Harley Benton R-458MN WH Fanfret 5-stars Reviews

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!

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

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!

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.

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.

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.

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!

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.

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.

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.

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%