Harley Benton R-457MN WH Fanfret 4-stars Reviews

As my first 7 string fanfret i can confirm this is a great guitar if you want to try multiscales. I have small hands but it's not a big problem.You need to do some stretching on the first frets. When it came,it needed obviously a setup. The fretwork was not perfect because some frets were not in the same height but after setup it plays with a very low action. It's not the lightest instrument and the neck isn't the slimmest but you need some time to get used to it. I changed the tuning pegs to locking tuners and it's much easier to change strings. I haven't had any problems with the pickups, they're pretty good.. Palm muting takes some time too. Overall it's a great guitar for the price and i recommend it!

Great for someone just getting into multiscale guitars, but with a couple kinks.

If you're just getting into multiscale guitars this is 100% the way to go, it feels better than my slightly more expensive Ibanez but does require a little setup. However, to note, the pickups on this are absolutely horrible and an afront to everything holy. You will need to change them, and I am currently in the process of doing so, but you will need power tools. The height screws are glued to the bottom of the guitar and are incredibly difficult to get out without bending them and needing new screws and they're also really picky to what screwdriver you use. Over this, something that isn't that surprising with this guitar is that the pickups do need elevation from a spring, but you can harvest that from the original pickups and just use some spare foam (or even the one already there) for some support. It holds in tune great, I can literally leave it for days without tuning and when it comes to just playing and practicing there's no audible difference. Some of the tuners have gone loose, though. The body is nice and ergonomic, I'm really skinny though so I can't really comment on things such as the tummy dent- thing because I don't need much of it. The finish is a bit weak, though, as it chips away scary easy but I guess that just makes it easier to refinish.

Starter

Definitely a starter 7 string guitar good construction ok sound, needs beter tuners, fretwork was spot on

string action is great out of the box

no buzzing or dead notes.

fret ends felt fine not so smooth but not awfully sharp as i’ve read others complain of.

the switch, input jack, volume and tone knobs all feel solid.

tuners don’t hold well and the pickups aren’t good but they’re usable.

This is a great gift idea for young or aspiring guitar player that likes the looks of multiscale or low tuning capabilities of a seven string they can start with.

A little bit noisy and muddy, but check the price

Great guitar for this price. The pickups are a little bit muddy and don't have much gain compared to Schecter Omen-8 stocks. Also, I guess that shielding is not super good, the guitar produces unwanted noise that is hard to deal with even with the noise gate. It doesn't have a rich clean tone as well, but with some studio magic, you can receive something well sounding.

Assembled pretty well. No sharp ends, but strings are ringing out of the box.

A great guitar for that price!

Okay guitar for the price

So, let's start with the delivery. Arrived in 4days as advertised, nicely packaged without any dings or scratches on the guitar.

Guitar:

-Fret end are sticking out quite a bit, some spots worse than other, but they're not sharp enough to cut you.

-Pickups in general are okay(for the price), but for me personally they are to quiet

-Half of tuners were loose when I unboxed the guitar, so had to tighten them

-Volume knob requires some force to actually turn, compared to my other guitars.

First multi scale guitar

The Multi scale feels natural not overwhelming at all to play. Pickups are not as ( muddy ) as people claim on YouTube. Just clean the interment when you get it. The fiber cloth I used to clean was quite dirty after cleaning the fretboard.

Problems with the guitar neck

The neck of the guitar is uneven because of this, the string touches the 8th fret on the 7th fret.

the guitar is worth the money

when placing an order for a guitar, I didn’t expect such a price from a guitar that it would really sound good, the pluses of the guitar are a normal assembly, the scale builds, the neck is comfortable and in general the guitar is worth the money, the minuses seem to me that the pickups pick up interference, the guitar is poorly screened, and these problems are solved by replacing better pickups and a slight improvement in screening against interference.

Surprisingly Sturdy

I have been playing for 4 years and originally only bought this with the intention of having a 7 string for more tonal range, with my main guitar being an Ibanez RG350EX. Was surprised to find that the guitar is actually very well built and plays reliably so I can see this becoming my main axe (this is biased however as i find the floyd rose maintenance annoying)

Brilliant guitar BUT needs some immediate upgrades

Had the guitar for a while now.

Great piece of kit for the price.

Some minor QC fails.

On a more serious note, the guitar needs to come supplied with thicker strings. At least a 58

The tuning is constantly going out of tune, lack of tension from the strings and the machine heads are to blame.

So buy the guitar, buy thicker strings and better machine tuners maybe even a better nut.

Pickups are really punchy and full of tone.

Frets may need leveling and or a polish though.

Good choice to venture into the 7 range

Can't complain about the price at all. You get a multiscale 7 string for under $200! The nut did fall off the neck, but a little bit of wood glue fixed the issue. I also had one tuner that needed to be replaced. Luckily this was a project guitar, so the tuners were swapped for locking ones. The guitar's intonation and setup were great however! If you are looking at trying out a multiscale 7 and don't want to break the bank, I'd recommend trying one of these.

Good enough

The overall quality of the guitar was pleasing. The frets are rolled up well, do not cut fingers. The electronics are shielded. The pickups are quite exhaust and give, albeit slightly unclear, but dense sound.

Made only tuning of the string height and scale.

A small, but not critical disadvantage is tuners.

For such a price, it is the perfect guitar.

Good product for a low price

Very good guitar, throw away all prejudices and try it yourself. For such a low price, you get a great guitar. I played it for four months only at home, I doubt that it will be suitable for concerts only if the pickups and tuners are changed.

+The neck profile is very comfortable, the frets do not cut the hand. +The build quality is excellent. Varnish and paint are normal.

+Not-flat, ergonomical body

+Fanfret is amazing

+Low price

-Pickups, the sound is a little unclear.

-The tuners are inconvenient, but for this money you can put up with it, because they keep the tuning normally

Unbelievable bang for the buck

I bought this guitar almost as a joke during quarantine, but as soon as I plugged it in I realised the joke was on me.

It sounded really tight and crunchy right out of the box, way better than I expected. The frets were all perfect, not a single imperfection in the fit and finish of the instrument. If I didn't know any better I could have said it was a 600€ guitar or more.

The features are unseen in any other guitar of this price range, and for the price I'm actually really impressed.

The tuners aren't great, the nut is kinda cheap and the pickups aren't extremely clear, but none of those components are as bad as the price would make you believe. I'm putting locking tuners on it and that's about it. The pickups sound really nice and wouldn't justify spending more on an upgrade than the cost of the actual guitar. The nut can be replaced for cheap, but I just filed it and lubed it and it's much better now.

If you are unsure if you're gonna like 7 strings or multiscale it's the perfect guitar to try out, because if you do like it you'll gladly keep it.

Good budget 7 string

For the price, it is a bargain. Minor finish flaw - sharp edge on nut.

Set up, neck and tuners all good but the pickups were not to my taste but easily fixed with a change of pickups ( Warman). Overall, excellent first 7 string or back-up guitar.

Astonishing Value For Money

Where to begin? like many others I was apprehensive about such an affordably priced item that's in the same category as those that cost many times more.

I have been pleasantly surprised by this instrument. Out of the box the glossy finish is immaculate save for a few spray buildups on the sharp corners around the neck pocket of the body and inside the pickup routes, hardly noticeable unless you really look closely. The controls and pickups feel and sound pretty good, smooth pots and switch and no scratchy signal. Would make a nice bed for some upgrades though.

The intonation and action of the strings does need some work but thats not uncommon for any new guitar out of the box. The strings are buzzing in a few places and a couple of the frets are slightly high, but there weren't any sharp ends that I could feel.

To summarise, it looks and feels the part and only needs some routine setup work to get it playing really well. I'm very impressed with the value for money here.

okay

cant set action too low cause of fretbuzz especially on the high frets, also little bit of paint issues on the body not really a huge issue, definitly good for the price though. Could play amazingly with a little work. Would recommend for wanting to try a 7 string

Unbeatable bang for the buck

To be honest, I didn't expect much when buying this, due to the price, but not only the specimen I got exceeded every expectation I had, it raised the bar for me for cheaper guitars. Frets are flawless and it came as a shock to me at this price point. Fit and finish were also really good. Tuners hold well, bridge has no sharp spots and it doesn't feel like cheap pot metal. Nut needed some work, but it was a quick fix. Pickups has too much output and they are a little bit muddy. Lowering them quite a bit made them usable, but they are not great. Still, nothing unexpected from a guitar that costs less than a pedal. Really really solid guitar, don't hesitate to buy.

Incredibly good product for the money

Now, here's the thing, my review WILL differ quite significantly from others. I guess I won the part lottery.

Plays good in my opinion. Frets were way too sharp so I filed them down just a bit and they were fine. They are a bit tall, but nothing unfixable.

Sounds very good. I use BIAS FX 2 as my amp sim, and it sounds amazing.

The electronics could use a bit more work, as the volume knobs can rotate too much and over 100% for some reason. The pickups I like.

Tuning is stable enough. It doesn't wave too much out of tune, however do tighten the screws on the tuners, as there is going to be some space for you to rotate before the machine head actually starts turning the string.

All in all, love it. Just fix these tiny things.