Harley Benton ST-20HSS SB Standard Series

To be true, it is my first electric instrument and I have only positive impressions about it. As I used to play acoustic guitar it was important for me to try as much as possible versatile instrument to understand if electric is mine, and I made the right decision when chose the Harley Benton ST-20HSS SB Standard Series. After several months, of course, I want some more and sometimes look for more advanced instrument, but then I take this guitar in my hands and understand that I didn't try this or this... It is amazing, and by this I remembered my teenages when I got my first classic guitar :)

To criticize I should only mention (1) some negligible cosmetic roughnesses (but they are almost invisible), (2) a bit angled neck (the fat E string sometimes goes out from neck on higher frets) and (3) some instability in the tone controls work in the neck-mid position (in the beginning sometimes they did nothing in this position, sometimes worked correctly, but today its ok, what was the reason I don't know). Netherless, all these critic comments are nothing at the background of overall price/quality relation.

I wanted to be a rock-star one day. But I only have a classical guitar. And you can't really play rock on it. And not only rock, but also blues, funk, and so on.
And, wandering around the Internet, I came across such a wonderful store - Thomann. I compared and weighed all the prices, and concluded that any product here comes out cheaper than ours in Kazakhstan.
As a result, as a beginner, I chose the budget model. And I never regret it. The build quality is excellent. The guitar looks even better than in the photo. Everything is set up and tightened. Everything sounds great (although I tried it only in 1 combo - Harley Benton HB-15GXD JamBox, but I think it will be fine in any device). Switches, turns on everything as it should.
Conclusion - if you are a beginner, and already a seasoned guitarist - Harley Benton ST-20HSS is a great choice!

I bought this instrument from Thomann in July 2020 due to the lockdown. It’s my first electric guitar, and I haven’t parted with it since. The quality of the instrument (considering its price) is beyond praise. Over the four years, apart from two minor inconveniences I’ll mention later, nothing has happened to the guitar. All I’ve done is standard adjustments like truss rod adjustments and string height. The frets are still in good shape after 4 years; perhaps they could use some polishing, but playing remains comfortable.

Now, about those inconveniences: a couple of months after the purchase, the volume potentiometer started squeaking. Another month later, it stopped working altogether, so I replaced all three. The second issue was a low slot on the nut for the sixth string, causing it to buzz slightly on the first fret. A luthier fixed that for a nominal fee.

In conclusion: this is the best instrument for its price. It’s perfect for beginners, but if you continue playing, it’ll serve you well—for at least 4 years. Thanks, Thomann!"

This is a very good electric guitar for a beginner.

The strings are close to the fret board and don't require tedious height readjustment (at least it was good enough for me). I did some simple tuning and it was all good.

The frets are all even in height, well finished and the width is good.

The instrument isn't "noisy" even when used in front of a PC (where it could be affected by RF signals and induction), but a higher quality shielded cable is very recommended.

The tremolo and the tonality switch along with the knobs are good to have.

I'd say it needs slightly better packaging as the guitar head's pointy end managed to crush plastic foam and almost got out of the box during shipping, but the guitar was shipped over long distance, so guess it's OK.