Harley Benton Dynamic-HSH FMT Charcoal

I bought this guitar for a few reasons,

Firstly, I needed something cheap to use when I work abroad and wouldn't have to worry about damaging it.

Secondly, I wanted a guitar with a tremolo, I thought I'd be just like Guthrie Govan!

And thirdly, I wanted a guitar that would be less high output than my Ibanez that hasToneZone and AirNorton pickups, think clean compressed country or overdriven tones.

Lets take a look at the pros and cons;

The PROS: By the specs alone it is more than just a knock-about guitar. Stainless steel frets, locking tuners, wood binding, flame maple veneered top (which is a little thin) and an ebony fretboard (which is brown and very 'figured' on all of these Dynamics, not solid black like the ebony we usually see, mine is a bit oddly figured but it's luck of draw and is unique in its own way).

Also in the pros category is the tremolo, once properly set up, it performs nicely and more importantly, I enjoy using it, it doesn't hold perfect tune forever but neither does Mr.Govan's tremolo and this guitar is just €200.

The 'stainless steel' frets feel great, almost like glass, the difference is most noticeable when switching back to regular nickel silver frets,

HOWEVER!! Not all stainless steel is created equal! Just as with nickel frets these 'stainless steel' frets have tarnished! This is most obvious where vibrato and bends brush off the oxidation layer and reveal the shinier metal underneath, evidently it is a lower quality grade of stainless steel, this matches the price point but Harley Benton is not 100% clear on this fact in their advertising.

CONS: Mine arrived with a QC issue, the tremolo cavity was poorly finished and the tremolo springs were biting into right angle edge of the tremolo cavity when the bar depressed, this caused the springs to saw away at the wood in that spot and created a lot of audible grinding noises. The tremolo was alos missing the tiny screw that holds the bar in place. (I contacted support and they resolved these issues for me).

Speaking of the tremolo, the 'rolling saddles' listed in the specs when I bought the guitar don't roll, at all. They are absolutely fixed. The specs now list a rolling nut but I believe it is written there in error and is rather a rolling string tree.

More on the cons are the pickups, they are mediocre and that's fine for a guitar in this price range but they lack any sort of bass and sound either out of phase or like single coils without all the good aspects of single coils. The overall character of the pickups being mediocre is fine (for the price) but the strange lack of bass is not, the tones are novel is some cases but I am often frustrated by these pickups, the guitar doesn't 'scream', there's no 'punch' and there isn't much clarity either, there's just a subdued 'twang' but still fine for anything below an intermediate player.

Lastly for the cons, the 'charcoal grey' has a green tint to it, kind of like what you see in some photographs before you use auto-white balance or colour correct in editing, this can be seen in video reviews.

In conclusion, I have been very exacting in this review I am aware but these are all things that are nice to know before you buy and having said that you will most likely be satisfied with this guitar, if it were from another manufacturer I could see it selling for €300 or maybe even €400 in stores (SS frets and locking tuners are trendy!). Overall, I love playing it, I just need to find new pickups for it.

I recommend listening to some HarleyBenton & Roswell Pickups Overdrive/Clean Sound Tests on YouTube to see both the real colour and hear the pickups WITHOUT too much distortion masking the sound.