Harley Benton R-457 Active SBK

I have this black beauty for 1 day now, so we will get to know each other more in the future.

The Good:
-very comfortable for playing both standing and sitting, no neck dive at all, good balance.
-made for metal, I agree with others that this is a bit too much for progressive, definitely does metal with no stress.
-Beautiful satin finish complete the feeling of metal guitar, be noted that satin finish cannot process your sweat like gloss finish so i immediately put a shinning spot on guitar body, which I'm fine with.
-Excellent quality control, I received the guitar in brand new shape, it survived shipping, no problems at all with electronics or body finish or truss rod or frets or neck, everything is functioning as it should be.

The Bad:
-too hot pickups, I mean more than what you can imagine, I didn't yet open the electronic plate, but I suspect the guitar is equipped with 500k pots which are too much for active pickups. the best way to play this guitar is to have the volume at quarter, then you will get good balanced metal tone. can live with it, maybe will swab it later with Seymour Duncan invader.
-the blackwood fretboard is too dry, i will try to lubricate it with lemon oil.
-Guitar tune stability is a bit concern to me, out of the box it was out of tune which is expected, but after a day of playing you need to re-tune it, not a big issue as it is fixed bridge and takes few minutes to get it back in tune but consider changing the tuners if that will annoy you.
-Definitely you will need to change the strings which I was prepared for and got myself GHS 58-9 and tuned it to dropped A with no issues.

Conclusion:
So, is it good project for mod? yes. Can you still use it the way it is? still yes, but it comes down to your level of perfection needs. for me, I'm happy with this guitar more than some other 800 Euro guitars and totally recommend it.

Yeah, it would be an easy assumption that this is being reviewed in the realm of one of those guys that likes to layer grotesque levels of distortion and gain, nearly making any notes being played as an aside to the general visceral assault on the listener's eardrums. But, I assure you that's but one mere facet of the capabilities that this well crafted guitar has to offer.
I honestly truly enjoy the feel of the slim neck and its comfortable fret board layout. I would say that for lead work it would require some rather dexterous & nimble tiny fingers, but I am a bass player with the opposite of the aforementioned phalanges. It does still feel rather comfortable to play on, unlike some other guitars that make me feel more like Tiny Tim rocking a ukulele.
The active pickups definitely give the edge to the tone which helps with the overall tonal definition when playing a dizzying flurry of notes, but it manages a nice level of sustain when more subtlety is called for.
The neck pick up selection brings a smooth warm tone which is surprisingly rich, yet not too domineering in the low-end spectrum, which too often tends to create a steaming pile of audio excrement when not put in check.
All in all, you simply cannot find anything at such a price that will give you as clear and nuanced of tones, well constructed & at a price that makes you second guess whether or not you are reading the numbers correctly.

I was looking for my first 7 string just to play around with and see if I could get into them and I didnt want to break the bank, this was my first order from Harley Benton and it totally outperformed my expectations!

Out of the box it looks amazing, the finish is top quality, no noticeable imperfections. Setup right out of the box was great, just lowered the action a little but other than that it's perfect!

The pickups are reallllly hot, like other reviews have said, you wont have an easy time getting a clean undistorted tone out of this unless you turn the volume down to about 50% on the guitar, even when you want crazy distortion it's a little much, you'll need to dial back your gain on the amp or the volume knob on the guitar, but once you find that sweet spot it sounds amazing!

For the price of the guitar I honestly can't believe the quality, would definitely recommend!