Harley Benton Guitar MAX Fusion Signature

I was pretty excited the first hour after i got it, but then small things started to irritate me. The locking nut is WAY too high leaving the entire airspace of the Pacific Ocean between the strings and fret 1. So i wanted to takethe nut off and sand some wood away under it and placed it back, but i decided not to in case other problems would occur. Then around 1/3 of the frets were sticking out with sharp ends. Then i wanted to change the strings but one of the small black metal cubes that keeps the string locked on the tremolo were stuck and could not be loosened. Overall i am not impressed by this tremolo, Floyd or not. It reminds me a lot about a no name i once got from Aliexpress
The tuners are responding very differently from smooth to extremely tight. Not nice they have been selected from the cheapest drawer. Normally i would never consider changing tuners on a locking trem guitar, but this one....
Finally i put my fret rocker on it.. The frets are more or less lined but still i identified at least 9 frets which need corrections.
The best thing about this guitar is the pickups and the looks imho.
I did not expect a signature guitar to miss so much attention in the production and QC....no matter if its cheap or expensive.

One day it might be road worthy though.....


For now i returned it

PS: I have a feeling that the indonesian factory produce so many guitars i the HB price range, that they constantly lower the standards. Prove me wrong pls.

As always a massive thank you to all involved in getting my order processed so quickly.

Guitar after safety and well pack and to prove it was perfectly in tune out of the box.
The pickups are well balanced and very articulate especially the neck rail pickup which is super smooth..think 80,s power ballad solo tone.

The floyd rose is rock solid ,fine tuners a bit stiff but nothing a bit of vasoline won't fix.

Fret work is great no sharp edges but a little gritty but I have had this on guitars twice the money and again an easy fix.

It's certainly got all the shredder appointments except for the most important feature "the neck" while super smooth it is thick 23.4mm at 12th fret and while comfortable it can be hard work doing fast runs so please keep that in mind if your expecting slim speed taper this is not for you.

Well done to harley benton for letting the cat out of the bag and giving us such high quality at budget prices.

This beast is a masterwork of form and function: it looks uber-classy and plays very, very well.

The 24 jumbo frets, the roasted maple neck & fretboard, the Floyd Rose, the coil split, the beautiful finish and gold hardware, the reverse headstock (which serves no purpose but just looks cool), and most of all the playability--low action, smooth frets, good access to the upper register--make this not only a shredder's dream, but versatile enough for most rock, jazz, blues, or country styles.

Now, be forewarned: this beauty has a zaftig neck. The specs say a "modern C" profile, but it feels like a chunky C to me, so if you're used to an Ibanez or Jackson, you might go through a familiarization period. But if you've been playing a Strat or a Les Paul, you won't notice much difference.

If you're looking to step up from your first guitar--or step *over* from your second, third, fourth, or whatever guitar--this might well be the vehicle for you. No matter where you want to go musically, this guitar will probably get you there.