Harley Benton ST-20 SB Standard Series

I had great experiences with the ST-62MN and its variants but was eyeing this out due to the roseacer fretboard. I have seen this used as a skunk stripe and its should be like baked maple so it should be good right? however the build of the guitar is more like coming from the same factory as the ST 90 judging by the online photos so i decide to get one and yes it is the same finish style/logo placement as the ST90 but with cheaper hardware, the same thick and a tad hazy clear coat on the body. for the stock pickups they work. Only thing i didnt like was the tuners were installed slanted. For the Roseacer fretboard. it looks like Ebony, very dark but i would not recommend oiling this board at all. i would recommend cleaning it with naptha or something not oily. tonally roseacer is dull sounding. Overall its an ok guitar but if you want something better than this the ST62 Harley Benton is 2x better.

Unpacking the guitar I was pleasantly surprised by how good the finish appeared and generally how well made the guitar appeared to be - particularly at this low price point. I bought the guitar to modify and have removed the sunburst finish - this was very hard work and it should survive minor knocks quite well.

The neck and fretboard are comfortable and the frets are reasonably well finished although would benefit from levelling and polishing, but this is often true of guitars at many times the price.

Acoustically the guitar was pleasingly resonant and appeared easy to tune. The tremolo is fitted with 3 springs and in this case it is flat on the body rather than floating (press down only, no room to lift). Given that the tremolo is of a very light construction this may contribute to the tuning stability.

The pickups and controls work adequately but are fairly low powered and a little thin sounding when plugged in.

Unfortunately when I came to level and polish the frets I discovered a spiral twist in the neck, only a few degrees but enough to make a truly good set up impossible. This is probably a rare fault rather than a general issue.

Overall, a good beginners guitar at the price point and had I not had the issue with the neck I would have given it an extra star

I have played this guitar for several month now. This is my first el guitar and I didnt expect much for this price. The fret buzz is extremely irritating and after adjusting the neck and even lifting up the bridge the fret buzz was still there :( The bridge pickup stops working suddenly and then works again ... poorly assembled I guess, bad connections maybe. I did contact Thomann and they will fix this for free as soon I send it to them. I hope they can fix this because playing the cleans is impossible with the fret buzz. Playing dirty it sounds great! Especially when I run it through the Digitech RP70! All in all not a keeper guitar (of course). On its own the single coil pickups sound too twangy. I guess changing the pickup would be good but then I would have been better off buying a more expensive HB guitar with Wilkinson PU. Its a solid guitar body and nice feel on the neck. But I am confident in Harley Benton deluxe series guitars after watching some reviews on you tube and reading about them on the Thomann guitars face book page. I will be soon buying a deluxe version and I wish I have never bought this one and simply add more money and get the deluxe Harley Benton guitar. But hey I could have returned this one in the first 30 days if I wanted to so its me to blame. My verdict is; if you know you will keep playing and practicing save a bit more money and get the deluxe versions with Wilkinson pickups.