Is Harley Benton Still A Good Value?

In 2024 is Harley Benton still a good value?
Timecode
0:00 Title
0:12 Introduction
3:58 Harley Benton ST-62MN BK
6:55 Squier Sonic Stratocaster
9:20 Harley Benton HB-35
9:40 Epiphone ES-335
11:27 Harley Benton EX-76 Classic
13:40 Epiphone 1958 Korina Explorer
19:00 Harley Benton R-457FFB
20:39 Nearest comparable alternative
22:40 Harley Benton Fusion III HH FR
25:05 Charvel Pro-Mod San Dimas Style 1 HH FR
26:28 Final Thoughts
27:55 Outro
Harley Benton Reverb Shop
reverb.com/sho...
Thomann Music
www.thomannmus...
www.sapulpaguitaracademy.com
sapulpaguitaracademy
sapulpaguitaracademy
#harleybentonguitars #harleybenton #epiphone #epiphoneguitar #charvelsandimas #charvelguitar #charvelguitars #epiphoneguitars #seymourduncan #sapulpa #guitarlessonsforbeginners #guitarbuyingguideforbeginners

[@tostrmofo6686]

So I used to own a lot of Harley Bentons and in general you get a good bang for your buck. Of course you can be lucky and get a incredible guitar or unlucky and get a pile of firewood. QC seems to be a bit like a lottery. As I'm german I don't care and just send it back if it's bad. Here Thomann customer service is just awesome, especially compared to most other german vendors. There are a few models that blow the competition out of the water. The SC 550 IIs for example. Comparable Epiphone Les Pauls just don't exist and to get close you'll have to pay around $1000. Generally I think we reached a point where it only comes down to how comfortable you feel with a specific guitar. If setup properly nearly every guitar over $100 will get the job done. A bit of a correction: Jin Ho is Korean, not Chinese, the produce the Wilkinson tuners as well as a ton of OEM tuners (Harley Benton, but also a lot of other brands.) They usually don't sell under their own brand, but all those Guyker, Kaines and what not locking tuners that look exactly the same besides the logo. They are pretty good.

[@SapulpaGuitarAcademy]

Thank you for the correction regarding Jin Ho's origin. Appreciate the feedback and thanks for watching!

[@cptmcrni]

The Harley Bentons from Indonesia (fusion III and fusion T) seam the best value. Fair warning, yes it is a trade off, you will get some excellent value (steel frets, locking keys), but you will need to do some work yourself. Not for novices, but a nice option if you are capable of re-pocketing the neck, polishing the frets, and setting up action and intonation, yourself. The hard roasted neck is not for everyone, it gives a super snap to the instrument (not for everyone, again), but I personally love them!!

[@LoretoHouse]

I have bought about twenty five Harley Benton's and I love the quality and customer service. I have only had to return a couple due to freight damage but not quality issues. There is a trick to getting the best value in buying from Thomann. The first tip is to never buy "one" guitar as the shipping is about $84.00. You can buy two and the shipping will be the same. Additionally, always buy a "B stock" if available as they are cheaper. The flaws are minimal and you get the same warranty. There are some models that do not compete as well with other brands but they blow the competition away in general. I have bought many other brands of guitars and for the money, HB is hard to beat. There are some Amazon guitars that are a good alternative such as IYV. It is common for a used guitar to sell for about 50-60% of the new price and this has been my experience, however, I have sold several of my Harley Benton's for what I paid including shipping. There are so few that come on the market on Facebook Marketplace and they are easy to sell. If you buy a Fender MIM Player at $850.00 you will only get $450.00 in the used market.

[@GuitarsZnuff]

Didn't really enjoy any of the Harley Bentons I bought, but they are a decent bang for your buck. I just didn't connect with any of them. Nice work as always.

[@leviathan_is_me]

Love Harley Benton guitars. I recently got the black EX84 EMG60 EMG85 pro series (the roswell actives are every bit as good pups, I just wanted the EMGs because I always have.) Ebony fretboard, locking grovers (Jin-Ho are very solid btw), Tusq XXL nut, Tone pros bridge and tail, and full size pots, not the small ones. All for under $500 shipped from Germany, and it took less than a week to get to me. Amazing guitar.

[@BenjaminKanarek]

I own 9 Harley Benton guitars. They are in most cases excellent quality guitars, regardless of the price. Many of my HB tuners are Wilkinson, Grover or Gotoh. Quite good in most cases.

[@ianmason2296]

I have the HB H35,and love it. (Had it over a year)

[@axtonkahler7360]

I bought my first HB about 6 months ago, the MR Modern. Picked it up from their US Reverb store for $285. Stainless frets, split humbuckers, Univox/Mosrite looks with a LOT of character and vibe. Immediately became my #1.

[@BenjaminKanarek]

I own the same guitar one of 9 HB's I own. Great guitars period!

[@kenvorland]

Awesome video i have 30 harley benton axes they rock

[@chrisstephens6194]

My st20 with Wilkinson tuners and pick ups is absolutely fantastic for the money

[@morrismorrisson6161]

All the HB are shipped from Germany and pass a QC check in there (that doesn't mean you can get a bad one). But the don't ship from the factory

[@duncanstuart3745]

Your comment about returns being difficult to Thomann is totally incorrect. I recently purchased an ST model with a problem with a pickup. I contacted Thomann and they immediately recommended that I return the guitar. They provided me with a return label, prepaid, and the next day I brought the guitar to the local post office for shipping. In a reasonable period of time I had my replacement. No problem here.

[@SapulpaGuitarAcademy]

Glad your return went well. Plenty of others have not had as pleasant of an experience. Thanks for watching.

[@sergeantbigsteve7192]

Great info and great video, keep them coming.

[@bizarrodude3987]

I came across a brand new Jet guitars JT-300 telecaster at Horn Trader in OKC a while back and it was surprisingly nice. So nice, I thought about it for a few days and went back and offered them $170 out the door, thinking it's cheap enough I could do some upgrades etc and have something that felt/sounded good. Once I got it home and played with it a bit, I am shocked to say that it's perfectly playable as-is and sounds just fine. I love the neck on it and it's just a good looking guitar. I may yet experiment with swapping the pickups out for something else just because I've been wanting to tinker around with that, but the stock pickups aren't terrible. Shockingly good guitar for such an inexpensive price.

[@LeesKnives]

I need that 7 string. That'll make the wife and kids happy. 😂

[@1980JPA]

Basically $100 of shipping (+taxes) is what had always kept me from trying out the brand. Every price I see has to have +$100 added and it usually takes it about $50 over what I'm willing to pay for what is offered. The reverb store usually had a very limited selection considering everything they offer and seem to have had that $100 added to it already anyway (or at least $50- $75) and then pay reverb shipping on top. When I see something I like used on ebay I'll try them out finally.

[@villageidiot9867]

Was looking to get one of their cabs. The shipping added way too much. Bought the exact same cab as a Monoprice branded cab on Amazon with a V30 but free shipping, on sale and an extra 10% discount. Thomanns shipping to the states is too much to make it a value.

[@nieko3038]

This is exactly why I don’t shop in US anymore. 65 dollar shipping for one pickup from GFS. Added tax over purchase and shipping.

[@1980JPA]

@@nieko3038 yeah that completely negates the point of GFS stuff. I've found that the pickups are really good for the money, but that shipping is just too much. Where do you live? Is there a place nearer to you that does a similar thing as G.F.?

[@nieko3038]

@@1980JPA I’m from the Netherlands. Got some pickups from local part web stores (Artec) and the local guitarstore. Noting like gfs. Recently bought some cheap pickups from Amazon. I tend to remove upgrades I like from guitars I sell and use those on other guitars. Especially on cheap guitars. Shipping and tax can make affordable stuff less interesting indeed.

[@RobotShlomo]

The biggest drawback I've found about Harley Benton is that the Reverb store doesn't offer everything in the line up. I've been trying to get a hold of a DC Junior, but they only seem to be offered on the Thomann website. The other drawback is that that every DC Junior I've seen detailed in KZbin videos seems to have the intonation be just slightly off. Maybe that's what's coming through on the video, but something about it just seemed not right. By they way, I'm really looking forward to part 2 of your Hamer documentary.

[@mitchpalmer5116]

The big shipping charges is what keeps me from getting a HB but there's a couple I'd like to get.

[@joanarling]

The HB-35 should be an HB-35 Plus, judging by the price (the full name was behind your window), and this one certainly has Roswell Alnico-5 PUs with a coil split. That's what differentiates the Plus from the predecessor. I think the earlier model is no longer on offer, perhaps a few left-overs. Transparency: I own (and love) my HBs, the CST-24T, the 35Plus, and the RB-414CS.

[@JacubWhite38]

Harley Benton has some of the best headstocks I've seen on budget priced guitars. I also don't mind their name, despite most people saying it's a dumb name. It's a little confusing because I'd probably assume it's a motorcycle company, but that's not a big deal. They probably don't have Harley Davidson in Germany so they might not know about the similarity in brand names

[@SapulpaGuitarAcademy]

From what I understand, Thomann wanted a very "American" sounding name for the brand, and that is what they came up with. What they must think of us Americans with a name like that, though. 🤔

[@tostrmofo6686]

I can assure you, we have Harleys Davidson in Germany and everyone in the western world for sure knows what Harley Davidson is. I do think the name is very silly, but who cares.

[@NelsonMontana1234]

You get what you pay for. With Harley Benton, you get a product that seems good at first but is made cheaply. And if you have a problem, you have to contact Germany to get it resolved. Good luck.

[@stevecassidyguitar]

Thanks for this mate - great vid 😎👍 Awesome audio too 👌 Here in the UK, Jet Guitars have been slowly grabbing a fair chunk of the budget/starter guitar market the past 2 years. I've had a few - the quality and features set is unbeatable (imo). On their way to the US now I believe - check em out (JS 400 👌) I've also had 6 Harley Bentons - the shipping/returns is a non issue here in the UK. HB make great quality guitars with impressive specs for the price (Imo) but ultimately, I prefer the Fender 9.5" radius, which HB don't offer. So it's Jets all the way for me these days. Cheers from Scotland! 🍻 The End 🙈

[@BudgetPedalChap]

It's our Steve! I reckon our algorithms are very similar, I'm always seeing you crop up in comment sections 😂😂 Steve is right here, Jet guitars are making waves over here, I even did a demo on one myself. I was very tempted to buy it from them once I'd done the demo too, but then the Harley Benton came along offering more premium features. The jet I played though has a fantastic neck and the pickups weren't bad despite being ceramics. Great video btw gent, you've got a sub here 👍

[@stevecassidyguitar]

@@BudgetPedalChap I know this guy! 😀👍

[@keithmcduffie7182]

Great Video!!! Kudos to Thomann & the Harley Benton line. They are directly responsible (In my opinion) for the "Majors" stepping up the quality of their entry level guitars. I have 2 Strat Style Harleys. I bought both of them in January 2020 because Fender was out of Classic Vibe Stratocasters and Then were going up on the price when the next shipment was due. For that price I bought an ST-20 Vintage White & The DLX Swamp Ash Strats. If you buy more than one instrument they only charge One shipment price (All told less than $300 cost and I received both of them in 3 days from Germany!) The Guitars.....? The ST-20 only needed a little turn of the screw to set the neck right, the DLX Swamp Ash was PERFECT right out of the box!!! I was SHOCKED at the quality. Whomever put those guitars together really took pride in their work. The Swamp Ash, especially, plays like a dream. Mind you, the reason I wanted the Classic Vibe in the first place was because of the rave reviews it was getting as well as the price of it around Christmas 2019 and also because I didn't want to take my Fender American Standard 50th Anniversary Stratocaster to random jam sessions. I'm more than happy with my Harley Bentons though and I recommended them to a few of my friends. It seems that Thomann has kept rolling impressively. If I hadn't reached my acquisition ceiling recently (I have 13 guitars now from various companies 🙃) I'd like to at least check out some of their newer models.........

[@PilliamWilliam]

This came out at the perfecr time. I've just been considering getting one

[@christopheraaron8299]

Fojill is another new brand that I really like. I love my Fojill mahogany light relic strat. No idea who makes them.

[@barbmelle3136]

Now the shipping is about $80 to the USA. That kind of knocked them out of my interest. Plus, I already have the three I really wanted, and they were fine, needing only minor adjustments. Some of the Fusion models interest me, but the price on those is up to where there are other brands in that range.

[@villageidiot9867]

Totally agree. There was something I was looking at that the shipping was more than the cost of the item. HB cab I believe. Probably a great deal in Europe but not so much in the states.

[@mlj1111]

What you do is order more then one guitar. Only one shipping charge. Also, they will give you breaks on shipping if you ask them. Talk to Wesley in shipping and be polite.

[@johnrogers2826]

Not in Canada with a $100 shipping cost.

[@bobfurman2739]

The TE-52 ,looked and sounded great ...but was super heavy 11 lbs.

[@christopheraaron8299]

As far as a cheap 335 copy goes, I love my Firefly 338.

[@cyntdestroyer69xd]

I fell like Harley Benton's extended range products (7 string, 8 strings, baritones) are still unbeatable - I don't know any other brand that can sell 8 string for around 200$. They even have those crazy looking 360 pound 8 strings, if you want some more quality

[@oneanother1]

The made in Indonesia is a selling point, means they should be higher quality than China ones. I would like to know if they come from the cort factory. Other brands like squire or epiphone kinda will hold their value over time. Anything fender is what I'd prefer instead of a clone. While the les Paul model, I'll take a clone of as they look really good from Harley Benton. The cheaper les Paul's are out there, but the fret work might not be there. Glad to see so many cheap guitars, we just need to figure which ones are worth it. I guess for a beginner it doesn't matter much. Having a brand name matters alot.

[@leviathan_is_me]

The $99 guitar from Know Your Gear was an RJguitars strategy copy. Good luck finding an RJGuitar btw. You can find em for sale, but for some reason can't buy em.

[@SapulpaGuitarAcademy]

Interesting. I wonder if they got blown out stock wise from the video or if they'll come back with a higher price tag?

[@user-vk1kp6fp8d]

no problem with my sc 450 plus hb does the job 😃

[@user-abcxyz-xr2eg]

me too

[@Alfredo78666]

Caramelized: Painted twice

[@callumgray5150]

Yes.

[@lachl8634]

Still a good value

[@TheCandel34]

Harley Benton necks Pfiel better than Squier necks

[@designbyjohnperez]

The sub $500 is great, especially in the used. My brother got a MIM Fender Player Strat for $425 off FB marketplace. Is Thoman equivalent to Cort? And if so, how do Cort guitars compare to HB?

[@SapulpaGuitarAcademy]

They are similar in that they are both private label brands. Cort is made my Cor-Tek, who also builds guitars for too many brands to mention on here(PRS SE is a big one though). Cor-Tek may even build some of the Harley Benton models as well. Harley Benton being a private label of a retailer has an extra step compared to Cor-Tek since they have to contract the work out, whereas Cor-Tek can build Cort guitars in their own factories.

[@cptmcrni]

Cort is the premier Indonesian factory and probably surpasses the quality of Harley Bentons, though the price will be higher. Buy the one in your price range, you get what you pay for!!

[@tostrmofo6686]

@@cptmcrniYou can be quite sure that some of the Indonesian Harley Bentons are manufactured by Cort/Cor-Tek.

[@keithmcduffie7182]

​@@tostrmofo6686 That would be Awesome if they did. I bought an Cort B5 Artisan Bass from the Thomann Music Website for $800 & it's a High Quality instrument to say the least.

[@user-abcxyz-xr2eg]

@@cptmcrni And you don't pay anything for the brand name? I think we always do, no matter whether it's a guitar, a car, shoes or even food. We customers have to pay the expenses for marketing and commercials, don't we?

[@OakCityGamers]

I’d say its value would be more apparent if they had a North American arm. Awe wow. See that’s cool. 😎 they do? Value is so hard to define. My 200$ was well spent on other things. Harley B’s? I’ve seen a couple. And some Firefly. It’s all a bit of a wash. It’s so hard to trust a guitar will speak to you over the internet. But man nothing beat the Epiphone I got for 150$, and the $60 Intonation bridge made it perfect. It’s not perfect. But it plays right.

[@zgamer9466]

People constantly come up with reasons to tell me im no fucking good

[@doctoribanez]

I got burned on one of those headless a few years back. Wonky frets and the bridge was completely unusable. After spending a ton on tools and parts I'd rather just buy a firefly or one of the chinese guitars coming out with amazing frets

[@sacro9047]

I have a new inexplicable urge to get a roasted maple neck

[@timesurfingalien]

Pay as much for shipping as you do for the guitar

[@a-nus]

23:20 I have one of these, they are liars. Its a Floyd rose special.

[@tostrmofo6686]

I used to own one of these and it was a FR 1000.

[@valueofnothing2487]

No, you want to get the Firefly! Or any number of new guitars that people have been testing out - many with stainless steel frets, Alnico pickups and roasted maple necks. I'm not sure why you are not familiar with all these new brands, and some of the reviewers like MusicNgear, Philip McKnight, Scar My Guitar, J-Man. These people actually do serious reviews of these guitars. To me, that's where the competition from Harley Benton is, it's not Squire or Epiphone. My concern about the Harley Benton is, can you return it if you don't like the frets and who's going to pay for it? That's what prevents me from purchasing these guitars. I know that if I get a Donner, Musi, EART, IYV, I can return it for any reason for 30 days free of charge. Another issue with heart abandon is they charge you maybe $100 with taxes and shipping. And so when you say oh look at the $330 guitar it's really maybe $430. And I think it's just overpriced compared with all the new alternatives we have today.

[@SapulpaGuitarAcademy]

The Harley Benton Reverb shop offers free shipping and 30 days return policy. I'm familiar with Firefly, Donner, Eart, etc, but from someone who teaches guitar, I see more Squier and Epiphone than any other of these brands. From the perspective of someone watching KZbin videos, you might think everyone is playing Harley Benton and all these inexpensive Amazon brands, but I can assure they have a long way to go to fully penetrate the demographic of first time guitarists. Fender and Gibson spend WAY more money to push their product and ultimately that's why they are still the guitars to compete against in the market.

[@garypannone7755]

I bought one. And I am done. The guitar had broken strings and Thomann would not do a thing for me and tried to make me feel like a criminal because I suggested a credit for a set of strings. Now a set of strings could be as low as a $5.00 item. But they wanted to se a picture of the strings and Oh My I had already changed them. I dug them out of the trash and sent a picture. They had another excuse. I bought a new guitar. I was excited to play it after waiting on shipping. Like I told them , It's there lose. I have bought many inexpensive guitars since and I will never spend another red cent at Thomann.

[@andyswift79]

This is satire right?

[@garypannone7755]

No. It is a fact. When I buy something new I want a bit of satisfaction when I contact customer service. They did not give me the guitar I paid for it. Musicians Friend and Sweetwater stand behind there products. Even people that buy Chibsons are taken care of better than I was. @@andyswift79

[@Supernautiloid]

bruh

[@tomd8313]

Strings go straight into the Trash when you get a new guitar. It’s one step in your inspection, fretboard TLC, and set up, of Any new guitar, regardless of price.

[@mlj1111]

This is hilarious.