Added to Harley Benton's Pro series last June, the ST-Modern Plus is a Super Strat electric guitar. It boasts top-of-the-range features for a fairly contained price. Let's see if this new Super Strat lives up to its promise.
Super Strat, German style
Debuted at the 2024 edition of the NAMM Show, the ST-Modern Plus from Harley Benton joins the brand’s Pro series. The instrument was delivered to me well packaged and protected, supplied with a pouch containing two vibrato rods (one Fender type and one Ibanez type), a neat little tool for adjusting the truss-rod, and a cable. In addition to good packaging and these little accessories, the guitar is fitted as standard with Elixir strings with polymer coating. For this test, Harley Benton sent a model featuring the Shell Pink finish. The pastel color is pretty and dresses the instrument in a rather nice vintage hue. 
The ST-Modern Plus features an American alder body and a screw-in neck of flamed and torrefied Canadian maple. The neck is simply gorgeous. The fingerboard, with a compensated radius between 12 and 16 inches, is made from the same material as the neck and also features attractive flames. The 25.5" scale is deployed on the 22 stainless steel jumbo midrange frets. The saddle is graphite, and the side of the fingerboard is fitted with phosphorescent markers. The vibrato is by Babicz, a two-point FCH model from the brand’s Z series.
The locking mechanisms are stamped Harley Benton Sung-II ML-55. Harley Benton has partnered with the Tesla brand, which now supplies the pickups for its guitars. So, naturally enough, the guitar features a trio of Tesla pickups arranged in HSS configuration; a double-coil pickup occupies the bridge position, the Tesla VR-Nitro AlNiCo 5. This pickup has a chromed cover and can be split via a push/pull on the tone potentiometer. The neck and center positions are occupied by single-coil pickups 
The guitar headstock has two small retention eyelets for the D, G, B and E strings. The wheel for adjusting the double-action truss-rod is located at the bottom of the fingerboard, Music Man-style. This is very practical, allowing on-the-fly adjustments without the need to unscrew a cover or completely remove the neck. A Mint Green pickguard completes the instrument’s vintage look. It is attached to the body by eleven small retaining screws.
Arabica or Robusta?
As usual, I started the test by playing the guitar unplugged. I was very surprised by the full, powerful sound that the 
With this in mind, a chamber is cut into the back of the guitar, inside the cutaway. It’s reminiscent of how the Suhr brand’s Super Strats are sculpted. In fact, this ST-Modern Plus in its Shell Pink finish bears a striking resemblance to the Mateus Asato signature model released by Suhr. The edges of the fingerboard have received special attention from the brand, and you can feel it. They are very rounded and provide excellent playing comfort. I didn’t find any fret edges tingling my hand. As well as looking great and making you want to pick up the guitar, the neck offers excellent playing comfort with its “D” profile.
- Clean – All Pickups01:46
- Crunch – All Pickups02:54
This is not always the case. For example, the Shiver GES-100, previously tested in our columns, whose bridge pickup was far too powerful compared to the single pickups. The ST-Modern Plus passed the clean sound test with flying colors. Next up was a crunch sound, where I found the pickups still very much at ease, producing that famous Strat tone that is so characteristic and pleasant. The intermediate positions sounded quite good, with the Jimi Hendrix and Stevie Ray Vaughan immediately apparent. The bridge pickup is quite powerful without being too aggressive. On the one hand, this preserves a nice overall balance between the three pickups, and on the other, it allows you to enjoy a good level of detail in the sound.
I ended this test of the ST-Modern Plus by switching to a metal sound by engaging my trusty MXR 5150 Overdrive. As a good modern guitar, our “Strato du jour” once again proved to be quite comfortable. The bridge pickup transcribes notes with precision and not without a slight vintage grain. It won’t be too comfortable with overly brutal styles of music either, but for old-school hard rock / heavy metal (Mötley Crüe, Ratt, or Extreme), this pickup will be perfect.
