Harley Benton R-458BK Fanfret Reviews

Absolute Beast.

This sounds like an absolute beast, the higher notes sound super clean too, and the low end doesnt sound muddy but like an earthquake. I come from an ibanez 7h strings that cost me 500 bucks. and this one is cheaper, sounds better, and plays better. If you wanna buy an 8th string, buy this beast, and you wont be disappointed.

8 string goodness!

Just the usual tweaking to preference, and this thing can scream/ growl/ sing! I’m screaming value! Multiscale madness!!!

Incredible Guitar for the price

This guitar has become my daily player. I ignore my PRS and my Jackson just to play this. Only thing I would change is adding active pickups to help with the low end being muddy

Meshuggah is calling

Firstly, to state the obvious, I bought this guitar mostly to be able to play Meshuggah.

I was very skeptical of HB, reading very mixed reviews about the brand but figured I won't lose much if it's very bad since it's so cheap.

Having only played 6-strings before, some things to note:

- It's pretty heavy - both weight and sound ;)

- Fanned frets required no getting used to, felt like any other guitar

- It is in fact a different instrument, I thought I could get away with having this as my only guitar but some 6 string songs become very hard to play

Pickups: I've read many bad reviews about the pickups, but after dialling in a good djent preset, the mud cleared out and I managed to get a good sound out of it. I'm using overdrive, compressor and noise gate on top of low gain and low bass on the panel (on a Boss Katana 2).

Cons:

- Tuners are very bad, they lose tune constantly, need to be replaced 100%

- Bad setup, bone dry fretboard & some rough frets (common and easily solvable issues)

- Loud grounding buzz (relatively easy fix)

Overall: After a good setup and amp settings, this guitar will amaze you. It chugs great, it looks great and costs basically nothing for what it is. If you have a calling towards 8-string music, this is a great guitar to have and you will barely notice its price.

Good starting point for trying out

In short it is relatively good guitar.

Pros:

Good point for starting out with 7~8 string guitars.

It arrived with action correct height and intonation was pretty much on point.

Didn't find any finger cutting frets or any visual defects on paint or neck.

Sounds good enough that I'm not thinking of upgrading pickups.

Cons:

Could hold string tension better - have to re-tune quite frequently.

Parts feel cheap (what do you expect for this price).

Noise does exist but seen way more expensive gear with more noise.

All in all I would recommend this for jam sessions but not serious recording/studio work.

the only cheapest. a good gateway ! to the 8string realm!

my first 8string fanfret guitar!

solid deal for the price. expect some bits of issues here there but not a deal breaker. just set it to your preferred action and put on some new strings and your ready for some chuggin!

buff the fretboards with lemon oil first because they are too dry. this thing is suprisingly light weight. no neck dive is a plus and the neck feels good. a great platform for future mods just slap in some Fishmans and locking tuners.

Unbelievable Quality For The Price

I cannot believe this was only $185. There's no sharp edges; the intonation is perfect; the pickups are great; the feel, balance, tone...it is better than guitars for which I have paid 4X more. I am replacing the tuners with some locking tuners because, while decent, the stock ones tend to go out of tune pretty easily. It is not a knock though...this has been my experience with all non-locking tuners on all my 8 & 7 string guitars (even considerably more expensive ones).

If you're considering an 8 string and don't want to spend $1000, this is a phenomenal choice.

Good entry level 8 string

This is a great guitar for getting into 8 strings. The pickups aren't great though and the tuners aren't much better but for the price you can't complain really. I'd recommend it to anyone that wants to get into playing one and doesn't want to spend much on one, or someone that wants a project to upgrade the pups, tuners, and electronics.

Bang for the buck/or project

If you are introducing yourself to 8 strings or looking for a project you really can’t beat this. Is it superior in finish no, is there a few thing to fix, yes. But with some proper EQ work, and a set up. You can even get the stock pickups sounding great. And the minor flaws in playablility that everyone one else has echoed are easily fixable in a few hours. I plan on throwing Fishman Alnicos upfront and Ceramics in the rear to really bring this thing up to chops, eventually… as for now she is great and it’s been fun learning 8 string with this lightweight beast. Setup was near perfect when I got her, and I had no electronics issues at all. I bought my wife the TE tele and a matching TB thunderbird style bass to start learning on and she loved them. I have been so impressed I just bought the 7 string multiscale so I can throw some Active EMGs in it and have a ball with it as well. Overall, are they an entry level ESP, Schecter or Ibanez type… no, but they aren’t far off.

Solid and affordable

If you’re looking for an affordable 8 string, this is the way to go.

Neck is real smooth and the frets are rounded so no work to be done there. Perfect glossy finish, good hardware and some decent enough pickups for its price.

Brilliant for djent and classical, would highly recommend!

Impressive

I wanted to try an 8 strings without busting the bank and I was surprise by the overall build quality and sound.

I've had it for several months now, no failure of any type. Awesome guitar!

Beast of a guitar!

Talk about a awesome axe!

The multi-scale works like a charm on this guitar, really helps smooth out the feel of the lower strings. Quality of this guitar is top shelf! The pickups sounds work great with distortion. Even after getting it posted to Australia, the setup held up really really well! Nothing was out wack and played great straight from the box! Can't wait to restring it and really feel and hear how this beast can rah!

Not Flawless, But Good Enough.

Cool distortion sound, Big But not that HUGE scale(fit for me), and Passable design. It has small flaw in its Build but I strongly recommend it for Casual Djent/TechDeath Players.

Incredible value

Wasn’t expecting too much for the price, but boy was I surprised. Set up was perfect and quality unbelievable for price. A couple tweaks ( machines) needed. If you’re not sure about 8 string guitar this is the perfect start

Overall great

For what you spend on this instrument you get a quality piece of gear. It plays well and needed minor adjustments. The pickups have quite a bit bass to them but don’t sound horrible.

Loving the guitar! It looks absolutely flawless and there are no physical flaws, which was a big concern I had.

Quite good for the money

I was looking for an inexpensive 8 string and i was quite surprised by the craftsmanship of the instrument. It stays in tune and the neck is fast and smooth. The only downside are the pickups, they are not to my liking. This guitar is a great mod platform and excellent for venturing into the realm of 8 string guitars.

A great 8 string for beginners.

The overall build quality is solid with the only annoyance that the strings would not fit through the holes of the bridge. The string in question however would go through the hole where High E would be at the bottom of the guitar. Swapping out the Metal pieces resting on the bridge did the trick and allowed me to complete stringing the guitar. The only issue I have with the guitar is the low gain it provides and through some amps it will sound far too distorted. Amp sims and production tricks will take care of it with ease. I would suggest Swapping out the pickups with better ones if one has the budget for it. The last issue the guitar has is the High E string is barely audible at times. Once more, Pickup change is needed. Overall, a great body, finish, rigid, solid and perfect for beginners looking to dive into 8 strings.

Decent 8-string for beginners (8-string beginner)

It is, well, it's just decent

for this price, it's awesome!

but for me, had had problem with pick-up height adjustment.. that was a flaw to me.

good for playabillity

as a first 8-string guitar

Good quality without burrs and paint defects. Excellent as a first 8-string guitar.

Of the minuses, a tuning machines with a idling makes it difficult to set up.