Harley Benton’s take on a modern T-style guitar with a floating bridge, roasted maple neck, and stainless-steel frets sounds incredibly tempting for a Tele fan like me. But is it good?
Disclaimer: Harley Benton sent me this guitar and I get to keep it as compensation for my work. However Harley Benton has no say on the things I mention in the video.
(The video above was initially released on July31st, 2022.)
SPECIFICATIONS
- Ergonomically shaped body: Nyatoh
- Bolt-on neck: Roasted Canadian maple
- Fingerboard: Roasted maple
- Ivory Dot fretboard inlays
- Neck profile: Modern C
- Scale: 648 mm (25.5″)
- Fretboard radius: 305 mm (12″)
- Nut width: 42 mm (1.65″)
- Graph Tech TUSQ XL nut
- 22 Medium Jumbo Blacksmith stainless steel frets
- Pickups: Roswell HAF-B AlNiCo-5 (bridge) and HAF-N AlNiCo-5 (neck) humbuckers
- Master volume control
- Master tone control with push/pull function for coil split
- 3-way switch
- Wilkinson 50IIK 2-point tremolo
- WSC staggered locking DieCast tuners
- Chrome hardware
- Colour: Shell Pink matt
What is Harley Benton Fusion-T HH Roasted?
Harley Benton Fusion-T HH Roasted is a modern take on the traditional T-shape with two humbuckers, a floating tremolo bridge, and modern specs that are usually reserved for more expensive guitars. The Fusion-series guitars offer plenty of different finish options ranging from traditional solid colours to roasted flame tops and matt finishes.
First Impressions
Removing the guitar from its box is always exciting and a bit scary: how are the frets? Will it stay in tune? Is it heavy?
In my case, the guitar came well set-up, but I did have to tighten the truss rod just a bit. The fret ends felt like they could use just a tiny bit of rounding-up, but the guitar still felt great to play.
As with many budget-friendly guitars, this one felt a little bit heavy, but within the weight range I’ve experienced with other guitars like this.
I let the guitar acclimate to the local climate for a couple of hours, and based on the first unplugged playtest, the guitar was acoustically loud and comfortable to play.
How Does The Harley Benton Fusion T-sound?
The Roswell pickups that come with many of the Harley Benton Fusion-series guitars are good. They are high output with plenty of high-end on tap, which works great for heavier sounds ranging from hard rock to metal.
The coil-split sounds have a modern, heavily scooped tone to them, which worked great for the clean intro riff at the beginning of the song in the video above.
Using my POD GO with a Mesa Mark IV, I was able to get very convincing Dream Theater style rhythm and lead sounds. I especially enjoyed the lead sounds on the neck humbucker. Paired with a floating tremolo, you get a nice, thick ‘clang’ to every note, which I absolutely loved.
Overall, the guitar sounds like an 80’s rock/metal machine.
What i liked and what could be improved
Overall, I would describe this guitar as good, but not perfect. The concept of a T-style 80’s shredder is right up my alley, and on many fronts, it delivers. The build quality is great, and many of the features really push the envelope of what you can expect from a guitar in this price range.
The sounds I was getting were great, but I could see many players swapping the pickups for something else. The tremolo worked great, and after a while, you really had to try to get the guitar out of tune.
Most of the cutouts on the guitar feel purely cosmetic, which I demonstrate in the video above. The lower horn cutout doesn’t improve the upper fret access at all; however, the slightly angled neck joint might help a bit. The cutouts do add a modern feel to the guitar visually, but they don’t really enhance ergonomics or upper fret access. Still, I must mention that this instrument is more ergonomic than my traditional Tele.
I appreciate the control layout on the guitar and how the pickup switch is angled. The knobs and switches feel solid, which usually isn’t the case with guitars in this price range.
The Wilkinson tremolo offers plenty of adjustment options, and I found it good enough that I didn’t really think about it while playing. The locking tuners work as promised and are crucial for better tuning stability with a floating tremolo.
The roasted maple neck with a satin finish felt great, though it became polished over time due to frequent play. The stainless-steel frets on the guitar I received were decent, but experiences may vary with budget-friendly instruments like this one.
Over the seven months I had the guitar before this review, the slightly sharp fret ends improved, which was a pleasant surprise.
Is The Harley Benton Fusion-T HH Roasted SP Good?
Overall, I believe this is an excellent instrument as is, but it also serves as a modding platform. The instrument I received wasn’t flawless, but I never felt it wasn’t worth the time or investment to customize it to my preferences.
If you want to get your own Harley Benton Fusion-T and support what I do, you can use the affiliate links below:
►►Get Harley Benton Fusion-T HH Roasted SP Here: https://thmn.to/thoprod/501674?offid=1&affid=394
►►Get Pod Go Here: https://thmn.to/thoprod/483547?offid=1&affid=394
►►Download My Jam Tracks, Lessons and more here: https://www.catpickstudios.com
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