Harley Benton Modern MN ST guitar

On the Bench Today is the Harley Benton Modern MN ST guitar.
I pride myself on the Guitar Collector Guy channel as always presenting my own opinion.
Here are some of my rules.
1. I purchase my own instruments.
2. They are not hand-picked for me.
3. I get the same guitar you would get if you ordered online.
4. I am not trying to sell you a guitar.
5. I am not affiliated with any guitar maker.
The link to the guitar if you want to check it out is in this video’s description:
harleybenton.c...
The roasted maple neck and the grain of the wood is pretty. I think Shell Pink and Roasted Maple just work together on a guitar. The body is well painted and looks like the poly finish of a more expensive guitar. The heal of the neck is a tight fit to the body without gaps.
The neck has a compound radius that is a D shape that starts out at a 12-inch radius at the nut and then gradually moves out to a 16-inch radius at the end of the fretboard. The purpose of a compound radius neck is to allow for easier chord playing near the nut with the 12-inch radius while also providing easier single note playing on a flatter 16-inch radius fretboard near the end of the fretboard. This is something you would normally find on much more expensive guitars. Not on a guitar at this price point.
The neck on this guitar has double action truss rods. The truss rod you adjust is adjusted via a wheel at the heal of the neck. The purpose of the double truss rod is to provide greater stability to the neck over what a traditional single rod truss rod can provide.
The satin finish of the back of the neck makes for a very smooth and playable neck.
With the rounded fingerboard edges, I found no sharp fret edges anywhere on the fretboard as I ran my hand up and down on the sides. You are just now starting to see rounded fretboards appear on less expensive guitars like the Fender Player II series instead of just on the more expenisve custom guitars. You never see rounded fretboards on a guitar at this price point. It is a very labor-intensive process. I am sorry if I am starting to sound like a broken record. I am just trying to point out that this guitar is breaking established norms.
I tested for fret rocking and found that the frets are level and do not need any work done to them.
The tuners that come with this guitar are locking tuners that look like vintage tuners on the back of the headstock. On the front of the headstock there is a non-threaded tuner collar and a closed tuner head. The tuners function really well and do their job. They make it easy to remove strings, install strings, are smooth to operate, and keep the guitar in stable tuning.
The nut is made of carbon fiber and cut to specs so each string is at its proper height/distance from the top of the first fret.
I really like this bridge. It appears substantial and well made. The saddles are of quality, and I would not replace them. The trem arm fits into the tremolo easily and does not flop around. You can use the tremolo and the guitar for the most part will stay in tune. No better or worse than most tremolos. The bridge/tremolo looks to be a clone of a Gotoh style bridge.
The electronic components on this guitar are good and the workmanship on the wiring harness build is very well done. I even like the feel of moving the pickup selector switch and the smoothness of the operation of the tone and volume controls.
The pickups in this guitar sound impressive. They are Alnico 5 based pickups including the humbucker. They are clean and not muddy and offer great tones in all five positions and with the push pull tone pulled up for coil splitting of the bridge pickup. I do not feel compelled to pull the pickups and replace them with something else. They are very good pickups.
It is always possible that quality differs from guitar to guitar. In this video I have documented my findings, experience, and opinions as it pertains to the guitar I received.
This is probably the best guitar I have seen Harley Benton make - ever. I could not find any quality issues with the guitar at all. I could not find anything I did not like.
The guitar not only presented me with a great out of the box experience. There was just not anything that needed to be adjusted on the guitar. The guitar arrived tuned, with proper string height set, the intonation was set, and with a quality set of strings installed.
Although this guitar would make for a great modding platform I am perplexed as to find anything that really needs to be upgraded or replaced.
If I handed this guitar to anyone that is familiar with quality, well-made guitars and asked them to play the guitar, then I told them that this guitar is sold for $163 plus shipping. I don’t think they would believe me. Hell, I do not believe it.

[@Sjsjsjsjsjks1]

Loved the vide, simple and straightforward earned a sub man keep it up ❤

[@guitarcollectorguy]

Thank you and welcome to the channel.

[@SarahAndreaRoycesChannel]

I for one would still be interested in a Modern Plus review, exactly for the reason no one covers it anymore - because the first batch had some horrible fretwork beside some smaller other problems that I want to know if they are fixed by now.

[@guitarcollectorguy]

I have been interested in doing one. Let me think about it.

[@Dragon_rls]

Still loving my seafoam green Tele bought from you earlier this year Jaime. It has been the ultimate "Value overload" purchase. Thanks again.

[@guitarcollectorguy]

That makes me very happy.

[@Dragon_rls]

@@guitarcollectorguy Makes me even happier Jaime. It was more like a gift, than a purchase. I own high end guitars, but that Tele has a special place in my rotation. Thanks again.

[@andrew6889-p5c]

Impressive that this is possible at this price. I’ve been looking at their hard tail jazzmaster model. I’d be interested to see a follow up. I’ve never been totally convinced that there are as good as people say, but you are making me think I am wrong. Great work always.

[@guitarcollectorguy]

I think they are taking leaps forward.

[@ryanryan8]

The JA series is worth every penny!

[@atalanoskembruah4279]

Looking forward to the follow-up. 👍

[@linguafranca86]

I have a Harley Benton PJ-74 VW bass PJ stands for P bass with a jazzbass pickup in the bridge. It is really good: Intonation is spot on, the neck feels amazing, fretjob is flawless, brass sadles and I think it's a good looking bass.

[@BenjaminKanarek]

Hi...I ordered mine today! Can't wait to see your full review!

[@Martin_84]

The one I got had an indented line about 4mm wide 100mm long where the body pieces join together. And a wider one on the front that was less obvious but still a defect. Annoying when everything else is perfect on it.

[@guitarcollectorguy]

That sucks! Sorry

[@Bryan-jd7os]

I actually like Harley Bentons "Strat" headstock.

[@gabemckay6718]

Me too!

[@Bryan-jd7os]

@@gabemckay6718 some strat style headstocks are no bueno! This is very pleasing to the eye.

[@robi8009]

Hello Guitar Guy. Can you review the Vintage Revo Colt HH guitar, or any of the Revo series? Thank you so much. Great Channel.

[@guitarcollectorguy]

Thank you. Just took a look. Very interesting line of guitars. This one particularly caught my eye: vintageguitarsus.com/collections/revo/products/vintage-revo-series-integra-electric-guitar-green-yellow-burst-1

[@TimSpencer-kf6ft]

Good Stuff!

[@frankfarklesberry]

Clearly meant to be a competitor with the Ibanez AZES40

[@timnimigean8971]

I think it's basically a Schecter Nick Johnston (which is amazing btw, but also $899, which i think is totally worth it, but obviously HB is amazingly inexpensive compared to any big brand). Both have covered humbucker, coil split, roasted neck, locking tuners, similar colors. The schecter has jumbo frets though which i prefer over the medium jumbo, but this has a compound neck radius and the NJ doesnt. I had to sell my Schecter NJ to pay bills, i think I'll purchase the Harley benton to get back into playing since the schecter is out of my price range at the moment

[@snacklofter]

👍👍

[@davidmartinez927]

I'm considering this guitar, but I have some doubts about neck. Usually harley benton necks are thick, this, on paper, seems slimer, but it's like that? I mean, to me, the thin wide PRS neck is thick in my opinion, and I usually go for necks like stratocaster or slimer, like jackson ones, but I know that i cannot expect a jackson neck. How's the feel?

[@guitarcollectorguy]

I hung it in my house so I could spend more time with it. I pulled this from the HB spec's. Neck profile: modern D - thickness at 1st fret: 0.80 inch, at 12th fret: 0.88 inch.

[@guitarcollectorguy]

Here are the same measurements from a Fender 60s style C profile neck: '65 Strat "C" .820 .974

[@davidmartinez927]

@@guitarcollectorguy thank you! so its so standard. Maybe need to try to make an impression. thank you!

[@squishy_princess]

Heyo :D do you know whether the pickguard can be switched by a loaded fender pickguard or whether the holes for the screws would need to be adjusted?

[@guitarcollectorguy]

I am sorry. For some reason I wanted to test this but did not. Usually HB guitars do align. At least on the Teles they do. You could though transfer the wiring and pickups from the loaded to the HB for sure.

[@squishy_princess]

@guitarcollectorguy thank you for your quick response 😘

[@guitarcollectorguy]

@@squishy_princess No problem.

[@HaraldMix-E-Gitarren-Review]

No, a Fender Pickguard will not fit! Different size 😢

[@squishy_princess]

@HaraldMix-E-Gitarren-Review bummer 😞, still thank you very much for answering 😘

[@strut73]

Is the sustaine block steel? check it with magnet please!

[@guitarcollectorguy]

It is steel

[@TheInstantClassic86]

The only modification it probably needs is wiring. They can be better.

[@Cayres9]

I don't know how they make them got under $200 😮 as usually it's impossible to get a guitar with coil splits , Roasted necks , Locking tuners and heavy gauge steel saddles for under $300 😮

[@oldasrocks9121]

Do the single coils have flat poles or staggered?

[@guitarcollectorguy]

They have staggared.

[@oldasrocks9121]

@@guitarcollectorguy Tone Hatch or Bootstrap can wind you some flat poles for the 16" radius neck. Or if they're plastic bobbins you could push them flat without wrecking the pickup

[@timnimigean8971]

I thought staggered were better? Flat poles are better than staggered?

[@guitarcollectorguy]

@@timnimigean8971 staggered are considered better on a fender like instrument.

[@oldasrocks9121]

@@timnimigean8971 Flats for fingerboard radii of 12" or more, for some players 10" or more

[@diegolatorre6793]

FRETS, the frets are too small for me.

[@timnimigean8971]

Thats the only thing I'm iffy on. I had a Schecter Nick Johnston which this basically replicates but the NJ has jumbo frets

[@timnimigean8971]

Not sure why HB tends to have medium jumbo on almost EVERYTHING.

[@diegolatorre6793]

@@timnimigean8971 dude it's a perfect guitar with no jumbo Stainless steel. It's My Main axe right now. Really reliable.

[@terrybillington2482]

weight and thickness of body ???????

[@guitarcollectorguy]

There is actually a scene of me showing the guitar sitting on a scale. For god's sake. Watch the video!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I used more exclamation points than you did question marks.

[@guitarcollectorguy]

1.75 inch body thickness.