Harley Benton ST 62DLX Vintage Series Strat Review

[@oriomenoni7651]

Finally a Harley Benton demo that lets you hear the REAL tone of the guitar and not just bucketloads of distortion. Thank you!

[@DirkGentley42]

well said! High gain demos drive me up the wall.

[@michaelolz]

When your guitar playing makes you think of brush strokes you're a real artist. That was sublime, good sir.

[@countblue]

Today I found one of these in total mint condition with Fender noiseless and rolling stringtrees for 140EUR. The guy gave me even the original pickups too with it. Its the best "cheap" guitar I have ever laid my hands on. I have a hard time imagining a "mexican made" one would be better.

[@rektshad0w228]

damn that's a good deal tho

[@countblue]

@@rektshad0w228 Sometimes one is lucky. ;-)

[@andreimiklin]

I have exactly the same and I have to say this guitar is awesome. I am true beginner and have no experience to say much but compared to Cort KX5 this feels much better to me. I have long fingers and D-shaped neck is much better then Cort-s C-neck, there is a room to park my fingers. Also it is made of thicker wood and resonate much better then Cort. Sound is very pleasant, handling is perfect, really love it. The only drawback were nicely leveled but never polished frets. So I spent couple of hours masking the fretboard and polishing frets. Now it's just a candy :)

[@rudigerk]

Nice! Have fun with your HB

[@gaodacheese4691]

plus it looks so unique and not like a generic beginner's guitar

[@sisajtegabre]

A OK it is HB, didn't saw that model yet, glad to se you use them nowadays. Since i work with guitars - more electronic then wood- honestly some of HB's are superb, alu scratch plate pickups are good body+neck etc..to make killer guitar would add maybe better tremolo but for sure large block brass for example, also staggering locking tuners and then wow you can put it side by side any 1000-2000$ strat . I..cheers.

[@Corn3liu]

Thank you so much! This is one of the most useful demos i've seen, especially as this guitar is my first strat. Very good demonstration of tones, limits and you use them!

[@noi5emaker]

Even with the delay and reverb added, you Can hear the strat like quality of the pickups. Great sound.

[@GlennHallLivingWater]

Just bought a Harley Benton Tele and its great!

[@jpb1231000]

How's your HB tele now? I just ordered one tonight. The TE 70 Paisley. What did you get? 20. 30, 52, 70 P or RW, ? I'm 20 miles from Athens GA USA a town of ~ 100000... many are University of GA students.

[@GlennHallLivingWater]

I think I got the 52. I played it yesterday after playing my amazing Epiphone ES-335 Pro and then I was amazed at the tone and playability of my HB tele. It is a great guitar! It handles very well and the tone is so cool.

[@thelolguy007]

Looks great and sounds good clean. Not so good dirty though. Perhaps there is too much dirt dialed in for single coils

[@gatsbylight4766]

@David Wallimann - This guitar (ST62DLX) comes in two different colors of white. Is it correct that the one that you have is the "Olympic White" [62DLX-OW], and not the "Vintage White" [62DLX-VW]? (Though the link that you have in the description is to the "Vintage White.) Thanks.

[@victorbarker9497]

just order one of these guitars hope mine is as nice

[@totherepublic358]

My first guitar was an Aria Pro II "the Cat!" HSS strat-ish copy...it also was a total peice of crap. The bridge was designed so the strings took a trip over a very shap edge in the body of the bridge which broke strings. The only remedy I found was stripping insulation off electrical wires, cutting it in half and making a sort of 1/2 cone shape out of it and sticking into the hole to provide a cushion/padding for the string on that edge. It also required having to use a B string as a high E to avoid breakage. It would not stay in tune either. It did sound okay...but I think I paid $250.00 new in 1987 or so, with no case and a gig bag that was vinyl with zero padding. We live in the age of awesome cheap guitars now! (And pedals too) I cannot imagine how pleased I would have been with a Harley Benton, or a modern Squier, or an Agile when I was a kid. It would have been like winning a lottery.

[@pmay222]

strat tastic....... i actually love the jingle and rattle from a strat........ humbuckers are great but singlecoils make a great alternative when ya in the mood... nice playing good demo

[@Cayres9]

Dave Simpson reviewed one of these beautiful guitars for a low price but the neck is like they cut down half a tree trunk lol at least you know your getting as much Maple as possible in that neck \m/

[@soozikins]

Great Playing David, very remenicint of Ian Thornley/ Big Wreck, - no bad thing :)

[@Gulosa1976]

You are a super sympathetic guy. I never miss any of your videos.Take care.

[@BrianMarto]

Could this be the end of Squiers , Fender Affinity here in the UK is £192 but this one just checking through Thoman £146.51 I feel like selling my Affinity getting one of these Harley Benton

[@scottcummings8602]

Nice job, can you (or any readers who have this model) tell us any pros/con of the HB ST-62? Does it feel like a cheap guitar? Thanks

[@ettnollbajen9945]

My ST-62 Sunburst with tortoise pickguard has served me well for almost a year,I'll take that over a squire standard and down the price range anyday. The Roswell pickups are really a great set of pickups. Think I paid €115 for mine. Great guitars. The o my reason for me to buy a squire (cheaper models) is the 2nd hand value. Love that it feels like a much more expensive guitar

[@SteffeLindmanMedia]

I did buy that model and after getting rid of all the Chinese electronics, swapping the bad Pickups to Texas Specials (the original were way to muddy and weak sounding), changing the useless bridge to and vintage Wilkinson bridge and tuners to Gotohs and lastly did some fret leveling /setup and getting rid of the way to thick lacker on the neck it´s actually playable :-/ thoe 450dollars more expensive. Just some thing to consider if buying one :-/

[@Wabin22]

I grew up in the 90's and it feels like I'm the only one who actually started out on a good guitar? :P A Greg Bennett Strat :)

[@bigblueplanet1968]

Bennett guitars are extremely underrated. I dont have my LaSalle any longer, but, it was insanely great

[@trueworld3857]

I have seen report a that most of these necks have fret sprout and require some work to be done on them.So not as good a deal as you may think.

[@HH-vz5yu]

It seems like most of the video has a lot of effects and you add that you play very well we will not be able to tell any tonal quality it would be nice to hear the guitar stand on its own I like specially since in a previous video you put it up against a real Fender which I have not played the guitar, but I'm sure that's a long shot

[@sanoj1969]

Hello. That Picard you have on the Strat.... is it original? Thanks for a great channel and fantastic guitarplay

[@Wallimann]

Thanks for the nice comment! Yes, it’s original.

[@sanoj1969]

David Wallimann Thank you for a fast answer. I can’t see on Thomann’s website that the guitar model has that Picard on any of the 62DLX anymore, but that’s ok. Regards from Sweden 👍

[@lohsemichael6398]

It is not the Guitar, it is the Guy who played that thing👍👍

[@johnwillard6198]

I had a global 335 copy from JCPenney catalog . Piece of crap . Looked cool though . Love HB I have the HB 35 bk. Love it , a bit heavy but looks and plays great . Great review dude . Trying to decide between the Classic Vibe Squire, Yamaha Pacifica and one of these ....... tough decision ... thoughts ?

[@TheFrontyer]

Yamaha makes great guitars.

[@dawoud8013]

2 great guitars. if you prefer the old sound, go for the classic vibe 50's or 60's sss. If you prefer modern sound, go for the Yamaha 112V ssh

[@jonathanwhittle2047]

@@dawoud8013 and if you want the Eric Clapton sound? Yamaha Pacifica or this Harvey Benton?

[@dawoud8013]

@@jonathanwhittle2047 sss and vintage style pick-ups for sure, so Harley Benton better than the Pacifica 112V in this case. But maybe go for this model instead of the one of this video : kzbin.info/www/bejne/pIq0pH2Dabt8jaM (pick-ups are differents... brighter). video here too : kzbin.info/www/bejne/hHTNYaGbmMqtb7M . The pick-ups of the white HB of this video don't have an insteresting difference beetween the 3 pick-ups positions.

[@krisskross6135]

I've seen 1 of that strat on a secondhand shop. 😍 stunning guitar. But it was for left handed that's why didn't bought it.

[@Stoffendous]

Should've just played it lefthanded.

[@GregRickard]

Amp tone is horrible for demo. It sounds like the guitar has a tonne of fret buzz. Is it the guitar or the amp...

[@andrewnordan]

Sounds like sweet tube saturation to me

[@thegryalbum]

Your videos are amazing! I see you’re using your iPad as a switcher. What sort of application are you using?

[@Wallimann]

Thanks so much man! Here is a video that explains the setup: kzbin.info/www/bejne/q5LRfo1tmJl9eZY

[@thegryalbum]

David Wallimann Sling Studio! I love it!

[@DenisVolga]

In my not humble opinion in reviewing of any guitar the main thing (~ 80%) is to show the clear tones in different positions and with different amp settings (in case of an acoustic with pickups - 90% of real sound through a decent mic), then maybe some gain, compression and a bit of overdrive, otherwise it's "keyboards". Most of the Yub videos-reviews are blablabla with freaking out and just noise instead of music...very unfortunately; there were cases that after reviewing i was loosing any interest in a particular guitar. Not judging David: he did what he did, too bad that it is "not my video" - i need to see the real character and like in the case of a woman (now i am rewinding myself to my old young years) there should be as less as possible of clothing, no makeup (no-no!) and no jewelry or only hippish jewelry ;)

[@denn9484]

I have 2 Les Pauls (One Gibson Classic and one Epiphone Standard), and ordered the ST62MN because it was giving me Yngwie vibes. I can't wait until it arrives after seeing this video! Wow!

[@mickthebandit]

Mine had sharp fret ends and scratchy frets. Had to dress them. Awesome guitar now though.

[@sahilflanger8526]

Purchased Ibanez Gio 3 months ago. Should have purchased Harley Benton. But they are not available in my country and to order I have to pay more shipping price. But I need to get my hands on the guitar first in order to buy it

[@darksenseful]

Ibanez Gio is Great guitar which you should not compare with harley benton. Check what i did that with gio.

[@benaussie51]

Hi, nice vid’! Any tip for machine heads of Harley Benton ? Sold with Kluson and 8,5mm holes, trying to find others machine heads without drilling but looks complicated ? Thx

[@eloysuopunki7926]

On my guitars to buy -list. But would change the pickguard to plain white. The bone nut gives more sustain.

[@bimbolo82]

Is the stock nut on this bone or are you saying you'd add a bone nut?

[@Fermonx]

@@bimbolo82 the bone nut is stock

[@Tarsan97]

surprisingly good tone

[@hswizzle4208]

Is it good considering the price it just seems too good to be true to get a decent playing guitar for this price

[@manzaes]

Perfecta review y magnífico groove.

[@syncro16se]

You demo guitars like no one else ! Great feel. Thank you

[@dloseth4573]

You play really good, the guitar doesn't sound very good, I'd like to hear it without effects and overdrive.

[@mrflipperflopper3495]

Seriously how much work did u do to these guitars to get them playing and sounding that good.... that’s my question ? Frets bridge? Nut? Neck?

[@Wallimann]

Not much at all. I just changed the strings, that’s it!

[@musik102]

3 way switch? I know that "vintage" is in the model name but surely, today - for any music style -I a 5 way switch is standard.

[@jordan84504]

on the website it says its 5 way

[@michaelmendillo7513]

Harley Benton should be cutting you a check for helping them sell guitars Dave ! 😜👍💕

[@milankotevski1663]

They already did.

[@l.g.5899]

Hi! Is the neck thin or thick? The guitar is heavy? Thanx in advance for answering.

[@Wallimann]

It’s on the thin side but a bit heavier than what I like. For the same price I would recommend the Tele style I reviewed from them!

[@l.g.5899]

@@Wallimann Thank you!

[@deHelli]

Hello, is it the Harley Benton ST-62DLX OW Vintage Series?

[@dawoud8013]

yes

[@TheGretschmaster]

Great Tone Man ! Very good review, you play awsome........!!!

[@Wallimann]

Thank you so much!

[@legalize.brokkoli]

Yeah, well. I guess it is super tempting to use all these shiny effects and/or modeller shenanigans, but this makes no sense when doing a review. Call it a demo then and don't click bait me.

[@Wallimann]

Fully noted sir!

[@legalize.brokkoli]

@@Wallimann No worries, mate. I am aware you don't care anyway. :p See my comment as a spontaneous expression of disappointment- i am considering ordering this guitar, and your review honestly didn't help getting an impression of the sound characteristics.

[@durannadas3410]

Hey David. Excellent video/s. What single coil pickups could I replace the stock ones with. The stock sound good but I want to get something more solid/punchier

[@paulbrega6385]

Great video David! I would like to buy this guitar but I have some doubts about the neck.. Is it really that THICK?! Thank you!

[@Wallimann]

It's pretty thick, yeah. Not my favorite HB. I love the Les Paul type they have.

[@Forest_Fifer]

It's so thick that another channel I watch (Dave Simpson) ended up shaving and sanding the neck down, as he loved everything about the guitar apart from the neck profile. He basically said it was like playing half a tree trunk.

[@christoguichard4311]

@@Forest_Fifer I have this guitar and I don't find the neck fat AT ALL! ...And I have fairly small hands too!

[@punkrockcasualty]

Is that the Vintage or Olympic white ...?

[@rudigerk]

Vintage

[@eloysuopunki7926]

It's the olympic white version because the pickguard is champagne.

[@samsonwilkinson8090]

Why play through effects when demonstrating the sound of a guitar?

[@mts982]

great sounds!!!

[@MrYatesj1]

They advertise this guitar as having a 5 way blade switch. Either you are doing them an injustice or they are misrepresenting themselves.

[@comaunite]

Is this the VW or OW colour scheme? Hard to tell from the pictures. Seems VWs are more yellowish.

[@giancarlo5094]

OW

[@bueller8278]

Sounds fab

[@mads4564]

Would the fret board need to be oiled?

[@ethanmuro7779]

nope, its maple

[@kennysylvia773]

what kind of neck is it a c shape or tapered d shape

[@BenjaminNaglang]

Modern D

[@l.g.5899]

@@BenjaminNaglang So is it slim, isn't it? I hava very small hands, it sounds to be perfect for me!

[@kallebriede]

Thanx - !

[@muimasmacho]

Well intonated guitars are such a treat to play, aren't they? Everything sounds good. But... with on higher gain levels. that thing is breaking up, sounds like a buzz saw. Sounds like you need a fresh battery for your geranium Buzz_face. Or do you run it on AC? If you don't mind my asking, how well was that guitar setup out of the box? Some folks are complaining they need a lot of work, others say not so much. Is it hit 'n miss you think? Or luck of the draw? Or did you tweak it into submission, something you assume to be necessary for every new guitar? Whatever the case, you're squeezing some nice sounds out of those hands of your's. Your technique wouldn't work so well on a poorly intonated beast. So kudos for making this demo. I bet HB is Happy 'Bout that!

[@cheapocastercheapocaster3234]

Hello do this dlx st62 olw have the thicker tremolo block?😃

[@kennysylvia773]

my first guitar was a Tesco from Sear lol !!!

[@shartne]

But when you got a better guitar it made you play so much better and your confidence soared and you were better for it.

[@customconcern1]

Mine was a Yamaha from jc penny.

[@RandyFricke]

I love all these guys who think they know pickups. The guitar pictured has Seymour Duncan SH-6's. I have another guitar that I put some Chinese ceramic humbuckers on. $10 apiece. I guarantee that if I played them side by side and you were blindfolded that you would know which was which. If you put on a blindfold and A/B the stock Harley Benton pickups with a similar DiMarzio or Seymour Duncan you wouldn't be able to tell which was which.

[@Wallimann]

This is definitely not a Seymour Duncan. These are stock Rosewell pickups.

[@acloserlook5823]

I'd take that bet and have dinner on you.

[@rickhammel9541]

Darrel Braun does the same tests with singles and humbuckers, and the cheap ones sound just as good as the Seymors, if not better. It's a case of the Emperor has no clothes with a lot of people.

[@zeppo20]

Clean sound with no fx please.

[@HavendaleBlvd80]

Not an ounce of buzz from the pickups??

[@hansroufs2181]

way to much effects prefer a cleansound every guitar sounds good with those effects

[@EoinMcCarthyemc]

I agree. It's hard to hear the real tone of the guitar when it's so effect heavy.

[@misterknightowlandco]

That's because they want to sell these guitars. The fact that these effects were used so much tell you everything you need to know.

[@wataboutya9310]

hans roufs I agree but the effects are useless if one can’t play worth a darn to begin with. This guy has a good feel and touch to his playing.

[@misterknightowlandco]

I understand what makes a good guitar purchase. If you have to fix it right out of the box, it's a bad purchase. If you buy a new guitar and you have file down fret edges, the pickups suck and the bridge isn't in the right spot, it's a bad purchase. If you purchase the item new that is. If you are buying used, then it's buyer beware. Why would you buy a guitar you have to mod and fix up? I won't purchase a guitar that needs anything outside of a basic set-up because I'm not stupid enough to buy cheap Chinese projects. As far as this guy being paid to promote this product, I have no idea really. He knows how to play, that is certain, but how do I know he's not being paid or being sent free gear to say nice stuff about these guitars? I've seen a bunch of his videos and my guess is he got sent this shit free and told he can keep it if he likes it. You are correct though you can't tell what a guitar will sound like once you get it from a youtube video.

[@misterknightowlandco]

I've ordered guitars online that were supposed to be great bang for the buck guitars and have been extremely disappointed. A few years ago when the Rondo SX series was the talk of youtube I decided to order a few. I had a terrible experience with those guitars. I had frets that turned green after a week, the bridge was off so intonation was impossible without drilling out new holes for the bridge and the frets were terrible. Every bang for the buck guitar I've ordered has had something wrong with it that I don't find acceptable right out of the box. Can these things be fixed and made to work great? Sure, you can make almost any piece of junk work with enough effort. As far as this teacher goes, odds are he's being honest, but you never really know. I've modded guitars before and it is fun, but I like to mod guitars that are technically solid to begin with and I just want to change things up. I don't have a ton of money. I don't own Gibson, Fender, Suhr or some custom shop piece of artwork. What I do have though are quality "budget" guitars. I haven't played one of these Harley guitars. Maybe they are good maybe not, IDK. I can't get my hands on one because they don't sell them in stores where I'm at. Been burned way too many times ordering online w/o playing to ever do that again. My #1 is a made in USA 1992 Peavey Predator that I bought off Craigslist for 115 bucks. It didn't need fret work or new electronics when I bought it, although I did buy new pups for it just for the hell of it. I also own a Peavey T-60, Peavey Patriot, an Ibanez RoadCore 430, an Ibanez Semi-Hollow and a Gretsch Electromatic. All purchased from Craigslist or Pawn Shops at super low prices and I've never needed to do anything more than a setup to them. I have modded a few of them though for fun. I get what your saying. You can mod and fix cheap guitars and make them great, but why not go out and get one that's already to go for the same price and just tinker with it for fun?

[@tomrabbani]

Forget MIMs!

[@thehound2161]

This is a fine guitar that you can leave out of the case and when the kids or the dog knock it over you do not have a stroke.

[@HPPrintervx4p5q]

I don't really like the pickups, they seem a bit to unstable for my taste.

[@evillano]

yeah they are the worst part but if the rest of the guitar is good a swap might still be convenient

[@giokent6948]

Buy a fender and pay $$$$ More !

[@alexkremer9621]

What size frets does it have?

[@breevwhyman2985]

it sounds like it's clipping on the amp with heavy plucking.........not nice.....i often hear guitarists have this setting and never figure out why?............other than that it looks and sounds like a great guitar

[@SergeiVlassov]

it is called crunch, or slight overdrive, and this was the main point of tube amps for decades, today it is well replicated with solid-state and digital technologies. Listen to guitar music ranging from Jimmy Hendrix to Polyphia, you will hear this type of sound everywhere.

[@breevwhyman2985]

@@SergeiVlassov okay Sergei.......i don't doubt that it's a popular guitarists habit.....i just don't like it. It's a shame...... because it's not necessary. I owned tube amps.......... but i never made them clip like that. it sounds god awful (as soon as he plays harder) .......muddy distorted. While many guitarists have popularised this style over the years it's not always how they play. Many Hendrix albums don't have any amp clipping like this . "The cry of love" which is one of the best Hendrix strat albums is pure strat tone with no such muddy amp clipping. Strats should not be clipping an amp. His demo above is almost unlistenable........ and it begs the question how HE could not have known this before publisihing his video.? It also distracts from the purpose of trying to hear what the guitar truly sounds like.

[@breevwhyman2985]

@@looniethemoonie5353 Well i had to listen ONCE to know didn't i......... (his video recording) is no reflection on the guitar though......it's a great guitar. The video is helpful for getting an idea.... More people have agreed with my comments, than your ONE reply. So go figure.................thx

[@bueller8278]

how was the fret work? Any issues?

[@Scion4600]

sounds to me like it needs a setup, hearing some fret buzz as if the action is a little too low.

[@sjb1957]

Trying raising the bridge on the affected strings.

[@User-cvhuidghjv]

My st62dlx not has glossy fretboard

[@DougHinVA]

These reviewers simply cannot stop grimacing and showing off their playing. Maybe 1 in 20 has a review of the GUITAR

[@Wallimann]

Guilty as charged for the grimacing. Not showing off at all though, but thanks for the complement! :)

[@munchkin2405]

@@Wallimann thats what i want to hear ,.,, someone that can play the guitar not strumming the strings producing noise... thats how i know the guitar sounds good.. grat playing QQ for me is a yes..

[@heiwei8726]

Nice Guitar for this price

[@AmelioMedardo]

Strano questa harley benton ha il manico laccato .. non riesco a trovarla con il manico kaccato

[@Rafael-qd3yq]

Does it have truss rod?

[@tjardarosendaal4109]

Yes

[@juantovar5084]

Do they ship to the US

[@hassanbayomy7566]

yes

[@zkoszegi1]

Are the pickups hum canceled?

[@HPPrintervx4p5q]

Zoltan Koszegi I believe they're just regular single coils

[@sebsefyu]

Only humbuckers are noise canceling. All single coils have hum noise.

[@13thAMG]

Nice.

[@Mr.56Goldtop]

A 3 way switch??

[@Monomonmamon]

It's not, when he was changing pickups the switch got stuck on the 2 and 4 position because it was new

[@jasonking2976]

It sounds like someone cutting up a guitar with an angle grinder. I don't get it?

[@giankogianki4168]

no, connect to digital no, ampli please.

[@nizodizo9549]

Will it feed my cat?

[@poodlenme]

Need more practice. Jeep plating

[@breevwhyman2985]

why are all your sounds distorted and clipped?....it sounds terrible because of it. You know.....slight reverb is ok......but the clipping is awful (otherwise thanks)

[@svogender]

I'm not a fan of the tone and the headstock..!!! Sorry..!!!

[@Wallimann]

Don’t be sorry man! I love that you are voicing your opinion. It will always be welcome here! :)

[@svogender]

@@Wallimann 😊👍

[@manwithapan9481]

Yeh those pickups are very well balanced alright, they all sound terrible lol

[@acloserlook5823]

Lol they really are a mess

[@christoguichard4311]

It's because he has some sort of horrible "fuzz" tone on. I have this guitar snd it sounds nothing like this.