Harley Benton Fusion III (Great Looks, Nice Price)
Вставка
- Опубліковано 13 лип 2024
- Harley Benton Fusion III (Great Looks, Nice Price)
Today we're checking out another Harley Benton. This is one of the most popular ones on the Thomann website, so this should be interesting. The guitar looks very promising indeed. Let's see if it's as good as it looks.
There's also an even budget friendlier version available. This is the roasted version.
Enjoy!
0:00 Intro
0:45 Specs, price and looks
2:23 The rig I'll be trying it with
2:30 Sounds
6:12 Adding some overdrive
10:30 Whammy bar test
11:43 Conclusion
Check out my Patreon page for music and exclusives: / elmojk
For official website (and lessons), visit elmojk.com
Check out my music on Bandcamp: elmojk.bandcamp.com
Check out my music on Spotify: spoti.fi/2VnLgMs
Facebook: / elmojk
Instagram: / elmojkarjalainen
Twitter: / elmokarjalainen
The gear I most often use (the links are affiliate links): redir.love/thocf/r8ctceq3i1
Budget gear I recommend: redir.love/thocf/r9mtambedi
(Not so) budget gear I recommend: redir.love/thocf/cib9pttb93
Check out 8 Great Budget Guitars: ua-cam.com/video/dM9zKKiZoxc/v-deo.html
Or check out some of my music: ua-cam.com/play/PLNaLwTdlpQNHKlg8ALZfM3AINC20WMp8s.html
😊😊😊😊😊😊😊
I'm not sure if people realize that 50% of Custom Shop Fenders can't hold a tune as good as this Benton can.
True. Fenders are shockingly bad.
A properly set up and secured Wilkinson bridge is the "Dirty Little Secret", or one of them.
Your honest reviews helped me become a Harley Benton fan. Their prices have helped! I bought a Fusion III (my 3rd HB) when they first came out and love it, so much so that I just bought a Fusion-T Roasted. It's so gorgeous and an incredible deal. I'm bouncing around ideas for what color DiMarzio pickups to put in. Roswell pups are ok, but the way these fusions play and look, they really need an upgrade. DiMarzios are all amazing choices, and not super expensive. I put a Super 3 in my SC-550 II and OMG - you don't need no stinkin' $2000 Gibson LP to sound amazing.
Yep. They sure make some nice guitars :)
@MrPolevaulter does this trem system need to be handled like a full floating Floyd Rose? In terms of changing strings ( one at a time , unless you block the bridge)? And for changing tunings ( where you have to reset the float everytime)? Thanks
@@allboutthemojo no.
@@L4u84S so how do you do it?
Gibson is for investing🤣
You are absolutely the best, most honest reviewer, on youtube bar none...I honestly look for a review by you before I buy!!!!
I appreciate that!
I've wanted one for years!! I am not losing hope!
When I want to frighten the crap out of the cat, I play Elmo's whammy bar test.
Haha :D
Nice. I’ve been thinking about getting this guitar. I wait for your reviews to know the real deal. Yep… new pickups are already planned. Thank you again. You always deliver.
Thank you for the kind words :)
I have this guitar in the Fusion II version. I did swap out the pups and the pots. Now it is one of my favorites. Great guitar, nice price. If anyone is thinking of buying this, you have a happy owner in me. Thanks as always, EJK!
Great to hear!
Could you please tell what pups did you chose?
Sure. I put Alan Entwistle Dark Star ceramic humbucker in the bridge, Entwistle XS 62N noiseless single coil in the middle, and Entwistle Dark Star Neodymium humbucker in the neck. Those pickups are not expensive, but they sound really good. I put that brand’s AS 57 single coil pups in a Strat, and those sound great. I hope that helps.
@@stevehusten7940 thank you so much, it sure does.
Love your reviews. Don't always agree but I'm always entertained 🙂
Glad you like them!
Well, mr unpronounceable name. I watched this video because I’ve been researching this axe a lot. I’m frickin stoked on 2 fronts. You just sold this guitar on me because you played it how I wanted to see it played, nobody I’ve seen has done that yet, and secondly and more importantly, you are an awesome musician. Thanks for sharing this dude. Subbed
Thank you 😊
Another good one Elmo, enjoying your videos. Keep it up!
Yes - good playing and a beautiful guitar. Stay warm.
Glad you like them!
Love these guitars have one with the quilted top that's beautiful.
Personally I have no problem with the Roswell pickups and really no complaints about the pots either. Over the last couple of years I've became a huge Harley Benton fan for the fact that you don't have to pay thousands for a great guitar.
Nice review. I have the Fusion 3 with two single coil and one humbucker in Daphne blue. It serves me well, both in my rock and roll trio, and also playing standards as a kind of Pound Shop Bert Weedon.
I have the Mk2 with an Ebony fretboard and a Bengal Burst top.
An excellent guitar, only let down by the Roswell pickups which are too harsh
for my tastes, i upgraded them to Alnico 2's and now it sounds far better.
An excellent guitar, and far better value than any big brand models.🙂
Nice guitar!
Elmo, I would love to see a compilation video of your outtakes and goofups and stuff… because of all the big Guitar Guys on UA-cam I think you’re genuinely the funniest.
🤘😁🤘
Thanks! 😊 I just posted one on Patreon.
I looooove your reviews!!!!
Wow I can’t believe that you get all that guitar for 336 dollars US! (Not including shipping) But that’s what the website says. I’m definitely going to buy this guitar! It’s absolutely gorgeous. I love your channel mate. Thanks for what you do.
All frets needs attention even my Gibson Les Paul 50s std. plekked and everything. I polished the SS frets on my Fusion 2 HH and they are great now!
Love your channel Elmo.
HB looks like a really nice guitar.
You could replace the pickups with seymour duncans all round and the guitar would still work out half the price of a charvel.
Only honest reviewer on YT, just subscribed
Thank you 😊
Just ordered one after watching your video,,and made me convinced it’s the right choice,,there’s two things there’s super important to me now a days,,stainless steel frets and of course stay tuned after,well what you just did at the end “Hendrix” feel 😅,,cheers ☕️
Great review as allways, I got the fusion 111 with the Wilkinson tremelo. Excellent guitar what pickups would you replace the roswell with?
I am really getting into these HB guitars. I have found out they not sold in the US. But Thoman ships world wide so that may be the way I can get my hands on one of these. They are beautiful in build, color, sound but the pickups may need to be swapped out. Thanks for the mind changing video!!!!
✌ great accuracy on this review. Stainless steel wow.
Thanks! 👍
First !!!
Cheers from France, keep the good job coming Elmo !
Merci beaucoup! :)
I got a Fusion III (Bengal Burst and rosewood board since I don't really care for maple) for Christmas from the better half. Really nice guitar tbh. I lowered the action a bit and swapped strings and it's pretty good. My only complaint and it's minor is the pick ups like you mentioned. They are a bit bright for my tastes, but otherwise a gorgeous piece of kit... and the pick ups aren't so bad I feel compelled to swap lol.
Great review as always...yes, it' s a great guitar, actually I sold my Charvel...HB fusion 3 is a nice mix between a strat and a superstrat, and that is what I was looking for!!! To me, the pick ups sound ok, perhaps the worse in that guitar are the volume/tone pots and the pickups selector...
A great player makes anything sound great.
Harley Benton has come a long way because of UA-cam without which it probably wouldn't exist.
Great review as always and seems a really nice guitar and that whammy system worked well. but totally agree with you about the pick ups. The bridge was not too bad but that neck pickup sounds almost muted and not a great tone. Would need to swap for some different pickups. I have the GXR70 you reviewed and those pickups are similar. Not the best.
EXCELLENT. 👍🏻
Ultra Flame! 🤘
what is so impressive is his face appearance when things going not well on guitar😁
Ahhh. So nice to be back online and see a great review with my new Google pixel phone and hear and see things as they should be.
Great review as always sir..
Are the pickups high output may I ask if you remember?
How's the weather there. Man, we had the mother of all snow storms here about a week ago. 😂. Must have had about 10 centimeters of snow. 😂
Hope all is well sir!!!🤘♥️
They didn't seem terribly hot.
They should do one with 22 frets and with a single in the neck position
I've got the HSS version in shell pink. Nice guitar, single coils are obnoxiously noise though.
Another great video Elmo, thank you for the awesome content. Do you have any plans on checking out a Kramer baretta special? It sounds like a good deal but I'd love to hear your opinion on it before I make a purchase. Thanks again
Probably at some point. I have a bunch of other stuff to get through before that though, so it will be a while.
Very good guitar. Hb should put better pickups in this guitar and it is a lot less expensive than having to replace the stock ones, coz then how competitive is this guitar?
Are machine heads locking ones? In description I see that yes but it looks that they have one full coil for some strings on tuners. I never see such loops on locking tuners before
And yes for 400 euro they could integrate some better pickup like EMG
Nice Wes Montgomery flourish around 3:45. Sounds pretty
Thank you :)
I just wanna mention, I have the sc-550 II, and the DC dlx with Gotoh hardware. The Tesla opus 1 on the single cut are quite good, but the Tesla VR’s in the dlx aren’t very nice at all. Quite muddy, and dull. At least to me. Not all Tesla models are the same sound quality imo.
Good review, I was actually wondering how that trem would hold up with all that abuse 😅 It surprised me.
And I kinda liked the sound of those pickups in the video, but I’m just listening on my phone so take that with a grain of salt.
Looks and sounds good for the money! And the tremolo unit seems very stable. I do think it’s trying a little to hard ? Every lookie like feature of a 4figure super Strat , kinda like chipboard and veneer side board as opposed to a solid one! However they do the same thing?!
Wow!! That’s all I needed to hear. I’m goin’ to get the blue burst one and maybe change the pickups. Not saying the rosewells are bad; they’re great for the money. I’m just hearing something different that’s all. But a great guitar for the price. Thanks for the review. They really improve on the craftsmanship. That roasted neck made the difference.😌🎶👍🏾
Just ordered the Blue Burst. Interested if I need to switch the pups.
@@ericreichelt9057 how are the pups? Are they decent or did you feel the need to switch them out
@@wagglywizard6700 I swapped them for a JB and Jazz. Yes they needed to be swapped. Still not happy with the tone.
I've bought one used, with the factory specs. Noticed a few problems. The pickups were not good for me, swapped them to some from Alan Entwistle and the guitar started sounding great. Secondly, the stock 5-way switch failed quite quickly but that's a cheap fix. Lastly, the humbucker pickup cavity is not correctly aligned - the strings are a bit displaced from the pickup poles - that was true for the stock pickup as well. But nevertheless I think that it is within acceptable limits and did not notice much sound problems caused by the misalignment. I imagine that the problems with pickup alignement are random - some reviewers have them, others don't.
I am glad you do a proper wang bar workover. Brutal!
Cheers :)
People talk about how great Harley Bentons are but I’ve had QC issues with EVERY one I’ve owned. I’ve owned guitars that cost 1/3 the price of a Harley Benton that had more attention put into fit/finish. None of the problems are catastrophic, but I have to be honest and say I’m overall disappointed. I’d be more likely to recommend them if at least one of them came without dings, scratches, etc. But I haven’t had one come out of the box that didn’t have issues.
One oddity is that it has "HB JN-07 locking staggered" tuners but still has string trees. When I fitted locking staggered tuners to my Strat and Tele I was able to remove the trees.
I have the first Fusion T and want a Strat Fusion but I wish the body shape was closer to the strat shape, any chance the next time you do a video with this guitar you could compare the body shape to a Strat or a HB S-Type while your at it you could do a tone comparison.
Its a pity HB had to stop using the Wilkinson pickups as I have an SC-Custom with the Wilkinsons and they are epic, I also have an SC-450 with what I think were the knockoff Wilkinsons as they are ultra microphonic but have changed them for Dirty Fingers and it sounds powerful but feels weird playing a guitar in which the pickups cost more than the guitar!
I'd like to you do a review of ANY "Sawtooth" guitar product, I think THAT would be interesting.
Apparently, Michael Angelo batio has several models, and is an endorsee of them. They offer Stratocaster like guitars in nice colors, and have a MAB model which features a made-in-Germany Floyd Rose, Basswood body & Maple neck and two high output HB pickups all for under 400$.
It's a curiosity thing.
Top 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼
Hey dude, nice playing out there
How do You compare the fusion to a Sire s3 neck?
It's been so long I can't remember.
Especially very good tone at, 7:56 onwards. Neck p/up split.
For only $399 Euro, no one is complaining....
Thanks!
Ans thank you :)
@@MrPolevaulter I value these reviews as much as the guitars themselves. Keep it rocking, legend 💪
Great video. One question I have is If setting the trem to floating leaves enough room to do flutters. I remember reading somewhere you can't get a lot of pull on the tremolo due to the shape of the cavity in the back of the guitar, and I was wondering if that is true.
Not sure. I sold it, so I can't test it either. Sorry.
Yes it's true.
I would like to know more about that. So far, this guitar has everything I need.
I wish they would do the beautiful finish on the left handed guitars as well
It's finally here!
+Elmo Karjalainen how thick is the neck? Like slightly thicker than a squier or more like a gibson/prs?
Can't remember exactly, but it's thicker than a Squier definitely.
400 euro isn't totally cheap but what you get for the price is really good. And I love the look of the fusion models, even the sparkly purple t-type guitar or the pink gloss one are in a way really pretty.
Yeah, 400 is not cheap indeed but with the features in mind it actually is. Stainless steel frets, roasted maple neck and an actual Wilkinson tremolo, that's some proper stuff. I don't know any other brand that can pull this off under 500 or even 600 bucks.
@@rentblop8070 oh, yeah. What you get for the money is incredible. Some companies charge 400 bucks just for a roasted maple neck, stainless steel frets and locking tuners...
@@dr.s. Like who and what? I haven't seen a guitar at 400 with those specs other than Harley Benton. I'm genuinely curious
The first good review of this guitar. Thank you.
Glad you liked it!
👍🏻👍🏻
Great review
can you help me ibanez rg 421 or hb fusion iii
When you tested a clean sound, pleased play Clean and not crunchy.
i was about to get that guitar until i saw it fall apart right in front of me with that volume knob
Hey man, what's better for a beginner to play primarily pop and 80s (incl. some 80s rock) but no metal? This guitar or the Yamaha 112V?
Either one should be good.
Beautiful guitar for the price , i'd throw in some SD's and it's good to go!
Yep.
One Question: Are Harley Benton Fusion III with ebony fingerboard good? Or is a better option pick the roasted one?
Don't know. Haven't tried the ebony.
Everyone, I'm torn between the HSS Fusion III and the Sire S7. Specwise they look similar to me, which one would you recommend?
Elmo today 3d of March 2024 costs 289 euro. Is it a good deal for a guitar for practice at home compared to the Squier sire and Cort at a hundred more level? Thanks.
Come to Greece for vacation next summer
whats the difference between this bridge and a floyd rose bridge?cons and pros?i have a guitar with original floyd rose and it stays in tune like forever.
Big difference imo, and would be a topic for a separate video.
Nice review. It’s a nice looking guitar but sounds to bright and harsh in my opinion.
Hey, have you done a video on your top 5 favorite guitars that you own or something like that? Would be cool.
Cheers
Thanks! I haven't done anything like that. I've only done videos of all my guitars.
Love the roasted neck and headstock and for heavy shredding there's one with a locking nut. Thanks for sharing Elmo!
And thank you :)
I 100 per cent agree with this revue, the pickups are trash but the guitar itself is very good.
Seems hard to find the colors I like. Harley Benton takes them out of production too quick. I like the matte olive green (gone) and Firemist 25th (gone) anniversary copper color. What are the pros and cons of HSS vs HSH on the Fusion models? I know they both offer coil splitting. Personally I like the look of HSS better. HSH seems crowded to me. But I'm reading most players prefer that because HSS neck single coil is noisy.
Very helpful review, but now you put me in a little dilemma. I was planning to surprise my son with Sterling Axis SUB, and then I saw this video of yours. Please, your opinion: Harley Fusion III or Sterling Axis SUB
I liked the HB more tbh.
Elmo, can you inform us what is the thickness of that neck (1st and 12th fret)?
Don't know.
I can't speak for everyone in here but that roasted maple tickles me cherries!!! 😂
Elmo! That was a really fair review brother well done!
I bought the same B-stock guitar about a month ago and i can say that i am super excited with the overall quality.
At first glance the tuning seemed to have some stability issues, cause the strings where wrapped arround the tuners but
as soon as i put them through the locking and clipped them, the whole feeling changed and it became A LOT more stable!
After recording some tunes with it, I might change the pickups to get higher output for meaner tones... but still does the job pretty damn good!
Cheers!
Can you share your setup on this guitar? I mean, string gauge, string action… and Are you adjusting nut or frets?
I can't remember anymore. Did nothing to action. Strings were the factory ones. Did nothing to nut or frets I think.
To be honest, it looks far better than it sounds. They tried to do a Fender Custom Shop clone but it still has that buzzy string, bad setup, cheap tone associated with cheap guitars. Schecter and Xaviere make better versions of this axe in my opinion. Great video!
LOL. 400 euro guitars vs 800 euro + Schecters
Why do they keep installing Roswell pickups?
That seems to be the major gripe from owners.
Thanks, but Benton now is everywhere;), wish you will try some Aria STG series guitar.
Maybe at some point. So much gear, so little time...
Can the tremolo also pull up or only goes down?
Up as well.
Hello friend, between this and the Harley Benton Cst 24-T which one would you prefer?
Maybe the CST.
@@MrPolevaulter Thanks Elmo! 😘
Hey Elmo it's Mike who BTW can pronounce your last name perfectly, why I don't know...anyway I've had this guitar, I've had almost every guitar that Harley Benton makes except the models that cost 80 and 90 euros and I've never had a Strat or SG model and I'm not at all a snob but Harley Benton is crap. You get exactly what you pay for, that's my opinion after having had about 13 or 14 Harley Bentons.
Been looking at these. I have been playing ibanez RG 565 that I bought back in 91 or 92 when I was 16. Love it but want something similar but don’t want to spend $2000. Paid $850 for that RG back in 92. Is the max fusion about the best 80’s shredder for that price range? I would probably want in lays tho so the fusion 3 with Floyd rose is what I’m looking at.
Not sure tbh. It is good though.
At your pricepoint I would consider the Charvel Pro-Mod DK 24. Had two, HH and HSS, absolutely fabulous guitars.
Does guitar have any neck dive? Specially when you use it on strap?
Don't remember it having any. Didn't try it with a strap though.
I have this model and it doesn't have a neck dive. For reference I usually play standing and used different straps over the time, guitar was stable with all of them. Hope this helps.
I'm surprised it has stainless steel frets! for that price, 😎👍👍
Yeah, pretty nice for the price.
I would like to ask people here what pickups would they recommend for this guitar.
They need to be available in Europe, reasonably priced, ceramics, medium outputs are preferred, neck pickup should sound have a good clean in coil split mode, bridge pickup should be F spaced and must perform metal flawlessly to be worth the hassle , PU color should be black. Thank you
Oripure
C'mon guys.... Elmo could make a plank sound great
Cheers!
The weight is about 3,6 Ks
E.. I was wondering when you'd show your face around here, do I look like a Euro conversion calculator chart, ha..that's one sweet guitar, like the way they got the pickups laid in, I would lay them in same way with some Chrome, to match machine heads, two octave neck nice ,no pick guard sweet, if the necks two thick? I would sand it.. never liked stock necks, I like the necks thin so that's why I sand them, I did that on my strat..that's why I build my guitars and don't have a woman, they don't like sandpaper.. well I did have one woman that likes sandpaper..ha.. she didn't like that heavy grit sandpaper..love all the curly maple, hate the binding on the side, I guess they have to do that because of veneer, I think they should have left out the binding and feather sanded the veneer and covered it with the sunburst,my da#n self.. bye'eeee..
My only complain is that why don't HB use staggered tuners to get rid of the ugly string trees to make it look clean like a suhr for example.
He says that it has staggered locking tuners?
It has them, my HB Fusion Pro 2 does too.
Interesting. Then what's with the double string trees? I assume suhr uses staggered locking tuners and manages without string trees
@@42ronty what happened was on the original fusion pro one, there was a metal bar, that threw the tuning completely out of whack on these guitars, people removed and replaced them with string trees, doing the upgrade themselves whilst filling in the holes... guess harley benton just went with string trees, because that's what people were doing, and called it the fusion pro 2,
Not sure if there were staggered tuners on the fusion pro 1, I think there were.
Also you need string trees etc when the headstock is flat, like a strat. Suhr maybe has theirs tilted back a bit?
@@42ronty guess it still needs trees as the angle even with staggered is not enough. I doubt it is a problem though. And u can't really compare this to a suhr lol
i wouldn't buy one but for the money and a flamed neck why not?
So the only difference between the fusion pro2 and the fusion Pro 3 is the finishes?
Seems quite a stretch to call them a upgrade.
Downgrade... not a fan of finishes like this
Not entirely sure what the difference is.
It's a great guitar except for the pickup squeal, which is deal breaker for me.
A wax pot is an easy fix and can be done yourself with a little care (65 degrees celcius max, can be done with candle wax).
You can call me what? This guy? 😂
rahat hukkaan ja katumus on hirvee!
I like it but... I don´t like 24 frets guitar.
I really like that brand but they don't have distributor in Canada or US ... SO to buy one it's from the european distributor. I'll pay for the dollar exchange + shipping + custom fee + our government taxes ... so a 300 Euro guitar will cost me like 1000$ ... Wish I could get one of those ...
Huomasitko ton kitaran nauhoissa et ne tuntuu karkeemmilta mitä enemmän bendaat? Itte ostin ton fuison II ja nauhat oli muuten ihan loistavat mut niitä ei oltu kunnolla kiillotettu. Itte sitte vedin 1000->2000 ja kiillotusaine. Silti nuo tuntuu et materiaali on jotai ihan muuta ku rosteria vähän vibratoo ni rupee tuntuu hiekkapaperilta eikä toi kiillotus auta yhtää mihikkää??? Tiiä sitte noista fusion III malleista niissä jotku "blacksmith stainless steel" nauhat.
En ainakaan muista. Mutta onhan tuosta jo aikaa.
This vs ibanez jem jr?
Very different beasts. That being said, I think the Jem JR has better pickups.
This vs yamaha revstar😀
RevStar!
Haven't tried the Revstar.