Harley Benton ST-Modern Plus HSS SBBL

I was expecting quite a lot from this guitar, and boy did it deliver, I haven't found anything AT ALL to complain about, a friend who has worked as a guitar tech. for a few well known artists gave it a once over and commented that he was currently working on a £4000 plus guitar had several issues needing attention, and said they should sit up and take notice of the competition out there. This has been my best purchase for years and I can say that it looks and play better than you could hope for. If you're sitting on the fence on one of these DOIN'T, just buy one and play the hell out of it everything in there is a quality item.

I am very pleasantly surprised by the quality of this guitar. It feels solid, well built and the finish looks really nice. The neck is comfortable and the guitar is easy to play.

The sound is clear and versatile, and overall the instrument feels like something more expensive than it actually is. For this price range I really have no major complaints.

The only small thing I did not like very much are the knobs on the potentiometers. They feel a bit basic compared to the rest of the guitar, but this is a very small detail and easy to change if needed.

Overall I am very happy with this guitar and I think it offers excellent value for the money.

I was hunting for a heavier alternative to the Larry Carlton Sire S7 2nd Gen—an excellent guitar, but one that firmly delivers a traditional vintage vibe (and commands twice the price). Similarly, I needed a substitute for the Schecter Nick Johnston HSS, which sounded a bit too PAF-leaning for my taste and carries an even steeper price tag, costing three times as much. I found exactly what I was looking for in this Harley Benton.
This guitar packs a meaner punch than either of those instruments, yet perfectly retains everything you’d expect from a great HSS layout—most notably that signature glassy single-coil spank. It’s also worth highlighting that the neck, featuring a compound radius, feels incredibly fast and comfortable in the hand. Sonically, it checks all the boxes of the Alnico 5 aesthetic; plus, in today’s era of modelers, EQ shaping, plugins, IRs, and other tech wizardry, upgrading the pickups feels completely unnecessary. To break it down, the bridge pickup delivers a satisfyingly aggressive bite, but the real surprise lies in the single-coils, which offer a higher output than your standard vintage fare. In particular, the neck pickup is exceptionally creamy, smooth, full-bodied, and singing, making it a stellar option for everything from smooth jazz to hard & heavy solos.
Long story short: I highly recommend getting the frets polished right out of the box, whether you order it online or pick it up in-store. It’s a minor extra investment—roughly €40 to €70 on average—but it transforms what is already a stellar guitar into an instrument you won’t want to put down, and it might just make you forget about every other guitar currently in your collection. That is, of course, if you’re a Strat player.