Harley Benton ST-Modern HSS LPB

I am blown away by the ST-Modern. If you are on the fence, climb on over and place your order. This is impressive. I was eagerly awaiting the launch of this guitar and placed the order the first day. It took nearly a week to ship, which is unlike my typical experiences with Thomann, but I suspect that was to allow for QC checks or due to a high order volume.

PROS: very attractive. Nice paint without blemishes. Good choice of colors. Incredibly impressive specs/features. Unheard of, and I'm speechless to find them at this price point. This thing looks. feels and sounds so good. Dare I say, "tasty." OK, I won't ;-)

CONS or less than ideal: I ordered and received two colors and both have small neck pocket cracks, BUT they are very subtle. I just hope they don't spread. One has a very stiff tuner, which may loosen up over time. No biggy. It's a bit heavier than expected, but I really don't mind that. Visible body seem showing through the paint on the face of guitar, below the bridge.

To hear more, feel free to watch my review and unboxing video: Search YouTube for "Harley Benton ST-Modern (NOT Plus) Unboxing, First Impressions, mini Review"

NOTE: I noted pickup pole pieces set below the pickup covers. This is normal for 2nd strings on vintage style staggered pole pickups.

More pros. I love the bridge. The push/pull feels and sounds great. When the bridge humbucker is split, it really pairs well with the middle and neck as a S. I do really love the humbucker as well.

WOW. Thank you, Thomann/HB!

Let me start off by saying the guitar is incredibly fun to play and the neck is super comfy! The only problems I ran into was the string trees and the locking tuners but they are minor. I was able to fix the tuning stability by replacing the string trees with roller string trees and tightening the locks on the tuners. Also, make sure you get some pliers because to get the locking tuners to stay in place you want them super tight.

Pros - slightly rolled fret board edges.
- perfect intonation out the box.
- beautiful finish and neck
- pickup sounds pretty great as well.
- floating tremolo and it stays in tune after replacing string tree and lubricanting the nut.
- not to heavy
- easy access to trust rod adjustment
- pop and pull pick ups
- comes with two tremolo arms

Cons - some fret buzz but nothing to major
- non self lubricating but still has good sustain
- string trees
- need pliers to lock tuners in place


Would highly recommend nonetheless! Please do yourself a favor and put your orders in today!

I bought this as I wanted a more modern S style guitar for regular live gigging in a classic rock band. I thought the pictures and description would be to good to be true, I was wrong. If this exact guitar had Charvel printed on the headstock and cost £799, I wouldn't question it. The fret work was as good as any guitar I have owned, the whole build quality is equally as good and the pick ups sound as good as you would get on a mid level HSS guitar. Everything feels very very solid and I have used it for 3 gigs already. It sits nice in a mix with my other guitarists (who also uses one of these) Gibson USA SG and Fender roadworn SSS. This is a proper serious guitar and I'm sure you will all be just as blown away as i was.