Harley Benton Guitars

[skully58]

Not sure if I’m posting this is the right place, but I have a question about Harley Benton guitars. I started looking at their JA-60 model, watched a whole bunch of videos and the reviewers all have positive things to say. But the question is are they being paid to say that, does anybody on this forum know anything about them are they any good, I need honest opinions from real people, lol.

[JSett]

You get what you pay for

[skeletonsmith]

Not sure if I’m posting this is the right place, but I have a question about Harley Benton guitars. I started looking at their JA-60 model, watched a whole bunch of videos and the reviewers all have positive things to say. But the question is are they being paid to say that, does anybody on this forum know anything about them are they any good, I need honest opinions from real people, lol.

I have one of the JA60's (in Dakota Red) since November and have nothing but good Things to say about it. Sure, the Electronics are not of high Quality, but it plays great and Quality Control is also good. I have no Issues with mine.

[skully58]

Thanks for your input Skeleton, good to know it’s a decent guitar.

[skeletonsmith]

No Problem. I was curious about the Hype around this Guitar and ordered it. I'm in Germany, so returning it wouldn't have been an Issue.
I hope, if you decide to get one you have the same Luck! But if you look around online, it generally gets extremely good Reviews. So I guess the Quality Control does it's Job.

(I have never played a Harley Benton before this one, so i can't speak for the whole Range)

A few Pics for you (i changed the Strat-Knobs for Tele-Knobs)

[skully58]

Looks nice, I'm looking at the red or blue myself...like the knobs too.

Reverb now has a Harley Benton store in the US, so returns may not be a problem, they don't have the red or blue yet and only carry about 60 guitars at this time.

[sessylU]

I reckon you get a good deal more than you pay for.

I own a thinline tele type thing with two P-90s in it. It's superb. I think I got it for something like £130 because it was B-stock (one pickup mounting screw was missing).

I've played a few of their basses, and they've all been solid if a little uninspiring. One had miles and miles of wiring inside for some reason.

[Flurko]

I currently have my third Harley Benton guitar.
The first was an acoustic 12, and it sounded cheap and played as well as a bow made with a cardboard box. The bridge was already starting to lift with the lighter string I put on it. I had an electric 8 string which sounded okay but had a stupidly wide neck.
Now I have their fanned fret 7 string, the electronics were garbage but it is one of the more resonant and inspiring guitar I own.

[skully58]

I currently have my third Harley Benton guitar.
The first was an acoustic 12, and it sounded cheap and played as well as a bow made with a cardboard box. The bridge was already starting to lift with the lighter string I put on it. I had an electric 8 string which sounded okay but had a stupidly wide neck.
Now I have their fanned fret 7 string, the electronics were garbage but it is one of the more resonant and inspiring guitar I own.

After a not so good guitar you bought two more, was it the price you took another chance?

[skully58]

I reckon you get a good deal more than you pay for.

I own a thinline tele type thing with two P-90s in it. It's superb. I think I got it for something like £130 because it was B-stock (one pickup mounting screw was missing).

I've played a few of their basses, and they've all been solid if a little uninspiring. One had miles and miles of wiring inside for some reason.

Not bad getting a guitar for that price and being superb.

[sessylU]

Like, good enough that it make me angry at my more expensive guitars for not being 5 or 10 times better.

[Flurko]

I currently have my third Harley Benton guitar.
The first was an acoustic 12, and it sounded cheap and played as well as a bow made with a cardboard box. The bridge was already starting to lift with the lighter string I put on it. I had an electric 8 string which sounded okay but had a stupidly wide neck.
Now I have their fanned fret 7 string, the electronics were garbage but it is one of the more resonant and inspiring guitar I own.

After a not so good guitar you bought two more, was it the price you took another chance?

I got the 8 string cheap from a friend, then the 12er used when I was broke and wanted an interesting acoustic. The 7 string was used too, I would never pay the "buy new" tax on something this cheap and potentially bad, but they're usually a good way to see if some weird feature is something you like. That's also why I'm also completely uninterested in their more standard designs, for these I can usually find another brand doing things I enjoy more : I'd like to get another hollow body electric but most of their traditional designs look wonky or cheap.

[sessylU]

they're usually a good way to see if some weird feature is something you like.

Similarly, I bought this tele because I wanted to try to do a fretless conversion.

[BatUtilityBelt]

Funny, I just found offsetguitars from your post, looking for insights into the whole Harley Benton thing. I just joined because I definitely have an offset guitar lean and the forum is probably a good place to relate. But on the HB thing...

Short: If you're in Europe, it's probably worth trying out with little risk, but if you're on another continent, look out!

Now I can explain that better. I am in the US, so buying from Thomann is not impossible, but comes with much higher shipping. Back in 2017, I stuck my toe in the Harley Benton pool buying a CST-24 from Thomann. It was new, not B-stock, and I wanted to see if the PRS shape worked for me. The guitar arrived with a twisted neck, and I could not adjust out the problem. I tried to start the return process and Thomann dragged me down a ridiculous months-long customer support rabbit hole full of questions a 5 year old might come up with trying to diagnose the issue. It was pretty obvious they did not want to pay for a return from the US, and were just throwing things at the wall to see if anything stuck. It took months, and they even made me shop my own return shipping, and a few more ugly wrinkles, but I got the return done after literally months. It was so bad I vowed to never buy anything from Thomann again. I had heard good return stories, but they were from Europe. So I guess Thomann really just hates US customers who return bad gear. In my opinion, they wouldn't have that problem if they had decent QC.

Fast forward to a few weeks ago, and I decided to give the HB brand another shot, just not Thomann... I bought an MS-60 from Guitar Center Used that was supposed to be in "great" condition. It arrived with a broken trem, missing trem arm, and a wiring problem causing loud 60 cycle hum even with both pickups turned off. So I returned it, dismayed because it looked decent and the neck was fine. If the trem wasn't broken, I might have kept it because I would have handled the electronics modding the guitar anyway. I don't even know how one of these tremolo units gets broken - they're welded. Yet the trem collet has somehow freed itself and fallen into the cavity.

So I think Thomann cuts too many corners. If you don't kiln-dry your wood, some necks will be twisted. If you buy the cheapest parts you can source, some will break when they shouldn't. If you don't QC, you'll get a lot more returns. These problems are Thomann's own doing. And if you're in the US like I am, Thomann won't like you trying to return bad products.

[Steadyriot.]

I have one (cst24), they’re okay. About the quality you’d expect from an Epiphone for slightly less money. If you want something offset in the US I’d sooner buy a Squier or Puresalem if I were you..