Harley Benton R-458MN WH Fanfret

I bought this mostly as a project guitar and didn't really expect a lot from it but turns out I won't be doing a lot to it because it's pretty good.

There's little things that bring the quality down like harshly polished frets (which is pretty easy to fix, the ends are phenomenal but the top surface needs a bit touching), paint job in some very minor areas (like in the cutout for the switch there's visible paint drops in the sides), the nut is bit rough (nothing that a bit of #2000 sandpaper and pencil couldn't fix) and little things.
Only big problem with mine is that the tuners are bad. Let's put it this way, I'm used to tune and work with 400€ Squire Strat, cheap Landola acoustic and cheap Japanese Les Paul from the 70's, so bad tuners are nothing new and I don't mind them, but these tuners are extremely sloppy even for me, too sloppy.

I expected a lot worse from this, like so worse I would only use the body and the neck as a base only. But it sounds great, feels great and plays great, just needs better tuners and a bit work.

I'll get straight to it.

Pros:
-The guitar is well built. Having fanned frets and it being an 8 stringer at this price range sounds all too good to be true, but it holds true to what it's advertised to be.
-The important parts, such as the neck is reliable.
-the tuners aren't top of the line but it does the job well enough to warrant as a positive thing for its price point.
-The bridge has great intonation range and its sturdy! wow! That's important! And you nailed it!
-There's conductive shielding paint on the humbucker cavities and the electronics cavities!!! something i didn't expect from a $150 guitar!!
-The fret ends actually had some sort of sanding/polishing done to it! My hands won't get cut going up and down on it!! wowow! Minimal work is required to get to the ideal specs. Big thumbs up.

Cons:
-mine came with a dead capacitor! WOO! Thankfully I'm a tinkering type of person, and I replaced 80% of the original electronics there cause..(segway to the next point)
-The electronics are kinda bad. But that's to be expected for a guitar at this price point. Though QC could've at least noticed the dead capacitor...or at least hear that something is wrong with the output of the guitar.
-lots of blemishes on the neck. A couple of raw unfinished spots, some scratches, uneven finish, and lots of coarseness when you run your hand at the back of the neck. Hopefully it will smooth itself out when it gets worn in.
-some of the frets are already worn?? I don't know what's going on but this isn't even B-Stock and i have crazy inconsistent frets on the one i got. Some frets looked untouched, some looked sanded and scratched but not polished to spec, some already dented by the string. whats going on haha...
-The nut doesn't have a curve to match the neck's radius curve. Nut is flat and requires lots of work to make the strings be at proper height on nut side. That i don't mind as much, just more tinkering for me.

Regardless of all of its issues, I still like this guitar, The cost of this guitar is equivalent to a months worth of Diet Pepsi for a family that drinks a lot of Diet Pepsi, and my family drinks a lot of Diet Pepsi. But this guitar is no sugar drink. It will make you work hard to make it like how you want it to be, but you'll like what you make out of it once you do.

It'd be neat if Thomann sent me a new, better capacitor, and maybe one of them weird German drinks too. I need a break form all this Diet Pepsi.

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%

I couldn't pry myself off of this guitar long enough to write this review! I've been playing for 15 years and wanted to try an 8 string guitar without breaking the bank. I was intimidated by fanned-fret guitars and was trying to accept that I would need to spend $800 USD to buy a guitar I might end up hating. Saw a video by Glen Fricker of Spectre Media Group and ended up here!

AND WOW.

I'll just list the pros since I HONESTLY have zero cons:
- I also ordered a bag (Thomann E-Guitar Gigbag Deluxe fits perfectly for $22 USD) and a strap so my guitar came in it's little box, INSIDE another box that contained the bag and strap. Well-protected with the two layers of cardboard as well as some nice fabric around the guitar itself and held in place by foam padding on top, bottom and under the neck. It arrived 48 hours after my payment went through (I'm on the east coast of the USA)
- This guitar was setup so perfectly that I could play it right out of the box after tuning the 2 or 3 strings that were a bit off. Someone obviously put their heart and soul into tending to this piece of art.
- It's very lightweight, lighter than some 6 strings I have. Feels so comfortable with an 80mm strap even after 2.5 hours of playing.
- Paint is flawless, glossy and smooth.
- Well constructed. Again, it's obvious someone put their heart into building this.
- Electrical is very tidy and cables were bundled and organized! I don't know if the paint inside the cavity is shielding paint or not, but the back of the cover was shielded and there was ZERO hum or buzz.
- Pickups sound clear and deep in clean tones and crisp, sharp and heavy when distorted. No mud in a well-dialed tone. Tested on a 15w and 75w solid-state amp as well as an amp sim (NeuralDSP Archetype Gojira). The tone knob cuts a dramatic amount of high end, which sounds spectacular on a clean setting. It's a gradual cut also, not just an on/off knob. Dial to taste.
- Knobs have a very satisfying resistance to them, they don't just spin and spin. 3-way switch is smooth and snappy. They're all placed out of the way too, so you won't smack them when you're playing. (Looking at you, Charvel!)
- The frets are polished to perfection and perfectly cut along the neck. No overhanging frets whatsoever. My hands thank you.
- The fanned frets are very easy to get accustomed to. They're well-placed and gorgeously symmetrical.
- The neck itself is sanded to perfection, nice and flat but comfortable whether you're playing bar chords, cowboy chords or full-on riffage. No glossy finish so your hand glides very smooth.
- The guitar stays in tune very well, and my Snark tuner is capable of tuning this beast, although sometimes it struggles with the 8th string. The on-board tuner in my 75w amp can handle the low notes though!
- They even sent a 1/4" cable and an awesome "In case of emergency, rescue my guitars" sticker! (4" at least)

This guitar is absolutely perfect for players of any skill level who want to get into playing an 8-string. PERIOD. Thomann and Harley-Benton are INCREDIBLY underrated!!