Harley Benton Aeolus Frost Flame

I play music in several bands, and this review is based on three gigs I had this weekend.

Aeolus looks stunning. I have the frosted flamed version and it really looks classy. The maple veneer tops looks like real maple, color fading is smooth, and the roasted neck really compliments the look. I would only prefer neck inlays to be block instead of dots. Smaller chrome logo looks better than any other previous version, and I like the “a” logo on the headstock. If you are picky don't look at the soundholes. Guitar interior looks unfinished and f holes edges are not smooth.

Playability wise, guitar is set up perfectly, intonation is impeccable and 10 gauge strings feel smooth and easy to bend.

Sound is the most important thing to me and Aeolus really delivers. I was wondering how guitar will behave with overdrive on loud stage – I feared uncontrolled feedback, and presumed single-coil splitting will be useless, but I am happy to report both of those concerns proved to be unfounded. When I played guitar at home I instantly loved the neck pickup but bridge pickup did not impress me; I though it sounded thin and uninspiring.
Playing guitar live showed its true sound capabilities: neck pickup is just stellar in any combination – humbucking mode allows full clean sounds and singing smooth overdriven sound (but not woolly or muddy), and single coil mode really matches the good single coil tone I get from my strats. Really impressed here – I believe this is not only due to pickups but this is a maple/maple neck guitar, and the string length is between Strat and Les Paul, so I presume this contributes to tone.
Bridge pickup really thumps well with overdrive. When used with high gain sound I needed to be careful and not stand close to the wedge monitor to avoid feedback, but it is important to say the feedback was controllable and in-pitch. It was not the uncontrollable squealing I feared.

I really like the neck satin feel. Stainless steel frets are well done, but the fretboard was dry when I received the guitar. After a week of playing (and three sweaty gigs), it lost the dry feel and scratching sound of strings rubbing the fretboard.
One thing I don’t like about the neck is the profile: this is a thick, chunky C profile. It is quite substantial and since I have small hands this is challenging for me. After a couple of all-night gigs (7-8 hour sets) my left hand felt really tired. At the end of second night I had to switch to a superstrat – what a relief for my left hand! Players who prefer thick necks will like this chunky profile.

There is just one complaint: I broke the first string during the third song of the gig. This almost never happens to me. After the set I was replacing it with a fresh string – and it broke again immediately, at the same spot – right at the locking tuner! So, I guess the Grover locking tuners might have sharp edges of the locking mechanism. ☹ I then replaced it with a thicker gauge string (011), and it did not break again. Yet…

Overall, this is a really good instrument for any price range and a ridiculously great value.

I wanted a single cut semi-hollow with modern features and this guitar delivers. Roasted maple neck, stainless frets, locking tuners and an excellent pair of Korean pickups.
My Frost Flame is two dozen away in serial number from the one shown in the pictures and shows the individuality of each instrument. Mine has a very soft bottom colouration, with striping that shows in limited angles and would pop more with some oil or other treatment.
One outstanding modern capability is the rear panel access, which is odd for Semi-Hollow, but this gives you the ability to modify or maintain easily. The missing piece of visual puzzle, there is no "curtain" to hide the view of the internal guts of the cables and pots, but this is a very small price to pay to for all that you get.
Mark my words, this is a wonderful new way to build a Semi-Hollow guitar and HB now has a perhaps the most modern implementation.