K
Good guitar for the price
Got it, inspected it, found some imperfections like under the vol/tone buttons there were three wrongfully drilled holes. One little mark in the painting but those were so small details that I don´t care.
Spent a few hours to set up the guitar, fret ends, a couple partly high frets, levelled and polished the frets, applied some lemon oil to the fretboard which seemed a little dry.
The tuners are somewhat stiff, but it may get better when applying some oil in them. No slack though. The nut is cut well, the intonation is ok, action was skyhigh but after the procedures I find the guitar to be very good for the price. I like the sounds of the Roswells, measured the ohms with a multimeter and they seemed to be between 5,60 and a little over 6 ohms.
No need to do anything radical here, I may change the bridge to a steel block one though. I enjoy the guitar now as it is, and this Inca Silver is just gorgeus, as is the darker, roasted looking neck! Good job!
Spent a few hours to set up the guitar, fret ends, a couple partly high frets, levelled and polished the frets, applied some lemon oil to the fretboard which seemed a little dry.
The tuners are somewhat stiff, but it may get better when applying some oil in them. No slack though. The nut is cut well, the intonation is ok, action was skyhigh but after the procedures I find the guitar to be very good for the price. I like the sounds of the Roswells, measured the ohms with a multimeter and they seemed to be between 5,60 and a little over 6 ohms.
No need to do anything radical here, I may change the bridge to a steel block one though. I enjoy the guitar now as it is, and this Inca Silver is just gorgeus, as is the darker, roasted looking neck! Good job!
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c
Surprisingly Good Strat-Style Guitar
Body: feels light to hold, paint is flawless with no scratches and is an amazing warm silver colour that has vintage vibes. The cavities for hardware are well routed some effort to clean up. 4.5/5
Neck: out of the factory the frets look good, no dings or scratches, and no sharp edges at the ends. Feels good to play, but needs a polish. Fretboard looked a bit dry and in need of oil, but not overly so. Neck relief needed only very minor truss rod adjustment. String action at the bridge a bit on the high side but still playable, saddles were not set very well and needed adjusting to match fretboard curvature. The intonation was way off and needed to be re-done. Overall the fretwork is better than you’d expect, and the fretboard looks good and feels good in the hand, and after setting up the action it plays really well. 4.5/5
Hardware: the bridge was set flat, but after adjusting the string tension to float it, the tuning stability is surprisingly good. The stock pickups are surprisingly good, and were set about the right height, the electronics are neatly done and grounded correctly, no excessive hum or crackling when using the switch or pots. The tuners are basic, but the factory installed strings were done well with minimal winds and the strings trimmed. The hardware is basic, but installed well and perfectly playable. 3.5/5
Overall I am very impressed with this guitar. It looks great, sounds good enough, and after a set up it plays well. The hardware is a bit basic, but for the price that’s understandable. I would recommend this product to anyone who is a beginner starting out, or to someone looking for an inexpensive strat to mod.
Neck: out of the factory the frets look good, no dings or scratches, and no sharp edges at the ends. Feels good to play, but needs a polish. Fretboard looked a bit dry and in need of oil, but not overly so. Neck relief needed only very minor truss rod adjustment. String action at the bridge a bit on the high side but still playable, saddles were not set very well and needed adjusting to match fretboard curvature. The intonation was way off and needed to be re-done. Overall the fretwork is better than you’d expect, and the fretboard looks good and feels good in the hand, and after setting up the action it plays really well. 4.5/5
Hardware: the bridge was set flat, but after adjusting the string tension to float it, the tuning stability is surprisingly good. The stock pickups are surprisingly good, and were set about the right height, the electronics are neatly done and grounded correctly, no excessive hum or crackling when using the switch or pots. The tuners are basic, but the factory installed strings were done well with minimal winds and the strings trimmed. The hardware is basic, but installed well and perfectly playable. 3.5/5
Overall I am very impressed with this guitar. It looks great, sounds good enough, and after a set up it plays well. The hardware is a bit basic, but for the price that’s understandable. I would recommend this product to anyone who is a beginner starting out, or to someone looking for an inexpensive strat to mod.
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S
Nice affordable ST style
I am not much of a strat guy, although I have owned a few fenders and a Squier over the years. At the time I bought this I had no Strat and thought, well why not, it is dirt cheap and I was curious. I have the Harley benton HB35+ (ES335 copy) and that I was how good that thing is. A lot of guitar for the money. I never connected with this guitar and ended up modding it a little and selling it on. Not because it was a bad guitar per sec, it is actually good for the money, but the neck thickness and shape made me not want to play it. But that is a matter of personal preference.
Pros:
- well built guitar for the price range.
- sunning finish on the body and the tinted neck
- plays well out of the box, action a bit on the high side but that was a 5 minute fix.
- electronics worked fine and the pickups are decent Alnicos, output a bit higher than I usually like, but that is subjective.
Cons
The the pick guard was horrible. Cheap, soft, single layer nylon like plastic. Just awful. Even worse is that is bulged in two places.
Thin sustain block (as expected per price)
In conclusion: Would I recommend this guitar and to whom? Yes, for beginners, this is a guitar that should be fine as an entry level instrument but also for modders.
Get yourself a nice pick guard and you have a really nice looking mod platform.
Pros:
- well built guitar for the price range.
- sunning finish on the body and the tinted neck
- plays well out of the box, action a bit on the high side but that was a 5 minute fix.
- electronics worked fine and the pickups are decent Alnicos, output a bit higher than I usually like, but that is subjective.
Cons
The the pick guard was horrible. Cheap, soft, single layer nylon like plastic. Just awful. Even worse is that is bulged in two places.
Thin sustain block (as expected per price)
In conclusion: Would I recommend this guitar and to whom? Yes, for beginners, this is a guitar that should be fine as an entry level instrument but also for modders.
Get yourself a nice pick guard and you have a really nice looking mod platform.
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A
Decent instrument for the price
Finish is very sleek, no blemishes or nicks in this particular guitar. Although in real life the color is quite a bit lighter than on the pictures and I think it looks way better in the pictures. Had I known this I would have probably ordered another color...
Neck is very good. Backside of the neck has really low friction and the fretboard is faultless. I wouldn't have expected this given the price. Action was set rather high out of the box, but I lowered it an acceptable height. I was actually quite surprised how low you can set the action without getting string buzz. Nut is cheap plastic but cut properly and works just fine. Tuners seem okay to me, at least they work without issues and the guitar stays in tune.
Pickguard is rough plastic and not a perfect fit as there are a few small gaps between the body and the pickguard. But the weakest point of this guitar is the bridge. The saddles and their screws are of poor quality and the block/spring mechanism is not very sturdily attached on the backside.
Pickups are not great, but not terrible either. They work just fine for rock and blues at least, but also pick up a lot of hum and static noise. One thing that is missing from the sound is good sustain. But maybe that is more related to the low quality bridge and tremolo system.
I think I will upgrade the bridge quite soon because it is clearly the weakest feature here. Maybe also the pickups at some point, but all in all it's a respectable instrument - especially given the price.
Neck is very good. Backside of the neck has really low friction and the fretboard is faultless. I wouldn't have expected this given the price. Action was set rather high out of the box, but I lowered it an acceptable height. I was actually quite surprised how low you can set the action without getting string buzz. Nut is cheap plastic but cut properly and works just fine. Tuners seem okay to me, at least they work without issues and the guitar stays in tune.
Pickguard is rough plastic and not a perfect fit as there are a few small gaps between the body and the pickguard. But the weakest point of this guitar is the bridge. The saddles and their screws are of poor quality and the block/spring mechanism is not very sturdily attached on the backside.
Pickups are not great, but not terrible either. They work just fine for rock and blues at least, but also pick up a lot of hum and static noise. One thing that is missing from the sound is good sustain. But maybe that is more related to the low quality bridge and tremolo system.
I think I will upgrade the bridge quite soon because it is clearly the weakest feature here. Maybe also the pickups at some point, but all in all it's a respectable instrument - especially given the price.
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A
Good guitar for beginners
Overall the guitar is pretty good. There are some overtones when playing and some issues in construction. But for this price it a very good guitar.
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P
Great strat!
Looks great, finish was perfect, no build errors/marks whatsoever.
Sounds good, the pups have a sweet vintage tone to them, won't replace them any time soon.
Plays well AFTER a fretjob. Sorry, but these frets came oxidated and rough af. I had to polish them well.
I upgraded the plastic nut for a Tusq nut, which was a big improvement in sustain and tuning stability.
I also replaced the bridge saddles for vintage ones. The stock ones are quite sharp with low action.
Id pay way more for this if that was the price. Good quality in general, and amazing considering the price.
Sounds good, the pups have a sweet vintage tone to them, won't replace them any time soon.
Plays well AFTER a fretjob. Sorry, but these frets came oxidated and rough af. I had to polish them well.
I upgraded the plastic nut for a Tusq nut, which was a big improvement in sustain and tuning stability.
I also replaced the bridge saddles for vintage ones. The stock ones are quite sharp with low action.
Id pay way more for this if that was the price. Good quality in general, and amazing considering the price.
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N
Good guitar for the price, be prepared to do some setup though
I bought this guitar mainly because I didn’t really have a single coil Strat guitar and thought this would make a great addition to my (small) collection.
Ordering was straight forward. Thomann actually delivered it within 1 day but due to UPS messing it up (surprise surprise), my order was delivered 2 days after ordering.
What surprised me most is the tuning stability. It holds tuning very well, even after (quite roughly) using the tremolo. The pickups also sound great, even though they lack a bit too much high-end for my liking. Originally I was going to replace them, but for now I actually see no reason to. They sound good as is.
For me the only downside is the colour, in the pictures it looks more silver than it actually is. The real colour is more of an olive/gold than a “true” silver. Still it looks quite amazing with the shiny finish, just know before ordering that you may not completely get what you expected.
Overall I give the guitar a solid 8,5/10, I definitely recommend it if you’re looking for a budget friendly
Ordering was straight forward. Thomann actually delivered it within 1 day but due to UPS messing it up (surprise surprise), my order was delivered 2 days after ordering.
What surprised me most is the tuning stability. It holds tuning very well, even after (quite roughly) using the tremolo. The pickups also sound great, even though they lack a bit too much high-end for my liking. Originally I was going to replace them, but for now I actually see no reason to. They sound good as is.
For me the only downside is the colour, in the pictures it looks more silver than it actually is. The real colour is more of an olive/gold than a “true” silver. Still it looks quite amazing with the shiny finish, just know before ordering that you may not completely get what you expected.
Overall I give the guitar a solid 8,5/10, I definitely recommend it if you’re looking for a budget friendly
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c
Nice Strat style guitar
Looking for a Strat style guitar that was budget friendly and found this. It is a really nice guitar for the money.
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n
Nice guitar
I bought this guitar to try out the Stratocaster shape for myself. The quality of the production pleased, the sound too. I will consider buying other models from Harley Benton!
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