GL
Great product feature-wise, but entirely unplayable
First, the good: The neck is beautiful and fits snug in the hand. Very comfortable to hold and it appears as though there has been some minor fretboard edge-rolling. The locking tuners look high-quality and the stainless steel frets are a great appointment (had I not encountered what will be discussed soon). The pickups sound fine. The finish is quite nice too. Excellent price. You won't find another guitar like this for what is being asked for.
Now, the bad: The strings above the 10th fret buzz (and a couple below) rattle like crazy. I counted up to 14 high frets when tested with my fret rocker, which explains why the amount of fret buzz and choking that this guitar gets is unbelievable. I have never experienced such negligence from Harley Benton before and am stunned how this could have ever passed quality control. I looked to see if the frets were possibly popping out of their cavity and they are all seated properly. In addition, the action is not low and the truss rod is properly tuned. The issue is clearly with the leveling of the frets, which makes it practically unplayable. I tried raising the action, but in order to adjust it to the point in which the buzz sufficiently disappears the strings are so high off the body that the instrument cannot be played in a way comfortable to the fingers. I am very disappointed with the state that this instrument arrived in. I want to love it, as I do my other Harley Benton guitars, but in it's current state and for the current price I cannot come to bring myself to give it more than 2 stars.
I ordered the TE version in the same order and have encountered no such problem with that model, so I suspect I got unlucky with the ST.
Now, the bad: The strings above the 10th fret buzz (and a couple below) rattle like crazy. I counted up to 14 high frets when tested with my fret rocker, which explains why the amount of fret buzz and choking that this guitar gets is unbelievable. I have never experienced such negligence from Harley Benton before and am stunned how this could have ever passed quality control. I looked to see if the frets were possibly popping out of their cavity and they are all seated properly. In addition, the action is not low and the truss rod is properly tuned. The issue is clearly with the leveling of the frets, which makes it practically unplayable. I tried raising the action, but in order to adjust it to the point in which the buzz sufficiently disappears the strings are so high off the body that the instrument cannot be played in a way comfortable to the fingers. I am very disappointed with the state that this instrument arrived in. I want to love it, as I do my other Harley Benton guitars, but in it's current state and for the current price I cannot come to bring myself to give it more than 2 stars.
I ordered the TE version in the same order and have encountered no such problem with that model, so I suspect I got unlucky with the ST.
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FF
So disappointed!
Over the years I have attempted to buy various Harley Benton guitars, but sadly have encountered so many quality control problems. Notwithstanding this, maybe because I am optimistic and on paper the HB line offers some great features, I keep giving them a second chance. I was really excited by this latest 25th anniversary model, and was also encouraged by all the good reviews that talked of great fretwork etc, but on receiving it, I again was badly disappointed with the really poor quality control.
The frets are just awful, with sharp fret ends, incredibly rough fret surfaces and high spots all over the fretboard. I have good skill in guitar repairs and can do most work setting up a guitar (including leveling frets and cutting nuts). But there comes a point, no matter the cost of a guitar, where it is not worth spending the time and effort trying to rectify a basically poor guitar. My last purchase, the Gotoh SG HB model, had a number of problems, including a ridiculously high cut nut, but I decided it was worth the effort sorting out that guitar. On this present ST-25, the fret and nut work is so bad that I am not prepared to do the work regardless of the reasonable cost of the guitar itself. Thomann quality control should be ashamed of itself letting this guitar through! The action was also way too high, but couldn't be lowered to a reasonable height because of all the high spots on the frets. I am so disappointed as I was really excited by the package of features and looks of this guitar! Over the years I have ended up returning more HB guitars than I have kept, and the ones I have kept have all needed work.
I have lost confidence in HB sorry and am unlikely to purchase another HB guitar! I appreciate that the guitars are well priced, but value is not just about price, it is a combination of price and quality, and I simply don't have faith in HB quality anymore. The low price is meaningless, especially if you don't have the skills to do the repair work yourself and have to pay a guitar technician £100 to sort out the guitar. This is simply not a good business model for Thomann, and I am sure most customers would be prepared for say £10 or so being added to the price to ensure good frets and consistent quality control. I know HB can do it because some models like the Fusion seem to be consistently of a high quality.
So, in conclusion, buy with caution and don't be surprised if you receive a real donkey of a guitar. Not a great way to celebrate 25 years!
The frets are just awful, with sharp fret ends, incredibly rough fret surfaces and high spots all over the fretboard. I have good skill in guitar repairs and can do most work setting up a guitar (including leveling frets and cutting nuts). But there comes a point, no matter the cost of a guitar, where it is not worth spending the time and effort trying to rectify a basically poor guitar. My last purchase, the Gotoh SG HB model, had a number of problems, including a ridiculously high cut nut, but I decided it was worth the effort sorting out that guitar. On this present ST-25, the fret and nut work is so bad that I am not prepared to do the work regardless of the reasonable cost of the guitar itself. Thomann quality control should be ashamed of itself letting this guitar through! The action was also way too high, but couldn't be lowered to a reasonable height because of all the high spots on the frets. I am so disappointed as I was really excited by the package of features and looks of this guitar! Over the years I have ended up returning more HB guitars than I have kept, and the ones I have kept have all needed work.
I have lost confidence in HB sorry and am unlikely to purchase another HB guitar! I appreciate that the guitars are well priced, but value is not just about price, it is a combination of price and quality, and I simply don't have faith in HB quality anymore. The low price is meaningless, especially if you don't have the skills to do the repair work yourself and have to pay a guitar technician £100 to sort out the guitar. This is simply not a good business model for Thomann, and I am sure most customers would be prepared for say £10 or so being added to the price to ensure good frets and consistent quality control. I know HB can do it because some models like the Fusion seem to be consistently of a high quality.
So, in conclusion, buy with caution and don't be surprised if you receive a real donkey of a guitar. Not a great way to celebrate 25 years!
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W
I musta got two bad ones
Ok first off let me mention that between my wife and myself we own over 10 Harley Benton guitars. She ordered me the JA25 and she got the ST25 for herself. Let’s start with the strat. First off the Low e buzzez so bad she can’t play the guitar it’s just the one string and it’s all up and down the fretboard, First HB we ever got that’s gonna need a professional set up. Second the neck was terrible authentically you can barely see the figuring in the wood. It looks like a baked neck hardly any flame at all. Now the JA25, neck looks pretty good much better then the Strat and no noticeable fret buzz but the 3 way toggle arrived broken and I when I plug the guitar in I just get static and hum the guitar can’t be played heck it’s impossible to even tell what position the selector knob is in. When I contacted Thoman about the switch they asked for a video of the guitar, pics of the box, pics of the mailing label and an estimate to have it repaired. After I sent all this info it took them three days to respond, they told me to have it repaired and they would pay up to 90 us to reimburse me!! WTF. I am supposed to fork out another 100 bucks and then trust them to reimburse me? Terrible policy Thoman and needless to say I am done with these guys. The customer service used to be good not anymore. And the QC. Is garbage now as well.
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