which by the way, normal tuners don't fit. I would have got the ST62 vintage series. It even sounded better than the others here.
I would advise coughing up the extra 100 euros and getting a classic vibe as Harley Benton Strats from my own personal experience never seem to be very good sadly , I got a Clssic Vibe 50s Strat and the difference is night and day , I would compare the Classic vibes to being nearly on the level of the Real Mexican Strats. The Harley Benton Telecaaters seem to be much better , the TE52 is very good for only £139
To me it sounds like what you are seeing is just production inconsistencies. This is what happens with cheaper guitars. It is not that you can't get a really good one, but because they have to make them as fast as humanly possible, the quality control is inconsistent. If you order another batch of the exact same guitars, maybe the cheapest one would still be the worst, but the rest could randomly be different in quality.
Elmo mentions "strats normally feel like home, but these don't".... I am 99.9% sure it is because of the stoooopid flat fretboard radius. Why don't makers that are copying Fender make 9.5 radius fretboards like 80% of Fender's made in the last 40 years are? 13.75" and 15" radius 2x4 flat fretboards feel so cheap & wrong on strat style guitars.
To me it’s about versatility, and I find flatter radiuses more versatile for all kinds of playing. Times change, people adapt, guitar change with people’s demands. To me the fact that fender keeps making essentially the same guitars for decades is a problem
Elmo, why don't you really test the guitars in a rehearsal. In a loud atmosphere, together with other instruments, let's say a real band. I think that will be the best test, especially for beginners
I had a few Harley Benton S style guitars. They were rubbish, Rubbish quality, rubbish sound. Some frets were polished. some weren't, on the same guitar. Tuning and intonation was a headache. Cheap though.
cheap stuff has huge quality variation. Cheap labor, cheap parts. Also maybe a random low wages worker just decides that "fckut it! I'm gonna make this one a nice guitar"
I bought a Harley Benton super strat, just to see what is was like. I was interested to see if something that cheap would hold up. And man it did not! The frets has come loose making it unplayable. A couple of the dots on the fretboard has popped out. Both the bolts at the nut lock and the individual saddles are so badly made its almost impossible to keep the strings in place, making the guitar impossible to use. The tremolo studs are misplaced (drilled in the wrong place) making the tremolo useless and the fine tuners are so rough they are more or less impossible to screw in either direction. An the trussrod doesn´t work. Stay away from this brand. It is possible to find really cheap guitars that works but not this brand.
I have a variety of Harley Benton guitars and the quality of the construction, musical tone, finish, frets, pickups and playability have all been excellent. Better in many ways than the gibson Les Paul I have, which was a bit of a waste of money frankly. Harley Benton introduced a sculpted neck/body area on their single cut models that Gibson/Epiphone then introduced to some of their models.
I had ST-62 and Squier Bullet, Affinity and Classic Vibe. Squier Bullet is nowhere near ST-62. Affinity is worse too but not a far away. Classic Vibe is better then ST-62 but 2x more expensive from second hand. Currently my winner is Eart SSS - beats them all, even Squier Classic Vibe.
Anton, I have a Bullet Strat and a Classic Vibe. Also, an ST 62 HB. The St 62 is at Classic Vibe level, quality and sound wise. At least, according to my perception. I like them all,for different reasons..
Check out my comparison of Harley Benton Les Paul type guitars: ua-cam.com/video/qwgZXjae67c/v-deo.htmlsi=TYWrdSTSdjYCwJky
Elmo - Thank you for yet another kickass, yet educational video! I thought all of these guitars sounded great in your hands. I don’t always care about the particular guitar you’re playing, rather I come for the awesome sounds you create. Thank you so much for all of your time and presentation of these videos.
Love these comparison videos you make,looking for something currently for my daughter,this video will help 👍🏻
Hi from Málaga (Spain)!!
Thank you very much for all your videos. They are a great help for all of us. You are a fabulous guitarist and musician.
Chears!!
Gracias!
You are making such exceptional videos. You do a great job on being specific about what you're evaluating, I'm looking up terms as you're mentioning them and learning so much. It is very rare to find someone who is clearly talented and extremely knowledgeable, but also focused on being honest and educational rather than making marketing videos. I am new and enjoyed using a PRS Silver Sky in a shop, I was planning to ask your opinion on the guitar if you've used it, but I saw you've already made an entire video on PRS vs HB so I'm in luck! I hope your channel blows up, the amount of work you are putting into this channel really comes through, this is the best guitar related channel I've found.
Really really enjoyed this video Elmo. Especially since I'm in the market for a strat and i love Harley Benton guitars. Even with shipping to the US they're still cheaper than buying an equivalent in the States. For the most part anyway. Im curious about something though and this isn't directed at anyone in particular but ive often wondered why people are so quick to mod Harley Benton guitars? My SC 450 plus is beautiful since i got it. I genuinely love the tones i get out of the Roswell humbuckers and I even bought a set of Roswell humbuckers for another guitar. The ones in it were microphonic and just squealed. I don't look at swapping the nut as modding, because to me that's just preventative maintenance. It prevents a person from chucking the guitar out the window when it doesn't hold tune😂. The simplest solution ive ever found for pickups is an EQ pedal. If they aren't active or microphonic, pickups are pickups. Some have a little more gain or clarity but it's nothing that can't be remedied with a little extra EQ. I bought a used Walrus Audio EB-10 EQ pedal that works for all my guitars and saved a boatload of money by not throwing new pickups at everything. Even the stock pickups in my LTD HSS guitar sound good with a little help. My Roswells sound fantastic. The stock Roswells in my old Fusion 3 were brilliant. I just added 2db of treble and middle with an EQ pedal and it was fantastic. For anyone reading this, it's just a little food for thought.
Now I'm eagerly awaiting the HB T-style video 😁
Might take a while, as I have a bunch of other plans.
As an Australian I can’t easily get my hands on Harley Benton products but listening to you I find myself believing they are at least worth the asking price. I’m pretty sure Artist guitar S type objects, which are similarly specified and also considered budget, of which I own many, are at the very least a good bet. I have Mexican strays, affinity and bullet squiers and these all have strengths and weaknesses. For the sake of this argument, my favourite and most used,practice and live guitar is a hss Artist SType , probably equivalent to Harley Benton , price, features and playability
Same in Canada. $100 shipping fee! Yikes. Almost as much as the guitar.
@@johnrogers2826 I think that Thomann at least has a Reverb store in the US.
@@entretantosmundosgaming4974 they do. But, they don't ship to Canada.
I have the st -70RW Deluxe serie. Comes with Wilkinson bridge. Changed the pickups for Tex Mex pickups. Have the bridge laying to the body. Now I'm happy with it.
I've got a few ST62 models and the ST90, ST20 - I love them all. Just as good as my Fender Performer USA model. Sure there is a bit of fret sprout on the ST90 but I still love playing it.
Great vid as always Elmo - keep up the good work.
Hi, John. I am thinking on getting the ST-90 over the ST-62. How is the tremolo and the pickups on yours? even though the HB ST62 is the highest rated, I find that wood color so beautiful on ST90.
@@entretantosmundosgaming4974 Hello, The ST90 is a higher quality/grade guitar the the 62 range.
Whilst the ST90 states its a VT series on the head stock I feel this is an error by Harley Benton and on Thomans website this is listed a "deluxe" series.
As far as I am aware, only one model of the ST62 is a DELUXE RANGE, the ST-62DLX VW (it states deluxe on the head stock - other ST62 state VINTAGE VT)
Take a good look at the 2-Point tremolo system on the ST90. Much better than the other style on the ST62.
Please keep in mind its a heavy guitar(ST90).
The pickup are the same in the ST62/ST90.
If my ST90 was lost or stolen I would buy it again.
@@johnsmith-nd9yo Thank you for your insight. I think I might take the plunge and get the ST90. I’m not worried about the weight, as I usually play sitting in my living room.
I know you had the Vintage brand Strat I still would take them over a HB I own the V6P it was a 2017 model with 3 stacked P90's what I love is the full size staggered trem block and I will be honest the guitar stays in tune even slamming on the whammy bar the neck is brilliant , but let's be frank HB has given a decent option, and like with many they will require a full setup , can't knock them , as always Elmo you give an honest no bs review ,
Cheers!
As always Elmo, it's fun and interesting to hear your playing and opinions. Keep the videos coming!
Thanks, will do!
I have the ST-62cc (in the charcoal frost finish, which looks great in my opinion) - and I love it. It sounds good, plays great, and stays in tune really well, to the point where I rarely need to mess with it. The two things I would say to keep in mind about it is that the trem arm feels very stiff, so its either tight or loose, not a huge middle ground. (although maybe its just mine?) And the other thing is that the neck was pretty thick compared to a fender Strat I played, so it feels pretty different to me, but that's a preference thing. I think its great for the price regardless. EDIT: unrelated, but I also just bought the Harley Benton DNAfx GiT Advanced that just came out, and its my first ever amp sim/multi effects pedal thing. And I'm finding it to be a lot of fun, even if I'm confused on how to use this sort of thing with the IR stuff and all that. But considering that no one has a video about this model yet - that I guess is supposed to be in between the pro model and the base version, it would be cool to see you compare it to other stuff in its price range if you felt like making a video like that. (maybe a bit of a tutorial for dumb folk like me too?)
Maybe at some point. I have a bunch of other stuff planned though.
The only Strat style guitar in my house at the moment is a Jet JS400 belonging to my teenage son. Really nice budget option provided you get a good one - I've seen claims that they are a bit hit and miss but his is a little gem and still his "go to" most of the time. He is about to graduate, probably to a Sire S7 or a Fender Player series as reward for his past year's progress. (That's a secret though).
As far as Harley Benton guitars go, we own five between us. My favourite is my TE-62 DB, a wonderful T Style guitar for its price point and I probably play it more than anything else I own - aside from my Sire T7 and that's quite surprising, but it just makes me want to pick it up. We each own a SC-450 Plus Vintage which I think is one of the nicest budget single cut LP copies out there, great value for money and they look beautiful - we have one in Lemon Drop and one in Vintage Burst. My son also has a cherry red HB-35 Plus semi-hollow 335 copy, and a JB75 MN Jazz Bass in sunburst - again, for the money, both are very good instruments.
Sound wise, I've never had any complaints about any of them but of course such things are subjective and I'm sure some players would find fault somewhere. The Roswell pickups used in most of them, be they single coils or humbuckers, have always sounded pretty good to me.
To date, I've not bought a Harley Benton that had any significant problems - I almost always put new strings on any new guitar and aside from that, a quick setup is the most I've ever needed to do....intonation and maybe a slight truss rod tweak but to be honest they've all been playable right out of the box. The frets on my son's SC450 were the only ones that needed slight attention - they were scratchy and dirty on arrival but after a quick polish they were perfectly fine. No sprout and no uneven heights or other issues requiring tools on any of them. Sure, the fretwork is inferior to that which you would find on more expensive guitars but that's not to say it's bad, far from it. My own Sire is a case in point - a lot of time and work was put into that neck and board and the finish is streets ahead by comparison. However, it cost considerably more than the humble HB so you would expect, or at least hope it would be. To anyone who is thinking about a reasonably priced T-Style I'd highly recommend considering/trying the Sires - the T7 represents amazing value at around £500 and they now have the cheaper T3 that comes in at only around £350-£390 and which some players have said they prefer over the 7.
If you want a budget Tele though, the TE-62DB is a great choice - £135.00 delivered is quite astonishing value for money.
Not a strat but I have the Harley Benton sc 450plus vintage and I’m in love with it iv had it a year now and for a les Paul copy it’s Damm near perfect and the lemon drop finish is incredible
The other day I said to myself "hey where's that guy on UA-cam who was a genuine help to you when buying some instruments awhile back?"
Today you showed up in my feed. I apologise for not subscribing back when you were great in helping make an online choice. I've amended this today ;)
I think it's great that this generation of kids / new learners has Harley Benton out there. I was born in '67, so my cheap instrument buying days were in the 80s, when cheap was cheap. You pay cheap, you get it back. My first Bass was a Fender copy by Memphis. The action was so high on it, but I had no clue it was, because no one told me it was. How would I know? So I learned Squire, Clarke, Harris, Graham, Butler on a Bass with action so high it's a miracle I never stopped completely. Ignorance is bliss. When I finally bought a decent Bass, which was an Aria Pro II, I found out I could actually PLAY! Why Aria Pro? Because that's what I could afford still in High School, working a part time job, and selling off my comic book collection. Gibson? Fender? These were dreams. I got what I could get. Just like all my other friends who played instruments did, unless they inherited the instrument from someone else.
Harley Benton really should be congratulated, and it's kind of cool to be witness to a brand starting to rise up, and redefine what the build quality of an instrument is, and how much you should pay for it. It feels like now, if someone said, "my first guitar was a Harley Benton", no one's going to laugh at you. It's not a joke to get something for under £300 (I'm in the UK) and have it be a working, playable, pleasant instrument to play, and record with. I have a few Harley Bentons, and the most prized is the JA-60SB, which I STILL HAVE NOT CHANGED THE STRINGS ON IT FROM PURCHASE 2 YEARS AGO. It was such a great guitar out of the box, I dared not change a thing to alter its tone. And £139.00, in a bundle deal.
It's not that they're accurately replicating the brands they're in design spec with. Though I did hear a Harley Benton ST Modern middle position come very close to the middle position on a Fender CW Stratocaster in a video the other day! It's that they're offering you an instrument that kind of has it's own sound. And it's a decent sound. It's value for money. No it's not a Fender (or a Gibson) but you're still getting something that sounds good. Sometimes, depending on what you're looking for, maybe better?
Sorry that was so long, I just think Harley Benton are gamechangers. But we won't see how much of one for another 10 years or so. I also wanted to apologise for not subscribing back a bit, and correct my error! ;) Thanks for your uploads, you do truly help.
PS - out of these, the ST-70 gets my vote. Harley Benton knows it's the player, not the instrument that makes them sound good. But giving the player the right tools to do this, is what Harley Benton are trying to strive for, and also allow it to be obtainable on a budget. Which is really great nowadays, cuz you have to rent Adobe to read a PDF, ya know?
You're a fantastic player, and every Harley Benton you played, allowed you to demonstrate your ability. Some better than others, which is what it's really down to. But that's great for a person who is just starting to learn on an instrument, and maybe their parents are buying it for them as a gift, or they're somehow coming up with the money themselves working at McDonalds. Either way, they can come here, watch you play great, on an instrument less than ........... it says "hey, I can do that too one day. And this guitar is good enough to allow me to get that good." And that's what matters. That a manufacturer can inspire someone to be creative, to be something else.
So once again, thanks for what you do. It's valuable. You may be helping the next Jimi Hendrix (there will never be another one, just saying) to go for it, and Harley Benton is not a bad place to start. Yes, get a Fender or a Gibson one day, I have Fenders myself, and one day, I'd love to get a Gibson Nighthawk (I have the Epiphone version from 2011, not those new ones, those are fugly.) But I record with Harley Bentons, Epiphones, Squiers because they do put out affordable versions of what you dream for. And sometimes THEY'RE BETTER.
Ah shit, I just got to the whammy bar test. The ST-70 didn't do all that well!!! I retract based on that. The sound of it was great. The whammy lets it down big time.
I bought an HB Hot Rod strat...ashtonishing quality and aggressive sound, I couldn't stop playing it if has jumbo frets. Great one indeed
Hello there, love your vids. I've learned alot technic wise, and the shredding tips have been helping very much. I bought a second hand St62 and i love it, incredible fretwork, tremolo is really good too, tuners are meh ( couldn´t be all good) but the thing i love the most is the neck shape. It feels full but it sits really good in the hand, its something one must try to understand it.
Anyways, excellent work and keep doing this great work, Cheers!
I have their cheapest telecaster (TE-20) (please do a telecaster comparison video too!) to learn everything about electric guitars. To play them, to maintain them, to customize them myself, and so on. I haven't learnt to play yet but I've upgraded some parts on it such as locking tuners, string trees, neck nut, bridge saddles and changing the strings.
As I do not know much about guitars and how to play them my impression of the TE20 IMHO is very good, I was contemplating between their DIY-kit and this model as the price is almost the same. As far as I remember the setup on it when it arrived was fairly good, had to adjust intonation and string heights first when I changed the bridge saddles.
Everything seems just fine to my eyes and ears. I really only have two complaints after owning it for some time:
1) One of the pots have been getting a bad connection when turned down really low (if I remember correctly it's the tone pot)
2) Thomann's Harley Benton locking tuners are not consistent. Some are really precise and good, some feels really loose.
At some point I'll probably get into switching out the electronics, pickups and locking tuners to something better. The funny part is, if I for example upgrade the locking tuners to an actual quality brand then those tuners alone will cost more than the whole guitar from the store.
I do have plans to do a similar Tele video.
I received a Jet JS450 guitar last week, and I am SO impressed by the quality!
Cool!
I thought the ST62 was the best as well Elmo. HB guitars are however a bit hit and miss so you never know. Well done again man and keep 'em comin'.
A the K
Yeah, I've gathered as much.
Still have my ST62 from 8 years ago. Works very well for me. I just upgraded the string string tree to roller, applied graphite in the nut and switched the bridge pickup to a cheap amazon hotrail humbucker clone. The guitar has not moved at all and is very well built. The pickups and electronic could be a point to upgrade depending on taste.
Cool!
I have one from 2017 that has held up well, except the trem arm has ground its windings in the bridge plate and I would need to replace both parts. Everything else is fine and I would not change the pick-ups.
I recently sold a HB TE53-KR Keith Richards Tribute Tele....that guitar had a gorgeous finish BUT it weighed 10lbs ! Once I sold it, I got a HB SSS ST62 VW Strat style/..same model you demo'd...and I agree it's probably the best model S type. . Best $200 USD (incl tax) from HB US distributer; Reverb. I have ever spent on an electric guitar AND was pleasantly surprised weighed just under 7lbs ! BUT you always need to be aware of potential sharp frets and heavy ass guitars.
very awaited video, well done,. I concluded that from st 62 these strats have chunkier tremblock don't they? Next comparison could be a jet 300 vs st 62. I really like your gear tests.
Thanks! Yeah, the chunkier blocks come with the ones that are more expensive than the ST-62.
This is exactly the video I needed, at this exact moment in life. You have inspired me to give a strat style guitar a try. We'll, David Gilmour helped a bit too. But thanks!😊😅
Cheers!
The reason why none of these guitars really feel like strats IMHO is the fretboard radius. HB doesn't do 7.25" or 9.5" radius, which is typical for Fender. They're all 12" or more.
Good job! A very thorough video. I’m certainly not suggesting this, but it would be interesting to see a “6 Cheap Strat” comparison using six of the exact same model of HB Strat. From what I hear about HB guitars, you’d probably get six different results. Harley Benton seems like such a love/ hate brand, and I think it’s due to inconsistent builds and quality control.
If there is anyone's opinion I listen to on UA-cam it's elmo's.
Especially if it's a strat type.
Another great review sir.💥💯💥👏👏👏
The fretwork is a problem in general by Harley Benton guitars, i have one that has no..... no problems at all, i onley have changed the pick-ups for now! You have to invest to get your final juicy guitar IMHO! Thank you for this astonishing test...... 😊
Cheers!
Maybe the ST-62 has to be premium(er) because only the ST-20 was the other SSS option for lefties. While the latter has much brighter sound, neck wins on the 62 imho. Nice video Elmo, thank you!
Thanks :)
Very nice comparison. Should have been here two months ago. Bought a Jet JS-300 in May. A first batch apparently with high gloss neck and nicer logo. Did I make a wrong decision?
You made a good decicion.
Jets are good in my experience.
I have the ST-25Th bit more expensive and I am sure it is sold out, but it had issues when I first got it. I have heard that some come to users perfect. I had to adjust the trust rod, and had to file down some of the edges, it has fret sprout. I got it as a mod platform. The pickups are a bit dark for my tastes, so I will change them out at a later time when I have some extra cash. I can say the best guitar from HB I have is the CST24 IT is a PRS knock off, but it is absolutely fantastic, low action and easy bends as well as fits a smaller hand if you have one, like me.
If you’re in America, just get a Squier debut. They’re so good!
I have a harleybenton cabronita copy. It's a tele style guitar with filtertron pickups. I love that instrument. Price was ridiculous.
At such prices you should expect quality to be a lottery. Try before buy.
Hey Elmo, love your channel, just subscribed. Would you rank the Harley Benton ST-62 over the best Jet or Eart have to offer? Thanks!
Great. This is going To be good video!
Cool :)
Thanks for the review Elmo 🙏✌️❤️🎸🎶🎼🎵😎🎸
Out of the ones you have tested i only have the HM 59, which took a lot of setting up
and upgrading and it is still a bit mehh.
Harley Benton's like other brands entry level samples are so hit and miss that i don't buy them
anymore.
Save up and try a Fusion model, they are way better spec'd and tend to be playable out of the box.
Buy cheap, buy twice comes to mind.
Well the second cheapest one was my favorite of these. I'd say try before you buy.
Hey Elmo, love your videos man. Also if possible Can you review the Cort G300 pro ? I’m searching for a modern-ish reliable stable guitar around like 500-600 pounds. Cheers ❤️
I have two Harley Benton guitars-a TE-20 in metallic blue and a JB-75 MN bass in black. I really like them both. I’ve since modded the fudge out of the TE-20 because I wanted to try that. Everything with the exception of the scratch plate, body and neck have been swapped and that includes the nut.
The only thing I don’t like about both of them are the necks; they’re a bit thick. I understand this may be to teach newcomers the proper distance between your palm and the back of the neck. But then I don’t know if that’s for certain.
Yeah, some of their necks are a bit strange.
@@MrPolevaulter I hear they’re getting better, though. I’d like to try one of the new ST Moderns.
I’m a lefty and three years ago they only had the 62 in black so I bought it then recently they had green and blue around the time of their 25th anniversary or whatever it was I got the green one different neck than the black one same pick ups sound different but sound similar and I change the pick guards on the black one to mint green and the mint green one to black my little book ends love them
I bought the ST 62. It had some fret sprout and a few that I had to hammer in because they had lifted. One of the frets had a ding in it like the B string had at some point been hammered into it. Things like this make a guitar unusable for a beginner in my opinion so I would stay away from the cheaper Harley strats and try to find something used.
But aside from these fret issues there was always something a bit off about it., if you know what I mean. The neck was uncomfortably shaped. It felt very different from the Strats I have owned, and the pickups sounded a bit cheap and hollow to my ear. I much prefer the Squire. And if you can get one used that has had all these juvenile problems corrected that would be the best thing.
I have two other HB guitars, A double cut and an absolutely brilliant HB35 semi hollow, so I have nothing against the Harley Benton brand.
Yes, they'd do well to change factories for the stratos, they're not up to the standard of the other models.
Do you think the Strats dont feel like Strats, as you said in the end, is because of the 12 inch (in some cases almost 14) radius? I think one of the things Jet has over the HB is the traditional fret board radius
Might be.
How about one on Harley Benton Telecasters now?
Just buy the TE-62 DB if you want the best one.....Elmo's already done a review of that on this channel I believe.
On a whim I bought into the hype and got a Jet JS300, S-style; and given the identical headstock shape, I believe it came out of the same factory as H-B. Again it had poorly finished frets which needed a LOT of work to get to an acceptable playing condition. I think it's safe to assume that cheap guitars are not going to benefit from the same time-consuming attention to detail as more expensive alternatives. My other Strats (Fender 70th Anniversary MIM, and Special Edition black and gold MIM), are in a different league altogether; that said there was a period, not so long ago, when Mexican Fenders also had issues with poorly cut nuts and shoddy fret work. In my opinion if you want a decent S-style which won't have gritty frets and fret sprout, spend a little more on a Yamaha Pacifica.
Sorry to hear.
if you have the st 70 maybe it is worth having a full review on it, since it has a wilkinson trem.
would a fender neck fit in that DG??
Hows the neck on that st62 compared to fender modern c
Does feel a bit different to my Strats. Not exactly like home to me, but it's pretty good.
I have owned a few.. including an old ibanez like one which was not so good but i made it work with some care.. however.. i have also owned a higher line benton - namely th ex84 modern and that was a brilliant guitar.. one of the best i have ever played while it was still quite cheap. grover tuners, impecable fretwork.. i didnt like the roswell pickups but there is an emg version of it for about 50 extra euros.. i regret deeply that i sold it
Is wired wrong for sure. I had to wire correctly my st70 black paisley among other issues with it. 😊 Nice vídeo and nice playing, Man.
Cheers!
I thought the comparison was very good, though I wish you had been able to add the HB ST-Modern/Modern Plus. It is probably out of the price range you are targeting, but it is an HSS, has locking tuners, Tesla Pickups, Babicz trem, Graphite nut, stainless steel rolled frets and rolled fingerboard edges. Significantly higher in price, but does not need any upgrades at all. They seem to be getting very good reviews, though I think there are some initial production issues and inconsistencies that need to be ironed out. I am seriously considering one.
One other thing, I think it is a really good idea to have HB or Sweetwater for that matter, do a full setup, even PLEK if you can afford to, before it is shipped. This should catch most QC issues and most guitars are going to need a setup anyway. Just my two cents.
@@wlkalong Guitars are set up to their strings just like seat and mirrors in a car are set to the driver's size and preferences. Learn to do it yourself and you'll have optimal playability. Pay someone else and you'll get a compromise.
@@Leo_ofRedKeep I can actually do basic setups on LP's and Teles/Strats, but the advantage of having somebody like HB do it is they will probably do a better job because they do it all the time and in the process they will find things that might be wrong with it, like bent neck, dead pickup, very sharp fret ends, etc. and not ship it to you in the first place. Returning guitars is a huge pain in the ass for me. Not to mention, the whole process of proving it needs to be returned.
@@wlkalong So what you really want is another quality check and hope that paying for a set-up will make this happen. Maybe. But serious flaws would have been found the first time around already so you'll still get uneven frets and action set higher than you could do yourself.
@@Leo_ofRedKeep With the vast volume of online orders and the number of people who get guitars (including myself) that should never have been shipped in the first place, I don't think QC at the factory or even large companies is consistent. It seems like many are shipped without the factory box even being opened. I know most new guitars need a setup, new strings, and a thorough inspection (which a setup requires). This takes care of these things for a reasonable amount of money. Well worth it to me. It might not be worth it to you.
Great video! Thank you!
Cool test! What's the weight of the ST 90 swamp ash guitar? I have a TE 52 from Harley Benton and while it's a great guitar in terms of quality and playability, it's heavy as fuck...
Don't know, as I haven't weighed it. Yeah, the TE-52 was really heavy.
I didn't bother to buy a Strat as I have a Yamaha Pacifica, but I got a Harley Benton TE-62CC as I've always fancied a Tele and it had decent reviews. I have to be honest, I don't like it. Frets lovely, it looks nice, it has the slight Telecaster twang but it just sounds a bit rubbish to me, maybe it says more about my playing. I also bought a Harley Benton SC-450Plus GT Vintage Series (on your recommendation) and that one is lovely to play and sounds great and makes me want to pick it up all the time. Even with your amazing playing skills, the sounds those Strats made were hurting my ears so I'm surprised you didn't say to avoid them all
I know it would be hard to organise but it would be great to do a comparison of the winner of this video with other budget S types like Soloking, Sire, Jet, Vintage, Squire, etc🎸🤘🏻
broo !!! on tuesday the fender player II came out with rosewood and rounded edges on the fretboard, kluson tuners and new ash and mahogany body woods (these last two will be released in october of this year). They came out for $800 in my opinion it would be better if they offered them between $650 and $700. Sorry for the google translator
I plan to try one.
These sort of remind me of Rondo Music guitars SX strat copies. Even down to the headstock shape. I liked the sound of the 90, shame it came with the worst fret job.
Yeah.
The fret job is a matter of random luck. I had several Harley Benton and they all needed some levelling, some more than others. Do not buy any unless you are ready to do that. Then they'll play just as well as anything else. The ST-90 will always be heavier because swamp ash is heavy.
Why does the ST-70 have a skunk stripe if it has a separate finger board?
Good question. I hadn't noticed.
For looks.
@@Leo_ofRedKeep there is a reason why Fender put a skunk stripe on the necks that were solid maple. It's not just for looks.
Those that had rosewood fingerboards didn't need them as the truss rod was installed under the rosewood. It didn't need a routed section to fit the rod. Hence the skunk stripe to fill that in.
@@jeffallen3382 These are Harley Benton, designed to ape famous models. You have to be seriously dumb not to see that.
Could you make a review of the brand vintage guitars? They have a Lot of models in a good price range. V6, v60, v52...
I've done one. It wasn't good, but might just have been a lemon.
@@MrPolevaulter thanks. i will check!
The winner ST-62 is the only one that is not made in China, I suspect. May explain the results.
I know it would be hard to organise but it would be great to do a comparison of the winner of this video with other budget S types like Soloking, Sire, Vintage, Squire, etc🎸🤘🏻And on QC, I have long commented HB should add £10 or 20 to each guitar to ensure excellent fretwork, customer would bare that slightly extra cost so they don’t have to aggro of a rough guitar or have to spend more with a tech. I believe HB’s biggest problem is the variable QC, for example they finally lost me as a customer after one too many of their guitars had to go back and I basically lost confidence in the brand😔
Hi Elmo, a texhnical question. Could you tell me of we take 2 humbackers and strings from a Les Paul guitar and put them as a replacements on a sample ST guitar with 2 humbackers then the ST guitar will sounds like the LP?
Not exactly, but more like it than it would originally.
Why do the twelfth fret dots get further apart as the price rises? A tiny, silly detail but I really dislike the wide spacing.
What's fret sprout?
It's when the wood dries and shrinks and the frets start sticking out.
There is hardly any difference in sound when compared side by side in Audacity. The ST-20 comes with the cheapest strings on the planet, so that might explain a slightly duller sound (unless they were replaced with good ones for the demo).
Fretwork quality is fairly random in this price range so I would not base my choice on this and simply expect to have some levelling to do on any model.
I think weight, balance and neck profiles are better deciding factors, in case they differ from one another.
Does the size of the block really make a noticeable difference?
Not really imo, but it usually speaks to general quality.
Ho 2 ST-20, una recente in Pioppo (bianca come quella provata nel video, solo meccaniche aggiornate) ed una di qualche anno fa con il corpo in Tiglio e tastiera in acero con i pickup e meccaniche aggiornate, e anche due ST-62MN, sempre una più recente con i pickup Roswell ed una di qualche anno fa con i Wilkinson, ogni chitarra sembra suonare a modo proprio a prescidere dal modello, la migliore la prima ST-20 in Tiglio, la ST-62 Wilkinson un po' più scura, suono più brillante con meno bassi sulla ST-62 Rosewell, la più equilibrata l'ultima ST-20 in pioppo.
Credo sia sbagliato pensare ad un suono relativamente al modello, in questa fascia di prezzo ogni singola chitarra suona a se stante.
Sia per i legni che per l'elettronica.
Solo un esempio, i potenziometri del volume economici hanno una grande variabilita, su una chitarra può essere da 270 KΩ, sull'altra da 230KΩ, una risulterà molto più brillante dell' altra.
Riguardo al blocco del ponte con più spessore su una simil PRS (Greg Bennett UM4) ho sostituito il suo ponte Wilkinson WVS50 che aveva il blocco in acciaio bello massiccio, con un ponte economico a 6 viti con blocco sottile e sellette standard (non mi piaceva il sistema di regolazione delle sellette del WVS50) con mia sorpresa il suono è anche migliorato.
I own a HB TC62cc tele style. It doesnt feel cheap at all. As for playability, its really decent and just doesnt get out of tune. As for the tone... it sounds pretty tele to me, although its the only T i got so i have no comparison to other tele's.
I like your videos, but it struck me as odd to do this one without including the ST modern plus that just got released. Is it because it's a bit more expensive than these and doesn't qualify as cheap? Anyway, I hope you get around to that one eventually. It's your style of playing that I'm particularly interested if it's suited for. And I live in America, so there's additional shipping costs for me. Thanks!
I had st20, it was my first electric, liked the neck, but didn't like small frets and its cheap sound.
Fair enough.
Hi! Awesome guitar playing and reviews! Thank you!
Have you heard/ read the sound and specs of Harley Benton ST-Modern plus. Would love to see you reviews that guitar,
I'm sorry, but, in the "ranking" section, when you say "this one is my favourite" pointing at the one in your hands, i didn't get what's the model u have in ur hands...can u tell me what it is?
The ST-62
@@MrPolevaulter thank you!
I got many HB's in the last 5 years....
Someone are great, some not..
Custom Line are all great...
I must say I like the swamp ash. I have absolutely no need for one of course - which is obviously the most dangerous aspect 😂
I wish I had been able to see this before I got the ST-90sa. It has been a hot mess. Bad (needing complete replacement - bad) output jack, 5 way switch, nut (horrible) and tuners. Which by the way, normal tuners don't fit. I would have got the ST62 vintage series. It even sounded better than the others here.
Sorry to hear you got a bad one.
Even though, I am thinking on getting the ST90 the wood color is so pretty.
You could say the bridge pickup on the swamp ash one sounds rather muddy... (I'll see myself out.)
Can you review ibanez gio grg250m
I would advise coughing up the extra 100 euros and getting a classic vibe as Harley Benton Strats from my own personal experience never seem to be very good sadly , I got a Clssic Vibe 50s Strat and the difference is night and day , I would compare the Classic vibes to being nearly on the level of the Real Mexican Strats. The Harley Benton Telecaaters seem to be much better , the TE52 is very good for only £139
To me it sounds like what you are seeing is just production inconsistencies. This is what happens with cheaper guitars. It is not that you can't get a really good one, but because they have to make them as fast as humanly possible, the quality control is inconsistent. If you order another batch of the exact same guitars, maybe the cheapest one would still be the worst, but the rest could randomly be different in quality.
Quite possible.
I'll go with jet guitar.
They're really good.
Please please please make a review on sqoe stratocaster sest600
Elmo mentions "strats normally feel like home, but these don't".... I am 99.9% sure it is because of the stoooopid flat fretboard radius. Why don't makers that are copying Fender make 9.5 radius fretboards like 80% of Fender's made in the last 40 years are? 13.75" and 15" radius 2x4 flat fretboards feel so cheap & wrong on strat style guitars.
Esatto, e poi le tastiere più piatte richiedono un nut da almeno 43mm.
To me it’s about versatility, and I find flatter radiuses more versatile for all kinds of playing. Times change, people adapt, guitar change with people’s demands. To me the fact that fender keeps making essentially the same guitars for decades is a problem
I got to get a HB to review
I have an ST-62 and I agreed. It's okay, but I don't like it.
Elmo, why don't you really test the guitars in a rehearsal. In a loud atmosphere, together with other instruments, let's say a real band. I think that will be the best test, especially for beginners
I don't play in bands atm.
@@MrPolevaulter but in a band, a guitar reacts so different compared to playing the guitar alone
I had a few Harley Benton S style guitars. They were rubbish, Rubbish quality, rubbish sound. Some frets were polished. some weren't, on the same guitar. Tuning and intonation was a headache. Cheap though.
I think it was just luck, HBs have huge variations in quality.
Possibly.
The spacing of the pickup plots is not right on all the models shown !! Take a look at Jet Guitars !
"mother of toilet seat" LOL .... plastic guitar parts will never be the same again.
cheap stuff has huge quality variation. Cheap labor, cheap parts. Also maybe a random low wages worker just decides that "fckut it! I'm gonna make this one a nice guitar"
Your Camera died?
Yeah.
Why 6 guitars?
no experience with HBs at all....no idea, I only have one electric guitar.
They all sound the same through a tablet.
I dunno....this is going to sound really pretentious, but cheap guitars feel cheap to me 😅
I bought a Harley Benton super strat, just to see what is was like. I was interested to see if something that cheap would hold up. And man it did not!
The frets has come loose making it unplayable. A couple of the dots on the fretboard has popped out. Both the bolts at the nut lock and the individual saddles are so badly made its almost impossible to keep the strings in place, making the guitar impossible to use. The tremolo studs are misplaced (drilled in the wrong place) making the tremolo useless and the fine tuners are so rough they are more or less impossible to screw in either direction. An the trussrod doesn´t work.
Stay away from this brand. It is possible to find really cheap guitars that works but not this brand.
Sounds bad.
I have a variety of Harley Benton guitars and the quality of the construction, musical tone, finish, frets, pickups and playability have all been excellent. Better in many ways than the gibson Les Paul I have, which was a bit of a waste of money frankly. Harley Benton introduced a sculpted neck/body area on their single cut models that Gibson/Epiphone then introduced to some of their models.
Even the cheapest Squier is better than these HB garbage.! Sorry, no offense to anyone.
I had ST-62 and Squier Bullet, Affinity and Classic Vibe. Squier Bullet is nowhere near ST-62. Affinity is worse too but not a far away. Classic Vibe is better then ST-62 but 2x more expensive from second hand. Currently my winner is Eart SSS - beats them all, even Squier Classic Vibe.
Nope.
@@damianp3305 Well, your hearing is failing, my friend.
did you compare them?
Anton, I have a Bullet Strat and a Classic Vibe. Also, an ST 62 HB. The St 62 is at Classic Vibe level, quality and sound wise. At least, according to my perception. I like them all,for different reasons..