Harley Benton ST-57DG Black Tribute

Update: As mentioned below, I have contacted Thomann and submitted a photo of the issue. to their credit, they have given me a £50 credit on my account, which I have used towards another purchase.

Not sure if Thomann will publish this review, but I will write it anyway. Received this guitar on 29/03/2021. It was not in stock at the time of ordering, so was placed on back order, with an arrival time of late February. The QC label has a date of 05/01/2021, so I am assuming the the QC happened at the place of manufacture. This guitar looked like it had been preowned. The black gloss finish has numerous fine scratches all over it. The neck is not properly sanded, and is quite rough in places, and certainly does not have the fine satin finish shown on the Thomann web site. In fact the neck looks like untreated bare wood. I'm not sure why Thomann have allowed this guitar to be sent to a customer, particularly one that has spent alot of money with them. Prior to this guitar, I had purchased 3 others, all of which had no QC issues, and were all of excellent quality. So I am very disappointed with this guitar. I have emailed Thomann about these issues and await there response. Given the price of the guitar, it is not worth the hassle of having to sent it back. So I suppose I will probably have to accept it. As mentioned, I have other HB guitars, and one thing which is very apparent, is that the guitars made in Indonesia are much better quality in finish and built quality, than the ones made in China. I'm not sure why this is, but it is certainly the case. If this review is published, I will update it in due course.

Let me first say I returned this guitar for mainly one reason; the fretboard radius is more like 14". I love my strats with 9,5"-10,5" radius so I couldn't really play this guitar the way I can. The neck is simply too flat and wide. I couldn't really place my thumb over the neck and I have massive size 10 hands

Apart from that this guitar cannot get anything else but a 5 star review. Value for money is unbelievable. Sure the pots are a bit cheap as is the switch, but they work great. Pickups are very good too. Hardware is also surprisingly good. The frets were all in place, no sharp edges. Sure they need a good polish but that's it. The sound of the guitar is that of a typical strat. This guitar is at the same level as the top of the line Squiers or even cheap Mexico strats. Needles to say they cost 3x more. If you're looking for a budget vintage spec'd black strat you won't be disappointed. Keep in mind the radius though, some may like it, unfortunately I don't.

Also great support from Thomman staff, no problems returning the guitar. I have since ordered another guitar with a smaller radius and ash body for more "twang".