R-457 BK Progressiv Series : Astonishing quality for the price

I've bought a fair few Harley Benton products now and regret buying none of them. They've all been of very high quality and in this case you couldn't even build this for the price they're asking. Crazy !

I had to lower the action a TINY bit, about 1mm, but that's personal preference. It arrived totally playable and with no fret buzz or setup problems. Intonation is perfect, all the hardware functions well with no crackles or glitches and the knobs and toggle switch are smooth yet precise.

Finish on the guitar is really nice, it's simplistic but for a "black" guitar there's nothing wrong with it. Nice shine to it and easy to keep clean. Tuning heads keep their tune and don't slip out.

Pickups sound good both distorted and clean, with a nice deep tone for rhythm and a more biting sound for the treble. No crackles when switching and the delineation between the sound is clear.

If you're looking to get into playing a 7 string guitar then I would recommend this wholeheartedly. The neck may not quite be as "fast" as an Ibanez (it's a little deeper) BUT that's a really, really minor quibble considering that getting a playable 7 String Gem would cost you about £600 at LEAST. I was playing this for a long time "out the box" before I changed the action a little and it was fine, it's just a matter of preference as to your playing style but the tool is provided to change the action should you desire and the bridge being how it is means it's easy to setup.

Also, worthy of note, this guitar has a fixed bridge which makes it really helpful for beginners as the traditional tuning/intonation problems that can befall people unfamiliar with floating/tremelo setups are not part of the equation here. I purposefully bought this mainly because of this. Even though I've played guitar for 20+ years I haven't had a Floyd Rose or equivalent for a long time as I just find them irksome.

I'm now considering buying the 6 string version also, just as another "fun" guitar as, for the price, these are just crazy good value.

For a beginner to 7 string, as I've said before, I would fully recommend this there's no need to spend more and for people familiar with 7 strings I would also say that it's a great guitar. I did mention earlier that the neck is a little deeper than an Ibanez but that doesn't mean this is a "slow" guitar, I've been playing loads of crazy death metal riffs on it and it really suits that sort of play. The slight increase in neck depth almost makes playing it feel more weighty and, well, "heavy" ;-)

No quibbles here, this is a steal and represents yet more high quality/low price value from Harley Benton.