Harley Benton's anniversary T-style offers a high-performance platform that proves you can do boutique and make it affordable.
Pros
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Crisply made.
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Light weight.
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Nicely shaped neck.
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Big stainless-steel frets.
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Good playability.
Cons
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For the money, it’s hard to fault, though our sample was in need of a basic setup.
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Some 25 years in the music instrument business deserves a bit of a celebration, and although Harley Benton seems considerably younger, owner Thomann did kick off the brand in 1998. Time flies!
While the majority of its electric guitars are lookalikes (the 25th series boasts an S-style, T-style, JM-style and LP-style, for example), the pair of Fusion models, an S-style double-cut and our T-style here, at least show off a more contemporary style seemingly inspired by the likes of Charvel and Suhr.
Each 25th Anniversary model comes in a Firemist satin metallic finish that’s more copper than gold, only slightly lighter-hued than the roasted maple neck and fingerboard.
(Image credit: Future / Olly Curtis)
The 45mm thick black-edge bound slab body is made from something called nyatoh, a ‘utility’ wood apparently used for making furniture and plywood, and it certainly contributes to a boutique-like light weight of 3.16kg (6.95lb). Along with a ribcage cut on the back, the heel is tastefully chamfered to reduce bulk – the neck screws sit in recessed washers so there’s no neckplate. It’s all crisply machined: a very tidy job.
Hats off for the neck work, too, which is really very good. The roasted maple back is lightly flamed, while big stainless-steel frets are well installed on the 305mm (12-inch) cambered fingerboard. A little more incurve to the edges of the fingerboard wouldn’t go amiss, and perhaps some more edge rolling, but there’s quite a classic ‘C’ feel to the profile and it doesn’t feel skinny at all.
(Image credit: Future / Olly Curtis)
It’s not all a bed of roses, however, as our sample did need some basic setup work, including a small truss rod tweak (easy enough thanks to the spoke wheel adjustment nut in front of the 22nd fret), and the string height needed to be pulled down. Also, a quick rub with 0000 wire wool had the neck back move from papery to silky smooth in minutes.
Sound-wise, it’s no slouch, either. There’s plenty of beef here that really suits a cranked Marshall, and the sound from the bridge ’bucker combines a crisp bite with a woody midrange. The neck is thick and surprisingly vocal, and the coil-splits (which voice the single screw coils of each humbucker) really aren’t bad.
The bridge is a little spikey perhaps, but both-on and neck are crisp and funky. Combine that with the light weight and that neck shape, not to mention the custom colour, and this is the epitome of affordable boutique.
Specs
PRICE: $492/£399 (inc gigbag)
ORIGIN: Indonesia
TYPE: Single-cutaway, solidbody bolt-on electric
BODY: Nyatoh
NECK: Roasted hard Canadian flamed maple, model ‘C’ profile, bolt-on
SCALE LENGTH: 648mm (25.5”)
NUT/WIDTH: Graph Tech Tusq/42mm
FINGERBOARD: Roasted hard Canadian flamed maple, black dot inlays, 305mm (12”) radius
Dave Burrluck is one of the world’s most experienced guitar journalists, who started writing back in the '80s for International Musician and Recording World, co-founded The Guitar Magazine and has been the Gear Reviews Editor of Guitarist magazine for the past two decades. Along the way, Dave has been the sole author of The PRS Guitar Book and The Player's Guide to Guitar Maintenance as well as contributing to numerous other books on the electric guitar. Dave is an active gigging and recording musician and still finds time to make, repair and mod guitars, not least for Guitarist’s The Mod Squad.
