Harley Benton Fusion-t 25th Review

Harley Benton Fusion-T twenty fifth: What’s it?

K, a twenty fifth anniversary is generally silver however don’t any individual inform Harley Benton, as a result of to mark the instance the Thomann-owned massive of finances guitar equipment refinished one of the crucial maximum fascinating fashions in its assortment a metallic-gold Firemist end and we’re 100 in keeping with cent k with that.

There are 8 fashions within the twenty fifth Anniversary assortment, two bass guitars, and 6 electrical guitars, all of which retail for less than £500, and the only we’re having a look at nowadays is the Fusion-T twenty fifth, a Twenty first-century T-type whose design owes as a lot to Charvel, Suhr et al because it does to the Fender Telecaster. 

That Firemist end makes us recall to mind Charvel’s Pharaohs Gold, albeit in a deeper color. The blank fashionable strains and the contouring at the frame betray a power of John Suhr’s luthiery. 

However then this can be a very other proposition. At £500, it’s located as a participant’s first critical guitar, the only you step as much as after an creation to the tool by way of a affordable electrical guitar. Relying on how the sunshine catches it, the Fusion-T twenty fifth can glance the entire one color – as despite the fact that formed from one subject matter, the roasted maple neck and fingerboard fit the paint process. 

Lots of the fashions within the sequence have a distinct engraved neck plate however right here the sculpted four-bolt neck joint precludes a neckplate. We don’t leave out it. There’s a celebratory lanyard within the gig bag and, but even so, the spec itself is the place the birthday celebration begins.

The Fusion-T twenty fifth has a cast Nyatoh frame, with a beneficiant stomach carve that for sure is helping stay the load down (this one weighs beneath 7lbs), and extra contouring to the decrease cutaway. 

The neck has a contemporary C profile that is so easy within the hand with out being tremendous skinny however is carved from such an attractively figured piece of maple that it’s arduous to take your eyes off it. 

We did say this was once a Twenty first-century T-style with airs of the boutique so you’re going to be relieved to be informed that this has stainless-steel frets, the fretwork is spectacular, as is the construct, and there are Luminlay glow-in-the-dark facet markers simply as you in finding on costlier fashions from upscale opponents.

Harley Benton has kitted this out with an overly tidy Wilkinson VS-50 IIK two-point vibrato. There are staggered top locking tuners, too. A couple of Tesla Alnico V humbuckers occupy the bridge and neck positions and there’s a push/pull coil-split. Once more, this guitar retails for less than £500. It’s reasonably exceptional.

Harley Benton Fusion-T twenty fifth: Efficiency and verdict

With its light-weight and simple neck, the Fusion-T twenty fifth doesn’t take lengthy to show up the appeal. The construct is superb for this cash, and even though we do have to regulate the truss rod and provides it a bit of of TLC prior to its setup is bang-on, that handiest calls consideration to the recent design motif of positioning the truss rod adjustment wheel on the most sensible of the fingerboard. It makes on-the-fly changes fast and painless.

The 12” radius fingerboard and stainless-steel frets give a contribution to the slinky really feel, and the tones come simple too. In all probability it’s the finances emblem’s crucial that the pickups on Harley Benton guitars generally have a crowd-pleasing voice. The bridge humbucker will consume up the acquire, even though this is a little sharp in a solo atmosphere, which might smartly provide the edge in a mixture.

You’ll all the time roll some off with the tone pot. Or interact that neck pickup, the place there may be numerous attainable to take the Fusion-T twenty fifth out of its convenience zone.

There’s a level of nominative determinism while you identify a guitar sequence “Fusion” however, the entire similar, that is one of these high-performance T-style that may take you from rock to jazz-funk and again once more – specifically if you’re making use of the ones in-between sounds, or the ones coil-split tones which might be if truth be told useable. 

MusicRadar Verdict: That fab neck really feel and light-weight construct allied with an overly decent vary of tones is what makes the Fusion-T twenty fifth a reputable selection for the cash. It’s an inspired-by-boutique electrical that’s constructed for all kinds and priced for all budgets.

Harley Benton Fusion-T twenty fifth: The internet says

“Sound-wise, it’s no slouch, both. There’s a variety of pork right here that truly fits a cranked Marshall, and the sound from the bridge ’bucker combines a crisp chunk with a woody midrange. The neck is thick and unusually vocal, and the coil-splits (which voice the one screw coils of every humbucker) truly aren’t dangerous.”
Guitarist

Harley Benton Fusion-T twenty fifth: Palms-on demos

Harley Benton

Guitarist

Harley Benton Fusion-T twenty fifth: Specs

• ORIGIN: Indonesia
• TYPE: Solidbody electrical guitar
• BODY: Nyatoh
• NECK: Roasted arduous Canadian flamed maple, style ‘C’ profile, bolt-on
• SCALE LENGTH: 648mm (25.5”)
• NUT/WIDTH: Graph Tech Tusq/42mm
• FINGERBOARD: Roasted arduous Canadian flamed maple, black dot inlays, 305mm (12”) radius
• FRETS: 22, medium/jumbo, Blacksmith stainless-steel
• HARDWARE: Wilkinson VS-50 IIK two-point vibrato, staggered top locking tuners – chrome-plating
• STRING SPACING, BRIDGE: 52.5mm
• ELECTRICS: Tesla VR-3B Alnico 5 (bridge) and VR-3N Alnico 5 (neck), 3-way lever pickup selector, grasp quantity and tone (w/ pull transfer coil-split) 
• WEIGHT (kg/lb): 3.16/6.95
• LEFT-HANDERS: Sure
• FINISH: Firemist satin metal frame; satin neck again and face
• CONTACT: Harley Benton