Harley Benton MR-Classic BK

I bought the MR Modern version a while back, which has higher specification. This one gets close in terms of quality.

I'm a home player, intermediate, I don't own any high end guitars or amps, but I have owned several HB guitars and can compare in that ecosystem.

Fretwork:- frets needed a small polish. The play is generally comfortable.

Finish:- Very good, few minor scratches and dings in paintwork, nothing to worry about

Tuners- they are kind of a non-locking version on what is on the MR modern version. They hold tune ok but are a little imprecise and do jump occasionally.

Pickups:- I have owned a harley benton JA-60 with roswell P90s, and an SC 450 p90 GT with generic P90s, and these artec p90s beat both of those. The in between position sounds great. The bridge has more treble, without any shrillness.

Weight: I haven't weighed it. It is lighter than my copy of the MR modern, lighter than my TE-52. It's by no means super heavy, but I play sitting down so that's not usually an issue for me.

Action and playability: This guitar came with a fair bit of neck relief. I prefer a straight neck. I will adjust it but I think it will need a proper setup from my guitar tech. The action out of the box is higher than I'd like. The bridge leans forward slightly (as others have noted), don't know if this is a design feature or not, will update after my guitar tech sees it.


Update:-
Brought it for a setup to my guitar tech. He put a shim in the neck pocket as the action couldn't be lowered any further using the truss rod or bridge. Now the action is great- this was a quick, easy and cheap adjustment

He polished the frets, now they are smooth and feel great in play.

He filed two nut slots (again this needs to be done on nearly every guitar I've bought). The nut description says graphite, but he reckoned it was Graphtec.

These are all pretty standard adjustments and were reasonably priced.

He was very impressed with the pickups and his final word on the guitar "It's a keeper".

In summary, this guitar plays well above its price point. Most guitars, unless they are custom shop, high end, will need and benefit from a good setup, and I've learnt over the years that you need to factor it into your buying decision. If you're buying a 150 euro guitar, then an extra 40-60 (the average I spend) for a setup, might seem like a lot, but it's well worth it.

The MR classic and the MR modern I purchased previously are two of the best Harley Benton guitars I've bought at any price. Buy one, get it setup and you will love it.

Pros: P90 pickups, low cost and quirky shape/ design.

Cons: Pickups sound a bit cheap (which could be a pro depending on your genre). The levels coming out of them are quite imbalanced compared to other guitars. If you switch between pickups you need to totally adjust the volume levels. Not an issue for recording, but for live it could be a pain.

It is really not the smoothest guitar neck to play in terms of overall feel of frets. Sometimes soloing can kind of hurt higher up the neck.

It's essentially a budget quality guitar with P90 pickups in it. If you wanted a better pickup sound, then IMHO this is not the guitar to buy to modify. It'd be better to smarter to pay for a higher grade guitar ( for better playability), then swap the pickups in that.