The Harley Benton Fusion-T HH Roasted SP is one of those guitars that looks almost too good on paper for the price.
You get a roasted maple neck, stainless-steel frets, locking tuners, a Wilkinson tremolo, and coil-splitting humbuckers in a modern T-style guitar. At 299€, that sounds borderline ridiculous.
So is the Harley Benton Fusion-T HH Roasted SP actually good?
Disclaimer: Harley Benton sent me this guitar and I get to keep it as compensation for my work. However, Harley Benton has no say in the things I mention in the video or this post.
(The video above was initially released on July31st, 2022.)
Harley Benton Fusion-T HH Roasted SP Specifications
- Ergonomically shaped nyatoh body
- Bolt-on roasted Canadian maple neck
- Roasted maple fingerboard
- Ivory dot inlays
- Modern C neck profile
- Scale length: 648 mm (25.5″)
- Fretboard radius: 305 mm (12″)
- Nut width: 42 mm (1.65″)
- Graph Tech TUSQ XL nut
- 22 medium jumbo Blacksmith stainless-steel frets
- Roswell HAF-B AlNiCo-5 bridge humbucker
- Roswell HAF-N AlNiCo-5 neck humbucker
- Master volume
- Master tone with push/pull coil split
- 3-way pickup selector
- Wilkinson 50IIK 2-point tremolo
- WSC staggered locking die-cast tuners
- Chrome hardware
- Shell Pink matte finish
What Is the Harley Benton Fusion-T HH Roasted SP?
The Harley Benton Fusion-T HH Roasted SP is a modern take on the classic T-style guitar.
Instead of going for a traditional Tele-style spec sheet, Harley Benton gave this model two humbuckers, a floating tremolo, locking tuners, stainless-steel frets, and a roasted maple neck. Because of that, it feels more like an affordable 80s-inspired shred guitar in a T-style body than a vintage-style Telecaster.
That idea is right up my alley.
First Impressions
Opening the box with a budget-friendly guitar is always exciting, but it also comes with a bit of anxiety.
Will the frets feel sharp? Will it stay in tune? Will it feel cheap?
In my case, the Harley Benton Fusion-T HH Roasted SP arrived in good shape. I did have to tighten the truss rod a little, but overall the setup was good. The fret ends could have used a tiny bit more rounding, yet the guitar still felt comfortable to play right away.
Like many guitars in this price range, it was a little heavier than I would ideally want. Even so, it was still within the normal range for this type of guitar.
After letting it acclimate for a couple of hours, I gave it a quick unplugged test. It felt acoustically loud, resonant, and comfortable in the hands.
That is always a good start.
How Does the Harley Benton Fusion-T HH Roasted SP Sound?
The Roswell pickups found in many Harley Benton Fusion guitars are genuinely good.
They are fairly high output and have plenty of top end, which works especially well for hard rock and metal. To my ears, this guitar sounds like an 80s rock and metal machine.
The coil-split tones are also useful, although they have a more modern and scooped character than a traditional single-coil sound. That worked really well for the clean intro riff in the song from the video.
Using my POD Go with a Mesa Mark IV-style sound, I was able to get very convincing Dream Theater-inspired rhythm and lead tones. I especially enjoyed the neck humbucker for leads. Combined with the floating tremolo, it gave every note a nice thick clang that I really liked.
So while this is not a “do everything” guitar in the most traditional sense, it absolutely nails the modern rock and metal lane it is aiming for.
What I Liked and What Could Be Improved
Overall, I would describe the Harley Benton Fusion-T HH Roasted SP as good, but not perfect.
The concept is excellent. A T-style guitar with shred-friendly specs is not something you see every day, and Harley Benton has done a lot right here. The build quality is solid, and many of the features push way beyond what most people would expect at this price.
I also liked the overall control layout. The angled pickup switch feels practical, and the knobs and switches themselves feel more solid than what I usually expect from a guitar in this range.
The Wilkinson tremolo worked well too. After a while, I noticed that I really had to try if I wanted to knock the guitar out of tune. The locking tuners deserve some credit here as well, because they are an important part of making a floating tremolo feel usable.
The roasted maple neck also felt great. The satin finish was smooth and comfortable, although it did become a bit more polished over time with use. The stainless-steel frets on my particular guitar were decent, though with budget guitars there is always some variation from one instrument to another.
That said, not everything about the design feels equally useful. Most of the body cutouts seem to be there mainly for looks. The lower horn cutout, for example, does not really improve upper fret access. The slightly angled neck joint may help a little, but overall I would say the cutouts are more cosmetic than functional.
Even so, the guitar still feels more ergonomic than my traditional Tele.
Another small positive surprise was that after seven months of use, the slightly sharp fret ends had actually improved. That was not something I expected, but I definitely noticed it.
Is The Harley Benton Fusion-T HH Roasted SP Good?
Yes, I think the Harley Benton Fusion-T HH Roasted SP is a very good guitar for the money.
It is not flawless, and I would not pretend otherwise. However, the overall package is impressive enough that the small issues never made me feel like the guitar was not worth keeping around.
In fact, I think this guitar works in two different ways.
First, it works as a solid instrument right out of the box. Second, it also makes a lot of sense as a modding platform if you want to personalize it further over time.
That combination makes it easy to recommend.
If you like the idea of a modern T-style guitar with roasted maple, stainless frets, humbuckers, and a floating tremolo, the Harley Benton Fusion-T HH Roasted SP is definitely worth a look.
If you want to get your own Harley Benton Fusion-T and support what I do, you can use the affiliate links below:
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