Harley Benton MS11-BK

I bought this guitar at thomann cyberstore one year ago. It's a typical strat copy. A gigbag is included. I bought it for awesome 69 euros!


Features:

- Maple neck
- Body is made of alder I guess (don't know)
- 22 frets
- 3 single coil pickups
- 5-way selector
- passive electronics
- Tremolo
- 1x vol. + 2x tone
- Chrome hardware
- Black body
- including a gigbag

These are standard features I guess - But keep in mind, this is a typical strat, so what would you expect?!
I give it a rating of 7

I play a lot of different styles but mostly metal, hard rock and punk. I needed a guitar that sounds bright and clear on clean or rock/crunch songs. This guitar really fits well for stuff like this. Distortion sounds are ok, but a humbucker guitar generally fits better that part. I think, it performs best at clean, crunch and blues styles. The five-way selector allows a huge variety of different sounds from warm blues to gain-crying ac/dc style. It sounds really great, just like a typical original strat. Very impressive.

The guitar was set-up properly and had no major flaws. Well, the strings were set up a little bit high (I like it lower, for soloing a.s.o.) - But I corrected it without having any problems.
The only flaw I could find is the laquer finish. At some places around the body it`s painted a little bit "irregularly". But you have to take a very close look to discover it.

I play this guitar for about a year now and it made no critical problems. The volume knob fell off a few times, but it`s easy to fix.
The hardware doesn`t seem to be that good (the tuners). But I would change them using better ones if they were broken.

thomann is great. Good waranty services and support. You can send the guitar back if you don't like it within 2 weeks. The warranty is one year. If you got special questions you could call a hotline as well.

I love this one. The price is just amazing and it sounds like a professional "high-class" guitar. I would buy a new one if it were stolen or lost. If you play crunch, rock, blues or you need a cheap and good guitar for a beginner this one is for you!

Update to the above review. I've no money and needed to tweak something so I blocked the trem, changed the pickup magnets,sheilded the body and repolled the middle pickup.

The slightly better pickups,especially the middle [now with raised g+d string polls] sound a little better. I had a pile of [al 5 and ceramic] magnets left over from old guitar projects.

Upshot= It will sound better if you get a cheap set of pups with a staggered poll set.

Point :construction of the pickups is the cheapest i've seen over many years tweaking cheap strat copies, the magnets are tiny "door closer" types that fit into a SLOT in the base of the pup rather than the typical ceramic bar sitting on the base. Polls push out easilly without damaging the coil though..so if you did have a load of alnico POLLS lying around you could make this sound fine very cheaply.

Raise thae rating 1 point.

OK ; on the above point I had to remove wood to fit the new magnets in,because this guitar has a very shallow body route,hence I found out that the wood between the body cavity and tremelo cavity is 1/8th thick balsa or similarly crappy wood and was easier to remove entirely! Remove 1 point.

I klutzed this small project up in the finish department, hence I can tell you that the paint is certainly quite tough and durable for a very cheap guitar.

Still a good little guitar and I have no rights to complain about the above price cutting measures they used,seeing what it cost me. If you want to make this better ABSOLUTELY change the tuners ASAP, sheild it [thats cut the noise down a fair bit] ,and get some low [coil] height staggered poll pickups and block the trem...then I dont see why this thing wouldn't last you a good few years as a hack.

Still a very good little guitar and apart from the balsa annoyance I still like the wee bugger..and I'm typically a Gibson [type] player.

Everything I didn't comment on from above still stands.

Black and white Strat copy,3 ply plate,barely adequate tuners,half decent bridge and pickups,6 point (vintage) tremelo - tremelo is not my thing,but this seems it would do the job with a bit of a fettle - ie, spring and claw adjustment.

Pots are ok,I cannot be bothered to do the caps,they could be better. It's very ok as it is. No specs for you.

I look at this guitar as a "Practice guitar".

It's at least as light and more "resonant"? [within reason] than a Squier Bullet whilst being less microphonic and has a better all round feel Than A Kramer Focus VT111s/Focus.

It's got a basswood body.I've owned basswood bodied Ibanezes and others and they're quite loud an lively unplugged and tend to make even duff pickups sound good.I'd guess the guitars above would be the competition..and they're also ones i have owned. I think it compares well to Affinity Squiers,which I owned years ago too.

When it arrived I took my initial impressions and then re jigged them over a few weeks of playing tinkering. I've been playing 20 or so years and can tell a enough about a simple guitar by rewiring/tweaking it and playing it for a few weeks. My opinion will not change..Unless bits fall out of the damn thing!


It is incredibly light.


Included in the package was a (fair,unpadded) gigbag and electronic "pitch pipe". Look at the price again.

#56 delivered to my door,VAT paid.

No wonder I like it.

Buy one for junior and you won't take much of a loss [managed to ~break even~ selling the Squier and Kramer,but, only just]



Medium odd shaped headstock,with some grain + hi gloss laquer. Slightly Iffy tuners (expected). They are screw adjustable/tensionable but do need to be changed,as you may expect,will stay in tune for 3 or 4 songs,so far.

This may improve as the strings are new and still stretching. Standard "shipping" strings, guitar would be improved by immediate addition of Rotosound or _other_decent_ 9 gauge strings.


The strings stay in tune over night once they have stretched in.

Pretty stable guitar for this money and seems well assembled.

I play mostly..everything,but, use this for hacking around mainly in the bluesy,country,rock'n'roll vein.


The next surprise,after the lightness, is how (comparatively) resonant it is unplugged, other cheapies don't,much.


The pickups make a decent "vintage strat" noise and give you a quite wide range of tones,even if they are generic tones,not microphonic although they're raised right up to almost the point of Strat-itis. Mids are *extremely* lacking and almost absent,even with the mid boost on on my Vox amp. These pups ar flat polled.

I'd think a set of Entwhistle White- cheap, Kent-Armstrong or (most likely) Mighty Mite singles and better caps would have this thing quacking away like a good un.

You *can just* acquire some pick harmonics on the bridge pickup. Not bad Fendery sounds,but, do not play this against a real Fender, or anything like it.


I do like the Middle pickup on this guitar and the p2 (mid+neck) with the tones rolled back is so sweet with boosted mids it's ,er,V.nice.

If you keep it SHEILD IT, it hums like,er,a vintage strat and is my only NOISY guitar which is why i Like p2 (humbucking) most so far.

Initially very hard to get in tune. Crappy strings and tuners.

Cheap bindy nut (expected). This was recut and is quite soft ,but,does an okay job.

While I was looking down the neck (changing one of those graunchy tuners) i noticed that the nut and bridge saddle are both profiled as stock with a radius like Dan Erlewine's setup guide's bridge radius - ie a larger height toward the bass side to allow more string vibration. Not bad on a beater. The nut is quite soft and needed a recut anyway,cut to approx Fender spec.

Now the good part, the neck is a little on the slim across-from E to E- (good) and thin front to back [habitual Gibson -slim taper player] , the frets are all well polished and executed (crowned,etc).The fretboard looked quite dry but smoothed out well after playing (now Axe Waxed). Neck is not quite as painful as a Small Squier and A regular gibson player can use this for 20mins without getting cramps.

The impressive part is that with a fairly low action there is *NO* choking and no high frets are audible unlike other sub-#100 bolt on guitars I have bought.


Three or four other cheapies had high 16th frets.

This particular unit does not.

Great stuff.


The expected setup work was there as the action was 28/9 thou at the nut..oh good,filing time :)
Action is now approx 20 thou at the nut .I haven't even felt it necessary to adjust the bridge,mainly because I'm busy,but, it was ok. Good stuff "Mr Benton" (whoever, the fictitious-person, you are).

Harley Benton,Santa Claus and Oscar Schmidt last seen tracking Unicorns at the north pole on the 29th of February while flights of Phoenix overflew them.

I expect that this is the neck used on all HB Strats and Teles,I also expect fretting and QC to vary,it does on Gibsons,so your unit may not be like my unit.


Quite comfortable backshape although penny-pinchingly slim it is not PAINFULLY so.


The neck to body joint has a good tight fit,ie,you may get a cigarette paper in there if you tried very hard.(but,you'ld also be a very strange person for doing that sort of thing.)


Neck seem snug on body,haven't felt the need to rip it off and check.


The switch is quiet in operation,,apart from the 50/60 cycle hum.


The black paintwork is pretty near flawless,as far as i can tell and the pickguard is three ply, wbw.

Will this guitar withstand live playing?- Probably,I play it all the time and it's fallen over without causing any damage to itself.


Does the hardware seem like it will last? Yes,but see above.


Is the finish good enough to last, or does it seem thin and easy to wear off with lots of playing?
Seems as good as most other cheapies


Are the strap buttons solid? Yes and have nice large ends,although you'd need locks,as with any other guitar,really.


Can you depend on it? You betcha - as a practice guitar.


Would you use it on a gig without a backup? Only to take the mickey out of some gear snobs,but, I'd take a backup.


It is really to early to tell conclusively,i'll give you that.

Thomann are V.good and nice to deal with,fast shipping too. A lot less paiful to order than a Kramer Focus. No idea,at this price you can sell the bits and make a profit.

How long have you been playing? 20+years.

What other gear do you own?
Dean Evo, Modified Pacifica,Gibson "The Paul II",Epiphone Special,Fender Gemini II -10yrs young and not even one setup!, Small Vox and Marshall amps.Korg FX, Home built "quarter screamer" pedals and amplification malarkey,soldering iron,"leftover" parts and spares..etc.

Did I mention some of my guitars are modified?.


What do you love about it? Ok and playable guitar for hardly any money
What do you hate? Initially very hard to get in tune.


What is your favorite feature?Fendery "enough" sounds.


The neck/fretwork/price make it worth getting as a "hack"/beater/kids guitar,everything else can be dealt with quite easilly and cheaply. Tuners #10. Springs and nut #3, for future consideration.


On the whole as good as some Sub #150 guitars.


Nice little hack/beginners guitar. I would rate this 7/7.5 out of 10,as a somewhat dubious comparison..10 would be a well setup Pac112 or Mex Strat.(dending on the day). On the whole, where else can you find a half decent playing Strat copy for around

#$This cost??$#


For those who don't want to sling the Gibson/Telecaster breezeblock around the neck for a quick twang the countoured basswood bodied wee thing is nice.


Certainly suitable for roots blues/country/punk/rhythm use.


Nice for the price... better than you may think. Children and Ladies should also like the neck and Gents may get on with it too..


Don't expect miracles,but, perhaps you'll get more than you thought.


Anything you wish it had? All the bits off an American Strat for the same cost?: