Harley Benton R-458MN WH Progressive Series Reviews

Really nice for the price

Honestly was looking forward to doing some 8-string projects, and when I saw the price, I didn’t really think twice.

The material of the body and neck feel really nice. The tuning stability is average, but not really complaining. A big bend might detune it by a few cents but not extremely noticeable.

Only real downside is the sound of the pick-ups. They’re pretty muddy and really give you the sound you’d expect from a cheap guitar. Might actually replace them at some point.

Overall, if you’re on a budget and not looking for the absolute best sound, it’s great.

Perfect Taster

A perfect taster into the 8 string world, A pick up change would be recommended. Out of the box the guitar had excellent intonation and set up. I used cooper tape to shield the electronics, changed the tuners, changed the pots and added capacitors and started riffing away like it was a £500+ guitar.

Perfect Djent Machine

It arrived practically in tune, action was fantastic, factory strings were decent - plugged it in and it sounded great. Both neck and bridge pickup give a nice variety of tones, and the neck is very comfortable. Tuners have been staying in tune with no issue.

Ordered this with low expectations - it’s not my first Harley Benton but it definitely won’t be my last.

Good value

Got for a bit of fun and is very fun to play around on

Plays better than expected

To start I messed up my order and ended up with both this model and the fanfret version.

I would say that the overall feel and quality is better than I expected. The knobs and selection switch felt good. Overall the neck feels nice in the hand, I have several 6 string Jackson’s and this felt comfortable to play coming from those. It played good right out of the box, but I would lower the action a little.

Really the only negative thing I have to say is the tuners are not good and tuning stability is an issue, but if you end up liking the guitar it’s an easy inexpensive upgrade. The pickups are also not the best either, they are ok for seeing if you will like playing an 8 string and not having to pay a lot to find out.

Now the difference between the two models in my opinion is, I think the pickups on this model are a little better, but not by much. The biggest difference is obviously the other model has the fanned frets and is multiscale, and you can definitely tell a difference in string tension playing on the smaller strings on this model, they feel tighter in comparison. It feels much more comfortable for me playing the multiscale, but the fanned frets might not be your thing, I really only notice it up on the first few frets and maybe like 19-24. I would say they are both good guitars worth the money if you want to see if an 8 string is right for you. I think if you plan on trying to record or anything like that you would need to upgrade tuners and pickups but other than that plays great and has a very playable neck.

Chug Machine!!!

After some thicker D'addario strings and a little set up and this thing is heeeaaaavvvyyyy! I absolutely love it. Build quality is amazing for the price point. It's actually well balanced which I thought would be an issue but HB got it right in this one. Pick-ups aren't the best but, they aren't terrible by any means. I put some Black Winters in mine and now it sounds like Hell on Earth! The overall quality is crazy good! The finish is perfect. Everything works just like it should. Frets are really good. No rough edges on mine at all. I have 6 other more expensive guitars (Ibanez, Jackson, Fender, Esp and and HB 5-strig bass!) and this guitar holds it weight against all the others. Incredible ax for the money!!! Might by another one in black I like it so much! Great job HB!!!!

Buyer beware

I bought this guitar knowing that I'd have to have the pickups and tuners replaced with higher quality ones, that is perfectly reasonable for this price point being the entire guitar is proprietary. However the guitar I received isn't even playable, there is several dead frets and a flat spot in the center of one of the fret wires in the middle of the neck. The package was immaculate, absolutely zero dents in the box so it wasn't something that happened during shipping, and there was super glue or something on a couple of the strings that wouldn't come off.

Good but postage issue

this guitar is beautiful and amazing for the price. I ordered to the uk (took about a week after it was in stock). The sound is ok for stock, the feel is amazing except for the fretboard, it feels a bit too rough when your doing bends or anything like that.

There was one tiny issue…. When it came i noticed the bridge humbucker had came not tightened high enough and upon closer inspection i found it had completely chipped off and the screw to tighten it was lost in postage. Stupid little mistake but hey.. mistakes happen. Couldve been a lot worse

All round a VERY nice guitar.

Budget guitar with great quality

I've been playing on this for the past 4 years, the build quality is amazing and still holds up very well, and the sound quality is pretty good for the price. Would definitely recommend.

Sum of parts greater than whole

Bought this guitar for a taste of 8 string with the idea of replacing down the road. What I didn't expect was how playable it was out of the box.

Action is great and the 3way switch and knobs feel fairly solid.

Pickup casings are plastic-y and light feeling.

Neck feels amazing, lovely finish though you may need to oil your fretboard as mine was dry (which is to be expected at most price points)

Fretting is decent and the nut fits well, though I did have some roughness on the higher frets so will be giving those a polishing.

Machine heads are definitely something I will be replacing soon, they reflect the price point fairly accurately.

Once I stretched the strings for a few minutes the guitar stayed in tune and has continued to do so.

The pickups are much brighter than I had anticipated (to my delight) and seem to lend themselves to a clean tone. The difference between bridge/split/neck tones aren't a million miles apart which is nice.

Features: 3 STARS

Has only the basics (2 HB, 1 volume and 1 tone knob, no locking tuners etc.)

Sound: 4 STARS Each pickup has a distinct tone and they're hot enough to play anything.

Quality: Build quality was much better than I expected. Great action, decent fretting and alignment seems fine. The fretboard is very dry and some of the higher frets do need polishing.

TOTAL: 5 STARS All these for the price of 158 euro is just insane to me. I wouldn't blink if a 1,000 euro guitar had the same quality control.

A Side note, delivery came in 8 working days and the customer service were fast and helpful when I needed to amend my order. Very light packaging is something to consider.

Cracking guitar for the price

Great to play, comfortable with excellent fretwork. Pickups were not great but in every other way, excellent guitar.

Awesome guitar for it's price

Great 8 string guitar with low price and I really enjoyed of playing such an instrument

Good instrument for the price

It's not a lot to say about this guitar, but it's sounds not bad, and low notes is audible. There was a small issues like small dot of paint on the neck and places for the pickups are too tight, but i love this guitar.

Definitely a good first 8-string for those interested in the deep end of extended range guitars

TL;DR: Good guitar considering the price and what you get, but don't expect to have your mind blown.

First off, considering the price, it's definitely a good guitar, well worth the money. The only problems I've really noticed are entirely visual and don't affect the playability at all, while pretty much only being seen when up close and personal with the guitar.

Pickups and tuners are definitely fair for the price. Although they're not exactly good, I wouldn't dare say they're the absolute worst either. Tuners hold the tuning enough to get through a few songs.

Fretwork is otherwise nice, the edges are well rounded off, so sliding up and down the neck definitely can't cut my hands, however something feels off when bending the higher strings, which I suspect could be the fretboard itself.

I'm definitely happy with what I have and would recommend it to other people looking to get into 8-string guitars without busting the bank.

There are problems, but they can be solved

The quality of the guitar is not bad. Sound and noise are disgusting. On the guitar, you need to immediately change the paziziometers and re-solder the wires. Pickups work like parallel singles, not humbuckers, which is a bad decision. The strings are wrong, the 7th string needs 70 or more.

I didn't expect a lot from a cheap guitar, but I planned to play at least a little on it, but with such a sound it doesn't bring the slightest pleasure. My advice is to buy good electronics and re-solder correctly for humbuckers.

Some Cosmetic Issues But a Wise Investment

Purchased to feel out the expanse of an 8 string

Humbuckers are a bit flat but easily resolved

Pit on 3rd fret in middle, paint blemishes, broken string, loose saddles, and small crack in headstock. Customer support resolved quickly - very responsive

Even with blemishes I am happy with the purchase

Excellent value for money.

I bought it because I needed an 8-string guitar and it costs €129. Partly to satisfy curiosity.

The guitar is very comfortable and lightweight. It's easy to play.

"Plug and play" condition when you take guitar out of the box.

There are no mechanical problems or problems with electronics at all: the notes is clear and articulated, the hardware works well.

There are flaws of the body finish and a small chip in the headstock.

I love this thing.

This is an excellent guitar and a steal at this price range. I have used it primarily for recording high gain metal where it performs very well.

Although most suited for heavier material, I have found that it has surprisingly pleasant clean sounds, especially on the middle pickup position where it feels very smooth, and the plucky response of the maple fretboard is very inviting towards sweet melodic lines. It's great to have an instrument that is this versatile.

In terms of cons, I find that it takes a little more work to make the pickups interact properly with your amp for those well defined hi gain tones, it sounds good with a tube screamer but a bit too muddy. For best results, a graphic eq works best so you can properly shape the eq curve before hitting the amp. I would also recommend an eq because there's quite a bump in the 3k range that reveals a little too much pick attack when heavily distorted.

For the price, you won't be disappointed, and hey, it looks incredible!

I must say - this guitar can surprise you in a good way

this guitar is not bad at all to begin with if you would like to step up your game and go for more strings but you are tight on budget. the neck plays as good as my ibanez (rg370dx) owing to its shape. I have trouble keeping the strings in tune when I hit the strings, but changing the gauge ought to solve this problem. the pickups may need upgrade if you want higher gain from the guitar.

In short, this guitar is not the best but good enough for its price.

The best budget 8 string guitar

Very good quality. Guitar came with very good intonation.

For this price I don't see any cons.

I recommend to anyone who wants to try an 8 string guitar on a limited budget.