# Are the cheap Harley Benton guitars too good to be true?



## Zalbu (Jun 4, 2019)

I'm normally a superstrat guy but I want to branch out and pick up a Tele and possibly a SSS guitar, along with a 5 string bass and seven string, and I don't really want to spend more money than I have to if I end up not liking the specs or guitar. Last guitar I bought was a seven string with a 25.5 inch scale and Evertune, two specs that I couldn't get along with no matter how much I tried, and had to end up selling it.

I'm going to spend a bit more money on the seven since Harley Benton doesn't really have many good sevens, but they have a truckload of Teles and Strats and other Fender and Gibson copies. And if I get a cheap guitar and it isn't firewood then I can always upgrade it with locking tuners and better pickups and things like that.

Harley Benton guitars go for as low as €99 on Thomann, I haven't bought a new guitar since like 2013 and back then it was almost unthinkable to buy a guitar for less than about €5-600 unless you were shopping for firewood. But from what I've read the cheapo guitars are starting to become pretty good for the price since the automation process is becoming better and better and fewer lemons are leaving the factory.

And yes, I know you can get good guitars for cheap from the big names when you buy used, but not as low as €99 and the used market where I live is small and I have this weird fascination with cheap guitars.

I'll probably spend anywhere around €300 each on the guitars, but I'm interested to hear if anybody here have tried the guitars in the €100-250 range and if they're actually any good or not.


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## ittoa666 (Jun 4, 2019)

I’d assume that if Thoman sells them, they’re at least playable. I’d look into reviews on them before pulling the trigger


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## bouVIP (Jun 4, 2019)

I have the like $200 fanfret 8 string. I was actually blown away at how good it was for the price. It was honestly on par build wise of the $600 Jackson fanfret 8 I played. Obviously the pickups and parts aren't the best, but the bridge on mine is fairly solid. Fretwork wasn't that bad either. The fret ends aren't perfectly smooth, but that's to be expected.

Only complain is the roseacre fretboard feels really dry which should be fixed when I oil it.


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## Konfyouzd (Jun 4, 2019)

I watched a guy play one of the fanned 8s in Guitar Center the other day. The finishes aren't great all the time, but he seemed to really enjoy playing it and I just kind of held it for a bit (didn't actually play it) and for what I found the prices out to be, they feel damn nice.


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## Dekay82 (Jun 5, 2019)

If you ask the youtubers that get them for free they're better than a Gibson R9 and will let you fuck Harley Benton's sister.


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## Zalbu (Jun 5, 2019)

Dekay82 said:


> If you ask the youtubers that get them for free they're better than a Gibson R9 and will let you fuck Harley Benton's sister.


Yup, that's a big reason for why I'm a bit skeptical of them, because of all the Youtube advertising of them. Same thing with Chapmans. But the Harley Bentons are so cheap that it doesn't really feel like there's much harm in trying, and I can always just donate it to some kid that wants to learn the guitar or something if it's not good enough for me.

Side note, that's also a big reason for why I ended up buying an Evertune guitar even though I have no need for one when I don't play gigs and rarely record stuff. Still a bit annoyed for failing for all that marketing, but at least I could make some of the money back by selling it.


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## Splenetic (Jun 5, 2019)

Nope, they're great for the money. I have a DC-Custom and an SC-Custom, they both surprised the fuck out of me.


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## zarg (Jun 6, 2019)

I had quite a few of them (~10 guitars) and they are pretty awesome for the price. I was really impressed by the Fusion Pro which is just loaded with Features for only 300€. You see some minor cosmetic defects here and there, they might need a bit of fret polishing and setup but otherwise - great guitars! I suggest looking at the Fusion Pro Models, they're the first HBs to be manufactured in Indonesia while others are China/Vietnam and there is a perceivable quality difference.
Now they are not a secret, overly amazing thing of wonders - just solid guitars for the money. Keep that in mind.


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## mnemonic (Jun 6, 2019)

I got the dirt-cheap 5 string bass recently, I think it’s a good bass for the price. “For the price” is the important part here.

If you’re happy to do some work on the instrument yourself, they’re a good buy. My bass had very sharp fret ends that needed to be filed down, it needed a full setup (action, neck relief adjustment, intonation, shimmed and drilled one saddle to fit a bigger low B, extra foam under the pickups since they were too low).

But apart from that, it was structurally sound. No warped wood, loose frets, etc. 

Bare in mind I’m not a bass player so if I bought a guitar from them I might have more critiques (for the price I can’t imagine electronics or pickups will be anything special).

If that sounds like work you don’t mind doing, then it’s a good buy. But if that’s too much for you, maybe look at a higher price range with better QC.


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## Zalbu (Jun 6, 2019)

zarg said:


> I had quite a few of them (~10 guitars) and they are pretty awesome for the price. I was really impressed by the Fusion Pro which is just loaded with Features for only 300€. You see some minor cosmetic defects here and there, they might need a bit of fret polishing and setup but otherwise - great guitars! I suggest looking at the Fusion Pro Models, they're the first HBs to be manufactured in Indonesia while others are China/Vietnam and there is a perceivable quality difference.
> Now they are not a secret, overly amazing thing of wonders - just solid guitars for the money. Keep that in mind.


Yup, I'm tempted to pick up one of the Fusion Pros because the specs and looks you get on it for €399 are nuts, but what's the trem like? I already have a HSH guitar with a trem and if I get another superstrat then I'd prefer for it to be a hardtail. Can you just remove the trem arm and it'll function the same as a hardtail? Because the trem seems to be a regular non-locking, string through body trem from what I can tell from the pictures.


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## Richter (Jun 6, 2019)

I had a Fusion HSH for a few weeks and the trem felt very stiff. Didn't play it much though


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## Crundles (Jun 6, 2019)

From what friends of mine have gotten, the Fusion and CST (PRS clones) are genuinely good; the fan-frets are good for the money, but might require some fretwork, a nut and tuners change etc etc, generally perfectly playable even out of the box; the sevens are somewhat hit-and-miss, especially the cheapest possible one. Noone I know has gotten any of the more extreme, spiky shapes, so no feedback there.

If you're in Europe, Thomann's customer service is pretty good, so if you get an firewood, you can just send it back and get another one until you like what you have.


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## Zalbu (Jun 6, 2019)

Crundles said:


> From what friends of mine have gotten, the Fusion and CST (PRS clones) are genuinely good; the fan-frets are good for the money, but might require some fretwork, a nut and tuners change etc etc, generally perfectly playable even out of the box; the sevens are somewhat hit-and-miss, especially the cheapest possible one. Noone I know has gotten any of the more extreme, spiky shapes, so no feedback there.
> 
> If you're in Europe, Thomann's customer service is pretty good, so if you get an firewood, you can just send it back and get another one until you like what you have.


Man, the more I look at the Fusions, the more tempted I get because they have exactly the specs and looks I want, like a Suhr or Tom Anderson but for a fifth of the price. But I'm not really a fan of owning multiple guitars that fulfills the same purpose since I already have a superstrat with a HSH and trem.

Getting a hardtail CST and making it a pseudo-Mark Holcomb sig with Alphas and Omegas in it could be interesting as well, but the pickups costs more than the guitar and they're short scale.


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## diagrammatiks (Jun 6, 2019)

Most of these cheaper guitars are quite good these days...with a caveat...

Are you willing to put some more money in to let it play it’s best. 

Almost every guitar nowadays can get really good with a decent full setup. By full I mean fret leveling and replacement if necessary. 

The other thing is that most of these guitars are setup to play fine under normal circumstances. I just bought a cheaper guitar that’s about the same level of oem as the Harley Bentons. 

Played fine at around 2mm to 1.6mm action with some neck relief. 

Dead frets everywhere at my preferred setup of almost no relief and 1-1.25mm action. 

But if your standards aren’t so strict you’d never notice.


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## Zalbu (Jun 6, 2019)

diagrammatiks said:


> Most of these cheaper guitars are quite good these days...with a caveat...
> 
> Are you willing to put some more money in to let it play it’s best.
> 
> ...


My standards are very low now, I have about 2mm action on the high E at the first fret and 4mm at the 12th fret because if I try to straighten the neck any more I get an ungodly amount of fret buzz at fret 1-3. And even then it still feels great to play on by my standards.


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## diagrammatiks (Jun 6, 2019)

Zalbu said:


> My standards are very low now, I have about 2mm action on the high E at the first fret and 4mm at the 12th fret because if I try to straighten the neck any more I get an ungodly amount of fret buzz at fret 1-3. And even then it still feels great to play on by my standards.



Are you secretly an acoustic player. If you’re comfortable playing like that you should be fine on anything.


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## Zalbu (Jun 6, 2019)

diagrammatiks said:


> Are you secretly an acoustic player. If you’re comfortable playing like that you should be fine on anything.


Nah, I've just been a bit too reckless with my guitar, letting it take one too many hits to the floor and been a bit too heavy handed when it comes to the setup. The weather here in Sweden doesn't do it any favors either, with warm summers and cold winters.

That's another reason for why I want to get a cheap guitar, I don't want to feel like I have to treat it with silk gloves if I end up buying something expensive that will risk getting smashed up.


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## Zhysick (Jun 6, 2019)

With that seasonal changes you might want to try that fusion pro with the roasted maple neck. It is supposed to have more stability against seasonal changes.

Today I'm looking like a Thomann representative... I'm not. I swear.

I own a 7 string fannned fret I don't want anymore but I don't want sevens anymore so... It's a good guitar for the price. Mine got some bad frets. I leveled them a d played the hell out of it. Changed pickups and sounds massive now (blackout neck 81-7 bridge). Neck profile is comfortable even for a Strat neck style lover like I am.

Good shit for the money and I am very very tempted in the Fusions...just waiting for a hard tail one.


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## zarg (Jun 7, 2019)

Zalbu said:


> Yup, I'm tempted to pick up one of the Fusion Pros because the specs and looks you get on it for €399 are nuts, but what's the trem like? I already have a HSH guitar with a trem and if I get another superstrat then I'd prefer for it to be a hardtail. Can you just remove the trem arm and it'll function the same as a hardtail? Because the trem seems to be a regular non-locking, string through body trem from what I can tell from the pictures.



yes, its like a Strat Trem with nicer saddles (on your palm). You can simply deck it by getting the springs pretty tight and it wont move. That's actually how I set it up on mine. I had two Fusion Pros at once at some time and honestly can't tell you how good the trem works since I just hardtailed it right away.

I attached some pictures of the ones I had for you to check out. I have a few more, shoot me a PM if you want to see a particular Part of the guitars. I'm actually really gassing for one again now after looking at the pictures. they both played so well, and the orange one was the one they used for the pictures on their website which is why I got this little booklet with it. On the action: I had about 1,5mm at the 12th on the low E and about 1,3mm on the high e with very little buzz

cheers!


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## Andromalia (Jun 9, 2019)

I see they still send the booklet with pics when you order the model they used for the site. ^^ (I have one for an Ibby bass)

Just wanted to comment @Zalbu: sounds like maybe a nut change could help you. From what you describe it could very well be your nut is cut too low for the strings you are using.


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## HeHasTheJazzHands (Jun 9, 2019)

I'm wary as fuck over them, but I'm not gonna lie, their PRS Custom clone, Fusion line, and the Pete Thorn ripoff look sweet.


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## AltecGreen (Jul 18, 2019)

With all of the Harley Benton hype, my curiosity finally got the better of me. I wanted to answer the same question that the OP posed. When the HP42 Oopsie guitar came out, I ordered one on a whim. The guitar ended up costing me about $300 after shipping. 

The guitar looks pretty nice from a distance and for the most part it tries to look like a much more expensive guitar. The main thing I would say is that the guitar came with a reasonable set-up and fret work. There was a clumsy attempt at rolling the frets. In practice the fretboard feels good and the crappy rolling did it's job but won't win any contests. The wiring is pretty bad and the parts are bargain basement. The nut is a disaster and would be the first thing I would change. On the other hand, the tuning stability has been ok. The P90 pickup has some character to it. In the end, this is a playable guitar. It aims to emulate a very high end guitar and the quality is a bit uneven. Some of the finish is really good like the faux binding. Other bits are clearly where they chose to save money. The important thing is that they did seem to concentrate on the neck and fretboard so the guitar is very playable out of the box. The action is a bit high but that's an easy fix. It can be greatly improved with some parts upgrade. I'm undecided whether it is worth the money to upgrade versus buying a more expensive used guitar. I'm not the best judge of inexpensive guitars. This HB guitar is cheaper than 80% of the pedals I have on my board.

The big selling point on many of the HB guitars is that they have features you won't find on other budget guitars (Squier, Epiphones, etc.). The guitar is not horrible. I got the information I needed about a P90 guitar and will probably buy something in the future. Now I have to figure out what to do with this. It's not something I would keep because it is never going to get played.

The nut




Passable fretwork




Some finish elements are nice




Minor issues




The wiring is pretty sketchy and there's a wiring issue.




Ok neck joint




Neck is comfortable but has a weird low spot in one location




The HB guitar and the rest of my guitars for comparison.


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## Ulvhedin (Jul 18, 2019)

I had the FanFret DLX six string (was 150euro maybe?), but I paid 200euro for it with BKP Ragnaroks and sold the guitar a few weeks later for what I paid with the stock pickups that came along with it.

All these things concerned, it was a really good guitar for the price. I wouldn't be afraid to get one, but I'd expect to do a little bit of work to it.

Pros:
It didn't feel like a silly cheap guitar. I got Indo vibes from it. Some flaws, but nothing that didn't justify the price.
Great neck carve. Felt like the Capa Horus I had. Either oiled or satin finished neck. (can't remember).
Somewhat smaller body and a nice light weight compared to an Ibanez RG (pro for me anyway).
Played great after some tweaking.
Sounded brutally good with BKPs. (never tried it with the stock pups)
Fretwork was fine and dandy.

Cons:
Nut was cut too deep on most strings, even at .60 gauge. (could've been the previous owner using some insane strings, so take this point with a grain of salt.)
Poking fret ends.
Tool marks on the fretboard and lazy attempts at fixing it.
Stock switch sometimes needed a few yanks to get into position.
The lacquer around the neck joint was kinda half-assed.


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## Musiscience (Jul 19, 2019)

AltecGreen said:


> With all of the Harley Benton hype, my curiosity finally got the better of me. I wanted to answer the same question that the OP posed. When the HP42 Oopsie guitar came out, I ordered one on a whim. The guitar ended up costing me about $300 after shipping.
> 
> The guitar looks pretty nice from a distance and for the most part it tries to look like a much more expensive guitar. The main thing I would say is that the guitar came with a reasonable set-up and fret work. There was a clumsy attempt at rolling the frets. In practice the fretboard feels good and the crappy rolling did it's job but won't win any contests. The wiring is pretty bad and the parts are bargain basement. The nut is a disaster and would be the first thing I would change. On the other hand, the tuning stability has been ok. The P90 pickup has some character to it. In the end, this is a playable guitar. It aims to emulate a very high end guitar and the quality is a bit uneven. Some of the finish is really good like the faux binding. Other bits are clearly where they chose to save money. The important thing is that they did seem to concentrate on the neck and fretboard so the guitar is very playable out of the box. The action is a bit high but that's an easy fix. It can be greatly improved with some parts upgrade. I'm undecided whether it is worth the money to upgrade versus buying a more expensive used guitar. I'm not the best judge of inexpensive guitars. This HB guitar is cheaper than 80% of the pedals I have on my board.
> 
> ...



How did it compare to the Regius?


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## InCasinoOut (Jul 20, 2019)

I remember someone here commenting on how Harley Benton guitars look like what if Agile copied Agile guitars (lol), and I have never been able to shake that thought because holy shit they do. I wouldn't be surprised if they were made in the same factory, but be wary about people blowing them out of proportion. I used to think my Agile Interceptor was the shit, but after owning and playing Prestiges and other professional-level guitars, they (Agile and presumably Harley Benton) are worth as much as they go for, not any more.


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## Andromalia (Jul 20, 2019)

They're rebranded stuff from somewhere, that "fusion" line of guitars was already sold under a different name.


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## Adieu (Jul 20, 2019)

AltecGreen said:


> With all of the Harley Benton hype, my curiosity finally got the better of me. I wanted to answer the same question that the OP posed. When the HP42 Oopsie guitar came out, I ordered one on a whim. The guitar ended up costing me about $300 after shipping.
> 
> The guitar looks pretty nice from a distance and for the most part it tries to look like a much more expensive guitar. The main thing I would say is that the guitar came with a reasonable set-up and fret work. There was a clumsy attempt at rolling the frets. In practice the fretboard feels good and the crappy rolling did it's job but won't win any contests. The wiring is pretty bad and the parts are bargain basement. The nut is a disaster and would be the first thing I would change. On the other hand, the tuning stability has been ok. The P90 pickup has some character to it. In the end, this is a playable guitar. It aims to emulate a very high end guitar and the quality is a bit uneven. Some of the finish is really good like the faux binding. Other bits are clearly where they chose to save money. The important thing is that they did seem to concentrate on the neck and fretboard so the guitar is very playable out of the box. The action is a bit high but that's an easy fix. It can be greatly improved with some parts upgrade. I'm undecided whether it is worth the money to upgrade versus buying a more expensive used guitar. I'm not the best judge of inexpensive guitars. This HB guitar is cheaper than 80% of the pedals I have on my board.
> 
> ...



What's that gorgeous yellow-and-maple superstrat?


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## Zhysick (Jul 20, 2019)

Adieu said:


> What's that gorgeous yellow-and-maple superstrat?



G Life... Daita's brand of guitars.

http://www.g-life-guitars.com/

Not cheap but beautiful for sure...


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## Adieu (Jul 20, 2019)

$2500 - 4000?

No kidding... what's a Daita?


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## Zhysick (Jul 20, 2019)

Adieu said:


> $2500 - 4000?
> 
> No kidding... what's a Daita?



He is a Japanese guitarist, former guitarist from Shiam Shade but playing solo from quite a while.


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## AltecGreen (Jul 20, 2019)

Musiscience said:


> How did it compare to the Regius?



Compared to the Regius, it's missing a string. 




Zhysick said:


> G Life... Daita's brand of guitars.
> 
> http://www.g-life-guitars.com/
> 
> Not cheap but beautiful for sure...



The guitar in the picture is specifically a G-Life DSG Life Ash/Trance Yellow. I didn't know who Daita was when I first discovered the brand. Yashiro, a female Japanese guitar player, was using one and I did a search for the brand. It's become my number one guitar. I'll probably sell the Regius and replace it with a G-Life seven string in the future.

It's an interesting comparison between the HB and the G-Life. On paper, the HB might seem to have more interesting specs and certainly looks the part from a distance. But once you hold and play each guitar, there is no comparison. It is the things you can't see and the attention to detail that sets them apart. No amount of modding of the HB will compensate for the much higher quality wood in the G-Life. I think that's true even between the G-Life and the Mayones. The G-Life and Regius both have ash bodies but the G-Life is much lighter, resonant, and lively than the Regius. 

The lesson to be learned is that specs and looks don't translate into a better guitar. Still the HB provides someone with limited funds a decent guitar with features that would otherwise cost much more. The HB is one tenth the price of the G-Life. I am fortunate and grateful to be in a position in life to afford these expensive guitars. 

As an aside, Daita is a walking advertisement for his own guitars. I think he changes guitar models and colors on every song during a set. The issue for him is that the G-0Life fans are less willing to buy a particular model if he doesn't play them live.


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## Zhysick (Jul 20, 2019)

AltecGreen said:


> Compared to the Regius, it's missing a string.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



I became a Daita fan before the G-Life launch and actually I prefer the Schecter aesthetics but I get what you mean. Specially knowing the kind of "fanatics" an artist in Japan gets... It's an amazing and weird country. I still believe that nobody is like the clichés might us think they are but all the people I know that have been there tells me the opposite...

Amazing country for sure.


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## jwguitar (Jul 21, 2019)

bouVIP said:


> I have the like $200 fanfret 8 string. I was actually blown away at how good it was for the price. It was honestly on par build wise of the $600 Jackson fanfret 8 I played. Obviously the pickups and parts aren't the best, but the bridge on mine is fairly solid. Fretwork wasn't that bad either. The fret ends aren't perfectly smooth, but that's to be expected.
> 
> Only complain is the roseacre fretboard feels really dry which should be fixed when I oil it.



200 dollars is pretty impressive for an 8 string. At that price if you wanted to buy yourself a set of EMGs and Grovers and get the fretends smoothed by a tech it might be well worth it.


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## Jeff (Jul 24, 2019)

Zhysick said:


> G Life... Daita's brand of guitars.
> 
> http://www.g-life-guitars.com/
> 
> Not cheap but beautiful for sure...



Awesome looking guitars. They'd benefit from firing their GeoCities-inspired web developer though.


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## Emperoff (Jul 24, 2019)

Harley Benton is a very well known "cheapo" brand in EU. Thomann is the biggest store in Europe, and harley Benton is one of their (dozens of) propietary brands. It's specially notorious for selling cabs with Celestions V30 cheaper than what the speakers actually cost.

As with all of their brands, they are very nice *for the price*. If you want quality, look elsewhere. Simple as that. I hear lots of people saying that after a setup, nut job, fret dress, yadayada, they're as good as guitars twice the price. 

Now let me tell you a secret: Same happens with the guitars twice the price.


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## Zalbu (Jul 26, 2019)

Man, I made this thread to ask specifically about their guitars at $200-250 and below, but now I'm gassing for one of the HSH Fusions with a roasted maple neck instead


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## Simeon (Aug 14, 2019)

I'd say they're pretty decent guitars, but just like everyone is saying, expect to do some work yourself. I got myself the TE-52 Vintage Tele style guitar just because I don't have a Tele, and I really wanted to kickstart my modding itch. The guitar came in a good condition, with an avarege setup and pretty ok playability out of the box. It's heavy as hell and has some annoying sharp fret ends. The tuners are cheap and the electronics are not great either. But for a guitar costing barely 140€ its good deal for a modding benchmark. It kinda reminded me of my first ever guitar I got in 2003, a super cheap start copy. But the quality of cheap instruments has become waaay better nowadays. I live in Denmark so there's the whole climate thing too, but mine has been holding up great.


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## Crundles (Aug 14, 2019)

On the other hand, they have sparkles now:

https://www.thomann.de/gb/harley_benton_fusion_ii_hh_roasted_ssp.htm
https://www.thomann.de/gb/harley_benton_fusion_ii_hh_eb_psp_pro_serie.htm


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## Jarmake (Aug 15, 2019)

Oh no... That purple sparkle one is calling me and whispering sweet things into my ear.


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## Surveyor 777 (Aug 15, 2019)

To reply to the thread title - no, they're not too good to be true. I bought one of the Fusion II HSH models. Got it a couple of weeks ago. I did my own setup on it (checked the nut, adjusted the truss rod, lowered the bridge). That's all the time I've had to spend with it so far, but I'm itching to play it. I have the action down as low as I possibly can and it seems like it's going to get the majority of my playing time (vs. my other guitars).

Had no problem with the fret ends - everything was smooth as I ran my hand up and down the edge of the fretboard. My frets were somewhere between Fender Strat size and Ibanez jumbo size, if that helps. The neck profile - to me it feels "C" shaped but nowhere near as thick as my Strat. I have an older Charvel Model A Plus (think that's the model name - it's the one in my avatar) which has my absolute favorite neck shape and this neck is between the Strat and Charvel. So the HB is familiar and comfy but not my favorite.

I have not had a chance to plug it in yet, to know how everything sounds and if everything works.

Overall, for the price - I would definitely do it again.

My only issue was with the tracking (for shipping). They had great updates while the guitar was in Europe and when it crossed over to the US, but after I was notified that the guitar got through the Customs area (or whatever it had to go through) in the US, then there were no more updates. It wasn't until the USPS person brought it through our door that I finally knew where it was.


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## ajsfreily (Aug 31, 2019)

Just did a sound test where I played the Harley Benton HB-35 (heavily inspired by the Gibson es335 ) side by side with a Gibson es335 (more) than 10 x times more expensive. 

You might be surprised by the results. 

Which one do you think sound better?


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## MatiasTolkki (Sep 1, 2019)

ajsfreily said:


> Just did a sound test where I played the Harley Benton HB-35 (heavily inspired by the Gibson es335 ) side by side with a Gibson es335 (more) than 10 x times more expensive.
> 
> You might be surprised by the results.
> 
> Which one do you think sound better?




I was right about the distorted sounds, i figured the HB was first. I actually think, for the price, skip over the shitty gibson and get an HB. They both sounded equally as good.


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## Zhysick (Sep 1, 2019)

I actually liked the tones of the HB more but I expected that as I don't like the Gibson's pickups... They sound too grainy to me. With different pickups...

Anyway, I have always thought that you get a better guitar to have better playability not just better sound (more stable neck thru climate changes, better finish, smoother necks, better leveled frets and we'll polished...)

The "cheap" guitars are getting a lot better in that and the expensive ones maybe a bit lazy in that aspect so the gap is not as big as before maybe...

Definitely the sound is not an issue nowadays. Cheap pickups sound fucking great.


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## ajsfreily (Sep 1, 2019)

MatiasTolkki said:


> I was right about the distorted sounds, i figured the HB was first. I actually think, for the price, skip over the shitty gibson and get an HB. They both sounded equally as good.



You got good ears man! Yeah, the HB is good value for the money, no doubt about it.


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## ajsfreily (Sep 1, 2019)

Zhysick said:


> I actually liked the tones of the HB more but I expected that as I don't like the Gibson's pickups... They sound too grainy to me. With different pickups...
> 
> Anyway, I have always thought that you get a better guitar to have better playability not just better sound (more stable neck thru climate changes, better finish, smoother necks, better leveled frets and we'll polished...)
> 
> ...



Yeah, I totally agree, cheap guitars getting a lot better, and it also put pressure on the big brands, that they can't just rely on old reputation, as the competition is getting tougher, so they can't be lazy without people noticing it.


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## MatiasTolkki (Sep 1, 2019)

ajsfreily said:


> Yeah, I totally agree, cheap guitars getting a lot better, and it also put pressure on the big brands, that they can't just rely on old reputation, as the competition is getting tougher, so they can't be lazy without people noticing it.



Now if only ibanez would tell those damn indonesians to stop making lemons, we'd be in good shape.


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## ajsfreily (Sep 2, 2019)

My experience with Indonesian made Ibanez's has been good, most of them. 

But of course they aren't Prestige models, but they are also more affordable.


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## Zalbu (Sep 8, 2019)

I think asking if these guitars are good was a bad idea because now I'm planning to buy like four different HBs because they're so cheap, a Fusion, PRS clone, White Falcon clone and Tele 

I'm going to give the PRS clone a shot first. I need to learn how to make proper guitar setups outside of just adjusting the truss rod and bridge, change pickups and do basic mods like installing locking tuners so a guitar that goes for only €200 is a good starting point.


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## astrocreep (Sep 8, 2019)

I've got a friends HB tele at the moment to give the frets some attention, heights are a little uneven at the moment so the lowest of actions isn't possible. The fret ends and everything else was ok. 

I bought a HB lefty fanned fret 7 and sadly had to send it back (which they made really easy) due to the edge of the fretboard being in a crap state which never should have got through any quality control.


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## Andromalia (Sep 9, 2019)

MatiasTolkki said:


> I was right about the distorted sounds, i figured the HB was first. I actually think, for the price, skip over the shitty gibson and get an HB. They both sounded equally as good.



I bought a HB semihollow ten years or so ago, it was pure crap, but the pickups sounded good. I guess it doesn't take much money to do a good sounding pickup. The luthiery has gone up over the years but their pickups being ok is nothing new.

About the sound check, B has my preference but it is noticeably louder than A so I don't think it's a valid comparison.


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## MatiasTolkki (Sep 9, 2019)

Andromalia said:


> I bought a HB semihollow ten years or so ago, it was pure crap, but the pickups sounded good. I guess it doesn't take much money to do a good sounding pickup. The luthiery has gone up over the years but their pickups being ok is nothing new.
> 
> About the sound check, B has my preference but it is noticeably louder than A so I don't think it's a valid comparison.



Well thats a good point, because the gibson has a p90 or something and the HB has a humbucker or something like that, and I already dont like single coils all that much to begin with, which is also probably why i like the HB sound more.


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## ajsfreily (Sep 10, 2019)

Zalbu said:


> I'm going to give the PRS clone a shot first. I need to learn how to make proper guitar setups outside of just adjusting the truss rod and bridge, change pickups and do basic mods like installing locking tuners so a guitar that goes for only €200 is a good starting point.



Did you check out my review of it? It is great guitar for the money! Just adjusted the string height, and it was good to go. But of course, if you want to mod it, it is perfect to do so because of the price.


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## ajsfreily (Sep 10, 2019)

Andromalia said:


> I bought a HB semihollow ten years or so ago, it was pure crap, but the pickups sounded good. I guess it doesn't take much money to do a good sounding pickup. The luthiery has gone up over the years but their pickups being ok is nothing new.
> 
> About the sound check, B has my preference but it is noticeably louder than A so I don't think it's a valid comparison.



Personally I have no experience with the old HB, but I heard that the HB guitars were quite bad back in the old days, and that it is a completely different guitar brand now days.

The HB I got is far from pure crap, I would say it is quite the opposite for the amount of money it cost. It is not a toy, it is a real guitar, but yes, a well sounding budget guitar.


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## Jarmake (Sep 12, 2019)

Not a guitar, but anyway... First impressions are great, I havent found a flaw yet and this thing is LOUD acoustically! 

https://ibb.co/QKWhxGz

Nbd in bass section of the forum.


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## GuitarMegaFan (Sep 15, 2019)

*HARLEY BENTON DC CUSTOM 612 DOUBLE NECK GUITAR DEMO!*

Harley Benton DC Custom 612 double neck electric guitar demo!
Relaxing music.
100% “shred free”!
Don't hesitate to LIKE, SUB and SHARE!


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## GuitarMegaFan (Feb 1, 2020)

Hello!
Come have a trip with me and my double neck guitar!


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## elkoki (Feb 1, 2020)

It'd be awesome if HB had a 7 string Fusion guitar with a trem... I'd be all over it


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## Snarpaasi (Feb 14, 2020)

Just bought a second hand Fusion trem HSH bengal burst that has Tonerider Generators. Have to say this thing is a fantastic guitar as such! Neck pocket is tight AF, neck profile is nicely beefier than my other HB, fret work is excellent and it weighs a bit less what I consider average. Most importantly, it rings pretty loud and resonates in hand. Where it falls a bit are few blemishes in the satin neck, most notably a full fingerprint  I don't care that much of finish flaws as long as it rings and plays nicely. NGD coming when have time to take pictures.


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## Splenetic (Feb 14, 2020)

At least you can identify the fucker who flubbed it and hunt em down to get your revenge.


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## Snarpaasi (Feb 15, 2020)

Malevolent_Croatian said:


> At least you can identify the fucker who flubbed it and hunt em down to get your revenge.



True! Except at the cost I'd rather enjoy six more HBs and a pack of Corona on a saturday evening than track him down somewhere in China.


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## Zalbu (Feb 15, 2020)

I actually did end up getting a HSH Fusion with the roasted maple neck a couple of weeks back and it surprised me with how nice it feels, I agree fully with what @Snarpaasi said. The build doesn't have any flaws as far as I can tell, no dead spots on the fretboard and nice fretwork. 

The neck is just a tad too chunky for my tastes but that's just a matter of opinion and I'm used to playing my Ibanez RG neck, and the pickups aren't fantastic for higher gain tones but that's something to be expected on cheap guitars and something that I planned on replacing anyways.

I'm really happy about this because I've been looking for a HSH superstrat that is less geared towards metal, like my Ibanez RG, for a while and it's been basically impossible to find below the $1000 price tag. 

Pretty much the only company I've seen that offers guitars like this below $2000 is Charvel, and if I wanted a guitar with the specs on the Fusion I'd have to grab a Suhr or Anderson or something similar to that. Fender have their Player Series Strats but they're 22 frets for some reason.

Has there really been this little demand for superstrats like these, even in HH, that aren't primarily geared towards metal and have Strat style non-locking trems, that barely anybody are offering them below $1000?

I recently saw that they added a Fusion HH Tele just a few months ago as well which I'm interested to pick up to use for more jazz and lower gain stuff.

https://www.thomann.de/gb/harley_benton_fusion_t_hh_ht_eb_bk.htm


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## Snarpaasi (Feb 15, 2020)

Zalbu said:


> I actually did end up getting a HSH Fusion with the roasted maple neck a couple of weeks back and it surprised me with how nice it feels, I agree fully with what @Snarpaasi said. The build doesn't have any flaws as far as I can tell, no dead spots on the fretboard and nice fretwork.
> 
> The neck is just a tad too chunky for my tastes but that's just a matter of opinion and I'm used to playing my Ibanez RG neck, and the pickups aren't fantastic for higher gain tones but that's something to be expected on cheap guitars and something that I planned on replacing anyways.
> 
> ...



Good to hear the build quality isn't just a coincidence. Some have said their CST weigh around 4kg which made me consider to order five Fusion Teles from Thomann and pick the best one. The Tele model seem to have better control layout since my picking hand tends to hit the vol pot.

I don't know really, some say its equivalent to other brands' $1000 price range but if playing open G eyes closed I'd go higher than that. Good stuff.


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