For the Fusion 4 they should make an Deluxe/Ultra variant with a recessed gotoh 510 and better pickups, stick it up for 550 and it’ll sell like hotcakes.
@@larryjeffryes6168 on the Cort G280 there is not really a Gotoh 510, its called a Cort CFA-III tremolo according to their website (although the Cort bridge totally looks like a Gotoh copy).
@@nunolance23 thanks. I’m thinking of buying a Guyker take on it. My fave other than that is the EVT version, kind of follows a Hipshot itself I think. I’m trying to come up with some designs myself.
@@larryjeffryes6168 for me I would be happy with just an update on the Fusion to a recessed Gotoh 510 and thinner neck. That would make it compete with all the Charvels and Ibanez AZ at $1k.
I own an Ibanez MM1 (Martin Miller’s signature), and the stainless steel frets were also insanely scratchy when I first got it. By the end of the day, they were insanely smooth just by playing it. As for the pickups, they are actually fine and pretty good. The issue here is that Harley Benton neglected to add resistors to the single coils and split humbucker, so they can see 250K instead of 500K. That's what's making them sound so bright and harsh. Just add a 470K resistor from each single coil/split humbucker HOT wire to GROUND and you'll have a completely different guitar. It literally is a 1$ mod that will completely transform this guitar. I own the HSS version, did that (I personnally used a combination of a 510K + 120K in parallel on each pickup to balance them out). They sound and feel like Seymour Duncans now, and it cost a few bucks!
The heavy treble can also be a consequence of high potentiometer values, so not necessarily a pickup issue. Having a higher resistance pot will prevent more treble from bleeding through it to ground, increasing the amplitude of the pickups resonant peak between 4 and 5 KHz, that sweet upper midrange nails-on-a-board spot in the spectrum. If - IF!- the pots are at 500 KΩ then changing either one or both of the tone and volume pot out for a 250KΩ pot will tame the harshness in single coils - and make the humbucking bridge pickup duller. HSS configurations can be a challenge to voice in a balanced way because you use the same pots for both single coils and humbuckers. But before you go and change the pickups, pay some attention to the other electronics in your instrument because they very much aren't negligible. They don't have to have brand name fairy magic, but the values have a very real impact and they're cheap to experiment with.
I have a good old fiddle with my EQ pedal before even thinking about changing the pickups, unless they are microphonic of course, I would say 7 times out of ten I get the tone I am looking for
@@the.communist I bought the Fusion T 25th and I love it, I was super lucky and got a ridiculously flamed neck, it is the first guitar I ever bought where I had to slightly heighten the action, it played just fine but was just a smidgen too low for my liking, my stainless steel frets were not scratchy though!
I actually like the sound of this guitar. Always found Fender single coils too twangy. These singles sound more like P90s which is fine with me. The bite on the high E might be pickup distance from the string. May need to be lowered 1/16th. Otherwise pretty darn nice guitar.
Just got one of these and 100% agree that the middle pickup has a unique sound. I kept double checking to see if it was in the 2 or 4 in betweeny positions. I have found myself using this pickup quite a lot which is the first time on strat Great review again Henning
That’s not a bad top. Not the most aesthetic looking, but it’s got some decent flame to it. I want to pull the trigger and buy a SC-550, but fear I’ll get a low grade top on it. Looks aren’t everything, but it sure would be nice to pick the one you want (like I can at Sweetwater).
I'm pretty sure the SC-550 and SC-550 Plus EMG and such are pretty darn impressive. Maybe some are hit or miss, but the SC-550 Plus EMG PAF looks pretty great. Could even go with a SC-Custom II in my humble opinion, but it's less of a Les Paul clone. At around 300 or so bucks, the SC-550 looks pretty impressive.
@@PHeMoX Good point! I was leaning towards the 550-PAF like you mentioned, because on the HB website it displays a AAAA top, but the specs say AAA. Regardless though I think the majority of them probably look stunning. But their is always that factor for disappointment. At least I wouldn’t be spending a fortune if that was the case.
@@PHeMoX Excellent point! I have an SC-550 plus with EMG and it's visually a real winner and the sound is also top-notch, easily keeping up with guitars twice or three times as expensive!
The best single cut or LP style I own is my 550plus w/ EMG.. The flame is amazing, the weight is perfect, the EMG retrocactive fat 55's are quickly becoming my all time favorite set of pickups, the locking tuners work great. I've had it since they first released it. It's still my most played guitar. the 550 plus II the tuners r& pickuos really turn me off. I wish they'd offer more of the colors in the 550 plus EMG other than the two they have. but I have I believe it's called bourbon burst and it's gorgeous
This is literally the kind of guitar I'm looking for for a mod project, hss, 24 frets, two point trem... I was thinking of putting in EMG pickups, and replacing the bridge with a vegatrem or a gotoh 510, EMG's have a bad rep for not being vintage enough or that they're only good for metal, sound too compressed, etc... But that is all wrong, it all depends on the pickup height and how the settings on the amp are adjusted. Not only that, but when you lower the volume on the guitar you don't lose the highs so you can easily control the gain with just the guitar. The issue with the battery being a hassle is hard to argue, but still, it's a minor inconvenience considering that you don't have to change it that often if you unplug your guitar when you're not using it. Thank you for taking the time to read my ranting ;)
@@davidclarke6329 I do like it. The neck, frets, tuners, and nut are flawless on the one I received. I have the light blue gloss version and developed a finish crack between the neck pickup and board- not an issue for me. The pickups are not terrible. My guitar weighs 7.75 lbs. The pickup selector is junk. I have Gibson, USA G&L’s and Fender, PRS S2, and Korean Schecter. I play the HB the most. It was worth the $362 USD (including shipping) I paid for it. I am a hobbyists that only plays in my home.
Recently got the Fusion HH in purple sparkle for 250€, it's a steal at that price, mine is extremely heavy (4 kg) but very warm sounding, even the coil splits sound fat, it's not perfect though as it has two misaligned tuners but that is something I can take care of.
If they don't change the length between the end of the fret board and the bridge- you're right, it will. But- some makers just move the bridge up a tad- problem solved. It's the neck pickups position relative to the bridge that affects the tone.
That sounds all kinds of wrong though. Pickup is in the same spot it would always be. In fact, the pickup position generally is unrelated to the amount of frets and only is deviating within a 1,5 cm range from the fretboard end. Some more compact designs (like headless designs) will have the pickups closer to the fretboard, but it doesn't affect tone. Especially not negatively.
@@tjruss86 Yep- not all guitars use the same scale length- that's true. I like a shorter scale length, sounds really cool to me- sort of like you have a capo on.
I guess this is the next best thing to the now out of production out of stock HSS 25th version. I really like the overall style and HSS config. The pickup brand "name" sounds cool when I think about the 1947 UFO crash LOL. But I'd probably get a new set but probably an alternative from a $200 set maybe something from Tonerider for $100 maybe or something similar.
pickups are deffinately bright good for the country twang i would put a pearly gates in the bridge and dimarzio yjm in the middle and neck. i wouldn't say no to one of those, nice vid
I wish they would stop printing info on the back of the headstock, this used to be on clear film that you could just peel off but for the past few years they started printing it on the back of the headstock and I hate it!
harley benton should re do the sc special and junior tv yellow ! it’s not really tv yellow more dirty mustard i wish they could get it a little brighter and a little closer lol .
I have a Fusion II HSH with the Wilkinson trem. I changed the pickups to Jim Wagner set of HSH custom wound. I paid more for the pickups than the guitar! Sounds great and still quacks in positions 2 and 4. I’m looking to upgrade the bridge now and thinking about putting a Vegatrem on it. I polished the frets and rolled the ends. Plays great!
Honestly I’d really heavily love if it they made a fusion with two humbuckers, Wilkinson floating bridge, stainless steel frets and most importantly 24 frets.
@@InXLsisDeo the fusion series all come in stainless steel frets that is correct but for me personally I prefer HH, modern floating bridge and 24 frets.. sadly if it's HH with 24 frets it comes in Floyd rose bridge (locking system) or it comes is HSS 22 frets but 22 frets lol.. that's why I specified I wish they came in HH, the Wilkinson bridge they offer on the HSS version, stainless steel with 24 frets
Do you know those have a tone knob Maybe if it’s not Dimed, cut some of that treble out with that tone knob it all round it out a bit just a thought. I love the sound of the middle pick up, also feed them all fish heads I quite like the noodling and the jamming that you do!
I'm not sure why anyone evaluates whether it's "in tune" out of the box, when it's advisable, to protect the neck by reducing tension when transporting guitars
dit mag tot de beste gitaar van het moment worden genoemd ik bezit er eenn plus nog 2 ander benton gitaren en ze klinken allen voortreffelijk soms zelfs beter dan de genormeerd gitaren
I say just play what you want and what the instrument inspires you to play, that is far more interesting than hearing the same few songs ripped out on aaaaallll instrument reviews. What feels natural to play on a guitar is also an important yet sometimes unspoken aspect of a review I think.
Henning could you ask Ibanez (Who already have the alter switch) and Harley Benton to implement the following pickup combination which I can get on my Red Special, which cannot be set in an strat style guitar? 1) Neck and Bridge single coil out of phase. 2) All 3 single coils on (I don't know, maybe it is better to take the coil closer to the bridge) and putting the middle out of phase --> very full rock sound. It sounds really cool for Gary Moore stuff. This combination is my favourite on my Red Special. 3) All 3 Pickups on --> which Ibanez already does. 4) All 3 on, bridge and middle in phase, the neck out of phase --> it gives a very nasal hollow sound, which I am not sure if it is very practicable, but certainly or Experiment. And since we can have 10 sounds I don't understand why Ibanez left out 1 and there are only 9 sounds with the switch. 5) The Bridge (if humbucker, then use both coils) and middle in Phase. This is the sound Brian May uses 80% of the time. Does anybody else have the Red Special and finds these sounds usable???
I have a mk2 and i am very happy with it, the Bengal finish looks far better than this one and it has my prefered ebony fretboard. With a pickup upgrade, they are excellent guitars, it is the only Harley Benton that was blemish free first time, others i have had to return. I will wait and see what they do with the mk4.
Still: I don't seem to need single-coils. They are not worth the hassle with their thin-wire-strung-to-two-nails-sound. Otherwise: a beauty. Oh, and get well soon, Henning!
The Roswell pups are in reality very nicely well rounded and more than 'decent' IF you're not already DEAF in your higher frequencies, see? That is a huge factor there that most folks won't consider. Leo Fender was partially deaf in one ear from hearing damage done to him while he was standing right next to an amp speaker pointed inches away from his head that went off suddenly at full volume. Leo's colleagues from then on would have to plead with him to reduce the piercing treble in his amp circuit designs since Leo couldn't tell there was way too much high end in them. This kind of thing will highly influence sonic judgements.
To my ear the pickups are pretty good sounding but the brightness is really harsh not like what a Tele from the big f would sound like for instance, not really not my cup of tea but I could totally see a lot of people liking them. Also personally I really don't like the humbuckers they put in the bridge of these S type guitars in Harley Benton, it's just muddy and cheap sounding but getting good sounding coil splitting pickups in this price range isn't easy. The guitar itself look beautiful and the trem system,nut and tuners are definitely good quality for the price.
The number of body parts only matters if it looks like a bad patchwork. It is a purely aesthetic matter. If it doesn't jump at you at first sight, it's all good.
actually, there's more to it.... more bodyparts means more glue. glue is not as hard as the wood and anything soft will eat up resonance and vibration. This means less sustain etc. it can be done in a way that doesn't affect tone too much, but not really in those factories... so the number of bodyparts has an effect on the sound.
@@EytschPi42 I saw videos showing tone differences between pick-ups. strings, fret and saddle material, all convincing. I never saw one showing the tone difference of multi-part bodies. Until I see one, this belongs in the "emperor's new clothes" category.
Harley Benton is burning the market of guitars and it is making Fender, Gibson and other legendary brands to jutify their prices. I have got three Harleys and very probably next Harley is going to be this versatile fusion III.
Well, not really. No more than Greggs are burning the market for food or Amazon are burning the market for tools. They're providing worthless tat for chavs. The market for well built quality musical instruments hasn't changed as a result of harley benton and never will. No more than Thoman will replace a good guitar retailer by shipping boxes. I note Thoman's page for this guitar only has about 5 reviews suggesting they either don't sell many or they censor the review page. The one review that looks genuine the guy writes an essay where he explains at length how none of the HB guitars he gets (and he says he has 15) come without defects. He basically had to rebuild the guitar (replace the electronics, fix frets yadda yadda yadda) Given that this reviewer claims to own 15 HB guitars - I'd suggest (a) He's probably not a guitar player and (b) He hasn't saved any money over buying another brand. He could have got a really good guitar instead of a pile of junk.
what is the difference between the Harley Benton Fusion-III HSS Roasted DB and the Harley Benton Fusion-III HSS Roasted FNT, because I saw that there is a price difference.
So what pickups would you recommend? Out of the 1000s of options, how do you know you have the right ones? Where would you even begin to marry that body with pickups? You cannot do more testing than Thomann and Harley Benton. Jonathan Koh swapped out all his pickups a great expense..for Seymour Duncans and he barely seems to use the guitar anymore.
S.Duncans went up in price recently quite a bit. You can get a bit cheaper upgrade with DiMarzio humbuckers, and something like Fender TexMex single coils. And then further down the price range you can take Wilkinson pickups for a lot less money but then it gets questionable how much better they are than the Roswells
What do you mean man- it's standard single coils and a humbucker- pretty easy to replace. And yeah, there are hundreds of options but if you have an idea of what style music you want to play- what kinds of tones you're looking for- CZcams can help you out. There are endless reviews on different pickups and amps and pedals and whatever you need to make a decision on. Sure, there's always a risk you'll buy something, and it won't be what you thought, you may prefer what you had- but you can always reinstall the originals and sell what you bought.
@@stoneysdead689 thuoght pick ups are chosen and tailored for the specific guitar. The wood, trem nut all come into play, when selecting them. It is a science beyond people without a vast array of humbuckers and time at their disposal. I mean that's what companies Ibanez, PRS, Fender, Gibson insist. You wouldn't just grab any old set and blindly stick them on there because they work on your current guitar. Chances are they wouldn't sound anything better than tte ones you took off.
@@mixodorians12 Bud- I don't know where you got that information but it's pure b.s. If you don't believe me- ask around- nothing I'm telling you is a secret- guitarist change their pickups all the time, it's extremely common. I do it all the time- and I don't think I've ever been unhappy with what I installed. It's not difficult- you are way over thinking it and buying into the bs.
@@stoneysdead689 stuee‘s right, you‘re wrong bud. Pickups will often worsen the sound of your guitar if it’s a bad match, some frequencies will jump out more whilst others are obscured. It‘s hard to predict how a guitar will sound. I‘ve heard the petrucci liquified etc. neck and bridge pickup combo sound good in this model.
I bought one recently and I must agree, it’s somewhat bright. I changed pickups with better ones and the situation has improved but not night and day. It’s still a bit bright/cheap sounding. I suppose it’s the nyatoh body, alder would be perfect but it’s more expensive. Even basswood would be better, more balanced and fuller.
I love your videos, however this is one of the first videos that I thought it sounded terrible and you’re a good producer. It’s not just the top end, I think it sounds… unpleasant as a whole. Something in the mids is missing. Maybe it’s my bias against 24 frets but I’ve had some good sounding Ibanez’s before so idk.
True- but you are getting a little more than just some extra flame. I don't like Gibson but- I'd rather have a nice Gibson than one of these- any day. I could sell it and buy a Sire- which is what I really want. If I sell one of these- I'd be lucky if it paid for dinner.
I've got a question for you, or some folks in the comments. I posted this on one of Glenn's vids, but only got "have you tried a better speaker?" My speaker is good. I got an HB EX-76 GHWAN. I love it. It's beautiful. It's absolutely butter to play. A joy to hold. Everything feels great. Stays in tune. The problem is the pickups. They're...ok. But they're a bit noisy/tinny/washy. So my question is: any recommendations for some affordable humbuckers that would tighten things up a bit and maybe trade some of the wash for punch? And I'm not looking for the "golden tone." I've just never done a pickup swap and I'm looking for a reasonable route to clean things up a bit. Any help there is appreciated.
@@EytschPi42 honestly, I'm not sure how to answer that. As far as I can tell, all the components work correctly, there's no grounding issues. Everything turns on/off just fine and the tone/volume controls do the thing. No hiss or pops or dropped signal from the jack. Is there something I might look for otherwise? I'm not super educated on the guitar guts, but everything seems to be in order.
Hab die HSS Fusion in Pink. 299€ und echt Top, so schön leicht und nicht kopflastig. Für das Top würde ich keine 150€ Aufpreis bezahlen. Die HSH kostet 349, die HSS 449? Das ergibt keinen Sinn..
Why is it, whenever influences come across a watch or guitar etc that is super affordable and great value, they always insist you change something? Watch channels cannot let you go without telling you to change the bracelet on the otherwise perfect affordable watch. Electric guitar reviewers do the same. Ironically on the tele version and the 22 fret version, they reckon those exact same pickups are great. You have to change the trem system on them though.
This is called a review... it is my duty to tell you what is good and what isn't. If I didn't critique the pickups, then you'd just say I am a paid shill and say everything is good. I have to be honest about the performance and features of the instrument. That is my job.
I removed the string trees from my Fusion Pro ll which has the same staggered tuners and have no problems with strings coming out of the nut. Tuning stability is better as there are now less points of friction between the bridge and tuners.
For the Fusion 4 they should make an Deluxe/Ultra variant with a recessed gotoh 510 and better pickups, stick it up for 550 and it’ll sell like hotcakes.
Cort G280 and up have the recessed Gotoh! Don’t know about the pickups but I want one even if I have to change pups.
totally agree, please make this happen Harley Benton
@@larryjeffryes6168 on the Cort G280 there is not really a Gotoh 510, its called a Cort CFA-III tremolo according to their website (although the Cort bridge totally looks like a Gotoh copy).
@@nunolance23 thanks. I’m thinking of buying a Guyker take on it. My fave other than that is the EVT version, kind of follows a Hipshot itself I think. I’m trying to come up with some designs myself.
@@larryjeffryes6168 for me I would be happy with just an update on the Fusion to a recessed Gotoh 510 and thinner neck.
That would make it compete with all the Charvels and Ibanez AZ at $1k.
I own an Ibanez MM1 (Martin Miller’s signature), and the stainless steel frets were also insanely scratchy when I first got it. By the end of the day, they were insanely smooth just by playing it.
As for the pickups, they are actually fine and pretty good. The issue here is that Harley Benton neglected to add resistors to the single coils and split humbucker, so they can see 250K instead of 500K. That's what's making them sound so bright and harsh. Just add a 470K resistor from each single coil/split humbucker HOT wire to GROUND and you'll have a completely different guitar. It literally is a 1$ mod that will completely transform this guitar. I own the HSS version, did that (I personnally used a combination of a 510K + 120K in parallel on each pickup to balance them out). They sound and feel like Seymour Duncans now, and it cost a few bucks!
The heavy treble can also be a consequence of high potentiometer values, so not necessarily a pickup issue. Having a higher resistance pot will prevent more treble from bleeding through it to ground, increasing the amplitude of the pickups resonant peak between 4 and 5 KHz, that sweet upper midrange nails-on-a-board spot in the spectrum. If - IF!- the pots are at 500 KΩ then changing either one or both of the tone and volume pot out for a 250KΩ pot will tame the harshness in single coils - and make the humbucking bridge pickup duller.
HSS configurations can be a challenge to voice in a balanced way because you use the same pots for both single coils and humbuckers. But before you go and change the pickups, pay some attention to the other electronics in your instrument because they very much aren't negligible. They don't have to have brand name fairy magic, but the values have a very real impact and they're cheap to experiment with.
For me playability is everything. Pickups are easily changed.
Ive got some fusions, they play great
I have a good old fiddle with my EQ pedal before even thinking about changing the pickups, unless they are microphonic of course, I would say 7 times out of ten I get the tone I am looking for
@@the.communist I bought the Fusion T 25th and I love it, I was super lucky and got a ridiculously flamed neck, it is the first guitar I ever bought where I had to slightly heighten the action, it played just fine but was just a smidgen too low for my liking, my stainless steel frets were not scratchy though!
I actually like the sound of this guitar. Always found Fender single coils too twangy. These singles sound more like P90s which is fine with me. The bite on the high E might be pickup distance from the string. May need to be lowered 1/16th. Otherwise pretty darn nice guitar.
I am ordering one today.
Nice guitar. It's got good bones. Great music demo. Superb! Love it when you do something like this.
Thanks German dude!
🍕🍺👍🏁
Just got one of these and 100% agree that the middle pickup has a unique sound. I kept double checking to see if it was in the 2 or 4 in betweeny positions. I have found myself using this pickup quite a lot which is the first time on strat
Great review again Henning
I had the II-version of this and sent it back. Hearing this one tempts me again. Sounds much better to me than the new HH HT
That middle pickup sounds so good in the tone king. yummy!
That’s not a bad top. Not the most aesthetic looking, but it’s got some decent flame to it. I want to pull the trigger and buy a SC-550, but fear I’ll get a low grade top on it. Looks aren’t everything, but it sure would be nice to pick the one you want (like I can at Sweetwater).
I'm pretty sure the SC-550 and SC-550 Plus EMG and such are pretty darn impressive. Maybe some are hit or miss, but the SC-550 Plus EMG PAF looks pretty great. Could even go with a SC-Custom II in my humble opinion, but it's less of a Les Paul clone. At around 300 or so bucks, the SC-550 looks pretty impressive.
@@PHeMoX Good point! I was leaning towards the 550-PAF like you mentioned, because on the HB website it displays a AAAA top, but the specs say AAA. Regardless though I think the majority of them probably look stunning. But their is always that factor for disappointment. At least I wouldn’t be spending a fortune if that was the case.
@@PHeMoX Excellent point! I have an SC-550 plus with EMG and it's visually a real winner and the sound is also top-notch, easily keeping up with guitars twice or three times as expensive!
The best single cut or LP style I own is my 550plus w/ EMG.. The flame is amazing, the weight is perfect, the EMG retrocactive fat 55's are quickly becoming my all time favorite set of pickups, the locking tuners work great. I've had it since they first released it. It's still my most played guitar. the 550 plus II the tuners r& pickuos really turn me off. I wish they'd offer more of the colors in the 550 plus EMG other than the two they have. but I have I believe it's called bourbon burst and it's gorgeous
Are you also gonna review the Keith Richards tele from HB? That one looks absolutely great. Hope it sounds and plays just as great.
This is literally the kind of guitar I'm looking for for a mod project, hss, 24 frets, two point trem... I was thinking of putting in EMG pickups, and replacing the bridge with a vegatrem or a gotoh 510, EMG's have a bad rep for not being vintage enough or that they're only good for metal, sound too compressed, etc... But that is all wrong, it all depends on the pickup height and how the settings on the amp are adjusted. Not only that, but when you lower the volume on the guitar you don't lose the highs so you can easily control the gain with just the guitar. The issue with the battery being a hassle is hard to argue, but still, it's a minor inconvenience considering that you don't have to change it that often if you unplug your guitar when you're not using it.
Thank you for taking the time to read my ranting ;)
Just bought an 8 string the other day. Frets took about two days of hard playing to smooth out the scratchy parts. For $175, freekin excellent.
The left-handed HSS has ceramic pick ups change the magnet in the hacker, pulled the pole pieces and put five pole pieces in. It sounds good.
I bought my HB HSS a year ago. Nothing new here except a different color.
Did u like it ?
@@davidclarke6329 I do like it. The neck, frets, tuners, and nut are flawless on the one I received. I have the light blue gloss version and developed a finish crack between the neck pickup and board- not an issue for me. The pickups are not terrible. My guitar weighs 7.75 lbs. The pickup selector is junk. I have Gibson, USA G&L’s and Fender, PRS S2, and Korean Schecter. I play the HB the most. It was worth the $362 USD (including shipping) I paid for it. I am a hobbyists that only plays in my home.
Thank you
I just bought 10 Squier models on the cheap so no HBs for me for a while :/
Still stoked!!!!
Recently got the Fusion HH in purple sparkle for 250€, it's a steal at that price, mine is extremely heavy (4 kg) but very warm sounding, even the coil splits sound fat, it's not perfect though as it has two misaligned tuners but that is something I can take care of.
Your wife is EXCELLENT! Happy Christmas 💕💕🥳🥳
I've always felt that a 24 fret neck moves any neck pickup back too much and drastically affects the tone.
If they don't change the length between the end of the fret board and the bridge- you're right, it will. But- some makers just move the bridge up a tad- problem solved. It's the neck pickups position relative to the bridge that affects the tone.
That sounds all kinds of wrong though. Pickup is in the same spot it would always be. In fact, the pickup position generally is unrelated to the amount of frets and only is deviating within a 1,5 cm range from the fretboard end. Some more compact designs (like headless designs) will have the pickups closer to the fretboard, but it doesn't affect tone. Especially not negatively.
@@PHeMoX go look at pictures of a custom 24 vs custom 22. The neck pickup is definitely closer to the bridge on a 24.
@@stoneysdead689 moving the bridge changes the scale length though
@@tjruss86 Yep- not all guitars use the same scale length- that's true. I like a shorter scale length, sounds really cool to me- sort of like you have a capo on.
I see no Fusion HSS HT announced at all, though it would make sense if priced right. I'd prefer it to be a 22 fret setup for HSS.
As a note, the binding isn't fake. It's part of the actual veneer. It's not a photo flame top, but an actual veneer.
I love this your way of reviewing guitars, and I love when you accelerate 😂✨️👋❤ thank you
I guess this is the next best thing to the now out of production out of stock HSS 25th version. I really like the overall style and HSS config. The pickup brand "name" sounds cool when I think about the 1947 UFO crash LOL. But I'd probably get a new set but probably an alternative from a $200 set maybe something from Tonerider for $100 maybe or something similar.
Nice Hoodie Papillon!!.... great video as usual! nice playing !
pickups are deffinately bright good for the country twang i would put a pearly gates in the bridge and dimarzio yjm in the middle and neck. i wouldn't say no to one of those, nice vid
I wish they would stop printing info on the back of the headstock, this used to be on clear film that you could just peel off but for the past few years they started printing it on the back of the headstock and I hate it!
harley benton should re do the sc special and junior tv yellow ! it’s not really tv yellow more dirty mustard i wish they could get it a little brighter and a little closer lol .
2 resistor’s, one for each singlecoil pickup. If you don’t want to upgrade the pickups
What kind of resistors would you suggest?
I have a Fusion II HSH with the Wilkinson trem. I changed the pickups to Jim Wagner set of HSH custom wound. I paid more for the pickups than the guitar! Sounds great and still quacks in positions 2 and 4. I’m looking to upgrade the bridge now and thinking about putting a Vegatrem on it. I polished the frets and rolled the ends. Plays great!
Honestly I’d really heavily love if it they made a fusion with two humbuckers, Wilkinson floating bridge, stainless steel frets and most importantly 24 frets.
They do make a HH version with 2 humbuckers, I own one.
@@InXLsisDeo but Floyd rose.. that's why I mentioned the wilkinson modern floating bridge.
@@petrucci973 Not sure what it is but from photos I think it has it as well, and steel frets.
@@InXLsisDeo the fusion series all come in stainless steel frets that is correct but for me personally I prefer HH, modern floating bridge and 24 frets.. sadly if it's HH with 24 frets it comes in Floyd rose bridge (locking system) or it comes is HSS 22 frets but 22 frets lol.. that's why I specified I wish they came in HH, the Wilkinson bridge they offer on the HSS version, stainless steel with 24 frets
They have a HSH with Wilkinson as well. I have it and am still learning. I will keep it forever if I can
Gute Besserung Henning und schöne Weihnachten 🎄
I really do like the look and build.
Do you know those have a tone knob Maybe if it’s not Dimed, cut some of that treble out with that tone knob it all round it out a bit just a thought. I love the sound of the middle pick up, also feed them all fish heads I quite like the noodling and the jamming that you do!
I'm not sure why anyone evaluates whether it's "in tune" out of the box, when it's advisable, to protect the neck by reducing tension when transporting guitars
I like this guy..great review. AMAZING what you can get for little money these day... unless it's anything other than guitars
Really nice guitar. Love your videos.
I think the very mild color to the body looks really good in contrast to the neck and head
dit mag tot de beste gitaar van het moment worden genoemd ik bezit er eenn plus nog 2 ander benton gitaren en ze klinken allen voortreffelijk soms zelfs beter dan de genormeerd gitaren
Nice improv dude! Guitar sounds great for the price point!
I say just play what you want and what the instrument inspires you to play, that is far more interesting than hearing the same few songs ripped out on aaaaallll instrument reviews.
What feels natural to play on a guitar is also an important yet sometimes unspoken aspect of a review I think.
Why have staggered tuners and still have two string trees!?
Henning could you ask Ibanez (Who already have the alter switch) and Harley Benton to implement the following pickup combination which I can get on my Red Special, which cannot be set in an strat style guitar?
1) Neck and Bridge single coil out of phase.
2) All 3 single coils on (I don't know, maybe it is better to take the coil closer to the bridge) and putting the middle out of phase --> very full rock sound. It sounds really cool for Gary Moore stuff. This combination is my favourite on my Red Special.
3) All 3 Pickups on --> which Ibanez already does.
4) All 3 on, bridge and middle in phase, the neck out of phase --> it gives a very nasal hollow sound, which I am not sure if it is very practicable, but certainly or Experiment. And since we can have 10 sounds I don't understand why Ibanez left out 1 and there are only 9 sounds with the switch.
5) The Bridge (if humbucker, then use both coils) and middle in Phase. This is the sound Brian May uses 80% of the time.
Does anybody else have the Red Special and finds these sounds usable???
Check the freeway switch. If you add a push-pull for phase inversion of one pickup you've done !
I watched a video recently on an Harley Benton HH emg super tele and the tone from that guitar was different gravy !
Nice headstock shape too.
I've only seen that model in pink and blue on their website. The one you have looks much better,
I have a mk2 and i am very happy with it, the Bengal finish looks far better than this one
and it has my prefered ebony fretboard.
With a pickup upgrade, they are excellent guitars, it is the only Harley Benton that was blemish
free first time, others i have had to return.
I will wait and see what they do with the mk4.
Still: I don't seem to need single-coils. They are not worth the hassle with their thin-wire-strung-to-two-nails-sound.
Otherwise: a beauty.
Oh, and get well soon, Henning!
I own the HSH version and to be honest due to the PUs it cannot compete with my Player Plus Strat and Ibanez AZ, I think, I‘ll sell it
5:41 if they wanted something pretty they would have asked for Leslie to be in the video and have You do the switching.
Jus sayin
Yep.
The neck pickup sounds fine. The mid pickup sounds fine. But when you put the neck and mid pickups together it's muddy as all hell. That's weird.
Do you think it’s possible to buy this guitar as a second one or is it better to look for other options?
The Roswell pups are in reality very nicely well rounded and more than 'decent' IF you're not already DEAF in your higher frequencies, see? That is a huge factor there that most folks won't consider. Leo Fender was partially deaf in one ear from hearing damage done to him while he was standing right next to an amp speaker pointed inches away from his head that went off suddenly at full volume. Leo's colleagues from then on would have to plead with him to reduce the piercing treble in his amp circuit designs since Leo couldn't tell there was way too much high end in them. This kind of thing will highly influence sonic judgements.
Well he also wasn’t a guitarist so that part I think is the biggest impact on how he heard the instrument. 😂
Yes, they are very good pickups, but unbalanced. With a simple equalizer you can make them sound as you want!
Is it me or is the neck Pickup in the way to adjust the Trust Rod with an allen key
You alwasy need an EQ pedal anyway, so you can eliminate the higher frequencies
You don't need to change the pickups
To my ear the pickups are pretty good sounding but the brightness is really harsh not like what a Tele from the big f would sound like for instance, not really not my cup of tea but I could totally see a lot of people liking them. Also personally I really don't like the humbuckers they put in the bridge of these S type guitars in Harley Benton, it's just muddy and cheap sounding but getting good sounding coil splitting pickups in this price range isn't easy. The guitar itself look beautiful and the trem system,nut and tuners are definitely good quality for the price.
Gandalf by HB
The number of body parts only matters if it looks like a bad patchwork. It is a purely aesthetic matter.
If it doesn't jump at you at first sight, it's all good.
actually, there's more to it.... more bodyparts means more glue. glue is not as hard as the wood and anything soft will eat up resonance and vibration. This means less sustain etc. it can be done in a way that doesn't affect tone too much, but not really in those factories... so the number of bodyparts has an effect on the sound.
@@EytschPi42 I saw videos showing tone differences between pick-ups. strings, fret and saddle material, all convincing. I never saw one showing the tone difference of multi-part bodies. Until I see one, this belongs in the "emperor's new clothes" category.
Still waiting for Dullahan III with fixed neck angle and tremolo bridge.
But this one looks very nice :)
maybe it's wired wrong: mid is where neck should be? the mid really sounds like a neck pickup
Like that truss rod adjustment location best
Me too- really cool idea huh? Other makers should pay attention.
Just bought a fusion 3 HH but it's too twangy...any suggestions? Change pick-ups or capacitor? I play metal
Got a couple of HB’s but at that price point you just can’t take a risk on their distinctly average QC standards.
I own the HH version and it's an insanely good guitar.
Just curious if rolling off the Tone Knob will fix the treble with the pickups?
Hi Henning, in one of your earlier videos you mentioned you were going to put some stuff up on your reverb shop. When is that happening?
I’ll sell it here directly…. next week
u love to see a fusion 3 hss with a floyd rose
Harley Benton is burning the market of guitars and it is making Fender, Gibson and other legendary brands to jutify their prices. I have got three Harleys and very probably next Harley is going to be this versatile fusion III.
Well, not really. No more than Greggs are burning the market for food or Amazon are burning the market for tools. They're providing worthless tat for chavs. The market for well built quality musical instruments hasn't changed as a result of harley benton and never will. No more than Thoman will replace a good guitar retailer by shipping boxes. I note Thoman's page for this guitar only has about 5 reviews suggesting they either don't sell many or they censor the review page. The one review that looks genuine the guy writes an essay where he explains at length how none of the HB guitars he gets (and he says he has 15) come without defects. He basically had to rebuild the guitar (replace the electronics, fix frets yadda yadda yadda) Given that this reviewer claims to own 15 HB guitars - I'd suggest (a) He's probably not a guitar player and (b) He hasn't saved any money over buying another brand. He could have got a really good guitar instead of a pile of junk.
I am still waiting for Thomann to create the Harley Benton Fusion 7 string guitar with Floyd rose :)
How does that neck profile feel. I need something a little thicker than usually occurs on modern guitars. I do like the Ibanez AZ neck
I think you would like it it has pretty thick neck
@@MOTORHEADGASKET Do you have one?
I tried one at the thomann store
it has a modern c, quite a thin neck. I like its feel for speedy playing. I love mine. ymmv.
the neck is veeery similar in profile to the AZ
Thank you for the great review. What do you recommend the AZES 40 with Upgrades (tuners and trem) or the fusion III hss.🤟
I know you weren’t asking me….but even with the upgrades on the Ibanez I’d still say the Fusion lll is much better!!
@@edlicari3909
I already have a few fusion and thought I needed something new again :| Thank you!
@@sebastianvogel5044 oh ok cool!! 👍
what is the difference between the Harley Benton Fusion-III HSS Roasted DB and the Harley Benton Fusion-III HSS Roasted FNT, because I saw that there is a price difference.
Color
Probably I am wrong, but this guitar sounds good for glam metal.
The Endsong sounds like could have been on Dream Theaters "Awake"! Who is this!?!?
24 frets with a 500k pot at the ALNICO neck pickup seems awfully bright to me. I think your guitar is perfect - big P90's and 22 frets.
"internet - go away" I love this bald German dude (also if you played songs you'd get in trouble for playing covers - covers are for punks)
Hook that up to Hughes & Kettner, bet it can sing some great tunes
Can the top end tones be tamed using tone control or it does not help?
When I play songs people tell me I play them wrong. You can’t win.
People suck!
Did they messed up and swapped the middle pickup with the neck one?
What’s the point using staggered tuners if there are two string trees?
why don't guitar makers put some sort of control where you can dial down the tone a bit if it's too bright for you? ;/
yeah…. we need that
This vs. Charvel vs. Nick Johnston Schecter?
So what pickups would you recommend? Out of the 1000s of options, how do you know you have the right ones? Where would you even begin to marry that body with pickups? You cannot do more testing than Thomann and Harley Benton.
Jonathan Koh swapped out all his pickups a great expense..for Seymour Duncans and he barely seems to use the guitar anymore.
S.Duncans went up in price recently quite a bit.
You can get a bit cheaper upgrade with DiMarzio humbuckers, and something like Fender TexMex single coils.
And then further down the price range you can take Wilkinson pickups for a lot less money but then it gets questionable how much better they are than the Roswells
What do you mean man- it's standard single coils and a humbucker- pretty easy to replace. And yeah, there are hundreds of options but if you have an idea of what style music you want to play- what kinds of tones you're looking for- CZcams can help you out. There are endless reviews on different pickups and amps and pedals and whatever you need to make a decision on. Sure, there's always a risk you'll buy something, and it won't be what you thought, you may prefer what you had- but you can always reinstall the originals and sell what you bought.
@@stoneysdead689 thuoght pick ups are chosen and tailored for the specific guitar. The wood, trem nut all come into play, when selecting them. It is a science beyond people without a vast array of humbuckers and time at their disposal. I mean that's what companies Ibanez, PRS, Fender, Gibson insist.
You wouldn't just grab any old set and blindly stick them on there because they work on your current guitar.
Chances are they wouldn't sound anything better than tte ones you took off.
@@mixodorians12 Bud- I don't know where you got that information but it's pure b.s. If you don't believe me- ask around- nothing I'm telling you is a secret- guitarist change their pickups all the time, it's extremely common. I do it all the time- and I don't think I've ever been unhappy with what I installed. It's not difficult- you are way over thinking it and buying into the bs.
@@stoneysdead689 stuee‘s right, you‘re wrong bud. Pickups will often worsen the sound of your guitar if it’s a bad match, some frequencies will jump out more whilst others are obscured. It‘s hard to predict how a guitar will sound.
I‘ve heard the petrucci liquified etc. neck and bridge pickup combo sound good in this model.
They should make a 7 string version
I bought one recently and I must agree, it’s somewhat bright. I changed pickups with better ones and the situation has improved but not night and day. It’s still a bit bright/cheap sounding. I suppose it’s the nyatoh body, alder would be perfect but it’s more expensive. Even basswood would be better, more balanced and fuller.
I just cannot get the tremolo screwed on, how did you do it?
If only they had slimer faster necks!
I love your videos, however this is one of the first videos that I thought it sounded terrible and you’re a good producer. It’s not just the top end, I think it sounds… unpleasant as a whole. Something in the mids is missing. Maybe it’s my bias against 24 frets but I’ve had some good sounding Ibanez’s before so idk.
no you’re right… It doesn’t sound great
You would need to spend 20x as much to get, that flame on a Gibson. 😄
True- but you are getting a little more than just some extra flame. I don't like Gibson but- I'd rather have a nice Gibson than one of these- any day. I could sell it and buy a Sire- which is what I really want. If I sell one of these- I'd be lucky if it paid for dinner.
Henning, how many HB do you personally own?
probably around 20, but so recently donated a bunch to Afrika
Just ordered the HSH version with the roasted neck for $199. Hopefully its a good one
The HB Guthrie model.
9:40 - best moment of the video :D
Might need to lower those pickups
I've got a question for you, or some folks in the comments. I posted this on one of Glenn's vids, but only got "have you tried a better speaker?" My speaker is good.
I got an HB EX-76 GHWAN. I love it. It's beautiful. It's absolutely butter to play. A joy to hold. Everything feels great. Stays in tune. The problem is the pickups. They're...ok. But they're a bit noisy/tinny/washy. So my question is: any recommendations for some affordable humbuckers that would tighten things up a bit and maybe trade some of the wash for punch? And I'm not looking for the "golden tone." I've just never done a pickup swap and I'm looking for a reasonable route to clean things up a bit.
Any help there is appreciated.
how do you know that what you hear is the pickups and not the guitar?
@@EytschPi42 honestly, I'm not sure how to answer that. As far as I can tell, all the components work correctly, there's no grounding issues. Everything turns on/off just fine and the tone/volume controls do the thing. No hiss or pops or dropped signal from the jack. Is there something I might look for otherwise? I'm not super educated on the guitar guts, but everything seems to be in order.
@@syntheticsleep test the wiring!
@@VincentBakker1964Everything is wired correctly. I think I'm just going to get new pickups.
Hab die HSS Fusion in Pink. 299€ und echt Top, so schön leicht und nicht kopflastig. Für das Top würde ich keine 150€ Aufpreis bezahlen.
Die HSH kostet 349, die HSS 449?
Das ergibt keinen Sinn..
Why HB does most of their guitars with a trem is beyond me...
There are a metric sh*t load of Fusion 3's but only a couple are without a trem....
Awesome playing.
Why is it, whenever influences come across a watch or guitar etc that is super affordable and great value, they always insist you change something?
Watch channels cannot let you go without telling you to change the bracelet on the otherwise perfect affordable watch.
Electric guitar reviewers do the same.
Ironically on the tele version and the 22 fret version, they reckon those exact same pickups are great.
You have to change the trem system on them though.
This is called a review... it is my duty to tell you what is good and what isn't. If I didn't critique the pickups, then you'd just say I am a paid shill and say everything is good. I have to be honest about the performance and features of the instrument. That is my job.
Staggered tuners? If so, is there a need for two string trees?
I was wondering the same thing. I thought the entire point of staggered tuners was to eliminate string trees.
I removed the string trees from my Fusion Pro ll which has the same staggered tuners and have no problems with strings coming out of the nut. Tuning stability is better as there are now less points of friction between the bridge and tuners.
Can u Please tell me where the Backingtrack is from??.pleeease
elevated jam tracks... it says it RIGHT on the screen
@@EytschPi42 it did.?! Man...Gotta taper down my LSD intake a lil...thanks anyway