Harley Benton ST-70RW Deluxe Series

Having looked at all the Harley Benton strats here at Thomann I opted for this model because it had Wilkinson Alnico vintage ST-style singlecoil pickups and a Wilkinson tremolo.

Having paid only £106 for the guitar i am so glad i bought it. It only took 3 days to arrive here in the UK and it was well packaged. It came with a guitar lead and allen keys and tremolo arm. As this model was only released in Feb 2015, it had no review's or ratings. I presume i must have been the first person to have purchased this model.

There were no flaws on the guitar at all and the finish was a perfect natural (hi-gloss) very impressed! The protective sticky plastic was a bit tricky to remove from around the pickguard and pickup's but having removed the volume and 2 tone nobs made things easier. It already had a nice low action straight out of the box and i am pleased to say i had no fret buzz whatsoever. I did need to tune it myself but it was pretty well tuned out of the box.

I have two Les Paul guitar's already and bought this Harley Benton Strat ONLY to play "The Shadows" music so i wanted a good reliable tremolo which seem's to work very well indeed and appear's to stay in tune so far.

The Wilkinson pickup's have a nice warm tone and don't sound cheap and nasty.
For the price this guitar is well worth the money! I could not be happier!
Good quality Guitar! I hope this review is of some help for anyone else thinking of buying this model and i am astonished that i have guitar of this quality for £106
I have bought £400 guitars and the HB ST-70 is up there with them and just as good when comparing sound and quality.

Thankyou Thomann. I hope to buy from you again.

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

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

Good Points:

- fit and finish were excellent.No sharp fret ends, no fret buzz.
- truss rod operates smoothly and does what it's supposed to.
- pickups are great. I've honestly felt no need whatsoever to upgrade them. It sounds like a really nice Strat!
- the rosewood finish looks lovely!
- Hardware does what it's supposed to - tuners hold their tune and the tremolo functions as expected (just don't go divebombing on it!)
- Soundwise, the bridge gives you the classic Strat twang, the middle pickup sounds suitably quacky and the neck pickup is my favourite - nice and mellow. The two humbucking configurations (bridge and middle / middle and neck) have that slightly scooped sound that you expect.
- I didn't even have to tinker much with the setup out of the box!
- nice vintage tinted glossy neck (if you like that sort of thing as I do)

Bad Points:

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

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

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

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

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

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

I recommend it without hesitation.