Harley Benton ST-Modern Plus HSS LPB

Really surprising quality for this price... very nice stainless steel frets, "usual strat Fender size" (with rounded ends), not the "medium Jumbo" SS as on the higher end HB Les Pauls (I have two of those).

Sounds great, Tesla pickups are actually very good... I'm in the USA, import / customs hit a snag for a few days but that straightened out.

Slightly more "shoulder" to the neck shape compared to usual Fender Strat shape, but I'll get used to it. Seeing the sample photos of flame in the maple / the neck, I wasn't optimistic on getting one with a flamed neck, but to my surprise the one I got did have a pretty good amount of flame. You never know what your going to get. No flaws, great value!

I am really impressed about how many great features they could fit in such a cheap guitar. The bridge alone costs 150 euros, and the locking tuners are also sweet. The frets are nicely polished and rolled, the finish looks great, and I really like the neck. I do have some issues though:

1. This isn't really an issue with the guitar but, the included strings broke instantly, so I would advise getting some backup strings asap.

2. The volume pot got a bit scratchy after a few days of use, but it's back to normal now.

3. The fretboard is really dry. Like my sweat would change the color of the wood, and it was kinda hard to slide. So, just get some fretboard oil with your guitar.

(Way more expensive guitars can also have these issues, so it's really not a big deal, I'm just writing this to help people out with their first guitar because this was my first electric guitar, and it sucked I couldn't play for a few weeks cause my strings broke.)