The ST-Modern Plus HSS boasts the kind of appointments and looks you'd expect from a boutique Strat-inspired builder – for under $400
(Image credit: Harley Benton)
Harley Benton is continuing its trend of Fender-inspired releases with its ST-Modern Plus HSS Series, which it says is bringing a “brand new range of tones and ergonomics” to its roster.
The firm, owned by German retail giant Thomann, has stayed close to the Stratocaster template for the new release, but keeps one eye on affordability, and the other on a spec sheet that approximates the kind of thing you'd expect from big-name boutique builders of Strat-inspired instruments. All at a fraction of the price, of course.
For a start, you get an American alder body and a bolt-on roasted Canadian flame maple neck and headstock for a “resonant and sharp attack”. It sees its tonewoods out with a choice of laurel or maple fretboards.
The neck offers a Smooth D-profile, while its fretboard has classic dotted inlays and glow-in-the-dark side dots, which isn't always a given on lower-priced guitars.
There’s a fresh emphasis on playing comfort with the guitar, too. Harley Benton says the body shape is ergonomic, and it has sculpted the guitar’s heel joint and rolled its fretboard edges.
Its 22 stainless steel frets and compound radius – a rarity at this price point – further smooth out its playability.
(Image credit: Harley Benton)
In terms of hardware, there’s a Babicz FCH tremolo system – which promises increased sustain and stability over traditional designs – plus Sung-Il ML-55 locking tuners, and a series of Tesla pickups: Vr-Nitro (bridge), TV-S1M (middle), and TVS1N (neck), which all have Alnico 5 magnets.
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Deviating a little from its progenitor, the bridge pickup is a humbucker, as opposed to a straight trio of single coils, with a five-way switch and two control knobs, for volume and tone, naturally, offering tone-tweaking on the fly.
(Image credit: Harley Benton)
When it comes to finishes, Harley Benton are often a colorful bunch, and this guitar is no exception. There are seven colorways for the right-handed models: Seafoam Green, Shell Pink, Lake Placid Blue, Olympic White, Black Flame Blue Burst, and Flame Bengal burst. Both Flame Burst finishes also have binding.
There is a choice of colorways for leftie models, too: Shell Pink, Lake Placid Blue, and Flame Bengal Burst with binding.
(Image credit: Harley Benton)
Then there's that all-important price: the guitars are available now for $365, with no price difference between the laurel, and maple fretboard, and left-handed models.
It's a serious statement from the brand. Aside from the laurel fingerboard and own-brand pickups, this is the kind of spec sheet you might find on models costing well into the thousands, and yet it's available here for under $400… Madness. Surely, this has to be the best-value electric guitar launch of the year.
A freelance writer with a penchant for music that gets weird, Phil is a regular contributor to Prog, Guitar World, and Total Guitar magazines and is especially keen on shining a light on unknown artists. Outside of the journalism realm, you can find him writing angular riffs in progressive metal band, Prognosis, in which he slings an 8-string Strandberg Boden Original, churning that low string through a variety of tunings. He's also a published author and is currently penning his debut novel which chucks fantasy, mythology and humanity into a great big melting pot.
