Harley Benton EX-76 Classic GHW AN

First up, the finish. It's so smooth and shiny. Looks beautiful all over.

The neck, whilst being pretty thick - this is quite the opposite of a Jackson style neck, so if you're looking for a very thin neck, this may not be the guitar for you - plays really fast and well. I am actually really happy with how the neck plays, because I'm used to much thinner necks usually, but it may be the finish ( same as the body, not a satin finish ) that is INCREDIBLY smooth.
So those with smaller hands may find it a bit more difficult perhaps as you'll need to stretch a little more, but it absolutely won't feel sluggish at all. The fretboard allows for easy fast fingerplay.

It does not feel heavy over your shoulder at all. I'm only 5'9 and hardly muscular or strong at all, but this does not weigh down on me during play. Make sure to just buy a good quality strap ( padded ) and some kind of strap locks/system, as the positioning of the strap hook might allow for the strap to come off at the front if you're moving around a lot as you play. But as i say, even a super cheap set of those plastic strap locks will help prevent this from happening.

I love the set in jack. Makes everything feel so much more solidly connected. Feels safe and secure when playing in a standing position.

I have already replaced the tone and volume knobs with a prettier set of gold ones, as they match the guitar well and add more to the (faux) expensive "look", but there is no need to other than aesthetics, as the standard ones look and work absolutely fine.

Sound is subjective of course. It all comes down to what amp / tone & pedals you use of course. It sounds great to me, but there are so many individual factors that make up a guitar tone we individually love. So i can't really comment too much on that, all i can comment on is HOW it plays. And I'm very happy.

You know what you're probably in for when spending only around 250/260 pounds on a guitar ( if you've been playing for years ) but this could not be better for a beginner on a budget.

It does not FEEL like you're playing a "cheap" guitar. The build quality is too good. Just remember that players/beginners with smaller hands, maybe try to go and test out a thick neck guitar in a shop before you think about buying this one, as it may not be perfect for you yet. Probably too bulky ( though it isn't big ), the shape maybe too unbalanced for very young players, so maybe go a different route for now if you're maybe 12 and under. But old people like myself should have no problem with the weight/shape.

Best "cheap" guitar I've ever bought and there have been so, so many over the years.

Let me start by saying I do not review products. I honestly can't remember a single product I have ever left a review for.

I've always been in love with the Explorer shape (and more specifically the Korina explorers) and have always wanted one but refuse to drop the cash on a Gibson. When I saw this was coming out I ordered it within the hour it went up.

Just got it today, which was a little over a month for shipping. This was to be expected with what's going on in the world right now, and it was 100% worth the wait.

I'm a die hard Ibanez player and typically prefer wizard necks and slim profile guitars so the only thing I was scared of was getting a baseball neck like my Gibson LP. The neck is definitely thicker than a wizard but no where near a baseball Gibson. Maybe somewhere around a PRS.

The locking tuners are fantastic. The stock pickups are also honestly not hateful. I play generally heavy music (modern metal & hardcore) and they get the job done but will probably swap them eventually.

The bridge, saddle & nut are solid, the pickup selector is a little wobbly but that's about the only con I have currently.

Oh, and the biggest pro is this guitar looks about 50x better in person than the pictures/videos show.

If you're on the fence about this guitar, just do yourself a favor and splurge on it. You absolutely will be satisfied.

This was my second recent Harley Benton purchase and a more expensive guitar than my first, an HB35-plus Cherry, so my expectations of quality were higher and happily I was not disappointed. The guitar did not quite survive its shipping intact from Germany to UK despite being double boxed, but the damage will be easily remedied by a replacement pickup surround (which is on its way to me as I write this, thanks to customer services). I have a few constructive comments so I will get those out of the way first. So, the guitar arrived with a decent set-up and action but annoyingly HB do not seem to clean the frets/fretboard at all before shipping, so I would advise anyone purchasing one to also get some lemon oil cleaner to remedy this. I would also recommend replacing the cheap strings provided, as the high E doesn't take long to unwind at the tailpiece if you do a bit of bending. With this particular model being purchased unseen and having a natural wood grain finish, you are always at the mercy of the manufacturer on how good the wood grain matching is at the glued seams as the offset body consists of at least 2 pieces of wood glued together. The picture provided on the Thomann web site gives a good impression of how the wood grain was matched, however, rather annoyingly the matching is excellent on the back but not as good on the front and the grain is less pronounced than in the photos and not like the Mahogany I recognise. The fretboard on my model is also completely black (as shown on the cheaper EX-76 AN model) but not as shown for the GHW-AN model on the photos. One last comment is really specific to explorer shaped guitars in general. Do not expect to either wall hang it or easily find a guitar stand into which it fits due to the body shape and angled headstock! So that's the cons, there are many pro's though and it is still a very nice guitar for £350 (don't forget to add VAT and shipping/import costs to the price shown on the site if you are in the UK post-Brexit), with much better quality hardware than the cheaper HB models. Overall I am satisfied with it but to me it seems to be getting harder for HB to be seen as under-priced they move more up-market. Personally I think thinner neck profiles would improve the HB models playability greatly, but I guess that one is down to personal taste.

Long story short - its a great guitar.

Long story long:
- The frets have rounded edges that do nut hurt me and are well polished. Feels nice to bend, non of that wired fret scraping. I will polish them a bit more, but they are more than playable. No dead notes on any fret.
- The neck is lacquered, but not sticky. And i hate sticky necks. The shape is somewhere in between the Fender C shape and a Gibson fat D shape. Took me a day or so to get used to. If you like thin necks, its not for you.
The action can be fairly low.
- Pickups - they are PAF like and very dynamic. Too dynamic for my taste. They will be great for classic rock and blues. For high gain they are not the best. I raised them up closer to the strings to get that more compressed sound. Now they work better for metal.
- Controls - Knobs dont have wired scratching when turning and the switch clicky. Work well for now.
- Tuners - locking tuners that stay in tune great.
- Balance - the guitar has no neck dive when playing standing or sitting. Very well balanced.
- Misc - the body is smaller then other explorers, so its harder to bump it on stuff. All the glue lines are very visible through the finish and they are all nice and even. Cant see any problems with those. The guitar is well finished without any defects.

Problems - most are cosmetic -
- The post for the tail piece was sticking up. I needed to hammer it in a bit. Common for cheap guitars
- The knobs are way to close together. I have small hands are turning the volume knows is a bit hard for me. I will switch them to smaller knobs.
- Hole on the truss rod cover is not in the center.
- The nut is cut a bit high and the holes are a bit small for 10's. Still its a good material and the holes are evenly cut. I will take it to a luthier to fix this.

Out of the box it was almost perfect. Very good action with no fretbuzz at all!

The fretboard is absolutely beautiful and incredibly smooth, very much like a really high end guitar. I don’t know for sure what wood it is, but it definitely looks like ebony, really dark and smooth.

The new heel design makes it incredibly easier and comfortable to access the higher frets, in addition to offering it also a very high end look and feel.

The pickups are pretty good, with clear definition and well balanced.

Overall, is a really great guitar that maintains the classic beautifuly looking Explorer design but with some very nice upgrades to it… and of course, for a much more affordable price.

If you’re an Explorer aficionado like me, I’m sure you’ll not regret this purchase!

I have played Explorers for years and always liked the Explorer shaped guitars. I have had them all, played them all. This guitar is not the exact shape as the classic but it sure has the same feel, if not better. The shape on the back makes the guitar mor comfortable and it is is well in balance. Locking tuners and it does stay in tune even if you beat it hard. It is a great guitar for heavy rhythm guitar playing. A true rock guitar!

Pick ups gives a more bluesy tone than I prefer but there is absolutely nothing wrong with the pick ups. I found the sound a little bit more bassy than on my other Harley Bentons for some reason but it might be my thoughts to play an explorer with high gain pick ups. This is more likely how they sounded originally and it sure is a stylish guitar.

The only thing I am would have done different is just a cosmetic thing as the headstock but the more I play it the more I like it. Using Ernie Ball 10-52's

This is the first product I have ever purchased from Thomann, and the first Harley Benton product I have ever purchased. I have been impressed by both! Shipping from Germany to Canada was fast and reasonably priced. As for the guitar itself, I love it! It feels solid, and sounds great. It is well built and priced reasonably. Even with the currency exchange, shipping, and customs fees I think this was a good buy. In fact, I've purchased 2 more Harley Benton's. The only thing I'm not keen on is the pick up selector switch. It is the only feature on this guitar that feels cheap. It works, but flipping it in one direction it feels firm & snaps into position, while going in the other direction feels sloppy & loose, but it gets the job done. Other than that, I have nothing but praise for this guitar. Highly recommend the HB products.