MusicRadar Verdict
If you’re looking for a rock-solid modding platform, the Harley Benton Fusion IV delivers enough improvements over its predecessor to make it a tempting proposition for those who don’t mind getting stuck into soldering. If you’re after a great value guitar, it also fits the bill, but you may find that the additional switching doesn’t offer as much as you might think on the face of it.
Pros
- +
Awesome spec for the money.
- +
‘Alter switch’ offers 10 different pickup configurations.
- +
Floyd Rose tremolo was stable out of the box.
- +
Fantastic build quality and really good looking.
Cons
- -
Some of the alternate pickup positions are a little uninspired.
- -
Needed an action adjustment to get it playing properly fast.
MusicRadar's got your back Our team of expert musicians and producers spends hours testing products to help you choose the best music-making gear for you. Find out more about how we test.
What is it?
Harley Benton’s Fusion series of electric guitars represent superb value for money, and have quickly become the modding platform of choice for guitar players who want an instrument that looks and feels more modern than the low-cost vintage throwbacks offered by Squier or Epiphone. This latest iteration, the Harley Benton Fusion IV HH, looks to tempt those players who want that hot-rodded S-type experience without having to fork out north of a grand.
It’s a nyatoh body topped by a maple veneer, with a body that features an arm rest, a belly cut, and sculpting near the neck joint for more comfortable upper fret access. The roasted Canadian maple neck comes paired with a rosewood fretboard and a compound radius that starts at 12” and then flattens out to 16” as you move nearer the upper frets. It features 22 jumbo-sized, stainless steel frets, marked by circle fret markers and glow-in-the-dark side dots.
Pride of place on the body is a black Floyd Rose Original locking tremolo, with a matching locking nut. Die-cast tuners adorn the headstock, completing the hardware lineup. It’s got two Tesla Opus Alnico V humbuckers, with a five-position blade switch to unlock single coil sounds. There’s also a new addition for this series, an ‘alter switch’, which opens up some alternative pickup sounds, while the master tone and volume knobs are recessed inside the guitar body.
Specs
- Launch price: $494 | £438 | €499
- Made: Indonesia
- Type: Six-string electric guitar
- Body: Nyatoh
- Neck: Roasted Canadian flame maple, modern ‘C’
- Fingerboard: Rosewood
- Scale length: 25.5” (648mm)
- Nut/width: Floyd Rose locking, 42mm
- Frets: 22 stainless steel frets, medium jumbo
- Hardware: Floyd Rose FRT 1000 Original tremolo, Jinho JN-03M tuning machines
- String spacing at bridge: 53.4mm
- Electrics: Tesla Opus-1B Alnico 5 humbucker (bridge), Tesla Opus-1N Alnico 5 humbucker (neck), 1 x volume, 1 x tone, 1 mini switch, 5-way blade switch
- Weight: 3.3kg (7.27lbs)
- Options: Also available with Babicz FCH 2-Point Special Z-Series C Bridge ($444), HSH and HH configurations at Thomann
- Left-handed options: Yes
- Finishes: White Metallic Gloss
- Cases: No
- Contact: Thomann
Build quality
Build quality rating: ★★★★½
It certainly appears a lot more expensive than it actually is
From first glance, you’d definitely be forgiven for thinking that it’s more super Strat than cheap guitar. It’s immaculately finished, with the pop of metallic gloss white offset against the dark fretboard wood and similarly deep brown of the roasted maple visible via the headstock. It certainly appears a lot more expensive than it actually is, and the all-black hardware and electronics make this a very good-looking guitar in my opinion.
Turning it over to the back, you can see that the body is three-pieces through the clear coat finish, which shows off the wood grain. It’s not particularly well matched on my review model, but then you wouldn’t expect it to be at this price. The neck join feels very solidly put together with no hint of movement, with quite a deep cut around the neck bolts and a slight asymmetry to the join itself.
The tremolo and control plates are also nice and flush with the body of the guitar, and taking off the control plate, it features shielding on the other side. The wiring itself looks relatively neat and tidy, but there is a lot of it packed into the cavity thanks to those additional switching options. I don't find any qualms here, however.
Moving to the neck, my model has a really nice, dark roasted maple on the back with just a couple of knotty spots, and a very smooth satin finish. The fretwork is immaculate on both sides of the neck, no sharp edges to contend with here, and the dark rosewood looks fantastic.
The stainless steel frets are marked by circle dots, which look very premium, while the side dots are glow-in-the-dark for extra visibility on dark stage lighting. The hardware feels very solidly applied, with the switches offering a snappy feel, while the recessed knobs have a good bit of resistance when I turn them.
Playability
Playability rating: ★★★★☆
With it being a Floyd Rose guitar in a super Strat format, when sitting down to play, my first instinct is to go with some shredding. Already warmed up from a previous review, I start by playing the opening lead lick from In The Fire by Roadrunner United, which features some generous whammy bar use, full tone bends, and plenty of alternate picked scale runs. It’s certainly a fast-feeling fretboard in the higher registers thanks to the compound radius, and I don’t have any issues getting up to speed here.
I do think the action is set a little high from the factory, however, and getting my ruler out to measure, it’s just shy of 2mm at the 12th fret with my finger on the 1st fret. Not uncomfortable for an experienced player, but there’s definitely room here to lower it and get it feeling a lot more slinky in the upper registers. The medium jumbo frets feel really nice to bend against, and I can control my vibrato with ease as they give plenty of feel when moving the strings up and down.
To my hand, these seem a bit taller than what I’d typically expect from a medium jumbo, but that’s no slight, as most players would expect this from a super-Strat style guitar. Barre chords feel comfortable on the lower frets, and switching to some riffs, I find the neck profile to be very sweet indeed. It’s not super skinny like an Ibanez, but the modern ‘C’ profile offers a nice bit of feel without being so big it becomes cumbersome.
I start to lean properly on the Floyd Rose tremolo next to see how it holds up, and I’m impressed with its stability straight out of the box. For flutters and more general use, the tuning stays pretty much perfect, with perhaps a few cents either way depending on whether I dive or raise with it. Getting into some more Dimebag-inspired dives and harmonic squeals, I do find it shifts a bit more, but this is understandable considering the load it’s under, and easily fixed with a small adjustment at the fine tuners.
Sounds
Sounds rating: ★★★★☆
The Fusion IV HH features an ‘alter switch’, which means an additional 5 variations of sound to play with alongside the five standard sounds it features. With the alter switch facing towards the tone pot, I start by plugging straight into the front of a Mesa/Boogie MkVII combo amp, on the high gain channel, of course.
In position 1, it’s the typical mid-heavy gut punch you’d expect from an Alnico V humbucker in the bridge position, delivering plenty of chunkiness when I dig in with power chords, and boatloads of sustain for leads.
Flicking the alter switch towards the volume knob unlocks a series of tones inspired by the Ibanez ‘Power Tap’ feature
Moving onto position 2, I get split coil sounds with one coil from each humbucker engaged, which is a little thinner than the bridge ‘bucker on its own. The middle position activates both humbuckers, which is a really thick sound that I can see going down well with lovers of sludgy riffs, while position 4 activates the other two single coils in each humbucker, and to my ear sounds a bit fuller and more pleasing with ladles of gain.
The final position activates just the neck humbucker, which is very thick and warmer-sounding than the middle position but offers a little more clarity and articulation with barre chords.
Flicking the alter switch towards the volume knob unlocks a series of tones inspired by the Ibanez ‘Power Tap’ feature, by which one of the humbucker coils is ‘tapped’ and connected to the other coil via a resistor and capacitor. The idea here is to produce a sound that combines the spank of a single coil with the low-end heft of a humbucker.
It sounds more single-coil than humbucker to me
Position 1 activates the ‘tapped’ bridge humbucker, which indeed has some of the heft of a humbucker in the lower registers, but sounds a little harsh on high gain in the upper portions of the fretboard. The overall tonal quality is more single-coil than humbucker to me.
Position 2 gives me a single coil of the bridge humbucker alone, which again feels a little harsh in the trebles, especially with the excessive amounts of gain from channel 3 of the amp. Position 3 doesn't give me much to write home about either, sounding very similar to the standard middle position. It offers both humbuckers in a tapped configuration, which sounds tonally similar but ever so slightly duller to my ear.
Position 4 unlocks a single coil from the neck humbucker, which continues the theme of sounding decent on the bass strings, but getting harsh and icepicky on the treble side. Finally, position 5 gives me the ‘tapped’ bridge humbucker, which ends up being my favorite of all the ‘alter’ positions as it leans much more towards low-end and midrange response, without any of the harsh high-end I encountered in the other positions.
Switching to the clean channel of my amp with a Fender-esque mid scoop, to get a better picture of the alternate sounds, I’m able to eke out some more of the spanky sounds. As I move to the higher registers, they just don’t sound as sweet, ending up getting clouded by harsher resonances, particularly as I play triads above the 10th fret. There are some great sounds here, like the tapped neck humbucker, but there are also some that I just don’t think sound all that good.
Verdict
Considering the price, there’s a lot of guitar here for those players who aren’t afraid to look beyond the big brands. It’s a really well put-together guitar, and with a setup, the playability is superb. With the locking tremolo, I can see this model attracting a certain type of player who wants more extreme sounds, so having ten different pickup combinations could be very appealing to those who want some more explorative tones at their fingertips.
The pickups are the real weakness here
That said, the pickups are the real weakness here. The ‘stock’ sounds are pretty great, but the ‘alter’ positions are a bit uninspired for me. Could more expensive pickups solve this problem? They could certainly elevate the tones of this guitar to match the build quality and playability. But then players would have to factor in an additional cost alongside a setup.
It's still a good guitar if you're looking for value for money, and if you're willing to spend a little extra time and money on it, you could definitely push it into the realms of greatness while still saving the cash you'd spend buying from a bigger brand. That said, those who want a complete guitar from the off might find a better match looking elsewhere.
MusicRadar verdict: If you’re looking for a rock-solid modding platform, the Harley Benton Fusion IV delivers enough improvements over its predecessor to make it a tempting proposition for those who don’t mind getting stuck into soldering. If you’re after a great value guitar, it also fits the bill, but you might find that the additional switching doesn’t offer as much as you might think on the face of it.
Test | Results | Score |
|---|---|---|
Build quality | An incredibly well put together instrument. | ★★★★½ |
Playability | Plays lightning fast, but needed an action adjustment. | ★★★★☆ |
Sounds | Some great core sounds, but the additional tones are hit and miss. | ★★★★☆ |
Overall | A rock-solid platform for modders and shredders. | ★★★★☆ |
Also try
