R-458MN WH Fanfret : Outstanding quality for the price

Using the guitar for home studio recording /w an audio interface.

I rated it 5 stars because you *cannot* get a better 8-string multi-scale guitar at this price point.

PROS

- Excellent construction, lightweight

- Holds tuning, great action (I put it in eBGDAEAE right away)

- Smooth neck & fretboard, very comfortable to play even if it's your first 8-string

- Clean, nick/scratch-free

- Fanned frets are intuitive and angled to the natural twist of your hand

- Volume & tone knobs do what they should; no complaints here.

CONS

- The passive pickups are bad. If you plan to record or play live, expect to replace them. For practice & private-jamming, they're fine. To clarify: There is intense ambient noise (even clean) and low notes / rhythms / chords / palm-muting sound very muddy, it took a lot of gating & EQ to clean it up, and it's still less than stellar. The pickups work fine for single-plucked notes / leads.

That's really the only con... and for an 8-string fan-fretted guitar, It's absolutely worth the price; very well-constructed. Just expect to upgrade the pickups if you plan to record or use it in a professional capacity.