J
Love this guitar!
At first I bought this guitar because as a lefty I simply wanted to have a red guitar. But I am so pleased with it that now I'm actually using it for live performance.
I ordered on Saturday, delivery was on Tuesdaynoon, I did the setup in the afternoon and in the evening I used it for live performance! Great service Thomann!
I have both versions, one with roseacer fretboard and one with maple fretboard. The roseacer one feels a bit slimmer, but both feel very comfortable and smooth.
The Candy Apple finish of the body is simply stunning.
Action and playability were OK out of the box, but I anyway did a full setup and got a perfect action and playability.
Electronics work well, even though the tone pots have a very limited range.
The tuners have some tolerance, but keep the guitar pretty well in tune.
I have other guitars of a much higher price range, but this is the one I keep on playing the most.
Mods I did
I replaced the pickguard with an aged pearl one, which makes the guitar look more rich.
Shielding.
Setup: truss rod, saddle height and intonation.
pros
price, unbelievably low
aesthetics, really beautiful instrument, flawless finish
sounds really good through a zoom G1Xon
light weight (3,4kg)
easy playability, low action
general feeling, it feels very nice, you just don't want to put it down
cons
tuners are not so good
small range of tone pods
no shielding
All in all, I highly recommend this guitar.
I ordered on Saturday, delivery was on Tuesdaynoon, I did the setup in the afternoon and in the evening I used it for live performance! Great service Thomann!
I have both versions, one with roseacer fretboard and one with maple fretboard. The roseacer one feels a bit slimmer, but both feel very comfortable and smooth.
The Candy Apple finish of the body is simply stunning.
Action and playability were OK out of the box, but I anyway did a full setup and got a perfect action and playability.
Electronics work well, even though the tone pots have a very limited range.
The tuners have some tolerance, but keep the guitar pretty well in tune.
I have other guitars of a much higher price range, but this is the one I keep on playing the most.
Mods I did
I replaced the pickguard with an aged pearl one, which makes the guitar look more rich.
Shielding.
Setup: truss rod, saddle height and intonation.
pros
price, unbelievably low
aesthetics, really beautiful instrument, flawless finish
sounds really good through a zoom G1Xon
light weight (3,4kg)
easy playability, low action
general feeling, it feels very nice, you just don't want to put it down
cons
tuners are not so good
small range of tone pods
no shielding
All in all, I highly recommend this guitar.
5
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TP
A Strat for £65... I mean to say...
I bought this at the same time as my TE-90 QM on an impulse, and thus avoided paying the £10 postage.
Firstly, I'm giving this guitar 5 stars purely based on the fact that it is unbelievable value for money. It is a beautiful looking guitar, with a lovely finish on the body. The frets are fairly smooth and the fret ends are neatly finished, although the wood on the neck surface is slightly rough, which doesn't affect general playing (like bar chords for example) but is noticeable when bending strings. One criticism: the volume pot isn't too bad, but the tone pots hardly have any affect at all.
HOWEVER...
This is a brand new, well made, and beautiful-looking Stratocaster copy for a handful of change, and would be a very worthwhile purchase as a single guitar or as addition to a collection. Personally I'm going to keep this long-term, so will be upgrading it over the coming weeks. But even unchanged it really is a lot of guitar for the money; when you think that an American Stratocaster would probably be about 20 times the price or more, it puts it into perspective.
Firstly, I'm giving this guitar 5 stars purely based on the fact that it is unbelievable value for money. It is a beautiful looking guitar, with a lovely finish on the body. The frets are fairly smooth and the fret ends are neatly finished, although the wood on the neck surface is slightly rough, which doesn't affect general playing (like bar chords for example) but is noticeable when bending strings. One criticism: the volume pot isn't too bad, but the tone pots hardly have any affect at all.
HOWEVER...
This is a brand new, well made, and beautiful-looking Stratocaster copy for a handful of change, and would be a very worthwhile purchase as a single guitar or as addition to a collection. Personally I'm going to keep this long-term, so will be upgrading it over the coming weeks. But even unchanged it really is a lot of guitar for the money; when you think that an American Stratocaster would probably be about 20 times the price or more, it puts it into perspective.
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R
We who are about to strat salute you.
Starting off I've been looking into buying a cheap strat for a while having previous bad experience with two other brands which I will not mention names.
Firstly, straight out of the box, a quick tune and instantly playable with smooth fretwork and a comfortable neck and have managed to get the action a little lower which was really low out of the box. intonation was almost perfect. Literally 15 minutes and this guitar was fantastic.
Secondly the pickups. What have you put in this little gem, there wonderful I have played expensive strats and they don't sound as good as these. I've run cleans to crunch to driven blues to hard Rock and these pups really hold up well no squealing etc...
In conclusion I love this guitar I can't believe the price. Its always a pleasure to pickup and play and captures the tone,feel and essence of what a stratocaster is with quality underdog vibes. Great product for a beginner or an experienced player like myself (29yrs) who's gained quite a collection of axes over the years.
My only negative point would be that the machine heads are a little bit rough but provide great tuning stability nonetheless.
Firstly, straight out of the box, a quick tune and instantly playable with smooth fretwork and a comfortable neck and have managed to get the action a little lower which was really low out of the box. intonation was almost perfect. Literally 15 minutes and this guitar was fantastic.
Secondly the pickups. What have you put in this little gem, there wonderful I have played expensive strats and they don't sound as good as these. I've run cleans to crunch to driven blues to hard Rock and these pups really hold up well no squealing etc...
In conclusion I love this guitar I can't believe the price. Its always a pleasure to pickup and play and captures the tone,feel and essence of what a stratocaster is with quality underdog vibes. Great product for a beginner or an experienced player like myself (29yrs) who's gained quite a collection of axes over the years.
My only negative point would be that the machine heads are a little bit rough but provide great tuning stability nonetheless.
1
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AM
You can't go better than this
For this price, you can't get a nicer looking guitar than this, pickups are decent, electronics are right.
The only con is the fretboard: Sharp edges, typical HB dryness (:-7), but nothing you can improve it at home.
As I mentioned earlier, the color is a dream and that with maple neck, is a killer comobo, yeah I'll do some improvs in the tuning/bridge department but you totally can use it the way it arrives, finger bleeding haha style, but you'll get used to:-7
The only con is the fretboard: Sharp edges, typical HB dryness (:-7), but nothing you can improve it at home.
As I mentioned earlier, the color is a dream and that with maple neck, is a killer comobo, yeah I'll do some improvs in the tuning/bridge department but you totally can use it the way it arrives, finger bleeding haha style, but you'll get used to:-7
2
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M
A usable instrument
I have a small child with an unhealthy interest in my guitars, so I figured a really cheap, robust guitar could come in handy! Well, left handed guitars don't come much cheaper than £69, so this fitted my requirements perfectly, as did the eye catching candy apple red finish.
This is my third Harley Benton instrument, so I already had some expectation of it being a great value piece of kit and it did not disappoint.
Out of the box it actually looked very nice and had zero manufacturing defects and a good set of frets, something I have come to accept as a 50/50 chance with much more prestigious brands especially left handed guitars for some reason.
I changed the nut, because I have fat fingers, and the string spacing was rather narrow, this is a personal thing and I am sure a great many younger/smaller handed players would appreciate it as it came.
I did a bit of fettling to clean up the edges of the cutouts on the back plate (not exactly a critical component), this was the only thing less than perfect, and fine tuned the setup.
The guitar doesn't have any quirks, the electrics work perfectly and it played just fine as it came.
It doesnt sound quite as good as a proper strat, but is halfway there for around 10% of the outlay, I think that sums it up well.
In summary, good build and quality control, nice looking and perfectly playable, if not exactly a tone monster. Ideal for home playing where hazards such as enthusiastic kids are present.
Thank you Thomann.
This is my third Harley Benton instrument, so I already had some expectation of it being a great value piece of kit and it did not disappoint.
Out of the box it actually looked very nice and had zero manufacturing defects and a good set of frets, something I have come to accept as a 50/50 chance with much more prestigious brands especially left handed guitars for some reason.
I changed the nut, because I have fat fingers, and the string spacing was rather narrow, this is a personal thing and I am sure a great many younger/smaller handed players would appreciate it as it came.
I did a bit of fettling to clean up the edges of the cutouts on the back plate (not exactly a critical component), this was the only thing less than perfect, and fine tuned the setup.
The guitar doesn't have any quirks, the electrics work perfectly and it played just fine as it came.
It doesnt sound quite as good as a proper strat, but is halfway there for around 10% of the outlay, I think that sums it up well.
In summary, good build and quality control, nice looking and perfectly playable, if not exactly a tone monster. Ideal for home playing where hazards such as enthusiastic kids are present.
Thank you Thomann.
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m
A great bargain
I bought this as I've a few Harley Bentons, and was looking for something just for gentle Shadows/Dire Straits type stuff.
The bridge pickup is low output, but as I was using it for a specific purpose, it's just a matter of increasing the volume on those patches.
The frets needed a quick polish, and a set of Daddarios, after that it was good to go.
That maple neck, ok, that feels fabulous, it has to be said.
If you're looking for something with a fierce sound, this will not be the guitar for you, but for all the nice, shimmery stuff it sounds just fine.
At this price it's a steal.
The bridge pickup is low output, but as I was using it for a specific purpose, it's just a matter of increasing the volume on those patches.
The frets needed a quick polish, and a set of Daddarios, after that it was good to go.
That maple neck, ok, that feels fabulous, it has to be said.
If you're looking for something with a fierce sound, this will not be the guitar for you, but for all the nice, shimmery stuff it sounds just fine.
At this price it's a steal.
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m
Mod base
Bought this as a mod base, it plays ok out of the box, action is a little high for my taste, mediocre tuners and plastic nut, those have to go first.
Pickups are definetly usable but i wouldn't gig with them or anything. Fretwork was also fine and there were no cracks or dents in the finish.
It will turn into a nice guitar after a proper setup is done, also, get rid of the original strings, they are garbage.
Overall, you get what you pay for, if you want to buy this as your first guitar, have it setup by a pro and you will be just fine.
WEEK LATER EDIT.
Never, I mean NEVER use the tremolo, unless you want to tune every 10 seconds, just block it or never use it. I will put locking tuners and a TUSQ XL and well see how it goes.
Pickups are definetly usable but i wouldn't gig with them or anything. Fretwork was also fine and there were no cracks or dents in the finish.
It will turn into a nice guitar after a proper setup is done, also, get rid of the original strings, they are garbage.
Overall, you get what you pay for, if you want to buy this as your first guitar, have it setup by a pro and you will be just fine.
WEEK LATER EDIT.
Never, I mean NEVER use the tremolo, unless you want to tune every 10 seconds, just block it or never use it. I will put locking tuners and a TUSQ XL and well see how it goes.
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D
Brilliant Build, Sound, Quality
Unpacked, did a few tweaks on setup, but could of played out of box.
Briliant
Briliant
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D
Outstanding guitar for the price
Summary: This guitar exceeded my expectations and was a pleasant surprise in quality & sound. Well finished, a great modding platform.
Background: I've been playing guitar 15 years,and I've owned several S-Style guitars.
Review: Right out of the box, the fit and finish was great. Neck is straight, no sharp fret ends, no blemishes; the guitar was well set up. This instrument is about 7.5 lbs, light compared to your average S-Style; for me this is a plus (I'm a small guy and I don't like heavy guitars). Neck profile is comfy like a modern "C" but a bit thicker, yet with the flatter radius it feels easier to chord on.
Sound: Most surprising were the pickups. Neck pickup is nothing special, but the middle and bridge positions were very pleasant tonally. I've used them for recording with good results. I did upgrade the electronics & hardware with stuff I already had on hand, but you could get away practicing/recording with this on a budget. There are some minor nitpicks I'll mention below about the component quality, but frankly those are to be expected with a guitar at this price. Don't kid yourself. The wonderful thing about this model is that you can upgrade those components rather easily at your preference.
Pros: Great finish, neck well set up, comfortable and light, pleasant/usable tone.
Cons: Undersized import tremolo block (I upgraded to a full-size block and it fit but you'll lose some tremolo movement), mini-pots (I upgraded to full-size pots and they fit but you'll need to ream out the pickguard holes a bit).
Background: I've been playing guitar 15 years,and I've owned several S-Style guitars.
Review: Right out of the box, the fit and finish was great. Neck is straight, no sharp fret ends, no blemishes; the guitar was well set up. This instrument is about 7.5 lbs, light compared to your average S-Style; for me this is a plus (I'm a small guy and I don't like heavy guitars). Neck profile is comfy like a modern "C" but a bit thicker, yet with the flatter radius it feels easier to chord on.
Sound: Most surprising were the pickups. Neck pickup is nothing special, but the middle and bridge positions were very pleasant tonally. I've used them for recording with good results. I did upgrade the electronics & hardware with stuff I already had on hand, but you could get away practicing/recording with this on a budget. There are some minor nitpicks I'll mention below about the component quality, but frankly those are to be expected with a guitar at this price. Don't kid yourself. The wonderful thing about this model is that you can upgrade those components rather easily at your preference.
Pros: Great finish, neck well set up, comfortable and light, pleasant/usable tone.
Cons: Undersized import tremolo block (I upgraded to a full-size block and it fit but you'll lose some tremolo movement), mini-pots (I upgraded to full-size pots and they fit but you'll need to ream out the pickguard holes a bit).
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D
One word is all that's needed - Fantastic
I ordered this guitar as a beginner to electric guitars. I had to wait a couple of weeks for it to arrive but boy was it worth the wait. The guitar is stunning and after a tune up, playable from the box. Well done Thomann!
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