Harley Benton MS-60 VW Vintage Series

I ordered this for two main reasons:
Wanted to try a shorter scale guitar
Love the mustang/offset aesthetic.

Placed my order in the middle of the Christmas rush so for once the handling at Thomann wasn't light-speed but still above par.

After setting it up to my liking it has barely left my hands.
I set it up with 0.10's, adjusted the truss rod, set the tremolo up harder and replaced the T-s with roller T-s,
Now the trem stays amazingly well in tune, better than any strat I've played and overall the guitar feels butter smooth and super fun to play.

Cons:
The factory set up wasn't great. Intonation was fine but action too high for my liking, 0.09 strings which brings bungy jumping to mind on a shortscale guitar and the trem way too loose for my liking.

Pros:
- Pickups sound great
- Finish flawless, very good looking guitar, pics here don't quite do it justice.
- Price (I echo the sentiment of previous reviewers; how can this be so cheap?)

Overall super happy with it, some setup is alway gonna be needed regardless of what axe you choose so I am giving this the max rating overall.

It showed up in 9 days. A new record, I hadn't even bothered to track it yet.

Arrived unscathed. The only other HB guitar I was really jones-ing for the HB35 was still out of stock and I had 30 Euro credit that was set to expire. I had emailed Thomann about the possibility of an offset style guitar in left handed showing up soon and they said no. (of course, the day after I placed my order the hard tail Jazzmaster showed up on the site...I think they get customer service tips from Mr. Z)

Right off the bat, I pulled off the strings to make it a lefty. Lucky for me, the nut was not glued in place, so all I had to do was put a drop of Elmers on it and reseat it.

The bridge I tried to flip the saddles, but no dice they wouldn't come out so I just set it as close to intonated as possible. The only string I am having trouble with is the E, so I might Mick Jagger this and rip off the E.

It is a chunky little guy, does not feel like a toy at all despite the short scale and small body. It definitely doesn't neck dive...

Tuners are nice and smooth, no play or slop and they hold tune as long as you don't use the whammy.

The bridge is the downfall on this guy, it rocks enough to keep it in tune if you are really gentle with the whammy, but it will not return to pitch it you push it too hard. I am going to get a Wilkinson roller and while I am at it I will fill the current bridge holes and convert it to a lefty for real and angle the bridge correctly.

Pickups sound nice, not really like a Mustang, but they are very good. I especially like the neck pup. It is pretty muscular sounding. The bridge pup is pretty weak sounding, but in a good way. They really complement one another well with both engaged.

Neck is the highlight on this thing. It is a very nice quasi-vintage tint with a satin feel. Frets are vintage sized (pre-06 Fender size). They really fit the vibe of the guitar.

Headstock is rather small, but very tasteful, I especially like the "Fine Quality Sound" in fine print at the end of the headstock.

Finish is almost mint green as opposed to vintage white, but I like it. I think it would look sweet with a red tort pick guard and a chrome Mustang control plate.

How does it play? excellent, no issues playing up to the 17th fret (really good for a righty flipped to lefty) and the controls are out of the way, a right angle cord is all that is really needed. IT is even comfortable to use the trem. I am going to move the strap button to a neck screw and it should be good to go.

The bad? The pickguard is pretty dorky looking. I wish they spent a few more dollars and put a proper control plate on it. The bridge should have been a roller or at least barrel saddles. The Pickups aren't installed the same way (the staggered "B" string pole is on the A string on the neck pickup)