Harley Benton R-457 Active SBK

Mi sono da poco affacciato sul panorama delle chitarre "extended range" e volevo provare una sette corde senza dover per forza spendere un patrimonio, e ho subito optato per questa Harley Benton, un brand che da anni domina la fascia di prezzo delle "super economiche", offrendo strumenti di discreta qualità a prezzi "popolari".

Bando alle ciance, parliamo di questa R-457 Active.

PRO:
- Manico comodo e scorrevole
- Tasti limati alla perfezione (meglio della mia Les Paul Studio!)
- Legni di buona qualità per il prezzo
- Verniciatura quasi perfetta

CONTRO
- Pickup attivi poco definiti, troppo aggressivi e non versatili: se suonate solo metal, possono anche andare bene, ma suonare in pulito è quasi impossibile.
- Meccaniche poco stabili
- Il setup poteva essere fatto meglio. È necessario fare un setup veloce
per suonarla al meglio. Internet è pieno di tutorial e gli attrezzi per effettuare il setup sono inclusi nella scatola in cui arriva la chitarra.
- AGGIORNAMENTO: al primo cambio corde, le plastiche dove passano le corde stesse (nella parte posteriore del body), sono scivolate via dal body perchè non incastrate bene (solo due di queste non sono scivolate). Questo, purtroppo è un dettaglio non da poco. Cambio la mia valutazione di "Qualità" da 4 a 3 stelle, ma la valutazione generale rimane uguale (darei 3 stelle e mezzo, se fosse possibile).

Per concludere: questa chitarra è buona per approcciarsi al mondo delle sette corde (seppur con qualche compromesso), come base per delle modifiche (consiglio di cambiare per prime le meccaniche) o come chitarra "muletto" da portare in giro senza preoccuparsi troppo di eventuali danneggiamenti.

Do 4 stelle (anche se, come scritto nell' ultimo aggiornamento, avrei voluto dare 3 stelle e mezzo) perchè per 180€ non ci si può di certo lamentare e di sicuro questa non è una brutta chitarra (ribadisco che Harley Benton è la marca migliore in termini di qualità nella fascia di prezzo inferiore ai 300€), ma ci sono alcune pecche che rendono lo strumento ben lontano dall'essere un "best buy".

First off the thing looks great, really nice matte black finish that looks and feels great, I tried to find imperfections and couldn't find any that I didn't make with my grubby hands, very easy to leave shiny marks.

The frets are all seated properly, no sprouting and no sharp edges, could use a light polish but that's to be expected. Full marks there!

The neck is pretty thin, my first thought was that it looked like a floorboard had been shaped into a neck but when I started to play it I was thankful for that thinness because it's wide but it's still really easy and comfortable to reach that B string (I'm a bassist primarily so that might not be true for guitar players looking to experiment with 7 strings, I find the B on this easier to play than the E on my 6 string) there is a pretty glossy finish on the back that I found kind of sticky, easy fix with some fine grit sandpaper or something like a scotchbrite pad. Mine arrived with a forward bow but that's an easy fix with truss rod adjustment. The only thing losing marks for this neck is the part where the headstock angles back is pretty thin, it's fine but I think for my peace of mind I might make a sort of volute that I can glue on to add a bit of support (that it probably doesn't need)

The bridge seems well made but the action on my guitar is still kind of high with the saddles all the way down so I may need to shim the neck to get it to where I want it, easy job and not something I mind doing on a guitar in this price range but might be an issue for beginners (though if you're brave enough to get a 7 as your first guitar you'll find the courage somewhere, it's a reversible mod anyway)

The pickups are... not great. They're REALLY hot, totally usable for really high gain playing, they aren't very articulate but the can be fun to bash out some of your favourite metal riffs (first thing i played on it was LoG walk with me in hell, the fun bit, not the hard bits haha) but they're damn near impossible to get clean tones out of, makes sense considering this is definitely a metal focused guitar but worth mentioning. I bought this with the intention of replacing the pickups anyway but I was hoping the stock pups would be a little better than they are, if I were more of a gear head I might be able to get them to sound much more usable but right now I feel like if a fly landed on the headstock I'd hear it through the amp which brings me to my last point, this thing is surprisingly resonant! I'm super impressed by how great it sounds unplugged, sustain is great too, I'm really happy with my purchase as I wanted to swap pickups anyway and I think this will sound great with my planned SD Invader in the bridge.

I would recommend this as an excellent mod platform or for someone who want's to start experimenting with extended range guitars, not so great for beginners (I wouldn't recommend 7 strings to a beginner anyway but this price makes it pretty attractive to new comers so worth mentioning)