Harley Benton MultiScale-8 QBB

I was looking for a fanned fret to add to the collection since I've already got a Schecter Omen 8.

PROS:
Not a bad guitar for the money, there weren't many gaps or machine marks, finish was nice. It was absolutely NOT set up, so I had to pay my local luthier almost another $100 for a complete set-up. Once it was properly set up, it plays like an absolute DREAM. I LOVE THE NECK! Holy crap the neck is SMOOTH for such a low priced guitar!

CONS:
I had one huge issue, would have given the "qualilty" rating a 5 stars instead of just a 3 star rating but the fretboard had a splintered part in it that I didn't feel or see until it caught my ring, not a hard repair to do yourself but it shouldn't have happened. Assuming this is just an isolated incident, so no real hard feelings towards Thomann. Again, this is the only con I could come up with and being such a simple fix, I'm not worried too much about it. I still love this guitar.

YES, I'd definitely order from these guys again! I'm very impressed with Thomann and the product they can offer at such low prices. I'm hoping they venture into the 9 string market soon! I'd definitely order a 9 string from these guys.

First of all, a great guitar with an excellent setup right out of the box, just fine tuned it to my personal taste. Good fretwork with no rough edges, frets a bit rough, you could wait for them to wear off or just polish them.

Finish near perfect, just 2 spots on the neck joint. The satin finish, especially on the neck, is great and very comfortable to play. Btw what a beautiful neck! The amaranth fretboard is rather greyish, looks and feels good.

The locking tuners could be one of the parts to be upgraded, they do their job, the guitar is very stable, but they are not really smooth. Not a big complaint though.

The pickups are the only real issue I have with the guitar. They sound muddy and noisy, an awful combination for an 8 string. The next issue, try to find a replacement (in the case of this guitar, you need the 9-string variant, or you'll need to do some wood work), EMG 909, Fishman Fluence 9, Lundgreen 9 are some of the options, but none of those are available in Europe, here a great thank you to the Thomann guitar department, a custom order, some great advice and I got the EMG 909x PU’s with a very competitive price and only after 2 months instead of the 6 months expected when ordered.

Highlights: That neck is just fantastic, great QC for the price
Lowlights: The pickups

I received this guitar at the beginning of the week, delivered perfectly by UPS, perfectly packaged by Thomann (Harley Benton box in Thomann box).

The first thing that caught my eye was the color of the guitar, a black stain that appears more brown than black in the photo online.
Everything else was 100% the same as in the pictures. The finish is perfect except for a small black spot on the side of the neck, against the fretboard.
That is a pity, but not reason enough to return this guitar.

This guitar plays perfectly right out of the box! Perfectly setup! OMG ! Plays fantastic, I have the greatest difficulty not to pick up the guitar and play!
I only had to adjust the intonation a bit, but everything else was tiptop! (I tuned the guitar in F)

The tuning pegs are not perfect but quite good, I've had much worse, so that's not too bad.
The pickups are indeed a bit muddy in sound, but they are certainly usable if you want to play some doom, if you really want to djent it is recommended
to look for other pickups (active for more definition and clarity)

The only thing that I really regret is the wood used for the body, basswood, which is very easy to work with because it is a soft wood and therefore extra sensitive
for dents and damage! (Thomann: ash wood is not that expensive!)

I'm not sure because I can't read it anywhere, but it would be an extra shame if the frets weren't steel, precisely because the guitar plays so nicely that you play it a lot
and therefore wear out the frets faster.

In short:

1) it's a rock solid guitar that is perfectly tuned and setup out of the box !!!!

2) reasonably good hardware has been used; the (locking) tuners hold the tuning reasonably well, the bridge is good and can be easily adjusted
the guitar comes with a graphite comb, fanned frets for more playing comfort, neck through body design, etc (the features on the product page)

3) for thomann : for a small increase in price better wood for the body (and steel frets) so that it is worth the effort in the long term to upgrade the guitar effectively (!)
and a slightly larger electronics cavity so that it is slightly easier to build in an active system. (9v battery will be very tight with the threeway switch)