Harley Benton R-458BK Fanfret

Use Case:
I would consider this guitar a novelty for an intermediate player. I personally wouldn't give one of these to a beginner because it will give them false impressions of how an 8 string/multiscale instrument can be utilized. I think it would mislead a beginner in their early learnings. I believe anyone who considers themselves proficient at playing guitar would laugh at the quality of the instrument, and happily invest the few hundred extra to buy into multiscale/8 strings at a level with more reliable hardware and construction. That leaves a small window, in my opinion, of this being appropriate only for intermediate players that have no reason to buy an instrument with these features but want to try it out.

It would generally apply to anyone that this is an excellent feature set for the price, but I would highly recommend that if you're a beginner looking for a new guitar to buy something that's known to be reliable and quality built. In the long run it will serve you better than this. Advanced/professional players looking for a deal, this is probably going to need a full hardware/electronics upgrade(pending preference and ears..) and a setup at the end of it all so put aside a few extra hundred if you really think you want this...or check out established manufactures offerings in the same price range and have a more sound investment...

My purchase:
My example showed up in a timely manner even with them constantly being out of stock. Packaging was on par with most guitar shipments in my experience. Out of the box there was small cosmetic blemishes to the paint on the body and the headstock. One of the height adjustment screws on one of the saddles was mangled for some reason. Besides the bare metal being unsightly on a black saddle/instrument, it was just broken hardware on a brand new instrument. The nut is not shaped to the neck. Not sure if they're just mass manufactured and no one takes the 5 minutes to file them to shape or if my example is just a lemon. None of the frets were seated completely/correctly along the entire neck. The neck pocket wasn't cut well. Fair bit of play on either side left by an uneven cut, presumably by a dull bit. Both potentiometers on had bent shafts on arrival. One of the knobs had an anodizing(or whatever the process may be) error and was just silver across a significant section of it. None of the string ferrules are secured in the body in any fashion. They fall out as soon as string tension is released.

All of that said, the fretwork was rather impressive for an instrument in this price range and the setup out of the box isn't bad. As others noted, there is little to no fret-bite, the edges of the fretboard have a small roll and were dressed very nicely for this price range. Given the issues with the neck pocket, nut and damaged saddle, they somehow managed to get the strings on straight and get a respectably low action out of it. However, my example arrived with dead strings and frets that needed to be cleaned. Appeared as if it had been sitting around for sometime. Makes me wonder about the stocking issues they 'seem' to have.... The neck has a very comfortable 'slim D' style carve. Very reminiscent of an ibanez or a legator but with just a bit more shoulder meat. All of the listed specs are true in my findings. Wood, measurements, construction, etc. For my expectations the tuners aren't going to cut it but I'm sure some people would say ''they're fine." I imagine a gentle fingered bedroom player might get away with using the tuners but I like to chug/bend/squeal and these things tuners cant take it. The bridge seems functional for now but I can tell you its made from pretty cheap alloy looking at my damaged saddle..time will tell how it stands up. Not looking forward to dealing with upgrading the individual bridge pieces(praying they copied someone's screw pattern). I think others have covered the pickups pretty well but I'll chip in that with enough equipment/tone shaping options, I think the pickups can be usable enough to noodle *while you wait for fluences to show up* lol..

Customer service:
The issues I had with my example were eventually addressed by thomann after a very lengthy email conversation and several phone calls. They offered to engage in a return/exchange process but they also confirmed my shipment was not b-stock and didnt seem to think the damage or hardware issues were irregular or anything to worry about. It took a significant amount of contact to get in touch with someone who understood the issues.

Pros:
-feature set at price point(that's why we're all here GASing right?)
-acceptable upgrade platform if that's your thing

Cons:
-poor construction
-damaged on arrival
-lack luster, low quality hardware
-obvious QC issues

Conclusion:
While I imagine this review sounds fairly negative. I will add that I have already purchased another one(but the white with maple fretboard). I am curious to further assess the variation in QC and will update my review (and/or amend a note to the review on the listing for the white model) once it arrives.

I wish to make it clear that I am only satisfied with the product and have purchased another one because I am capable of doing the work to it myself and because I have reasonable expectations for the limitations of the instrument. Also, the second one is for a relative that is also capable of doing the work himself and has reasonable expectations for the instrument. For the money, its a multiscale neck and a body already punched out for you and the quality is just good enough that if you know how to put the work into it, it can be an acceptable practice instrument or multiscale/8 string entry point.

All of this is my opinion and surely there's variation in units. Please take it all with a grain of salt.

TL;DR If the money isn't a thing to you, this things pretty cool for small bucks. If this purchase needs to make sense and be a sound investment, keep shopping. Its a fun novelty instrument and can be a passable practice instrument with a good bit of work.