Harley Benton R-458MN WH Fanfret Reviews

The Price is Right!

The Guitar is surprisingly well made for the price. Being honest I switched the Pickups and Tuners out and the nut (Made of Bone) needed filed for the Correct gauge strings. Otherwise, I would recommend this Guitar for anyone looking to get into 8 strings without breaking the bank or wanting to commit to a higher price point Very Impressed for 175

Almost there

It is alright if you are willing to do additional work on it. The stock tuners sorta do the job, but the ratio is low, and there is A LOT of slack, so I would suggest swapping them if ever climbing on stage with this guitar. Stock pickups are OK, but are on the noisy side and required me to increase the noise floor on my noise gate. The neck is wonderful and the fretwork is more than acceptable. The stock strings are too thin even for standard tuning, with the 8-th string being barely thicker than the 7th string on, say, and Ibanez (65 vs 59). My biggest issue is with the nut, though. While it is made of a good material (Nubone), it is quite badly slotted (the vertical and horizontal angles sometimes seem random). Also for thicker strings one would actually need to re-slot the nut, which from one side means that the proper files were used for the stock string gauges, but from the other this procedure will probably be a must, as thicker gauge strings are highly recommended. For the price of the guitar it probably is OK, but more attention to the nut and thicker strings would have probably cost not more than 15 EUR per guitar, which in all honestly I'd be happy to pay, was there such an option.

Arrived with dead strings

Haven't really got to play it much because the strings arrived completely dead. I have been to every local music store and none of them seem 8 string sets. It takes some getting used to, but so fun to play!

The smart way to try something new

So, I'd imagine you're here at the review section wondering if this is real for the price. Yes, yes it is. Harley Benton has re-written what a budget guitar means. Trying to find an multiscale 8 string for under 600 felt like an impossible task. Very impressed with the sound and fit and finish for the price, however mine arrived with some slightly rough frets, nothing 10 minutes couldn't fix.

My 8 string dream

So, I love this guitar and I may be blinded by my personal story around it. my wife died last year at 33 suddenly and she she loved meshuggahs demiurge, I could never get it on my guitars and sadly she never got to hear me play it for her but I now get to play demiurge (badly for now 🤣) to our 2 year old metal head daughter. This guitar may be cheap as chips to most but to me I had to save to even buy this so I cherish it and completely love it. Say what you will about it but It really cheered a sad metal head up and helps me improve to one day hopefully 🤞🤞 teach my daughter how to play it I've no shame in saying I had a tear of excitement opening it thinking of my wife and what she might have thought of it. I'm forever greatfull a guitar like This exists so I could get it. I know this may not help your decision to buy it but if you need a lift and can afford it but you are on the fence, just do it you will get that lift Thanks again P.s I refuse to take the tag off the headstock this is my first every brand new guitar

Not bad

Exactly what you expect for that price, wanted to try 8string guitar first without spending a ton and now I know its not my cup of tea.

Great for it's price

The guitar is really good for its price but there's a couple of things that could be changed. It's a bit short in my opinion as the scale length is only 27 inches. The pickups could also be better, but that's not that big of a deal since you can change them. Overall the guitar is great for its price and I'm not sorry that I bought it.

Fantastic Entry Level 8-String

Setup was good when it arrived, body balance is pretty even, neck is smooth and feels wonderful, and it plays and sounds great. This is my first 8-string after playing 6-string guitars for decades, first fanned fretted multi-scale as well so I can’t compare it to others. But I can say it’s the best guitar at this price point I’ve ever owned.

This Blew Me Away...

I am truly impressed by this guitar. It' my first HB but not my first 8 string. It came nearly 100% play-ready. It just needed a small a truss rod adjustment. It did travel across the globe after all! Setup was great. Frets were smooth. Pickups aren't bad at all. I expected them to be rather muddy and unpleasant but to my surprise, quite the contrary. Nut was cut quite well. Tuners are good enough. They are the cheapest "feeling" aspect but they work. They do not slip. Excellent flaming on the fretboard. It sounds terrific. It cost less than $300 shipped. I have been obsessed with it since I got it. What else could I say? If HB decided to go for a 9 and/10 string like this, I would definitely buy them! Already recommended to others. Too unreal of a deal!

Great buy for an 8 String, needs work

I just received this today, and while everything is fresh in my mind, I wanted to go ahead and do the review. Frets are a bit sharp, where the neck pickup is where there's a little overhang of the neck, there's a bit of cut wood shavings still on the neck, and the bottom string F#, is a bit wobbly and hard to keep in tune. All in all though, it's a really solid guitar. The finish looks immaculate, the feel of the neck is really good, there doesn't seem to be any electronic issues, and it just feels really good to play. I'm gonna throw some heavier strings on it to hopefully fix that bottom string wobbliness, but then I think it'll be perfect after sanding down the frets a little

Harley Benton R-458MN WH MultiScale

I bought this guitar to dip my toe into the world of multi-scale guitars with more than 6 strings. As an economy entry-point guitar this is an excellent starting point. You will need to set up the action + intonation and the correct hex keys are supplied with the guitar to get you started.

I lopped off one star because you need to set up the guitar as it comes out of the box. Aside from that, if you're looking for a low-cost entry into the world of multi-scale guitars that won't break the bank, this is it.

Great Quality for the Money!

I've had this guitar for eight months now, and I can confidently say that it still blows me away! The quality for the price is ridiculously good. In all my research before buying this, it seems that as long as quality control does their job, then you get a great guitar. The trade off in price is that the hardware (my main gripe is the tuners) and pickups are cheap. I upgraded to Hipshot locking tuners and lubed the nut, which took care of the tuning instability. The string gauge that is used from the factory is way too light, so I got a custom set from Stringjoy 10-80. With those two simple changes it turned this thing into a beast! The pickups are a bit noisy, so I highly recommend a noise gate. I have a Horizon Devices Precision Drive, so I can make anything sound good haha. I only had to touch up a couple fret ends with my fret file, and it seriously plays like a dream. It's a great modding platform and entrance into 8 string guitars. I love that it's multi scale as well. It really wasn't that big of an adjustment to get used to. I give it three stars on sound and quality before upgrades. It's easily four stars after upgrades. This is my first Harley Benton, and I'm definitely gonna buy more!

Great budget 8 string

Bought this guitar 3 years ago and it’s still chugging like a champ! Came fully set up out of the box, barely needed tuning! A little rough on the frets and the active pickups could do with a bit more punch but other than that it’s a great guitar!

Holds tune nicely and sustains for quite a while!

Great package in general, not to mention the price makes it a no brainer for anyone wanting a bit of 8 string fun, or a base for a crazy project! This guitars got it covered!

About what you should expect for the price

This guitar is fundamentally alright. Mine came with a couple issues that I am hoping can be resolved through support but I am unsure how this process works with this company. One of the saddles was stripped so I couldn't raise/lower the action. The other issue is that the tuning pegs don't accept strings that are large enough to make the low strings playable.

Needs upgrades

For the money its a great entry into extended range, 8 string guitars. The tuners are not good, most are loose and dont hold tune. You will need to replace the strings immediately with a more suitable heavier gauge. There is almost zero sustain on the F# and B strings. The finish is good, the neck is smooth, and the frets are finished well.

Greatest 8 String for the Money

The guitar arrived set up great and with no defects or QC issues. The only shortcoming is the pickups are a little lacking but for less than $300 you can't beat it.

Worth giving it a try for the price

I have many old and new guitars in all price and quality ranges and just wanted to see what an 8 string multiscale guitar feels like without having to invest a lot of money. This was the obvious choice. When the guitar arrived the set-up was actually quite good and was in playable condition out of the box, but needed to be set-up again after I changed the stock strings to heavier bottom strings. The instrument's construction is quite good, I did not see any paint, finish or construction issues, tight neck pocket, etc.. It's well-balanced and the fret edges were smooth enough, although the frets themselves felt a bit raw and needed a little polishing and smoothing, no big deal. I liked the smooth feel and shape of the neck. As mentioned in other reviews, the nut needs a bit of filing work for the strings to go through properly; again no big deal. After a professional luthier set it up for me, the heaviest string still has some buzz but I guess I sort of expected that and can live with it. Now on the downside, the pickups are really where I had to lower my overall ratings for this guitar; they are very noisy and muddy and thus probably of quite low quality. I could live with the clean tones which are acceptable, but once OD/distortion kicks in, it becomes difficult to distinguish between the notes I am playing, the sounds seem to blend into each other in an overall noisy background. BTW, I am by no means a heavy distortion user or heavy music player generally, although I do like my OD/fuzz/distortion and I have dozens of guitars with all kinds of pickups for a comparison with, again, dozens of analog and digital effects. At this price point I can live with using this guitar for playing experimental free jazz type of stuff with clean(er) tones, it is a good instrument for an introduction to practicing on 8 strings and a MS fretboard for developing different skills. Presuming that this guitar is normally meant for players with heavier tonal expectations, I'd have to say that something would have to be done about the pickups, which I may decide to invest in at some point.

Fantastic Build HB rocks \m/\m/ !!

I was looking for an affordable, 8 string multiscale, electric guitar, and after researching available options for some time, reading several articles, and watching several videos, I decided to pull the trigger on this Harley Benton R-458MN WH, it was the best fit for my needs, and budget.

Initial reactions:

The build is fantastic for the price! Very impressed by this build, the fret ends are smooth not sharp, body is clean, sighting down the neck looks to be true, plays great, tuners not the best but can get them to work for now, pickups sound good, stretch the strings a lot before tuning settled.

I played through a KATANA-ARTIST MKII HEAD + Mesa Dual Rectifier 4x12 cab, and sounded awesome with KATANA MKII: BROWN VARIATION, added a little slap delay, reverb, and got my chuggy djent rocking on!

I plan to mod/customize everything, so this was a perfect base model to start with, and after researching other brands, options and DIY kits, this was the best bang for the buck.

If you're not sure if you're going to enjoy playing an 8 string or not, this is a terrific 8 string multiscale electric guitar base model to start. Either leave stock or DIY mod it, it definitely deserves a place in your instrument quiver!

Plan is to upgrade and mode: the bridge pickup, tuners, nut, rewire volume straight to output.

Special note: IMHO the maple neck and fingerboard help brighten the 8 string sound, many 8 strings have darker subdued sound, the maple neck, fingerboard and basswood body of this specific model seems to have more brilliance.

8 strings for this price ?!

I was not expecting this guitar to be this good, although it is cheap it's very well made and sounds fine.

Didn't know if I would like an 8 strings, but I did and I think that everybody should have one, and for this price I really doubt anyone would regret.

New creative windows were open with this one.

Good

Nice neck work very minor finish flaws arrived in tune lots of space in electronics cavity for batteries if you want overall great gear for the price. Times got hard had to part ways buying again in different color