R-458BK Fanfret : Good Overall, Small imperfections

Body: Looks and feels good. There is no imperfections out of the box. Apparently it was polished before the shipping, there was a little polish leftover behind the neck but it was ok. It was definitely not dirty or dusty as some youtubers complained earlier.

Neck: Plays and feels nice. I like the matching headstock and the shiny Harley Benton inlay, looks like pearl. Truss rod works fine and it was adjusted with a little relief. I made it flat and it works fine. Fretboard was a little dry, but not as bad as the early reviews on youtube.

Nut: Nut is slotted ok, string depth is good but there are some material leftovers around the strings. Tuning stability isn’t good, even though the nut is a relatively hard material (NuBone as advertised on the specs) it gets out of tune after bending the strings. Probably the slots are too narrow and the strings stuck there.

Machine Heads: I love the satin black colour. Tuning gear feels a little loose, sometimes I turn the tuner heads and nothing happens. Might be an issue related with the nut. Overall, its good.

Bridge: I like the design, feels comfortable, no sharp edges, easy to adjust.

Frets: My biggest complain would be the fret finishes. Don’t worry, Its not super bad, but could be better. Even though there are no fret sprouts, sharp edges or imperfections on the surface, I can feel the roughness when I am bending the strings. Definitely needs some sanding and polishing at some time.

Pickups: I find the pickups promising. Probably better than many other mid-range guitar pickups. There are some buzzing but not too bad. I think there is a conductive paint inside, but it picks up some noise. Luckily, pickup cavity can accommodate many other 8 string pickups so its open to upgrade.

*** Overall, I wasn’t expecting this much from a guitar at this price range. I am extremely pleased to have it.