Harley Benton ST-62 Review, Demo, Quality Control 

Dudes, stop making cellophane comments. Crinkled/Missing cellophane means IT'S BEEN PLAYED! Text in the video states that. I ordered NEW, not B Stock. So yes, Crinkled and missing cellophane. I want it to be clear that I do not endorse Thomann or Harley Benton. I've purchased several Harley Benton guitars with my own money. More frequently than not, I've received poor quality instruments. Poor neck alignment. Poor setup. Defective hardware. Most recently, shipping damage. The USA has to pay expensive return shipping to Thomann. So returning these boat anchor, firewood instruments is pointless. I've lost a lot of money dealing with Thomann. USA customers be prepared to be stuck with junk if you risk ordering Harley Benton. You have about a 30% chance of getting a good one.

This is the first one that I watched that wasn't trying to sell me anything bad and got straight to the point.

I have expensive guitars and I have cheap guitars and several are Harley Bentons. I don't think you can beat HB for the price. Mine have all been in great shape. I'm sure every once in a while a bad one gets through but their customer service was quick when I was missing a part in one of their kits I built. I wouldn't hesitate in ordering more because they are fun to mod also.

I have the same Guitar . I receive this with 2 defaults ! But the tone is very amazing for the budget price ! After to fix the neck and action she is very good ! Your play is nice !

My ST-62BK was missing the 3rd fret inlay. Found it in the box and glued it in. No other issues, not even "wrinkly cellophane."

This was a darned useful tutorial-unboxing-review, thanks for your insights

The nut is graphite. I got my ST-62 and I emailed Thomann and they told me that it is graphite. I guess I got lucky with my guitar. It is almost perfect and I am in the US.

Thank you. I was thinking about ordering one of these, but have changed my mind. I’ll go a different way now..

As a begginer this video was very useful to me, thank you for sharing

Great review, natural and easy to watch and listen to, as usual Hank! Here's wishing you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! 🎄💚🌍 🐕🎸🎼 🐻🍩🍩 Thomann should sack Harvey and the other one, which looked like it could be Ian from your video. When Tricia has worked abroad in Prague, USA and Canada I managed to find some places for very cheap calls. I distinctly remember ringing her cheap little mobile phone when she was sat on a pier on the seafront in Vancouver and it sounded as clear as a bell, clearer than you might get a few miles down the road on another day! Ain't technology weird sometimes!?!😀

thank you for sharing such information, it can be really helpful

Finally. Someone not comparing it to a custom shop fender and saying it’s better. Ugh. Friend of mine bought one and when I got done making a guitar out of it he would have paid over $300.00 for what I did. Of course I helped out for free because I have a giant drawer of parts and pickups I bought played once and boxed them. Here’s the list. Fret job, pickups, bridge, nut, pots and tuners.

As someone who've dealt with Thomann for over a decade, I challenge you to find a place with better customer service. I'm always pro consumer but the amount of crap they must deal with, lol. Nice review btw! Just got the new TE62. Absolute steal for 149euros. It had the scratch plate issue too but the neck is Fender Am Pro 2 level. Free shipping to Denmark as well. If you're gonna send it over seas I'm not sure about the value, though everything considered.

Wow!!!! Thank you. This is great information ....I'll use caution when ordering from them then. At least it was cheap fix. Peace man!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks for the review. I ordered the Harley Benton ST-62 CC in Lake Placid Blue!

Hey man, thanks for the honest review on the vid. My buddy and I were just talking about the insane value you see on HB guitars. So much so we talked my buddy into it and he bought one straight up online during the conversation! We're in the UK, so that access to the European market. If it's in stock. 1-2day free shipping. Can't argue with that. I'd be really interested to get one just to check the QC on it out of pure interest. I mean I'm thinking it'd be cool to try a guitar with EMG pickups. One pickup is £80. The whole guitar at Thomann is £330. I'd accept some small defects. And I'd be prepared to do a full fret job and setup on arrival. Thanks for the info. I'm really liking your channel..

The truth about Harley Benton (whilst most RU-vidrs seem to have an axe to grind) Thanks a lot for sharing your experience bro.

I got some stainless steel block saddles for my Affinity, and they were pretty cheap. I would be more concerned about the gunk on the guitar. But the fingerboard looked pretty clean, which is amazing for that type of guitar

Shizzle! You jam bro!!! Props!

Part of what I like about HB guitars is that, yes, I actually like that I get to do a small amount of work on them. Set them up the way I like, polish the frets if needed, etc. I know it seems crazy but they're really well made for as cheap as they are and I don't worry if I have to mess with them a little. In the end I get a good guitar that I've gotten to know.

good information. Bravo. Thumbs up and you've gained a subscriber.

My recent customer service experience with a faulty Hofner bass is very similar to yours. Thomann used to be excellent for customer service but it has declined recently. That’s just my opinion as a customer of some 10 or so years.

I'm glad I came across this video. I was just about to order that guitar. I think I'll go with my first mind and order the classic vibe.

Nice bro , good song choice

I have had several Harley Benton guitars. Some I kept and some I sold. With all of them I was very lucky. There are 2 that I'm interested in but now I'm a little apprehensive. Yours is not the only negative review out there. Thank you for such a candid review. The way you handled Thomann made me laugh and it caused me to become a member. Thanks! Gene

Cool Video 👍🏻 to be honest I've ordered a view Harley Benton Guitars in the last Years and ALL under 200€ had issiues and I send it back. I live in Germany and a Backorder is for free. Merry X-Mas 🤘🏻

Love the honest review man, most youtubers out there go on about that you should buy all that cheap stuff as iff it’s as good as the high end gear. Usualy that’s just a sponsored lie. Thnx dude

I own a Harley Benton ST-62 in vintage white. Sounds really nice, plays well, but the pickups are not correct for the spacing of the strings. My neck pickup pole on the high E string isn't even underneath the string! Of course, there is a tone and volume issue with this. Since I just play at home, I deal with it, but it's poor quality control for sure.

From Leo: a few years ago you could ship three guitars for $30. I think the guitars were better then as the three I got had no issues. They did not have PRS custom collection finish, but they were plenty good. Since then Thomann switched builders, and by the time you add $80 shipping, a buyer would be better off paying that money for a used one of better quality locally. Even if the guitar is unimpressive, your playing skill is commendable.

Amazing Review! Is it possible to install a Floyd Rose Trem System into this?

has the harley strat got a flat fret face or slightly raised face on fret side

They're definitely not high quality but pretty decent (for the price) based on my experience. Can imagine there are a few lemons now and then though like you now had. With those US shipping rates + cost of possible return I wouldn't recommend them for the US, I think you can get Squiers for less than $150? And maybe some local equivalents to Thomann/Harley Benton?

Hello , Great to hear ! what is the backingtrack you used ? is there a pdf file ( music note ) for the guitar ?

this is a great review

I think they sent you B stock. Happened to me a couple of times but I am in the UK so I was able return them.

I came across your video looking at reviews of HB strats. I have a fusion III from them and I had the same experience with customer service there. Had to talk to 3 different people and threaten a credit card charge off, to get them to discount me 60 bucks when the difference in new and b stock guitars was closer to 90 on the model I got. They didn’t want to help and when they did, they made sure to tell me they were only doing it on good faith, not because the guitar was bad. I had bushings not seated correctly for the Trem, paint splatter everywhere and defect after defect. The neck is brilliant, and they make good guitars at HB. Thomann is the problem. If you are going to sell an Asian guitar and be their supplier, you better back up your QC. USA buyers beware indeed! I bought the new vintage version of the white one you reviewed here because I enjoy HB guitars. I’ll begrudgingly have ti go through thomann to do it.

I'm glad I watched this.

So for $130 is amazing value.

Nice playing!

I like the fact that you answered a lot of my questions, but for a guitar this cheap, in my opinion, you have to expect defects, as long as they don't affect functionality. The slightly warped pickguard, and the guitar being heavy, or small, barely visible smudges or dings, do not bother me. Not at this price. I grew up in the 70's, when beginner guitars were far worse than these, while being far more expensive. I plan to order one with my fingers and toes crossed, as a, "kick around" guitar. As long as it werks, I'm probably going to do much worse to it than how it arrives. I'm not going to beat it up on purpose, but that's the life of a sacrificial guitar, that takes the risk I won't subject more expensive guitars to. Thanks for the video. It was good to see an honest, non infomercial review.

You definitely need some setup and fettling skills with these banjos. I have noticed that, generally speaking, US customers seem to have more QC issues than European customers. That's just the impression I have from watching a lot of reviews. I have several HB guitars and they've been good for the money. I recently bought a Gibson Les Paul standard. It arrived with a fulcrum pin missing from the P/U selector switch. The pin wasn't in the cavity, so obviously left the factory like that. It also had significant back bow. That was from a UK supplier. I fixed it myself, but over 2 grand UK for that sort of poor QC? It's not just budget banjos that suffer from this. Nice video.Ta.

hey man I wanted to ask you you learned to play this good? any course you recommend?

Have you tried the Ibanez az essentials yet? They're killer and cheap for the price.

Makes no difference how much you paid for the item it should be 100% perfect, shoddy quality control. The business depends on it's reputation to sell the items. A lot of companies will include seconds to fill the orders.

Hei Hank What overdrive/distortion did you use in the video??? Regards Danni

I think that while the quality of parts and workmanship is generally great for the price ... for the guitars made in China, they can have assembly issues. Loose screws, nuts, solder, etc. You have to get lucky with them, and probably 2/3 of people do. Sometimes Thomann rejects whole shipments from their suppliers for QC issues. In addition, my experience is that they don't ship the cheap guitars with proper protection. So it's luck of the draw there too. I only buy the guitars made in Indonesia now, and because they are a little more expensive ($100 more) it looks like they provide exactly twice the packing material, which is still barely sufficient. It's clear they have no idea how to ship things outside of Germany. It's really stupid of them. UPS says to pack things so they'll survive a 6' drop to concrete. Thomann packs for a one foot drop, maybe. It could be they contract some other business for shipping, and that business A) doesn't care, and B) cuts corners. I'm glad they eventually sent you the parts. Their customer service does seem designed to push people off, and it may be that you just have to be persistent. I had an issue and I had to email them a bunch of times and then I told them I was going to phone them if it wasn't resolved. THEN they addressed it. It was a clear fault that they should have addressed the first time around. I wouldn't be surprised if most of the customer service is handled by a less expensive offshore company (in other words, you're not really talking to Thomann).

QC before almost 7 years? Was this guitar 7 year in the box? Mine at the QC stamp didnt have any date, just the name John

Anyone know if the pots are 250 or 500k?

Just out of shear curiosity, how was the qc on that eart?

3.6 roentgen, what this means? Thank you.

def gave me a better and realistic viewpoint on it

Soooooooo, what happened with thoman in the end? I couldn't identify a follow-up video for the problem with the terrible quality on those guitars. I believe that pick guard is a call date tortoise shell. I see the new one you got 5 months later had a white pickguard instead of tortoise.

I buy a cheap stratocaster from Thomann and all was very good and perfect.

for £109 is it worth it for siiting at home and jamming

My Harley Benton ST-62 strat seemed like a perfect guitar out of the box. but after only two months, one of the tuning posts came out, and fret buzz appeared on several frets. That really sucks.

Surprised they haven't bribed you like everyone else around here apparently. I think Philip McKnight had a negative view of their guitars as well but I can't remember.

Almost as many issues as a Fender USA or a Gibson.

If you have to take your brand new guitar to a luthier, it's not exactly a bargain. HB can be good guitars but never expect top quality at under 200 euros.

4:44 Say what?

d upfront for guitar that Thomann claimed would be in stock shortly. Shortly became 4 months after @ 3 months I requested a refund of my advance payment. What followed was a flat out reply "go pound sand" I turned them over to PayPal along with a formal non performance complaint the funds were in my account the same day. The lesson was use Paypal. My attitude now is not to expect a fair response from Thomann to a QC or purchase issue. I will only buy really inexpensive in stock products and buy high ticket items from a reputable local vendors with humans working the shop. Its a shame that the American capitalist rip em off business model is our number one export to the world of retail.

Why that crinkled foil is bothering you? You will peal it off anyway.

Una brutta copia della stratocaster.