Harley Benton ST-20HSS CA Standard Series

Буду краток. Это моя третья электрогитара Harley Benton. Просто решил попробовать самый дешевый страт, чтоб иметь свое мнение. И получилась интересная вещь.)) Это теперь моя любимая гитара.)) Не хочу вдаваться в технические подробности, что можно заменить колки, звучки и так далее. Но зачем? Она полностью удовлетворяет потребности "домашнего" гитариста. Беря в руки дорогой Les Paul я ощущаю тяжесть прожитых лет.)) Беря в руки эту веселую и легкую гитару, я ощущаю юношеский задор.)) А что то менять, доделывать, переделывать, одним словом апгрейдить, можно всегда, но опять же. А нужно ли? Уверен, что закажу себе еще пару гитар Harley Benton. Вот нравятся они мне.)) Спасибо Thomann!

I seen many videos saying that this guitar was impressive for its price. I was skeptical. I was thinking that maybe the guitars sent for reviews are going beyond Thomann QC check. I wanted a Strat type guitar to add to the collection of the 4 most iconic guitars in history which are the Strat, Les Paul , Tele and Double Cut guitars. I wanted a cheap but classic looking Strat type guitar but I wanted a playable one. I came across the Harley Benton HS20 and how much classic look can that be in that Candy Red apple body and white pickguard and knob and chrome hardware. I liked it but as said I was not sure if to go for HB. Finally I decided to go for the HSS version which is more to my taste.

When I unboxed this guitar I could not believe what I was holding. The Body is flaw less and the paint is stunning and shiny, the neck has a beautiful grain to it and I like the reddish Rose wood imitation fret board.
The build is awesome. Frets maybe need a polishing but no sharp edges whatsoever. The action is set up perfectly as i like it very low and no buzzing. The guitar was slightly out of tune which I understand. The guitar is very light compared to my Squire Tele and the lawsuit LP. After a quick check on relief and a quick tune with the original strings I played this HB ST20 HSS and it is so comfortable to play. The pick ups might not the be best in the world but surely not crap everything works fine.
This guitar is simply not the best guitar money can buy you under a 100 Euro but maybe in the under 200 Euro price range. It is unbelievable how they do it at Harley Benton well done !. Its is a MUST HAVE even if you have other guitars and you are not Big Company Biased. Seems like its going to me my favorite. Definitely I will be closing my 4 guitar collection with an other HB DC Customer when its available again ! It is worth it guys.

Flawless finish, sounds great. Sure, some parts feel a bit cheap (tuners and knobs for example), but everything is working properly. Fretboard was very dry, but a bit of conditioner (I used dAndrea Lemon Oil) solved that.
Some notes:
- the pickguard is not completely white. There are some blue marks in it that I can't see on the photos. Not sure if this is intended or not.
- the upper right corner of the trem plate is nicked, but if you look closely so is the one on the photos. I'm not sure if i got the exact guitar from the photos, more likely all are like this.
- the end of the fretboard behind the nut is not evenly cut, but this is almost invisible after conditioning it.

This is really just nitpicking and things you really need to look for to notice. For the price it's worth getting even if you just want to hang it on the wall as decoration because it looks stunning.

I bought this as a gift for someone who wanted to learn guitar, at this price I really wasn't expecting as good of a guitar as I got.

Out of the box it is set up very well, no intonation adjustments required. No buzzing at all which is amazing and I like how they set up the bridge. Thomann did a very good job setting this up.

Pickups sound nice, I especially like the bridge humbucker. The tuners seem to be very reliable as far as I can tell so far which is huge on a guitar at this price point. The roseacre imitation rosewood is actually very nice too and they did a very good job with the fret edges on this (better than mexican fenders).

But there are a couple of issues with the guitar:

One of the frets has a spot of corrosion and the upper frets look like they have some kind of grime on them so I will polish these off myself.

The finish is very nice overall but there are a couple of black spots and smears but luckily they are all on the back of the body.

Bridge is crap but that was expected and it is a good thing to upgrade in the future. The switches are quite stiff too so that would also be a good upgrade for the future.

In conclusion I would recommend this to anyone as a first guitar, even to experienced players who want a really cheap strat as it would be a perfect canvas for customising. All of the negatives I have with this guitar don't affect the playability of this guitar which is what makes it so special amongst the millions of crappy budget guitars out there.

I'm bad at guitar. I have only been playing for two months, and the past month was with this guitar nearly exclusively and I honestly love it.

Maybe it was moving from my housemate's rusty old acoustic to this but it feels very friendly to my beginner fingers. The frets are a bit high which felt odd at first but I don't feel them at all any more.

It feels sturdy enough and I'm able to get a wide range of sound out of it but, again maybe it's my untrained ear but it really doesn't feel like the tone knobs do much of anything. I feel slight change in brightness and very small changes in clarity when I move them around but that is my only complaint.

Otherwise, a solid guitar and I thought I was being lazy buying one of the cheapest ones on the market to start with but it really paid off.

I will admit - I bought this ST-20HSS for my young daughter on a whim, with low expectations given the cost. At this price point, it's usually a bonus if a guitar is tuneable, let alone playable...

My daughter was very specific, her first full-size guitar had to be red :). And on that front, this one delivers - the metallic Candy Apple Red finish is loud, sparkly and very well finished.

The neck is nicely made, with a satin finish that is easy for beginners to play. No flaws in the rosewood fretboard, no sharp ends on the frets. The truss rod also operates correctly. (That might seem an odd thing to mention, but I've seen cheap guitars in the past whose neck simply could not be made straight enough to be playable). To be honest, this neck is every bit as good as that on the "Deluxe Series" TE-70 I bought for myself.

In general, the hardware is OK quality - the tuners & bridge are nothing special, but work just fine, and the generic pickups actually sound pretty nice. The humbucker has more power and character than I expected, and the single coil & out-of-phase positions deliver the classic tones you'd expect.

The real surprise, however, is the playability. Following a full setup, this affordable little thing is buzz-free with nice low action (1.5mm/1.0mm @ 12th fret) and perfect intonation. It plays really nicely, holds its tuning, and sounds good. All in all, an excellent beginners instrument, and highly recommended - as long as you invest time or money in a proper setup when you receive it.