Harley Benton EX-84 Modern EMG BK

Just bought this for my husband as a 30th birthday present. He's been looking for an explorer for ages, and finally he has one! He had this to say:

The fit and finish of the guitar is exceptional. Fret ends rounded off, frets polished, intonation out of the box is spot on and arrived in perfect condition. Finish is perfect, no imperfections, no fret buzz. All it needed was the action lowering, restringing, lemon oil on the fretboard, and a slight truss rod adjustment. But thats personal preference. Out of the box all it needs is a quick tune and it's very playable!

In short:

Pros - everything. Insane guitar and spec for the money, quality rivals that of Epiphone and even Gibson.

Cons - NONE. Except for the fact they are so good everyone wants one!

After my initial impressions and review, all seemed in order with the guitar except for the Switch that was way too lose, and some minor transportation damages on body made by the lose Allen key that was never secured inside parcel. Once I spent more time with the guitar, a more serious challenge came up.

To start with, the switch could not be tightened at all but that was easily “fixable” by purchasing the EMG switch which would be another € 39-€45 expense. At this time I even considered the extra cost of adding the new switch and change it.

What really triggered the first return was the inverted order of pickups I got my EX with. This issue and loose Allen Key in box, I am aware I am not the only case…very odd I would say

Mat EMG goes on neck and Shinny EMG goes on Bridge!!! Mine were wrongly mounted so that was an added challenge since what I received was not what I ordered.

After returning this guitar…a replacement came.
To my surprise this new guitar came with correctly mounted pickups, but connections did not seem to be in order besides having a dent on the tip of the headstock made during transport.
The signal only came out occasionally, depending on the electronics’ or switch’s mood so I quite sadly had to return the guitar for a second time. This time the switch was mechanically working but think a soldering was loose or something wrong in the circuitry.
By the way, I wonder how the replacement was checked before shipping since it arrived without a 9V so I guess they checked electronics with a Ouija board or a Magic Ball. How can an electronics check be done without a battery for an active pick up guitar? My electronics check seemed to have never happen, must have been but a visual check.
In general the guitar was nice and light, nice to play, if it works that is.

Decided to just get it over with, and returned the guitar. Now I have an even nicer one, ok more expensive but way better and perfectly delivered and working via another shop that actually did a good job and did fully check the guitar before shipping, or I was just lucky…finally!

Was tempted to leave my original review but unfortunately that would not help anyone.
Customer care department was quite helpful but I will keep away from buying any more guitars here since this is the second guitar I purchase that had to go back to Thomann.
Good customer care but horrible quality check whether in factory or headquarters. This time I am very disappointed so if I buy something else it will just be consumables, never again a guitar I am afraid.

Well my skepticism has been laid to rest: this guitar is as good as the Gibson VOS LP custom and Fender US strat that it now lives next to on my wall. No Sh#t.
I don’t leave reviews, generally, but I’m here to tell ya,that this guitar is really good. Fit, finish m, playability (almost, lowered the tail piece 1/2 turn and tightens truss half a turn) out the box, hardware is nice, tight and trim. I have not a problem with it, in fact I am really enjoying playing it. A lot.
Needed an EMG loaded axe for a heavy project. Figured I’d try this one first.
Packaging was fine, shipping to US was a week, including handling.

I buy and sell lots of guitars.
This one is not only on par with high end guitars. It’s a keeper.
Get one. Hurry up, before they sell out.

Looks sick, sounds like a brick to your face (at least with my Fender mustang amp and some downloadable Metallica presets). The neck is fat and I love it, but could be a problem if you are used to thinner guitars. Neck came straight - didn't have to adjust the rod. Experimented with the string height because by default they were pretty high - but that is an individual preference. All the adjusting mechanisms work just fine.

If you take a closer look, you can spot that the colouring is uneven - there are some brighter parts on the neck, but you really have to look for those. And for the price of the guitar - it doesn't bother me at all. The colouring of the guitar is very fragile - if you won`t handle it with care, you can easily damage it. I got a tiny crack on the edge of the body after bumping it on the wooden chair. Also the default strings seemed lubed, because after short period of playing, fretting and picking hand started to turn black.

All in all - I`am very satisfied with the looks and the sound. Would recommend to my friends.

I bought this guitar because it was the cheapest Explorer shaped guitar with EMG pickups and I am a big Metallica fan.
The quality is decent, it only has 2 tiny finish flaws, one the the bridge tailpiece, the other one next to the neck pickup, but I don't care about that since the guitar is not that expensive, but everything else works like charm.
No sharp frets, smooth neck, it even came it tune from Germany all the way to my country.
The price to performance ratio is huge with this guitar.
If you like Explorer guitars or you are a Metallica or James Hetfield fan and want to go on a budget, this is bang for the buck!

I needed a backup guitar as my main one needs some maintnance and I did not want to be left without one. Bought this after seeing a review for it online and I must say, this thing lives up to its reputation as a very satisfying guitar for the money.

Mine arrived with some visible cosmetic blemishes around the neck and fretboard - not unexpected in this price range. Cosmetics aside, as a pragmatic working guitar this is very serviceable indeed. Frets were very smooth, setup was excellent. If you are very picky you may be annoyed by machine marks on the fretboard but I bought this to play, not as a display piece.

Jumbo frets and that humungous baseball bat neck are an acquired taste but I have warmed to them (your mileage may vary). Pickups give good tone in both neck and bridge with enough character to make both useful.

For the money, I am very happy with my purchase. Pretty impressed that Thomann/Harley Benton can put out a product as solid as this for such a reasonable price.