Harley Benton EX-84 Modern EMG BK

I have been playing this guitar for about a month now and I can say that I am very happy with it! Really, everything on it is amazing and it is the best explorer at this price.

I am using it for home practice and I tried a few different amps on it: Fender Mustang GT40, Marshall MG102GFX and Boss Katana 50 mk2. On all of them, the guitar sounds great and playing it feels amazing!

Pros:

The price is very convenient. If you really want a Metallica looking and sounding Explorer guitar a relatively affordable price, then look no further.

Everything on the guitar is high quality! Starting from the tuners and the Jumbo frets all the way to the bridge and the shielded control cavities, you can only see amazing work and everything feels expensive. A lot more expensive actually. The frets are very fine and big but not too chunky, the fingerboard and the neck are so glossy that they make playing a pleasure.

The active pickups are amazing! Even tough I have never experienced active pickups before, those EMGs sound incredible on any setting! Playing with the tone dial really changes the sound and they are very flexible on any type of music. I wanted to buy rhe cheaper version with Rosewells but I am glad I saved up for this one with EMGs.

The black finish looks so good! I wanted a white guitar with black hardware, but for some reason this is not available with EMGs in normal( gloss ) white. But I noe prefer the look of the black one. The photos can't describe how good it looks in person!

Cons:

The 3-way switch feels a little bit flimsy, but it's not too bad.

The guitar is big and it might be very easy to hit furniture or other things with it if you are not careful. Also, finding a case of a stand can be difficult.

And now the big one. I bought this guitar new, not B-Stock and it came to me with quite a few paint chips! On a new guitar... Fixed them with a black marker, but they are still visible if you look close enough. Maybe that is an issue which only happened to me.

Overall, the experience of playing this guitar is +5 stars, but the fact that it came new with paint chips bumps my score down to 4 stars. If you are looking for a budget explorer or you consider trying out this shape without spending too much money on a Gibson and you don't like the looks of Jackson Kelly, Dean Z and ESP EX, then this is absolutely a great purchase!

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.