Harley Benton ST-62LH BK Vintage Series

Where to begin?

I bought this guitar as I wanted to gauge whether or not I was ready to get back into classic strat style guitars, without jumping straight in at the deep end with the Fender USA Professional II I'd been eyeing. Normally I play a Harley Benton Fusion II, having abandoned my other high-end axes in favour of Harley Benton products owing to their superior feature set and sounds.

Needless to say, I've not been disappointed by the ST-62. As with the rest of Harley Benton's lineup (with the exception of the most basic entry-level products), quality is excellent, and straight-up astounding considering the price.

First up, lets begin with fit and finish - I've had high-end and intermediate guitars from big manufacturers that had far greater shortcomings out of the box compared to this guitar. The frets have been very nicely cut - at no point do they jut out of the sides of the fretboard. Obviously for the money you're paying, they'll need polishing and levelling to maximise the potential of the guitar, but overall, not bad. The neck itself feels very premium with a smooth satin finish not unlike that of the Fusion II. In fact the neck profile deserves specific mention here because it isn't what you'd expect on a guitar implying 1962 strat - it's essentially a Telecaster neck (thick!), but with a very flat radius - an odd choice, but I like it. No trouble bending here.

It's all well put together - the pots and jack are all nice and solid on my guitar. No loose connections or rattle. The neck and action needed an adjustment and my guitar came fitted with .10-.46 strings, so the nut might need a minor adjustment or lubrication to minimise binding. That being said, I haven't really encountered any tuning difficulties during normal playing (and bend quite a lot, and it holds up well even with compound bends).

The pickups installed in the guitar are great. I'm a fan of Roswell's lineup and learned previously that they will go head-to-head with DiMarzios or Seymour Duncans and come out holding their own. On my Fusion II I briefly replaced the stock pickups but instantly put them back because the Tone Zone and Air Norton I'd fitted ruined the balance between the many positions and didn't sound better individually either. That was a lesson learned.

Anyway I'd watched MANY videos online with "blind tests" of the ST-62 being compared to US strats, Xotic guitars etc - and time and time again I'd find out my favourite sounding one was the ST-62. This speaks volumes.

In practise they are responsive and have that shimmering quality single coils are known for. Definitely no need to replace these.

Elsewhere we have the Kluson-style tuners, which are pretty stable. I think the string trees maybe can be replaced with ones that will bind less, and the bridge unit could be of a higher quality in terms of metal, but I don't get the impression the guitar is being robbed of tone anywhere.

All in all, in 2021 we are a far cry from the Squier Affinity I first got over 20 years ago when I'd started - and even that was head-and-shoulders above the strat copies circulating during the 80's and 90's.

For those who are looking for a Strat-style guitar without breaking the bank, look no further, Harley Benton has you covered (as usual!)

A little background forst. I sold my Fender American Pro for 1500.00 because I did not like the light maple fretboard. Hard for me to see. So I knew I wanted another strat so I looked to add to my other 7 Harley Benton because they have impressed me with quality products. I bought the Left handed ST-62 . It arrived in 4 days from Germany to Arkansas. Impressive. Upon opening it I was surprised to see a beautiful roasted Maple neck with a sweet Pau Ferro Fretboard. First on the neck. It was the best yet of my 8 I have bought. The color and feel were perfect. It just felt natural in my large hands. The fret ends were smooth and not sticking out. I always polish my frets no matter the guitar or maker. Equal opportunity for the them all. After that was done it was as perfect of neck as I have ever picked up. I have 20 guitars with a few more bought and sold so that's a pretty big statement. The pickups were lined up perfect to strings. The tremolo was locked down but I prefer a floating Trem so I went through the process of setting it up as a floater. A lot of people on HB guitar boards say the bridge is crap and switch it out. I think if they had the knowledge of how to reduce friction points and how to properly float it they would feel different. After reducing the friction points and setting it up it was just fine. Up and down action with staying in tune. The tuners are fine they do the job. The pickups are good. They are alnico 5's so they work just fine. And sound good. Some people just have to have name brand so-called up grades so more power to them. I like these just fine. If I want to tweak sound I do it with pedals and amp settings. The setup from the factory was good. Surprisingly low action which I like and intonation was spot on. The guitar body and neck were perfect no imperfections. The neck also has a really smooth flat finish for easy travel up and down. So bottom line is for 125.00 I could of fought 13 of them before getting to the Fender price. And no the Fender is not 13 times better. For me there are features of this guitar that I like much more than my Fender. So my left handed version was just fine. With about a hour of setup work it was perfect for me. I forgot to mention that the nut was even dressed right from the factory. I don't know if the lefty s get more love in setup from the QC at the factory,but the 8 i have purchased have been good. The QC has improved over the years to where HB puts out a fine product. This guitar is good as is and I had planned on doing upgrades but surprisingly did not need them. So if your proficient at guitar setups its a no brainer or you invest in a good setup then you will have a fine guitar. Also if your addicted to upgrades then your starting with a great base. I am still trying to figure out how a Fender is 13 times more expensive because it is not 13 times better. Good job Thomann/Harley Benton.

I have given this guitar full marks with consideration to the price point that it is offered at. I purchased this guitar for my father to learn with and sent it to my address to give it a cursory setup before he took it; not needed, the guitar was well setup, moderately high action not to my taste but fine for a beginner. Scratchy frets which can be easily polished if you feel bothered by it, or they smooth themselves out with bending the strings over time. These budget guitars are not the ones that I learned with 15 years ago and the only shame is that this one is left handed so I couldnt fully play it myself ;)

I own several high end guitars such as a Fender American Standard Telecaster, an Ibanez AS93 hollow body and a Martin acoustic.

I've been interested in trying a Stratocaster type guitar but did not want to spend about 1000$ Canadian dollars for a MIM Fender Strat.

With that being said, i had heard about Harley Benton's over the last year and watched a bunch of youtube videos and decided to buy the St-62LH Vintage series. I paid 150$ plus 75$ for the shipping and it took 12 days to arrive.

I have to say I cannot believe how well this guitar plays and sounds for only 150$. If did however have some issues on arrival. I was expecting Wilkinson pickups as advertised on the site but it had Roswell pickups.

The fret-board was extremely dry and the strings were corroded. I had to change the strings and condition the fret board. There was also a little bit of cosmetic damage on the neck but i am not too concerned about that.

Once I did these changes and slightly fixed the intonation the guitar
plays great and sounds even better. It's too bad the quality control was lacking because I would have given this guitar 5 stars across the board. In terms of value for the money I don't think it can be beat.

Thomann please improve your quality control and ship what you advertise on your site. I am still nonetheless quite impressed and will probably make another Harley Benton purchase in the future.

Cheers

Well the righthanded version is 20€ less but thats the pain of being a lefty. Its my first electric guitar and I only played classical before. So I still need some time to adjust to the thinner neck haha.

Overall, the build quality is amazing. the hardware is alright, it feels cheap but its definitely doing its job. I didnt notice any rough frets, everything is pretty smooth. The pickguard is very easy to scratch but it came with a membrane. I loved the woods, they dont look cheap at all. The finish didnt have any marks. Im just amazed how everything is perfect.

The fretboard is a little rough though but got used to it after a day or so. The tuners do hold the tune very well, havent used the tremolo yet. I dont know if the pickups are good or not as Im not an expert but they do their job for me. Depends on your amp too.

If you are looking to start playing but dont want to completely cheap out, this feels like an amazing option, considering you want a st like guitar. This feels like a guitar Id play forever.

I am a new player, I bought a Fender Squire Telecaster at the suggestion of a local shop, It's fine...I just didn't fall in love with it. Then I saw some reviews on Harley Bentons that were very positive on Youtube so I ended up here. First off, I can't believe now that I have the guitar in my hand that it was so inexpensive even delivered to the US, I really enjoy playing this Guitar! I'm new so I don't have tons of experience but I do know this Guitar "Feels" right, no other way to explain it. I pick this guitar up every time, I will probably sell the Squire and get another HB, one thing that others have mentioned is the flatter fret board, it makes playing so much smoother for me. The only thing is the frets were a little rough, I smoothed then down with some fine grade sandpaper and now it's smooth. I would buy it again in a minute and will tell anyone who asks...Buy one, you won't regret it.