Harley Benton ST-20HH Active SBK

So I'd like to preface this first by saying that the guitar, compared to the starter kits (or the entry-level Epiphones in my case) that were around when I first started many, many years ago, is great, stunning, and excellent value.

How many entry-level guitars at this price point have active pickups?
How many guitars at this price point have active pickups at all, in fact?
How many entry-level guitars look as sleek and good as this?
(Yes, obviously taking inspiration from the Jim Root Strat.. but still!)
How many create entry-level guitars that serve pretty niche music styles?

So obviously I like the guitar; it looks fine as hell, it has active pickups and it was a good value for something I intend to slap some 12-62 gauge strings on and pick up from time to time. But I do not pick it up from time to time. I pick it up most days, sometimes over my MIJ Strat or my £1000+ Ibanez AZ. Perhaps because I'm very precious over at least one of those instruments.

That's not because it's on the same level of quality, but because even though it's cheaply priced it does exactly what I need a guitar to do.

Now that I've finished the good. There are however some things I'd like to talk about...

The tuners:
They're inconsistent, do not hold tune (even with the fixed bridge), some are mushy feeling and some are stiff as anything and I had no confidence that they would tolerate higher string gauges at all too well.. so this was something I identified immediately to be fixed...

Fortunately, this is an easy fix. I'd really recommend, if you're purchasing this guitar, purchasing also some locking tuners. I immediately replaced mine with some Gotoh MGT locking tuners for about £60-£70. There are probably some cheaper ones out there, but I have never had issues with the Gotohs on my other guitars. Tuning stability fixed!

The Fretwork:
I hate to say it as I've been singing its praises: the fretwork... It just isn't good. This seems to be endemic across HB's budget guitars (at least from the two HB guitars I've experienced).

They leave the factory scuffed and scratchy as anything — something that could be easily fixed in QC or in the factory with 5–10 minutes of extra care.

This too is an easy fix during the first string change, and this ought to be as soon as you receive a guitar, really. Grab some 0000 wire wool and just give each fret 30 to 60 seconds of care. I do a lot of work on my guitars, so fortunately I have this stuff lying around - but this could be a nuisance for some of you.

They are definitely uneven around the 15th fret (on two budget HB guitars I've come into contact with), and I'm a little less equipped to deal with this issue, but I tolerate it for now. When I'm playing through my amp, which is most of the time, I don't even notice it and so in my mind it doesn't affect the playability whatsoever. I have a feeling this is a result of the change in climate the instrument has been through during transport.

Ideally, Thomann would have a small team that picked up on these issues before shipping and had them addressed, but quite honestly, for this price, that's probably a big ask.

Other:
Glue seepage from the frets left dirty brown residue around the frets the entire length of the fretboard.

The neck is a little on the thick side... but I'm used to the hard V on my Strat so quite honestly, anything is more comfortable than that, and there are a few scratches in the finish around the neck join. (This seems to be pretty common at basically every level of guitar these days; even the latest Fender AVRIs suffer this)

Finally, I also praised the fact that the guitar has active pickups. However, these pickups are HOT... You will not get the sparkling cleans out of these that you would from an EMG set. They are very noisy. I don't think it's due to the grounding issue mentioned in other reviews. Just a situation of: you get what you pay for. They're budget active pickups on a budget guitar. So don't expect EMG / Fishman quality. I turn the knob down to about 7, and that seems to do the trick. But long-term, some of you may wish to replace these.

I know I spent more time critiquing the instrument than I have on the good. But as with all purchases, I think everyone should be as informed as possible about what they're getting, and for some people, a 'project, no matter how big or small, is not what they're looking for. This has some elements of a project to it. But equally, straight out of the box, it was still perfectly playable — just not as playable as it could be.

Remember... At the end of the day, it is priced at an entry-level guitar, and for the issues I'm raising, I cannot fault it. I've certainly owned worse guitars in the past for about the same price or more.

I still own the guitar, I don't regret its purchase, I didn't send it back, and I still play it most days; I'm not precious over it, I don't love it and I don't hate it. So to me I'm just pleased with the value I've got out of it already for the price I paid and that I got a guitar I can down-tune without costing me a fortune. I'd recommend it to anybody in the same position and on a budget.

I bought this guitar for my first ever live show, and I really do love it. For how I play my music, the features are more than enough, as I typically only use the bridge pickup. It is very light and I could absolutely play this for a long period of time.

However, when it arrived, there were a few frets poking through the side of the fretboard probably from expanding after being shipped across the Atlantic Ocean. While this doesn't affect playing too much, it is a bit unnerving seeing the frets poking out the way they are. In addition to that, I find the bridge does not do a whole lot when it comes to intonation. I have cranked the saddles to their extremes on both ends, and it does not seem to do anything using the "follow the needle" technique for intonating.

I had upgraded the tuners to locking tuners, which has been fantastic. I will most likely do the same thing with the bridge as well, since I want to make sure my guitar is properly set up when I play it.

TL;DR: solid guitar, but upgrading the tuners and bridge will be worthwhile.

Guitar was shipped quickly, packaged well.

Finish is good, no major flaws or imperfections as far as i can find. Maybe a better matte finish than Gio's.

Frets are solid. No dead frets, nicely crowned ends. They stand up up to more expensive guitars in the collection.

Tuners are okay, nothing special, but this is generally the case with budget guitars.

Bridge seems like it'll do the job, but haven't had to do any adjustments at that end.

Pickups sound good through a PRS MT15.
Slight hiss at idle with high gain, but again, cheaper guitar, common issue.

Slight truss rod adjustment for a bit of neck relief was all the set up needed for a nice low action.

Great guitar? Not quite, but for this money I don't think you'll get better.
Overall a decent guitar, and a great modding platform.

For £109, you can't get better but it does come with the usual budget guitar disclaimer....you will very probably need to get it set up!

If you're OK with power/open chords and want to put your fingers through a bit of a work out when soloing, then you're good to go. If however you want to do a bit of shredding, then a hex key and/or a shim are your friends. The tele I got needed a fret leveling, truss rod adjustment and a shim, this I feel is pretty good from the box with just a shim and an intonation set up.

Fret edges are smooth, no flaws in the paint work, pickups sound good but as usual for HBZ actives require a gate at high gain. The nut, tuners and strings do their job, I won't be modding these!

The bodies on this matt black range isn't as thick as a Fender but then again it doesn't seem as skinny as an Affinity Strat (need to get calipers out). Seems petty but I do prefer a full thickness!