Harley Benton R-458 BK Progressiv Series

I have never got this much guitar for such a ridiculously low price before! Insane value guitar! I love it to bits already and ive only played it for 3 hours!

First off i wanna say that i own quite a few Harley bentons and i do love the brand. Thomann has single handedly made my dream of getting to own and get inspired by multiple instruments a reality. Most guitarists do not have thousands of moneyz to buy an arsenal of axes by the big brands. We need quality guitars for a humane price. Nothing embodies that like Harley bentons!

First off the guitar arrived flawless and perfectly setup three days after checkout. It has a beautiful fingerboard with immaculate frets and fretends. Tuners work great and the nut is expertly slotted. Action is as low as an 8-string allows and the pickups just great sounding. There not a dead note to be found throughout the neck and not even the slightest buzz even on the lowest strings.

Compaired to the Sc-7 which is the single cut fan fretted 7-string from HB this has a more modern and aggressive voicing of the pickups. The sc-7 on the other hand is a bit darker and vintage voiced. Now you can of course play the most gut smeared death metal on the sc-7 aswell but it can also deliever tones of the 70s hard rock. The R-458 progressiv bleeds metal and even though you could find sweet tones of less gain with it if you dial it in via your amp or pedals, its high gain and terrifying it shines the most.

The only thing negative i can say is that the toneknob doesnt work all that well. But to solder in a solution for that costs 5 euro and 10 minutes of your life so its forgiveable. Also there is a slight half a millimeter gap on the right side in the neck joint but it doesnt feel wobbely and it still keeps in tune very good.

Do not doubt to buy this one if it peaks your interest. Its phenomenal for its price and i would choose it over an Ibanez R-series every time! Metal on! \m/

Out of the box, I was amazed at it at first because of how nice all the frets felt. No sharp ends at all. After changing out the strings I plugged it in and was immediately drawn to the neck position and middle position. Bridge position sounds very thin and gritty and there was a little bit of grime on the fretboard but not too much. A little bit of plastic shavings around the nut but that was also easily removed.

Tip: for a good chugging setting, put the selector in the middle and slightly lower the volume.

Weight of it was very even, not much balancing problem for me at least. The negatives on this guitar are the electronics. The pickups sound very muddy, but that is to expect from a guitar at this range but I was still pleasantly surprised at how much it could clean up.

For my first 8 string guitar, this was a very good choice as it's solid for the price it's at. Hell, I'm pretty sure it can challenge some guitars that are more expensive.

To close off, a short pro/con list
Pro:
Build quality
Neck
Price
Con:
Pickups and pickup selector
Tuners
Plastic nut

This guitar is very good, better than many other guitars in this price range. It is best for people who want to try an 8 string for the first time. If you have a bit bigger budget and want a better 8 string I would get one with a longer scale length. The pickups are good enough for high output distortion. All around a 'good enough' guitar.

Pros:
The price
Lightwieght
Feels good to play
Looks good on the outside.
robust volume and tone knobs.

Cons:
Short scale length for low tunings, floppy low strings.
Fragile looking internals.
Bridge makes it annoying to restring.
Need special pickup frames for changing pickups.