Harley Benton ST-20HSS SBK Standard Series

A friend of mine suggested this guitar for my very first electric. I only had a classical guitar and only for 2 months, so I was absolutely new to playing guitar.
He showed me several sound samples and I was truely impressed. Ordered one right away.

Arrived intact and in perfect condition. Was playable right out of the box, only needed tuning.

The quality for the price is stunning. It's like the one girl you are sure never to be able to get and bamm there she is in your hands...

No sharp fret ends, tuners hold well, the gloss is simply gorgeous, and I could go on all day with the surprisingly well worked details.
Love at first sight.

Now after several months of playing it, giving it new strings and getting to know each other, I still say it's a great guitar. I still like looking at it and playing it. Still couldn't say anything bad about it.
Soon it will recieve new pickups I hope, to get a richer sound out of it. But like I said, I was satisfied with it as it is.

All in all, it's a great guitar. I would surely recommend for a beginner anytime, especially for someone like me, who is on a budget.
Thank you Thomann.

Ordered in early Jan, and was told to wait 7-8 weeks.
It arrived couple weeks ago, and here are my initial observations...

PROS
1. Looks even better than in the pictures. The red tortoise pick-guard really nice against the matte black body- which had no finish flaws.
2. Neck is fairly straight, and the fretwork is good - level with no sharp edges although I did polish them.
3. Stays in tune well, but I imediately replaced the basic tuners with Harley Benton brand locking tuners (black). Nut and bridge seem fine.
4. The pickups are pretty good, and all 5 positions are usable from clean to dirty tones & various points in between.
Note: Bridge pickup is quite hot, so some amp/pedal tweaking might be necessary to get the sound you're after (especially since it's not wired to the tone control - per usual Strat-style configuration).
5. Electronics are fine for what they are, and do the job without fuss. This can be considered another upgrade point in the future.

CONS
1. The strings are a bit heavy and flat feeling- personal taste thing.
2. Rough edges on the pickguard around the selector switch cutout. A quick 2-3 mins with a small file should do the trick if it bugs you.
3. Screw-in vibrato arm is either too loose or too tight, which is typical of this type of application. You'll need either a small spring or some tape to make it stay in your personal sweet-spot.

CONCLUSION
If you're a beginner or intermediate player looking for a good-quality HSS Strat that won't break the bank, this is a definite contender. Great deal and upgrade platform: as you get better and want to get to know a guitar by working on it, or someone who needs a backup guitar, or just to get a strat type w/ HSS layout?