Harley Benton Extreme-76 BK Classic Series

I've had this guitar for over a month now and it's very nice. The body seems to be a tiny bit smaller than the Gibby and Epi version which, to me, is even better than those higher priced blocks of wood. I like the body and headstock, the neck feels a bit thick but that was expected. Most likely layered with poly paint so it ends up thicker than it should be but not a big deal unless you absolutely need a thin neck. The frets are nicely mounted but initially the strings would grind a bit when bending. The tuners were ok, no problems noted. The pickups seem pretty good. I have no desire to change them at this time. No extraneous feedback or nasty noises and they sound good. No noticeable problems with the controls/switch other than one knob being pushed in a bit initially (probably from shipping) that I simply pulled up away from the body now it's smooth. Bridge and tailpiece are fine other than an imperfectly drilled hole for tailpiece but there's no wiggle and it's tight so I'm good with it. Nut is cut well and action is nice.

What I've done to it: Changed to locking tuners. Moved the front strap holder to the back near where the neck meets the body. Added wheel weights to the backplate/cavity cover. Got a thick leather strap. All of this helped the neck dive that it initially had and which was made worse by the added locking tuners. Now it's much more comfortable and considerably less neck heavy. I cleaned the frets to get rid of the grind. Gonna keep the pickups in it for now because I can't find a reason to change them.

Overall, a very nice guitar in factory shape or you can do your own mods to it to suit your needs. I just wish shipping prices to the USA were not so astronomical. The fees are about the same as the guitar price.

I bought this guitar mainly for the shape and the affordable price, I set my expectations low because from past experience with cheap guitars, but this has served me surprisingly well!
The construction is decent, nothing has broken on me so far, the neck is straight, frets are good and all the knobs and switches have also stayed intact. The only issue is that the input jack has screwed itself a bit loose, but that is definitely a small bother to fix.
Sound wise it's about what you can expect, nothing fancy but not bad either. It stays in tune relatively well, but definitely falls short when compared to more expensive and better made guitars and i wouldn't recommend it for moments where you really gotta get some good sound i.e making a record.
In conclusion this is a good guitar for the price and is fine for playing, recording demos at home, rehearsals and some simpler gigs and is definitely not bad money spent.

*Update* Now I've owned this guitar for a year or two, the novelty has worn off, as has the admiration for how little it can cost to get such a cool-looking guitar. The modifications I suggested are in my opinion essential, but I will add one complaint: the playability. I find the neck too thick and the fretboard and fret-ends lacking in smoothness. I would have swapped the neck out but it's one piece, which is ironically another big plus for such a cheap guitar. But as you may have noticed, to turn this instrument into something that plays and sounds as good as it looks you basically need to replace all the most important parts. Great value for money, but be prepared to upgrade.

I had to wait a little while due to a lack of stock, but it was worth the wait in the end.

To get the most out of this guitar, I would recommend some (simple and reasonably inexpensive) modifications. The price point marks it out as an ideal beginner’s instrument, but I would hate to think a beginner would be put off by the neck-dive, mixed tuning stability and noisy pickups. Don’t get me wrong: for the price, this is a fabulous guitar out of the box. But there are three mods that I would argue are crucial in order to fully enjoy what it has to offer:

- move the strap button situated next to the neck to where the neck meets the body at the back; this will solve the neck-dive
- replace the tuners with some Klusons or something similar; the originals are OK but feel cheap and more easily lose tuning than more solid options
- replace the pickups. I went for a pair of Wilkinson ‘Hot Chrome’ ones, which only cost me £40 and have a sound comparable to the EMG 81/60 set (which I have on another guitar).

It is perfectly playable and enjoyable without the mods, but with them it can become an absolute beast. In my opinion, there is no better option for a rock and metal fan looking for a solid starter or mod base than this Harley Benton!

I bought this guitar because I love the Gibson Explorer body style, but I can't cough up that kind of money. When I came across this guitar, I knew instantly I had to buy it. The pickups sound great, the guitar was practically in tune right out of the box, the neck/fretboard feel smooth in my hand, volume/tone knobs work well, no neck dive (with my cheap fabric strap), light enough but also heavy enough that it feels like I'm holding something worth more than $135, the list goes on. My only complaint is the box was pretty beat up and there were slight scuff marks on some of the edges. Otherwise, it arrived on time, played great straight out of the box, and feels like it would be a much more expensive guitar. Buy it!!