What is it?
Unless you absolutely have to have a famous logo on your headstock, there’s little reason you can’t get the performance and sound of a modern S-style guitar at a much lower price these days. Case in point is the Harley Benton ST-Modern Plus, which retails at a very reasonable £339.
In most guitarists' heads, that would put it at the top end of the beginner electric guitar category, yet you’ll find some professional-level components on this particular instrument that wouldn’t seem out of place on a guitar twice the price.
Are these seemingly great-value guitars actually any good though? It’s well and good putting together a wishlist of specifications but a lot of the art of great guitar making is in actually putting the thing together. That’s where we come in.
Having had our hands on many a Stratocaster-style guitar, from off-brand to the big ‘F’ themselves, we’re in the perfect position to make a judgement on whether or not it’s worth going for a lesser-known brand.
Specs
- Price: £339 / €444
- Body: American Alder
- Neck: Roasted and flamed Canadian Maple, D profile, bolt-on
- Scale length: 25.5" (648mm)
- Fingerboard: Canadian Maple, 305 - 406 mm (12"-16") compound radius
- Frets: 22, medium jumbo stainless steel with rounded edges
- Pickups: 1 Tesla VR-Nitro Alnico 5 covered humbucker (bridge) and 2 Tesla TV-S1M Alnico 5 single coils (middle and neck)
- Controls: 1 volume, 1 tone with push-pull for coil split
- Hardware: Babicz FCH 2-Point Z-Series C full contact tremolo, Sung-Il ML-55 locking machine heads
- Left-handed: Yes
- Finish: Flame Bengal Burst (as reviewed), Shell Pink, Seafoam Green, Lake Placid Blue, Olympic White, Black, Flame Blue Burst
- Case: No
- Contact: Harley Benton
Build quality
With an American Alder body construction and flame Maple top, the ST-Modern Plus is a fantastic-looking guitar with its Bengal Burst finish. Up close there’s no hint of blemishes in the top, and its looks belie that low-cost price point. The flame top iterations in the series feature slightly sharper horns, which give it a more modern look versus the more traditionally rounded edges of the block colour options from the series.
The bolt-on roasted Canadian flame maple neck looks similarly stunning, shaped to a ‘D’ profile for quick-fire playability. The Canadian maple fingerboard features a compound radius, moving from 12 to 16 inches as you move further up the neck. For added comfort you get rolled edges, as well as rounded ends for the 22 medium jumbo stainless steel frets.
In terms of hardware, there’s a Babicz FCH 2-Point Z-Series C full contact tremolo, another appointment typically found on much more expensive guitars like the Fender Aerodyne Strat. It’s paired with a set of Sung-Il ML-55 locking machine heads which should provide excellent stability and performance alongside a graphite nut.
The pickups come in the form of a Tesla VR-Nitro Alnico 5 humbucker in the bridge position, alongside a Tesla TV-S1M Alnico 5 single coil in the middle and a Tesla TV-S1N Alnico 5 single coil for the neck position. This should provide a nice mix of humbucker girth and Strat spank alongside the coil split available via a single push-pull tone control. A master volume control alongside a five-way pickup selector.
Playability
The rounded fret ends immediately caught my eye when I picked up the ST-Modern Plus to do some playtesting. They’re well-finished and deliver a super smooth feel for your fretting hand alongside the rolled edges. Starting with a few warm-up exercises I quickly felt at home on the ‘D’ profile neck and while it’s not as thin as some more shred guitar necks, it's certainly lithe enough for some rapid-fire playing.
The overall feel in your hand is really nice, lending itself well to any playstyle you can chuck at it from open chords to sweep picking. Bending against the medium jumbo frets isn’t quite as satisfying as the full-sized jumbo ones I’m used to, but it was no barrier once I’d gotten used to it.
The Babicz tremolo is fantastic as well. I’ve used one before on the much more expensive Aerodyne Strat and it delivers a super smooth and stable performance. Its design makes it feel really robust, with none of the janky, loose movements you sometimes find on vintage-style tremolos. You get a lot of movement out it when pitching down, with a much shorter distance raising the bar.
It’s good for all the fluttering and vibrato you can throw at it, working brilliantly with the locking tuners to maintain tuning stability. On the topic of tuners, the high ‘e’ tuner was very stiff on the review model I tested and was overall a bit of a pain to tune too, being very unresponsive to movements before suddenly jumping up a few cents on the tuner.
Sounds
With an HSS pickup configuration, the Tesla pups promise some versatility and absolutely deliver. The humbucker is nice and girthy, seemingly voiced more along the lines of a PAF rather than something higher output, so while it won’t quite hit metal territory, it can certainly get heavy with drop-D power chords and palm muting.
Trying it out with various amp models on my trusty HX Stomp, the ST-Modern Plus delivered everything I asked, from sweet cleans through to more gain-heavy tones
There’s plenty on offer in the middle and bridge positions too, from that classic spank right through to the warmer and smoother tones nearer the neck. Trying it out with various amp models on my trusty HX Stomp, the ST-Modern Plus delivered everything I asked, from sweet cleans through to more gain-heavy tones.
The push-pull tone pot lets you add an extra tone to your locker, giving that thinner single-coil sound with plenty of bite if you need it. They’re not quite as sweet as those from better-known brands of course, but for the money, they’re more than serviceable. If you did really want to turn this into a super Strat, then the pickups would be the first thing to upgrade.
Verdict
For the money, it’s hard to find fault with the Harley Benton ST-Modern Plus. For well below the £/$500 mark it’s a lot of guitar, whether you’re buying your first proper instrument or you want a great guitar for gigging. For considerably less than the same thing from a big-name brand would cost you, the only real potential detractor for some it doesn't have one of those names on the headstock.
MusicRadar verdict: In short, the Harley Benton ST-Modern Plus is a brilliant guitar. Its low cost against an impressive spec sheet makes it excellent value, and despite a couple of shortcomings, it’s well worth your attention if you want a great guitar for less.
