R-457 Active SBK : A bit of a beast!

First impression straight out of the box? its pretty impressive. The black satin finish (as used on a lot of HB guitars like the SC1000 progressive) looks amazing! Its that kind of detail that sets Harley Benton apart from other budget brand guitars. The finish on the neck is also super smooth! The fret ends are really sharp and rough but it can be easily sorted. I was really shocked by the poor finish of the actual frets because with no exaggeration, its like bending a string along sand paper!! Again, I will polish the frets and fix that but i expected better quality control. The tuning pegs are adequate and the nut is tidy and well cut unlike the other HB guitars I have purchased. The switch tip is now missing because it doesn't fit the pickup selector properly and I bent the shaft trying to force it on. I've ordered a new robust switch anyway because it comes with the usual cheap and tacky one. There is no battery holder for the active pickups and it's hidden away under the cover with the tone pots etc. I've fitted EMGs to several guitars and had to do the same so its no big deal for me.

The pickups?? The are very loud! too loud for me. For example, play this guitar through your amp with your favourite clean sound set up and it sounds like you are using an overdrive pedal! Even played with distortion its just way too much and can sound really muddy. Fortunately there's a volume control which if you turn it half way down will give you an halfway decent sound. The neck pickup isnt too bad to be honest (volume 50%) but the neck and bridge combined sounds really sweet (again volume down). I'm going to replace the pickups with some Fishman Fluence pickups but that's just a personal preference for me.

And why would I put such expensive pickups in to this guitar? well, its because i absolutely love it! It took minutes for me to lower the action without altering the truss rod to make it really playable. Its very well balanced and the extra string doesn't make the fret board ridiculously wide (probably comparable to an acoustic guitar?). It holds tune really well and the headstock is pretty tasteful compared to some 7 string guitars.

I know I've been critical about some aspects of this guitar but I've rated it at face value as to what to expect when you get it out of the box. You also have to consider the price? Absolute bargain! and the reason i'm spending money on it is because its a budget guitar that can be made in to an excellant guitar.

I was fortunate enough to have been able to play a Ge*****sic 7 string which to be honest, looked cheap and tacky and was basically very poor in comparision.