Harley Benton ST Modern: New Best Beginner Strat?
HSS, beatiful finishes - at a bargain price!
5,0 / 5,0 | 
After Plus comes Modern! The new Harley Benton ST Modern is similar to the recently introduced Modern Plus series. However, the features and, above all, the price are aimed even more at beginners and occasional jammers. What are the differences?
Harley Benton ST Modern: Back to the roots?
You could say that these new models are a bit of a “back to the roots” for HB. In terms of price and equipment, the ten new models are very entry-level. However, they are excellent entry-level territory with the experience gained and the improvements made recently by HB.
The strats in the Harley Benton ST Modern series come with a poplar body, a neck (smooth ‘D’ profile) made from roasted Canadian maple, and a fingerboard made from Laurel. In other words, compared to the Plus series, they have the same bolt-on neck, but the body and fretboard are different.
Both Strat series are similar in terms of dimensions: classic 25.5-inch scale length, fretboard radius (compound) of 12 to 16 inches, and 22 frets (premium silver nickel in this case) with dot inlays. Seven colors are available: Sea Foam Green, Shell Pink Gloss, Lake Placis Blue Gloss, Olympic White Gloss, Black Gloss, Flame Bengal Burst Gloss, and Flame Blue Burst Glosss.
HSS with Coil-Split
The chrome-plated hardware features a Sung-Il BS-213 Synchronized Deluxe Tremolo System for the bridge and Sung-II ML-55 Locking Tuners. This is also similar to the Plus series, although a somewhat higher-quality tremolo system from Babicz was used there.
Regarding pickups, the Harley Benton ST Modern models are in HSS territory: two single coils on the neck and in the middle, a crisp humbucker in the bridge position. The single coils are an HBZ Custom Wound VT-M in the middle and an HBZ Custom Wound VT-N on the neck. The humbucker model is an HBZ Custom Wound VT-H. All pickups come with Alnico 5 magnets.
There are two controls, a master volume control and a tone control, which can simultaneously switch the humbucker to the third single coil via coil splitting using push/pull. The five-way switch offers various combinations of all pickups. As with the Plus series, some models are thankfully also available as left-handed versions.
How much does the new Harley Benton ST Modern Series cost?
The standard models cost 179 euros at Thomann*. The models with the burst finishes cost 199 euros at Thomann*.
More on the series from Harley Benton
*This post contains affiliate links and/or widgets. When you buy a product via our affiliate partner, we receive a small commission that helps support what we do. Don’t worry, you pay the same price. Thanks for your support!
This might also interest you
2 responses to “Harley Benton ST Modern: New Best Beginner Strat?”
– Lacquer cracks,
– uneven, too short and tiny, buzzing frets,
– uncomfortable bridge,
– fretboard edges are rolled, unless they’re not, because hb forgot to roll one edge lol,
– also, that _amazing_ flamed maple is really ugly, looks like attacked by fungus.
– laurel instead of rosewood,
– wobbly humbucker, dunno about the sound,
– made in china
Not saying you’ll get all these problems, but just read thomann’s reviews to find out how frequent they are.
Didn’t realise the news wasn’t about the Plus series 😛