Harley Benton HBO-850 Blue Reviews

sounds great, plays great, but frets were a mess

pros-

-well slotted nut

-perfect intonation

-comfortable and easy to get used to

-flat fingerboard (personal taste)

-sounds great

-no finish flaws except a ding on the back of the headstock

cons-

-frets unpolished and scratchy

-last 3 frets weren't even round. they were sanded to the point they are flat

-leaves feel cheap

-whole guitar was a bit dirty with dust, fibre glass and glue resin. nothing that can't be fixed tho

*UPDATE*

the tuning machines are terrible and you might wanna change them if you use anything that isn't standard tuning. high E tuner makes cracking sounds when turning and the rest take a lot of turns to even catch on to the strings. I tried D standard and by the time I tuned the the E to a D, the rest of the strings were already out of tune

*update*

after figuring the tuners out, it's actually fine. just gotta retune a few times for it to stay there. Only issue is that frets are still scratchy, but not sharp and intonation is off and can't be adjusted without changing the bridge saddle

Great sounding guitar with annoying finishing issues

My first guitar arrived in a banged up package and not very well (some styrofoam pieces would be great) so I was wary... But it was in one piece, thankfully!

First, the cons. Immediately I noticed some finishing issues where the neck meets the body: paint flaws and marks where the frets where cut. The worse for my OCD was some marks on the wood, one of them small but deep enough to break through the lacquer. I considered returning it but it's not worth the hassle and the extra shipping fee. But beware if you want a pristine guitar, this might not be it.

Pros: What it is is an excellent sounding and beautiful guitar for its price range. Very happy with my colour choice, the shade of blue is really subtle. I don't notice a significant drop in sound quality comparing to a more expensive guitar, not as loud but that's okay. The action is great for a beginner, maybe too low since it might buzz if you go hard on it but I'm told that can be fixed.

All in all, good guitar, looks good, sounds great, could be perfect if it was packed with more care.