Harley Benton R-458MN WH Fanfret Reviews

Better than guitars 2x it's cost.

It came all the way from Germany with no fret sprout and the set up was great out of the box. Only thing I had to adjust was the pickup height but other than that it holds tune really well and plays great.

Affordable playability

Out of the box the guitar played fantastically. Felt comfortable no dings or blemishes. Is staying in tune. Buying guitars at low prices is always a gamble but not with Harley Benton. Well done.

One of my new favorites that I own.

I got this to tune down to double drop D and it does not disappoint! The feel of the neck is even better than that of my Ibanez 8 string and it sounds fantastic! I’ve already ordered another one of these in a different color!

Pretty good

Really decent guitar overall. I was happy with the price and the guitar is high quality for this price range.

The pickups are decent, its a bit hard to get a clear tone but overall not bad.

The finish is smooth and neck feels great.

The fretboard is longer than the neck, thats not really a problem but aesthetically, it's not pleasing.

For this price range, this guitar is the best 8 string option and overall pretty solid.

Great guitar

The quality of this guitar feels higher than it’s cost. Perfect for seeing if an 8 string and multi scale works for you. I think the best thing about this guitar is the neck profile, it feels nice and thin and not like a 2x4. Knobs and switches felt good and overall a great guitar.

The only negatives are the tuners are pretty bad and also the pickups. I think I can live with the pickups for now but the tuners are an issue. I will definitely be replacing those as it won’t stay in tune for more than a few minutes of me playing on it, but that’s not an expensive thing to replace. If you plan on keeping the guitar or recording or anything like that I would probably replace the pickups also, but it’s a very playable guitar that has a comfortable neck. I recommend this guitar if you are wanting to try and 8 string, and the multiscale definitely helps a lot for playability in my opinion which makes this a better choice than a cheap Ibanez or Jackson model without the multiscale.

Cannot be beaten even at double the price

Where else will you find an 8 string guitar for this price? Then ask; where would you find a fan fret, multiscale 8 string for less than double what the R458 costs?

Brilliant guitar, no fret buzz, no sharp frets, sounds good, feels good, finish is fantastic.

Only complaints are that the pickups need upgrading and the tuners feel a bit weak/cheap.

My first 8 string guitar

It is a great guitar worth more than the price.

Not too shabby...

I wanted to get into the world of 8 string guitars, but I badly wanted the multiscale experience for under $700.

Enter, this axe.

By far my favorite feature is the multiscale design, and I often find myself using this 8 string for jamming rather than my other regular 6 string guitars.

Build quality and QC aren't too bad, with decently rolled fingerboard edges and no super sharp fret ends. Tuners could be better, and the cutting job of the nut is kind of abysmal. The E, A and D strings taper off in an unnatural manner.

Pickups are serviceable for sure; they sound shockingly good, jangly and bright, for cleans. It can become a muddy mess with high gain settings, so make sure to crank the treble and it should sound fine.

One note of recommendation is to crown the frets and they'll feel superb. Out of the box, the fret job leaves a bit to be desired with scratchy fretwire. I do hope that Harley Benton makes a revised edition with stainless steel frets in the near future.

Second recommendation is to swap the floppy wet noodles that are the stock strings. Threw on a set of 74 gauge strings and now it can handle drop E, D#, D or even C# like nobody's business.

Overall, for $300 for shipping to Canada this is a solid investment if you would like to get into the world of 8 strings.

Just WOW

Didn’t expect so much quality in every inch of this instrument. And she sounds great!

Brilliant for the price!

Compared to other 8 strings it is really easy pick up and play.

The neck is thin and easy to hold. Sounds great plugged in. Comfortable, affordable and easy to play unlike other 8 strings.

Sound

Quality cost is good, but you could improve the sound on this guitar.

No-brainer 8 string fanfret

Got this guitar about a couple of months ago, so I've had it for a while now and ready to write it up. Firstly it is still surprising that Harley Benton manages to put so much in a guitar that costs so little - fanfret multiscale, thin neck profile, proper bridge, comfortable weight, beautiful finish. Usually a regular 8 string would cost you at least 400 euros, while this, at half the price has twice the features that one would wish for.

Now, straight out of the box it does have one rather big issue - the nut. As many others have already mentioned, it definitely needs work - the strings are too high, don't follow the radius of the neck, and by far the worst part - string slots themselves - the break of the strings (especially D, G and B strings) is bad, i wouldn't expect backfiling on anything under a thousand euros/handmade to some extent, but even so, it's pretty bad, the G string slot had a jagged curve bad enough to snag the string after any bend, would not return to tune, was almost impossible to tune in general. Since I work as a guitar tech it wasn't that much of an issue for me, but for anyone else who doesn't at least have the tools for it, you really would need to visit a tech, otherwise there won't be much of tuning stability. NOW, other than the nut, it is shockingly well made. All the notes ring out great, some 8 strings (MUCH pricier ones have trouble at the first frets of the F# and B strings, this has no problems whatsoever. The neck is rather thin, very comfortable, I was pleased with the playability of it. Frets are leveled rather well too, not perfectly mind you, but again, I would not expect that level of craft at this price nor even if you doubled it (or tripled it to be honest). The tuners could be better, but they do their job. Of all things to change, tuners would be first on my list. The pickups are fine (remember - this is under 200 euros, two pickups alone usually cost about as much as this entire guitar, often more) clean sounds are great, heavy sounds are okay, just a tad muddy, but entirely workable, I wish it had coil split/tap, would've made it a thousand times better, but alas. The electronics are fine too, the volume/tone pots are a bit stiff, but spray a bit of PRF 7-78 (or something similar) and it gets better, or just use them, over time they will loosen up. Overall I had no issues with the electronics/wiring, I suppose it's a luck of the draw thing. The bridge, again, is surprisingly nice, individual saddles look and feel fantastic, are easy to adjust(You will need to adjust them). With 9s on the top it's fine, but once you change the strings (and you really should shortly after getting it, preferably at least a .74 on the bottom, as the strings it's shipped with are far too thin on the B and F#), you will notice that the action is not where it should be, same goes with intonation (these things may vary ofcourse). With that said, almost all guitars that aren't handmade/"premium" have to be set up, so i'm not complaining, rather stating the facts.

After the setup, it's absolutely great!

Also, you have to keep in mind that whatever you're using for a 6 string guitar amplifier wise, especially for heavier sounds, you will need to readjust the settings. Not all amps can carry such a low register in a tight, commanding manner, especially at higher volumes. Not all speakers have the right frequency response for this type of guitar, as well as most amps don't have the kind of EQ section that you'd ideally want with an 8 string, so pairing this with an EQ pedal (or a FX processor that has one) is ideal, then you can really shape the tone to what you have become used to in regards to 8 string guitar sounds. With that said, do not despair and scower the forums for the perfect amp - try out everything that you have, it is surprising what works, I have a 80's Award Session solid state Sessionette 75 that sounds absolutely superb with this guitar (again, not with regular settings that I use with a 6 string, you do need to readjust). Also - try not using too much gain for riffing, the low strings already have a lot of mass and don't really need a lot of gain, the amount of gain on records is often misleading, rather try and pick harder with less gain - it'll sound much clearer and tighter.

In conclusion - great stuff, absolute no-brainer for stepping into 8 string territory.

Feels Amazing

I didn't think I could ever replace my favorite guitar but I did with a Harley Benton

A steal especially for the price

An instrument that contains fan frets, 7 strings at this price point is very hard to come by. Not only is the price right, but aesthetically speaking, this instrument is very attractive to my eyes but not only that but it is a well built instrument for whatever needs you may have.

Nice guitar for 8-string newcomers and challenge yourself. But in comparison with the 6-string guitar in the same price quote, the other guitar sounds better. 8th string sounds not fat, tried with different string setup

very good for price

very nice guitar after a bit of setting up. Probably needs locking tuners. I fiddled around a bit with some free vsts and got a pretty decent sound with these pickups as well but still might replace them.

Much better than I expected!!!

Greetings, I'm a guitarist with more than 20 years of experience

I've always played 6 string guitars, but I got interested in extended range guitars and fanfrets...

This guitar arrived 1 week ago, and the truth is that it is incredible!!

I will start with the problems with which arrived

*The arm was a little warped, obviously after 1 month of traveling from Germany to Mexico, but it was easy to adjust

*The ground was not well connected, even though it had the cable, the black paint on the hardware does not let the cable make contact, also easy to fix

*The nut did not have the grooves of 4th and 5th completely straight, pinching the string a little and generating tension and tuning problems

*The 1st string is not very loud on the Bridge position, probably caused by the angle of the pick up... but on the neck position works fine, I have no problem 'cause I always lead on the neck pickup, but it could be a problem for some people... with high gain is not that noticeable, but in clean you can hear the diference

Misconceptions

I think that due to the details described above, many confuse some problems with others, I read in many reviews that the tuners did not work and did not keep the tuning well, I think that this is caused by the nut slots, since they are not straight, the string gets stuck, and you need to turn it a little more to give more tension and release the string, then when you play, the extra tension distributes, causing it to go out of tune again

The pickups, they are not the best, but are quite functional, I think what causes problems is the ground connection

but with that fixed and a little of pre EQ you can get them working

THE GOOD

Everything else!! I’m surprised with the quality of the instrument, excellent frets, the arm quite comfortable (for an 8 strings), no big neck dive, I liked the fan fret lml Really cool guitar lml

if you want to start in the world of 8 strings and fan frets, it's a great instrument

Recommended 100%

Quality guitar, pickups are as to be expected

Great playing guitar only needed a bit of TLC with the fret board and a little polish of the frets and it played amazing

Great project guitar

I was a little apprehensive at first before ordering based on the mixed reviews online, however, I can confirm that my purchase was great.

It sounds like flubber because of the pickups, but, locking tuners and some better pickups will have it sounding great.

The multiscale is great and holds the tuning really well, needs a setup out of the box and heavier strings, but it wasn't terrible and you can start playing right away.

If you want a bit of fun to see if you'll like 8 strings, highly recommend, throw it infront of a 6505 or 5150 with an OD and you can play Meshuggah out the box.

For the money, 10/10

This is the 8th string of my life

Omar From georgia, this aint my first 8 string but i cant help myself to compare to some other knockoffs and overpriced guitars. sounds real nice, came already configured to play right out of the box, neck feels really good, only thing id say the lowest 8th string isnt stably tuned when drop tuning but all-and-all for this price there aint a better quality guitar, not by a long shot. Love it, will play it till the wood on the frets rot from my fingering. Rock on \m/