Harley Benton Fusion-III HSS Roasted DB Reviews

Right after receiving this guitar I was disappointed with how it was set up. Very inaccurate. So I disassembled the guitar and made a proper setup myself.

What I've found not so good:

When I unscrewed back plates covering treomo springs and electronics, they weve stuck too tight, and came out with a piece of wood. Glued it back, and sanded plates to a proper size.

Humbucker attached to the body without springs. Rattling on the screws. Fixed.

Tremolo was set up by somebody who barely knows hot it supposed to work, I guess. Fixed.

Inaccurately made neck pocket.

I guess all of the above puts up a question about quality control on the factory: are you there?)

Pros:

The neck is just amazing. Really.

Pickups are great.

Body shape is very comfortable.

Locking tuners seem to be pretty good.

Pots are smooth, push-pull coil split is l surprisingly useful for a bridge humbucker.

After getting proper set up, the guitar resonates very well, plays smoothly, stays in tune. I like it. But few more purchases like this, and I'll become a luthier :)

It's a great guitar

Bought it almost a year ago. It feels and sounds great. I own a few $1000 guitars and when I pick this one up I truly don't feel a difference. I actually like the pickups a lot and the tone they produce. The fretboard is comfortable, frets nicely polished, stays in tune well.

I dinged it 1 star because of the cosmetic issue I noticed after a few months. The blue was much more intense at first (more than the pictures even) and I really liked it that way. It has faded a lot over the first 6-8 months.

not bad at all

needed a good setup when it got here but overall not too bad for the money the pickups might be the only week point!

Excellent guitar

Straight out of the box it is great. The finish is very cool and the sound and expression is awesome.

Blown Away

Superb once again . Great playing lots of sounds . Comfortable neck . Keen price .

Amazing guitar

There was a tiny issue with the paint, possibly due the shipping, but overall this is an amazing guitar and I'm so inspired to play and compose music with it!

Excellent Guitar

I got my fusion III relatively quickly for it being an overseas purchase. When it arrived the package had signs of damage which is more than likely the couriers fault but I made the mistake of getting rid of boxes too early as later I found some pretty bad cracks in the guitar and it needed to be returned but without the proper label I couldn't file for an insurance claim against courier but there's definitely some quality issues with these guitars in particular but for the price you can't beat it.. just make sure to photograph and keep an account of everything as you may not notice damage right away. However HB has atleast credited me a partial refund and were willing to take the full return but under specific circumstances all which could have been avoided if I'd taken a photo of shipping label and kept boxes. I did photograph quite a bit but managed to not include label which is a really stupid mistake on my part. Anyways the materials that these guitars are made with are top notch for the price ratio.

Expect to put work into it. I've just spent a ridiculous amount of time actually setting it up and I'm considering purchasing a blank body so I can route the cavities out myself. The fusion I have has been poorly constructed in that sense and is a headache.

Stunning looks, good sound!

Have never tried Harley Benton guitars before, I heard that they were amazing guitars for the price, so I got one.

Plays super good, even though it needed a little fret polish, sounded good too. I swapped the humbucker, but the single coils sound amazing!

I'm never gonna sell this one!

Excellent

Excellent quality, looks much better in real life than pictures. The roasted neck looks and feels fantastic.

Pickup alignment with strings can be better. Minor issues are tiny paint chip at the back, tiny scratch on the neck.

beautifully crafted guitar for a great price

Really love this guitar, stainless steel frets are so smooth the fretboard is maple so there is no need to oil it every 6 months. The syrup was very good I just had to adjust the neck slightly, I’ve never Used a Wilkinson trem before very impressed can’t do dive bombs but it’s similair to a strat trem except you tighten the hammer bar with an Allen key. The pickups are roswell good sound, and you can split the pickups which is great, will switch the roswell to Seymour Duncan in the future this guitar is worth double the price so it’s no big deal doing mods like changing pickups great playability too.

A good copy of the real thing

Not having the funds to spend on a Charvel I took the plunge on this and I don't regret it.

Pros

finish is really nice sort of sattin and it's done well no runs or marks.

Frets are great and all hardware seems like its good quality and will last

Cons

Not many being fussy the pickups will probably be changed but you could be perfectly happy with them

In all a very good hss super strat

Magnificent guitar for this price

This is my first HB and my third guitar in general in 10 years of playing (albeit with interruptions). I perfectly understood what I wanted and waited for this particular guitar for about a year and a half. Therefore, as soon as she appeared in the photo on Instagram, the next day I frantically updated the delivery information.

The guitar came ready-to-play right out of the box without chips, dents and shipping consequences. With a quick glance, I assessed her condition and the only flaw that I found was a small "patch" of paint on the heel of the neck (as if a speck of dust had been painted over). Later, when I returned home and began to twirl and examine it, several more shortcomings were found:

1.inaccurate graphite shielding of niches for pickups;

2. graphite shielding slightly peeking out of the cover of the electronics compartment;

3. the tone and volume knobs are not very evenly installed (they rub a little against the body);

4. singles are not installed very smoothly;

5. one of the six pickup height adjustment bolts differs from the others in the size of the head (And this was the biggest drawback for me :D );

6. Frets not well polished;

7. In general, the assembly feels worse than, for example, on my Schecter Reaper 6 (but the Schecter is 2 times more expensive);

This is where the disadvantages end.

Advantages:

1. Matte finish on the body feels almost like velvet;

2. Amazing color (as on the photo in HB's Instagram profile. The photo on the store's website does not give an accurate representation);

3. The neck looks like it's from another planet. It is stunningly beautiful and pleasant to hold in your hands. Headstock is gorgeous;

4. The frets are all set very neatly, all notes sound crystal clear;

5. Excellent tuners;

6. Stainless steel frets;

7. Surprisingly very good and readable sound. No desire to change pickups;

8. Excellent balance;

9. I want to take it in hand and play.

As a result, we have an amazing guitar for a very good price.

All the flaws are absolutely irrelevant and not noticeable (except for not very good fret polishing, but this is also a trifle).

I enjoy playing it, and I can definitely recommend it to anyone who has doubts.

The Fusion III HSS fits in your lap like a Warm Glove!

The Fusion III HSS arrived in Texas less than 10 days from ordering it. ($77 for Shipping) and $464 Total.

Packaging:

The Guitar was very well packaged and very secure. The Guitar itself is in Perfect condition! No scratches, no dirt, no dings, and everything works like a brand new guitar. The guitar was practically in tune out of the box! The action was marginally high, but very playable. (Less high than most packaged guitars). You can tell someone took a look at the action of the guitar before it was sent.

Playability:

When i first put the guitar in my lap, it felt like it "belonged". Like your dog sitting in your lap to watch t.v. with you, or any general companion. The body is all Satin...soft and supple. It feels more like im holding a hard silk sheet or blanket than a guitar.

The guitar was ready to play from the first note. Like a born race horse or a Ferrari, it just wants to perform. You can tell that someone played and cared about this guitar before it arrived at my door. Again, everything on the guitar works. The tuners lock and stay in tune well enough (even with small dive bombs), the bridge is a Wilkinson - sturdy and efficient. The volume and tone control are textured knobs, which you can tell was chosen to make volume control and playing easier. The pickup selector switch works fine just as well. and the Tremolo arm can be tightened or loosened to your liking.

The Neck

The Neck is Amazing!! It is Not a Thin Neck! Do not let those pictures fool you! it is Not a Wizard neck! It is slightly thicker than a Strat Modern C neck or similar to an Ibanez AZ or Chevelle DK24 neck. Very comfortable for any player, but it caters to taller people or people with "longer" hands. The neck and fretboard are all one piece. The fretwork is nice and wont cut your hands when you slide across the neck. The Nut is cut well enough and I haven't experienced any fret buzz or fret issues. Overall, the Fusion III has one of the better necks that I have played. Better than my Squier and my Harley Benton CST-24 for sure (although i do like those necks)

The Sound:

The Pickups sound better than my Squier Strat. (Read that again!) I know some people do not like Rosewell pickups. Ive heard that Rosewell pickups can sound "muddy" or "dull", but that is Not the case with this guitar! I didnt prefer the Rosewell pickups in my 2018 Harley Benton CST-24 HH, but this guitar shows that Rosewell has come a long way! The pickups have plenty of space, clarity, and vibrance (IMO). Each pickup selection has a vastly different sound and feel. I doubt you will be disappointed with the pickups and it's a cheap replacement if you are.

Conclusion/TLDR/Should you buy it? :

In Conclusion, I want to look at some facts.

The guitar that this is "Inspired" from is currently $1,000 - $1,300 dollars (2021 price) without shipping and it doesnt have stainless steel frets.

I paid $464 for my Fusion III...

If you dont like something about the Fusion III, you can more than likely replace it and it will still be wayy cheaper than it's more expensive counterpart.

Harley Benton offering quality guitars at cheaper prices has allowed me to own a guitar that i wouldn't have been able to afford otherwise! A literal dream come true!

My first attempt at a "modern" S style

I have always thought about buying a super strat but the idea of very thin necks and expensive price tags has put me off in the past. After my experience with the Harley Benton SC550-ii I saw this was released and decided the color schemes were much more my flavor over the flame top and sparkle versions of previous versions... with the Blacksmith SS frets I loved from the SC500ii so I quickly ordered it.

The guitar arrived in perfect condition without a scratch on it, all electronics function as expected, and the action was at a playable level enough for me to film my initial review and demo of the guitar.

The neck on this is outstanding, and it's not the just the frets. The satin feel is great, but this is just the perfect size for someone like me who typically plays vintage style Fender and Gibson instruments. It's substantial without being a baseball bat, extremely comfortable. The factory setup wasn't perfectly set for the wilkinson tremolo to go back to tune reliably after heavy use, but after setting the guitar up myself with my own preferred gauge of string, lubricating the nut, and setting up the trem the guitar stays in tune perfectly even with very heavy use of the trem. Nothing but good news here.

Now the only part of this guitar I give 4* is the sound section, because in my own opinion I believe the Tesla pickups sound better than the Roswells... and well I am spoiled rotten when it comes to single coil sounds with my other instruments. They are by no means bad pickups, but they are the only actual "weakness" of this instrument if I were to say it has one. The good news here is, this is a very, very simple fix and something that isn't all too expensive.

All and all, I can say with confidence the brand has done a great job of making high quality instruments at a reliable rate. This is the 4th Harley benton i've had in the last 6 months, and none of them had any serious issues or defects. I would absolutely recommend this guitar.

I filmed a video on youtube of myself unboxing, inspecting, and playing this exact guitar if you are interested in that just search for Audiomo and Harley Benton Fusion iii on youtube.