Cheap Strat Showdown - Harley Benton VS Jet Guitars

Harley Benton and newcomer, Jet Guitars both make entry level Stratocaster Style guitars but which one is better?
This is a super in-depth review. You have been warned!

Buy The Harley Benton ST62

Buy The Jet Guitars JS300

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Chapters

00:00 Intro
00:24 Initial Impressions
04:15 Price and Specs
08:08 Unplugged Sound test
09:54 Tuning Stability test JS 300
16:52 Tuning Stability test HB ST62
19:10 Inside the Jet Guitars JS300
20:15 Inside the ST62
22:28 How much do the weigh?
23:37 Pickup Test 1 - ST62
24:15 Pickup Test 1 - JS300
24:55 Pickup Test 2 - ST62
25:40 Pickup Test 2 - JS300
26:21 MY REVIEW
32:11 Which would I recommend?

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DISCLAIMERS:
Some of these links have an affiliate code, if you purchase gear with these links I will receive a small commission at no additional cost to you. Thank you!

The content of this video and my opinions were not reviewed by any outside persons.

#theguitargeek #HarleyBenton #JetGuitars

[TheGuitarGeek]

Which was your favourite? Jet Guitars or Harley Benton?

[kerkuss]

I've tried the Jet JS300 with satin rosted neck today for the first time and - oh boy - I immediately fell for it! Amazing cheap guitar! The neck is just fantastic.

[aprilkurtz]

The roasty-toasty neck on the Jet was stratolicious.

[richardthomson]

Not strats but I have a HB TE-52 tele and the neck finish/fret ends etc are incredible. Much better than my Fender tele. Probably the best finished neck I've ever played.

[marktaylor]

It's good for Harley Benton to get some competition in this price range. As others have said, HB have started caramelising/roasting more necks (my TE-52 has a really good one) and Jet have started satin finishing their necks. Stratalicious!

[MatthewDuncanSGS]

The Jet all day long, it was straight stratolicious!

[DavidMalcolmCurrie]

Strings are so inexpensive, it would make more sense to replace them both with new strings when doing a comparison like this. After all, who leaves the original strings on for long? The guitarfetish/slick '51 T-type I have coming boasts that it has "D'A'ddario strings, but BFG about that - if it has NYXL then maybe worth bragging about. The fact the Jet has a roasted neck and bone nut makes you wonder why more expensive guitars don't have them too, including very expensive Fender guitars (listening Fender?). Nice comparison, but the strings thing was annoying, and made comparing their sound less useful.

[etpslick]

Wow! These so called “budget” guitars sounded amazing compared to 30 years ago. My squier strat that I bought in ‘85 didn’t even sounded this good! Tough one, I’m familiar with Harley Benton but never heard of Jet guitars until I hit this channel. They both sounded great for the money. I’m kinda leaning toward the jet simply I like the finished more on the jet instead of HB. But they both sound great!😌🎶👍🏾

[DaveYT]

I own both a Jet and a HB T types .HB is fine but the roasted maple neck and bone nut are a game changer and love it .

[paulkazimierow]

Stratolicious... I like the look of the Jet with that roasted maple neck. I particularly enjoyed the two guitars side by side comparison. Great concept and very informative. Can we have more, especially at the budget friendly end of the market! 👍

[garypollard]

Stratilicious!

I might be the only non guitar player watching, but I just love listening to the technicalities of an instrument I've enjoyed others playing all my six plus decades!

I'd always assumed that the more a guitar costs the better it must sound, but thanks to Andy I'm learning that's not necessarily always so🙂

[paulmckeown]

I'ver just taken delivery of a stratiliscous Jet JS300 and yes the neck is now satin and feels really good. It is a stunning guitar for the money. The pickups are good but I think change them. Even paying extra to change the pickups doesn't chnage the fact that it's still an inexpensive great strat

[RichardKraneis]

Great job. Thank you so much. (Apparently this is my second comment. I made one 3 months ago.)

I began listening to your video in the garage listening on my Android. But I decided to switch to my laptop so I could give you my comments. That's a sign of respect to your good work.

I have been playing guitar for 8 months. I am 73 years young :) I practice/play/research 2-3 hours a day. Great to be retired.

I purchased two Jets at the beginning of my guitar journey: a Jet JS300 and a Jet JS400. Why? Dave Simpson demo'd them on YouTube and many of us would buy whatever Dave plays (he's great).

Here are my beginner thoughts on the Jet JS300. (I have never touched a Harley Benton.)
1. Cheap strings. I purchased my two Jets from a vendor in Oregon, USA. I always felt the strings were a bit odd. Now that I am more experienced. I know the strings are too cheap, just as you said in your video. I need to replace them with good strings and I think the Jets will sound even better.
2. Neck. Yes, the necks are awesome until a dry Chicago winter attacks them. Then a bit of fret sprout. Then I started humidifying my guitar room and putting my guitars in the shower after a shower (yes, that helps). Now the fret sprout is reduced, almost back to normal which is to say very good.
3. Tuners. I have read elsewhere that the Jet tuners are cheap so that plants a predisposition in your mind that the tuning is average at best. All I can tell you is that my 1990's Harmony H80T seems to keep better tune than the Jets.
4. Resale value. At one point my wife convinced me to sell a few guitars. I tried selling the Jets on Facebook and Craigslist in Chicago, IL USA. I went down to 1/2 of retail price and then stopped trying. I wasn't about to give my Jets away.
5. 60 Cycle hum. It's my JS300 that taught me that strats often have "hum". Musicians learn to deal with that. Oddly again, my 1990's Harmony H80T ($50 on Craigslist) has no 60 cycle hum at all. Weird.

Lots of good things:
1. They are pretty.
2. My local guitar shop loved them. He thought of becoming a dealer.
3. Pretty as heck.
4. Easy to play.

Fender tells us that 90% of all beginner guitarists quit before the end of their first year. Most beginners (or their parents), need to consider what they can sell the guitar for if the guitarist quits guitar. My guess is you can get more for a Harley Benton beginner strat than for a Jet beginner strat.

So that's it. Your video convinced me to love my Jet, change the cheap strings to good strings, and keep on playing. I'm not worried about the tuners since I'm not in a rock banc banging on a guitar. And, since I am moderately deaf, I normally can't tell the difference from one pickup to another.

Sorry Guitar Geek, I don't even know your name. But you do great work with your videos and your viewers thank you for that work.

[worthmoremusic]

Just bought a HB ST62 MN VW ... Vintage Series
Body: Basswood
Bolt-on neck: Vintage caramelised canadian maple
Fretboard: Vintage caramelised canadian maple
Neck profile: C
Fretboard radius: 305 mm (12'')
Scale: 648 mm
Nut width: 42 mm Graphite
22 Frets
''Double Action'' truss rod
Pickups: 3 Roswell STA AlNiCo-5 vintage ST-style single coils
5-Way pickup selector switch
1 x Volume and 2 x tone controls
White pickguard
Chrome-plated deluxe hardware
Synchronised tremolo system
Kluson style machine heads
Strings: .010- 046
Colour: Vintage White high gloss

[marksystemed]

Thanks for telling us how to tighten the jack socket. I have a G&L Legacy strat that I bought secondhand around 5 years ago. The jack socket was loose from day one, however I would just tighten with my hand. So it was always coming loose. I took your advice, and tightened it, it seems to be ok. Thanks again

[ovash]

Statolicious video!!
I hope I spelled that correctly, if there is a correct way to spell it.
I think that the Harley Benton guitar is the better deal. Spending more $$$$ for the Jet, plus the price of new pups, shipping, tax, and instalation, puts the Jet in the price range of a better class of guitar, but, without the resale value of a more well known brand. In other words, you will lose a lot of money if you try to sell it on.

Thanks for the video, and the fact that you didn't use a pedal board, or loads of effect and processors so we can actually hear what the guitars sound like. I know I've made up my
I'm buying a Tokai.

[bengibson]

Great review-very well thought out and top marks for focusing on the most important aspects for typical buyers of these entry-level guitars. I've been playing for about 30 years and have a few expensive guitars, but my favourites seem to be "budget" guitars that I've modded. I'm thinking about getting one of the Jet JS-400s to replace my Artist Guitars ST-type guitars (got both the SSS and HSS models with and without roasted maple neck). Great guitars, but I just cannot help nudging the volume pot as I play. I was thrilled to see the Jet JS-400 has roasted maple neck, 2-point trem, HSS pickup config (all pickups will be changed) and, most importantly, master volume/master tone control layout with a little more space between the high E string and the volume pot.

[fuffy]

Just found your channel, and I'm enjoying it a lot. I'm a classical player, so I don't know anything about electrics, but you give enough detail that I might actually learn something! Well done.

[Dialetheist]

The Harley B has the alnicolicious pickyups but the Jet has the roasted necky. Harry B has the D'addario's but Jef has the solid jacky. In the sphere of strats they are, stratovariously, splendiforicious!

[Voxguitarsrock]

I preferred the tone of the HB. But could have been the strings on the Jet?
I'd probably go with the Jet because of the neck upgrade.
Good video.
Thanks.