Harley Benton R-457MN WH MultiScale

I'll start this off by saying, I really do love the way this guitar looks. It makes me want to pick it up and riff on it. and it's fun! I've never owned a multi scale guitar before so this was a nice entryway into it. It definitely holds better tuning that my standard BC rich 7 string. which is nice.

But the drawbacks are setting it up. The fret ends we razor sharp so I had to go through and dress the fret ends myself as well as re-polish the frets. They were pretty dull out of the box. Also, maybe because mine went through customs to get to the US, but the box that the guitar box was shipped in had a hole in it and the guitar box inside was not held together with tape. but that's not really a Thomann issue. But last con I'll say is the pickups are a little dull sounding compared to the bc rich I previously had where those pickups were HOT. But I'm fine with how these sound for now but will probably replace them later based on my own preferences. but the pickup cavities had a weird black sharpie line around them... not sure why....

Pros are a lot. The guitar looks KILLER in person. I love it. It is so comfortable to hold and play. The body feels nice to play (both the heel contour and the body contour around the edges too). The bridge is individual string ones so if one of those ever broke or you wanted to change them then replacements are easy to find. the volume, tone and 3 way switch are convenient and out of the way. It feels intuitive and nice.

I really enjoy this guitar a lot and plan on keeping this in mind when I get another guitar. I bought this for better tuning stability and intonation than a tradition fretted 7 string and it is holding up.

I love this guitar! It looks and plays great and at that price you won't find much better than that. Best thing about it is that I could not decide between the 7 string and the 8 string - so I got both! As a South African, I am not used to having nice things, so I enjoy everyone sobbing in awe when I show off this beast and I ignore the comments from people saying that the fan frets looks like it melted in the African sun.

The quality build of the guitar is great and the fretboard is a joy to play! The guitar also has great action and was set up really nice right out of the box. The pickups are a bit muddy and lacking that "pure 7 string hate and destruction" sound, but the pickups can always be upgraded later.

The tuning stability is not bad - it won't just let you down while you are playing, but I keep a tuner around just in case.

Overall, I would vouch for this guitar. I have a lot of fun with it and I will definitely check out more stuff from Harley Benton.

Thanks Thomann!

Ok, So besides the 2 month wait for the guitar to finally come, as it was out of stock, I expected some things to be off, but boy was I surprised.

Let;s start with the Pros:
-Pickups sound decent
-Body is well built, guitar feels very solid

Now the Cons:
-Scratchy frets, but not one or two...all of them.
-Came badly set up, a bit too much front-bow
-White paint on the bridge pieces
-Pickups can not be height adjusted. The adjustment screws are seized.
-Nut was not slotted correctly
-Tuners are horrible. Can't hold tune at all
-Even though it is a 27" scale on the low string, the string itself still feels sloppy.

Two more things for your consideration:

- On the UK website when I bought it, it said it came with active pickups, they are actually passive pickups.

-Honestly even though I found a QC sticker from factory and a note of QC from Thomann, I suspect someone is not doing their job well.

All in all for the price and strictly as a "Mod platform" it is an amazing buy. Just make sure yours doesn't feel like a lower B-stock when buying new.

I bought this guitar almost as a joke during quarantine, but as soon as I plugged it in I realised the joke was on me.
It sounded really tight and crunchy right out of the box, way better than I expected. The frets were all perfect, not a single imperfection in the fit and finish of the instrument. If I didn't know any better I could have said it was a 600€ guitar or more.
The features are unseen in any other guitar of this price range, and for the price I'm actually really impressed.
The tuners aren't great, the nut is kinda cheap and the pickups aren't extremely clear, but none of those components are as bad as the price would make you believe. I'm putting locking tuners on it and that's about it. The pickups sound really nice and wouldn't justify spending more on an upgrade than the cost of the actual guitar. The nut can be replaced for cheap, but I just filed it and lubed it and it's much better now.
If you are unsure if you're gonna like 7 strings or multiscale it's the perfect guitar to try out, because if you do like it you'll gladly keep it.

Came with VERY scratchy fretboard, the action was high and the nut needs some rounding because it's like a spear. The worst thing though were the screws for the truss rod cover...WHO THE F*CK AND WITH WHAT THE F*CK DID YOU SCREW THEM??? THE FIRST TWO UNSCREWED BY A MIRACLE AND THE LAST ONE JUST WONT COME OF. IT DOESN'T TURN. WTF AM I SUPPOSED TO DO ABOUT THIS WITHOUT HURTING THE WOOD OR THE FINISH???????

Apart from the last part the guitar came in a bit better condition than expected...
Fkcs sakes Thomann...at least do a proper qc and you ll get even more sales. How is this so hard to understand

Where to begin? like many others I was apprehensive about such an affordably priced item that's in the same category as those that cost many times more.

I have been pleasantly surprised by this instrument. Out of the box the glossy finish is immaculate save for a few spray buildups on the sharp corners around the neck pocket of the body and inside the pickup routes, hardly noticeable unless you really look closely. The controls and pickups feel and sound pretty good, smooth pots and switch and no scratchy signal. Would make a nice bed for some upgrades though.

The intonation and action of the strings does need some work but thats not uncommon for any new guitar out of the box. The strings are buzzing in a few places and a couple of the frets are slightly high, but there weren't any sharp ends that I could feel.

To summarise, it looks and feels the part and only needs some routine setup work to get it playing really well. I'm very impressed with the value for money here.

As my first 7 string fanfret i can confirm this is a great guitar if you want to try multiscales.
I have small hands but it's not a big problem.You need to do some stretching on the first frets.
When it came,it needed obviously a setup.
The fretwork was not perfect because some frets were not in the same height but after setup it plays with a very low action.
It's not the lightest instrument and the neck isn't the slimmest but you need some time to get used to it.
I changed the tuning pegs to locking tuners and it's much easier to change strings.
I haven't had any problems with the pickups, they're pretty good..
Palm muting takes some time too.
Overall it's a great guitar for the price and i recommend it!

Bought Feb 2019
Hardware quality:
* As expected on a guitar of this price.
* The pickups work well, though might be muddy for some
* The tuners are acceptable but need occasional tuning between days.
* The nut is ok - needed a little graphite.
* Controls worked well.

Playing:
* The neck is buttery smooth and is the right profile for making the most of the fan frets and full range.
* The body exposes the 24th fret really easily and as a newcomer to 7 strings it all felt fluid to play.

QC:
The frets had a lot of buzzing - and the fret edges needed dressing. 5 frets needed filing to fix the buzz, and they felt rough to bend on.

There's a grounding issue - popping the cover off the back showed only partial coating with shield paint but no conductivity. The strings don't seem to be grounded, though there *is* a grounding wire.

Conclusion:
The guitar is a pleasure to play, but QC issues marred it and it required effort to bring the frets up to a reasonable level.