Review of the Harley Benton R-456FR BK Progressive Series Electric guitar. Where to buy it?

I’ll tell you how this post is built. First I list the features of the Harley Benton R-456FR BK Progressive Series guitar. Then you have a video or two, purchase links and useful comments from other users and then you have one of the most useful parts; comparison tables with similar items so you can compare.

  • Body: Basswood
  • Bolt-on neck: Maple
  • Neck profile: D
  • Fretboard: Blackwood
  • Neck radius: 350 mm
  • 24 Medium jumbo frets
  • Offset dot inlays
  • Scale: 648 mm
  • Nut width: 43 mm
  • Pickups: 2 x Hi-Gain humbuckers
  • 1 x Volume control
  • 1 x Tone control
  • 3-Way toggle switch
  • Floyd Rose special locking tremolo system (black matte)
  • Black Deluxe hardware
  • Colour: High gloss black
  • Strings: 009-042

review harley-benton-r-456fr-bk-progressive-series

This guitar usually has a price around 155.00 €

Now that we’ve seen the features of this guitar Harley Benton R-456FR BK Progressive Series watch these related videos to learn more.

Harley Benton R456 review

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Some comments from people who come to the forum about this model:

Comment:

Stands up to comparison with my Aria Pro II (450€ retail) and Yamaha RGX721DG (750€ retail) from the 90’s. Feels and sounds better than a Squire that I had. Intonation is set well throughout the neck, although I could probably get the action slightly lower. Holds tuning well. Sustain is good. It’s light. It squeals easily when you want it to, and has good harmonics. It is well-shielded from electro magnetic interference. Pots don’t scratch and feel good to turn.

Now the small criticisms, which are unwarranted considering the cost of this guitar. The volume knob cuts off quite abruptly near the zero mark. The tone is a little bit darker than I’m used to (but that’s why we have EQ on our pedalboards). To get a completely clean tone I need to roll off the volume a little, but I tend to do that anyway. Otherwise there is a hint of saturation, and it’s a bit fizzy (no I’m not clipping the signal). The trem is placed right above the volume pot – my other guitars have more separation.

Quality in the long term? Who knows how long the tremolo will last if you’re heavy handed with it. I will be using it for subtle expression, not divebombs. If the wood warps within the next few years, it would still probably be worth it for the price anyway.

It would be perfect if Thomann could sell these trems as spare parts. I’d buy one right now for 80€ – 90€, as a future replacement.

Thanks as always to the purchase and delivery team, and to Correos, who are consistently awesome at delivering to small islands.

Comment:

Overall build quality is quite good: body, neck, fingerboard is well-polished as well as frets.

Tuning pegs are crap. Two of them have a significant backlash and you cannot fix that because there no any adjustment responsible for that. Oh! And you rotate it towards the headstock end to tighten the string top 3 strings and towards the bridge to tighten the bottom 3 strings which is confusing and definitely sucks

Pickups are not very impressive. there is a luck of high frequencies using the same amp and cable, but can be adjusted with eq so ok

Kit strings just suck – better replace them first thing

Volume control knob is awkwardly displaced but rotates quite smooth.

And the biggest dissapointment is a Floyd Rose tremolo which is FR Special on this guitar. It’s an absolute piece of shit which it does not keep tuning at all. The quality of tuning screws is terrible – you cannot adjust them smoothly probably because of the bad metal and as a result bad screw-thread

I can compare it with Cort X250 of the same price and looks very similar in terma of build quality (though the headstok is 6 in line on Cort which looks better to me). But Cort has EMG pickups. And though it has a licensed Cort Floyd Rose tremolo the build quality is much better and it never gets out of tune for me despite the "true" FR Special

It is still quite a good deal for the price but I would have never bought it again honestly

Harley Benton R-456FR BK Progressive Series vs Harley Benton ST-20HSS SBK Standard Series

The guitar Harley Benton R-456FR BK Progressive Series is usually 70 € more expensive than Harley Benton ST-20HSS SBK Standard Series.

Below have a look to the video of this guitar

Harley Benton R-456FR BK Progressive Series

Harley Benton ST-20HSS SBK Standard Series
  • Body: Basswood
  • Bolt-on neck: Maple
  • Neck profile: D
  • Fretboard: Blackwood
  • Neck radius: 350 mm
  • 24 Medium jumbo frets
  • Offset dot inlays
  • Scale: 648 mm
  • Nut width: 43 mm
  • Pickups: 2 x Hi-Gain humbuckers
  • 1 x Volume control
  • 1 x Tone control
  • 3-Way toggle switch
  • Floyd Rose special locking tremolo system (black matte)
  • Black Deluxe hardware
  • Colour: High gloss black
  • Strings: 009-042
  • Body: Basswood
  • Bolt-on neck: Maple
  • Fretboard: Amaranth
  • Fretboard inlays: Dots
  • Neck profile: Modern C
  • Fretboard radius: 350 mm
  • Scale: 648 mm
  • Nut width: 42 mm
  • Double action truss rod
  • 22 Frets
  • Pickup: 1 Humbucker (bridge) and 2 single coils (middle and neck)
  • 1 Volume control and 2 tone controls
  • 5-Way pickup switch
  • Synchronised tremolo
  • Die-cast machine heads
  • Black hardware
  • Ex-factory stringing: .009″ – .042″
  • Colour: Black, matte

Below have a look to the video of this guitar Harley Benton ST-20HSS SBK Standard Series

Harley Benton ST 20HSS SBK Standard Series

If you want to know more about this option, click on the following link to see the Harley Benton ST-20HSS SBK Standard Series review

Harley Benton R-456FR BK Progressive Series vs Harley Benton CST-24T Black Flame

The guitar Harley Benton R-456FR BK Progressive Seriesis usually 56 € cheaper than Harley Benton CST-24T Black Flame.

Below have a look to the video of this guitar

Harley Benton R-456FR BK Progressive Series

Harley Benton CST-24T Black Flame
  • Body: Basswood
  • Bolt-on neck: Maple
  • Neck profile: D
  • Fretboard: Blackwood
  • Neck radius: 350 mm
  • 24 Medium jumbo frets
  • Offset dot inlays
  • Scale: 648 mm
  • Nut width: 43 mm
  • Pickups: 2 x Hi-Gain humbuckers
  • 1 x Volume control
  • 1 x Tone control
  • 3-Way toggle switch
  • Floyd Rose special locking tremolo system (black matte)
  • Black Deluxe hardware
  • Colour: High gloss black
  • Strings: 009-042
  • Deluxe Series
  • Mahogany body
  • Flamed maple arched top
  • Set-in mahogany neck
  • Roasted jatoba fretboard
  • “C” Neck profile
  • Fretboard radius: 350 mm
  • 24 Frets
  • Pearloid dots fretboard inlays
  • Neck and body binding
  • Scale: 635 mm
  • Nut width: 42 mm
  • Graphite nut
  • 2 Roswell HAF AlNiCo-5 open coil humbucker pickups
  • 3-Way switch
  • 1 Volume- and 1 tone control with push/pull function for coil split
  • DLX chrome hardware
  • Wilkinson WVPC tremolo
  • DLX machine heads
  • Colour: Black Flame

Below have a look to the video of this guitar Harley Benton CST-24T Black Flame

$200 Guitar... and it's Not Total 💩|| Harley Benton CST-24T Demo/Review

If you want to know more about this option, click on the following link to see the Harley Benton CST-24T Black Flame review

Harley Benton R-456FR BK Progressive Series vs Harley Benton Electric Guitar Kit ST-Style

The guitar Harley Benton R-456FR BK Progressive Series is usually 89 € more expensive than Harley Benton Electric Guitar Kit ST-Style.

Below have a look to the video of this guitar

Harley Benton R-456FR BK Progressive Series

Harley Benton Electric Guitar Kit ST-Style
  • Body: Basswood
  • Bolt-on neck: Maple
  • Neck profile: D
  • Fretboard: Blackwood
  • Neck radius: 350 mm
  • 24 Medium jumbo frets
  • Offset dot inlays
  • Scale: 648 mm
  • Nut width: 43 mm
  • Pickups: 2 x Hi-Gain humbuckers
  • 1 x Volume control
  • 1 x Tone control
  • 3-Way toggle switch
  • Floyd Rose special locking tremolo system (black matte)
  • Black Deluxe hardware
  • Colour: High gloss black
  • Strings: 009-042
  • Complete DIY (do it yourself) kit
  • Bolt-on neck attachment
  • Rengas body (wood colour may vary)
  • Maple neck
  • Double action truss rod
  • Amaranth fretboard
  • Dots fretboard inlays
  • Radius: 350 mm
  • 22 Frets
  • Scale: 648 mm
  • Nut width: 42 mm
  • Truss rod
  • 3 Ceramic single coil pickups
  • Electronics: 1 Volume, 2 Tone, 5-Way switch
  • Chrome hardware
  • Diecast machine heads
  • Tremolo
  • .009 – .042 Strings
  • Colour: Natural

Note: The body and neck have been primed with pore filler, making them suitable for the direct application of lacquer finishes. Before the application of stains or other surface treatments, the primer must be first removed via sanding.

Note: A certain degree of skill in handiwork is required for successful assembly of the guitar.

Below have a look to the video of this guitar Harley Benton Electric Guitar Kit ST-Style

Harley Benton Electric Guitar Kit ST-Style - Unboxing, Assembling, and Sound Demo (no talking)

If you want to know more about this option, click on the following link to see the Harley Benton Electric Guitar Kit ST-Style review

Harley Benton R-456FR BK Progressive Series vs Harley Benton ST-70 Black Paisley

The guitar Harley Benton R-456FR BK Progressive Seriesis usually 0 € cheaper than Harley Benton ST-70 Black Paisley, but the difference is so small that this can vary..

Below have a look to the video of this guitar

Harley Benton R-456FR BK Progressive Series

Harley Benton ST-70 Black Paisley
  • Body: Basswood
  • Bolt-on neck: Maple
  • Neck profile: D
  • Fretboard: Blackwood
  • Neck radius: 350 mm
  • 24 Medium jumbo frets
  • Offset dot inlays
  • Scale: 648 mm
  • Nut width: 43 mm
  • Pickups: 2 x Hi-Gain humbuckers
  • 1 x Volume control
  • 1 x Tone control
  • 3-Way toggle switch
  • Floyd Rose special locking tremolo system (black matte)
  • Black Deluxe hardware
  • Colour: High gloss black
  • Strings: 009-042
  • Deluxe Series
  • Body: Basswood
  • Bolt-on neck: Maple
  • Fretboard: Amaranth
  • Neck profile: C
  • Fretboard radius: 350 mm
  • Fretboard inlays: Dots
  • 21 Medium jumbo frets
  • Scale: 648 mm
  • Nut width: 43 mm
  • Pickup: 2 Roswell STA Alnico-5 vintage ST-Style single coils and 1 Roswell HAF Alnico-5 humbucker
  • 2 Tone controls and 1 volume control with volume push/pull function coil split
  • 5-Way toggle switch
  • Hardware: Chrome
  • Wilkinson tremolo
  • Stringing: D’Addario EXL110 .010 – .046 (article no. 104555)
  • Colour: Black Paisley

Below have a look to the video of this guitar Harley Benton ST-70 Black Paisley

Harley Benton ST-70 Black Paisley Unboxing & Review

If you want to know more about this option, click on the following link to see the Harley Benton ST-70 Black Paisley review

Where to buy the guitar Harley Benton R-456FR BK Progressive Series

Thomann

  • Free Shipping.
  • Full warranty. If you have any problems, they take care of everything.
  • 100% reliable payment.
  • Leader in trouble-free shipping.
  • Usually Best price.
  • Best Reputation: They are the leading online store in Europe and have the best catalogue and information.

Amazon

  • Free Shipping and possibility of shipping in one day with Amazon Premium.
  • Full Guarantee but they are no experts in music equipment.
  • Sometimes better price.
  • He’s got worse stock than Thomann.

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Jaime Echagüe

Hi! I'm Jaime Echagüe, a musician and an authentic fan of musical instruments. With this blog I want to give general information about musical instruments in an easy, direct and honest way. I hope you enjoy my website and that you find it very useful.

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