Harley Benton ST-20 BK Standard Series

Summary: For €79, the quality of this guitar seems impossible. For a first guitar, it seems like the obvious choice.

So, first, background: This is bought for my teenage son who has been learning guitar for about 4 months. It is his first electric guitar, and the first in our home. We have no previous experience and this is my first time reviewing a guitar. Also, I myself cannot play guitar, so I cannot really comment on playability etc, for that reason, other than to comment on what my son has experienced.

With that said, out of the box this guitar feels substantially better than I was expecting for €79. I can't remember the last time I have bought something and immediately thought that it should have cost a lot more.

The finish looks great, and the knobs and switches all feel good. I don't think I'm going too far to say that this guitar looks great. Even if you don't think about the price at all.

It took my son a few minutes to tune, but that was it, and he started playing clear chords with a very pleasant sound. It did take him a few hours to get accustomed to the narrow neck, having started out on an acoustic guitar, but it was all smiles all the way, and for us listening to him practice, the sounds coming from this guitar (through the Harley Benton TableAmp) are very nice.

If you are looking for comparisons to other guitars, and that kind of thing, I can't help you. But if this is your first experience with an electric guitar, or for a starter guitar for a young beginner, it seems like a no brainer.

Pros:
- Price, obviously
- Looks great
- Sounds nice
- Plays nicely out of the box (after tuning)

Cons
- The frets are sharp along the edges of the neck, with a few of them protruding quite a bit more than others. (But I understand this is something to expect at this end of the price range, and can be addressed with some work.)
- No instructions (maybe this is normal, but it means we don't know exactly what the nice feeling 5-way switch is doing, for example. And not sure how to make use of the supplied adjuster tools, for example.)
- Some minor damage marks on the white "pick guard" on our model, but hardly noticeable and could be due to shipping.

Overall this is a bargain. There are TOY electric guitars that cost this much, and this is the real deal. The fact that it looks good, sounds good, and is easy to play (according to my son), what's not to like?

Also, there is a audio lead included in the box. I wasn't aware so ordered a sssnake IPP1030 to go with this. The included lead will probably do the job though. However, we are glad we got the sssnake one at the time, as it is much higher quality.

If you don't have an electric guitar, and you would like to have one, and you have €79 to spend, then you should probably get this one.

I have brought a couple of budget guitars in the past and really wasn't expecting much for less than 100 euros. I took it out of the box and my first impression was that it looked like a far more expensive guitar, I was sure that my initial surprize would disappear when I plugged it in. Straight from the off I was blown away by the sound and the ease of play, I couldn't put it down. The finish and workmanship was as good as any guitar I have owned in the past, OK I've never owned a top class strat. I love playing this guitar and would not have the slightest concern about gigging with it. I'm not going to look for fault or any negativity on this guitar just for the sake of a review because honestly, less than a hundred bucks?? Don't bother looking, I doubt very much if there is a better guitar than this out there in this price range. Amazing.

Well, this is the 5th or 6th Harley Benton guitar I have purchased and I figure at some point everyone gets one that is not absolutely perfect, but with that being said I am quite happy with it. It arrived safely and with no issues. Paint is flawless and look very good. Good weight and heft to the guitar and it's a little bit lighter than what I expected, which is a good thing. Obviously coming halfway around the world one can expect to see the wood take time to acclimate. The only thing I saw that really disappointed me (and this is just a personal thing) is that the nut didn't appear to be as well cut as my other Harley Bentons. I plan to replace it with a Graph Tech nut in a bit anyway, so that's not really a big deal to me. I have to agree with many others that the tuners leave a lot to be desired, but again I plan to replace with locking tuners so not big deal there either. The pickups sound good once the pickup height is properly adjusted and since I hardtail all of my guitars the tremolo is locked down. Pots and switch were all perfect and had a smooth action. For the price, I am certainly not going to complain except that I wish I lived closer to the Thomann facility, but that might not be a good idea since I would be in there all the time buying guitars and gear. Final word... This guitar is well worth the money spent and will be a great upgrade platform later for when I want to swap out the pickups to Texas Specials. Thanks, Thomann. You came through again with a great product.

Having owned quite a few low-priced guitars more expensive than this one, I was expecting something terrible given the price. Imagine my surprise when I got the instrument and I could not detect any bad craftsmanship!

No sharp or uneven frets, clean and polished surface, sturdy soldering and it even includes a cable and all the keys you may need to set it up yourself! The guitar stays perfectly in tune after allowing the strings to stretch for a day.

The action was a bit high for my tastes, but that's something purely individual. All I had to do to make this guitar playable to my taste was lower the action (which it handled pretty well, no buzzing) and set the intonation. Nothing I wouldn't do at any instrument regardless of price range.

The sound is nice, I got it because I like the sound of single coils and it hasn't disappointed me. If you find that you'd like less hum try switching to positions 4 and 2 on the pickup selector which uses the neck and middle (or middle and bridge respectively) pickups to cancel the hum.

This is a real instrument, not a toy. If you are looking for a first guitar, a guitar to practice on the go without the fear of having it stolen or just a guitar to mod and learn this then is for you. You'll love it!

This guitar was bought for my son, a beginning guitarist, as a gift. The tool is good for learning! The guitar came from the store with a normally tuned strings height and an adjusted coils height. String quality is standard for this price range. The body and neck of the guitar are well finished and varnished. Nice view of guitar! The tuners are standard with a soft ride. 5-position switch with confident fixation in each position. The tremolo keeps the tuning well, but you have to tune the guitar from time to time, like for any other music instrument. Sound quality is good for an guitar at this price point, pickups with good exhaust.
For transportation, the guitar was wrapped in a soft film with soft spacers and packed in 2 boxes. At customs, the guitar was unpacked and apparently dropped there, because of this, a dent in varnish remained on the back of the body. No claims against Thomann, this is the fault of the customs, – they have holes in their hands.
As a result, I want to say that this is a great stratocaster for its price! Best for beginning guitarist! The quality of materials and workmanship is excellent. Respect to Thomann store! You make good music tools!

I was looking for a beginner's guitar. After researching for about a week, I found Harley Benton ST-20 BK. This is my first time to buy anything from Thomann, but I've watched quite many videos supporting its good quality and service on YouTube. I'm also quite satisfied from this experience.

The guitar arrived within two days after the order(I'm living in Heidelberg). Double boxes wrap, which is good. The outer box is a huge one. They put quite a lot of "air bags" to protect the inner box, which makes me feel good about the condition of the guitar. And the guitar looks amazing. From the body to the head, from the bridge to the tuning pegs, everything is fine. And the action of the guitar is quite low, I don't need to adjust it before playing. I tried to tune it and played for a bit. It's very easy to tune and stays in tune. The sound is also nice.

If I have to say something I don't like about it, that would be the volume and the tune knobs. Don't take it the wrong way, they work well, but the letters and the numbers on it are a bit rough. Of course, that doesn't affect the playing experience, and it's more about personal taste.

Overall, I'm satisfied with this guitar. For this price, I don't think you can find a better option. Not to mention, Thomann offers 30 Day Money Back Guarantee and 3-Year Warranty. That's crazy.

For those who wants to know what comes in the box, I made a simple unbox video, hope it would help: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XH2U2hFv11w