Harley Benton R-446 Blood Metallic

Harley Benton has been lately dropping some bomb instruments.
I have quite a collection of them + other brands that I can easily compare.
This for example its very very similar to the Ibanez RGA42EX-BAM.
Neck its pretty thin. Not as thin as the wizard neck from ibanez, but not much different also. almost identical.
Ultra comfortable at the hand.

PICK UPS: this is where they step up their game. As also an owner of a 446 with floyd rose (previous model) this pick ups are high output and can be felt with a bit of gain. More if you add an overdrive to the amp's gain.
Low response its also there and quite delicious for some chugs, yet the mids are very juicy. very present.
Cleans are very well rounded. This artec pick ups do deliver.
Previous model was not really well rounded and had too much high output, but this ones are the ones

The switch has a very interesting and usefull selction as you can use the bridge in single coil, both as humbucker, both as single coil and obviously bridge and neck alone.
I find the single coil neck reduces the gain on it at the point that using them on a clean channel, dont bring that distorted humbuckerish sound as if the amp its at the limit of breaking the clean tone.

Tuners are beyond usable. I have this guitar tuned to C standard with strings 12 - 60 and so far (of course after stretching them) havent had any major tuning problem. Tuning pegs are responsive at the point that Im not worried on updating them to locking tuners as I thought I would.

Fixed bridge its also a plus. since I have this guitar tuned quite some tones down, I had to intonate the guitar and the screws were really smooth when turning.

I dont know how else to describe this instrument, but a pretty good deal.
I,ve got the red and the pink one just to compare, and although the pink one its VERY pretty, the metallic red had something too appealing.

To add something else, the majority of the fret edges are decently filed by default. just 1 could be better filed, but not even enought to cause discomfort while playing, just there you would notice if you are looking for it. Obviously no dead frets on mine.

This guitar worth everything and more for the price they are asking for it. 100%

This guitar is fantastic. This guitar feels like my Jackson with a radius around 16". A super flat board, light, and great pickups for being this inexpensive. I do fret leveling/crowning/builds/wiring/etc, and while the guitar needed very minor tweaks to get it perfect, it's right up there with my high-end guitars. Honestly, most players wouldn't even notice without a fret rocker.

For example, I own a Solar ATG 1.6 that I ordered directly from Solar. The fretwork was absolutely unacceptable and it was fairly expensive. It was unplayable for anything other than chords with a lot of distortion, certainly nothing nuanced due to such bad fretwork, so much so that it needed a complete fret level and dress. Let's give the Solar ATG a 1/10. My PRS, we'll give that fretwork a 10/10. This guitar's fretwork is a 9/10. Stellar, and for the price point. Truly remarkable.

If you have any interest in learning to work on guitars, learning fretwork, swapping electronics, etc, what a great candidate instrument. There's no reason this can't be your favorite guitar. It feels right, sounds great, and you're getting a great guitar for the money. If you're a beginner and want to begin on the right foot, buy this guitar. Also, get the ABS case.

The blood red finish makes you want to say "Wow" - it really does. The finish is excellent. I have 3 HB guitars and they are all excellent. The paint finish on this is not perfect but the only issues are a very small blemish in the paint under the laquer (but it is just a small dot) and on the rear around a couple of the neck bolt holes the paint around the edge is a little rough (but it is on the rear so you'll never really see it). Overall the paint work on the body is stunning. The fretboard needs oiling and the frets are a little scratchy but that is easily and cheaply dealt with. The PU rings are a little warped - I think that the holes in the rings and on the body don't match exactly but again I think that can be easily resolved. I think that for a £125 guitar it is amazing. The rest of the hardware is fine. The setup out of the box was fine but I did need to raise the string height just a little for my preferences. Overall, it is amazing value for money. I bought it just so I can "throw" it in the back of the car when I go on holiday or I am staying overnight in a hotel whilst away on business and not have to worry about damaging it rather than taking more expensive guitars with me but actually, it is so nice I will make sure I look after it.

Hi,
ich habe die Gitarre in rot und grün bestellt. Sehr früh nach Erscheinen und ohne viel über sie gelesen zu haben.
Ich wollte günstige Gitarren für meine Söhne, damit sie endlich ein eigenes Instrument haben und hoffentlich mal motiviert sind mehr zu üben.

Die Gitarren kamen sicher verpackt und wie gewohnt schnell an.
Nach dem Auspacken gleich gesehen, dass der Lack tadellos ist. Die Farben sind richtig gut, strahlen und kommen sehr kräftig rüber.

Klinkenbuchse, Mechaniken, Toneregler und 5-Wege-Schalter sitzen fest und bedienen sich mit angenehmen Widerstand.

Nach dem obligatorischen, groben Stimmen der Saiten, war ich erst etwas erschrocken, weil die Bundreinheit noch nicht eingestellt war und kein Akkord oder Powerchord sauber klingen wollte.
Habe mich dann aber hingesetzt und Saitenhöhe und Bundreinheit eingestellt und voila: unverstärkt klangen beide gut.

Dann am Verstärker angespielt und war sehr zufrieden.

Der 5-Wege-Schalter und die Klang- und Volumeregler erlauben tatsächlich viele Soundvariationen.

Ich bin noch viel am ausprobieren aber zu diesem Preis absolut zufrieden! Ehrlich.