Harley Benton Elec.Guitar Machine Head ST CR

When I opened the package the miniature screws that go to the back of the headstock seemed thin and fragile; the heads, on the other hand, looked tough and accurately made. Their heft suggests a solid build. Turning them showed no play, but would that be the same under tension? Their shape is consistent, none of them have burrs, rough edges, mis-shaped parts or whatnot, and the chrome-plating is even, so a very good first examination.

The older heads on my Affinity Fender had a slightly thinner frame, and some play, you can feel that when you turn them back and forth a little. The mounting holes in the wood were oversize, so the heads tilted, and with string pull and me tightening the hex bolts, their frame split.

So I ordered these replacements. Before the switch I shimmed the heads with masking tape so they won't play in the mounting holes. I must say I like how they are built, the hex bolt is taller and stronger, it's easy to tighten in a controlled manner. But the tiny screws on the back are too thin for their mounting holes, so the heads can pivot, and that causes them to be visibly not square with the side of the headstock.

So I put in screws with the same head (PH1 screwdriver) but a thicker body, and the pivoting stopped. I always recover screws from the appliances I send to recycling so I have plenty of screw types. Well, after installing the heads and the strings (0.10), the heads still don't play, even under tension. They are not too firm of too loose, just right.

The pegs are 3mm longer than the stock Affinity heads but that's not an aesthetic problem, lots of my other guitars have longer pegs, too. The washers are smaller and that looks better to my eye.

After the damage in my Affinity I checked my other guitars, and a couple of them have tilted heads because of oversize mounting holes, so I will shim them when I change the strings, and if some heads snap again, I will use these Harley Benton's to replace them. I was not sure the bottom-price heads would be super tight but for an unexpensive guitar I took bottom-price accessories. I don't regret it, except for the tiny fragile screws (two broke when I tightened them a bit too hard) that can be swapped, the machine heads are very good.

I thought all the affordable guitars had to have some play in their heads but that's not true. I recommend them but, Thomann, please deliver them with stronger screws.