Compared to the rubbish that was around when I started playing.... its great to see such quality at an affordable price. Pretty much no such thing as a cheap and nasty guitar these days.... thankfully.
Absolutely man! I remember when I started playing 20 years ago, cheap guitars were cheap! They weren't good. You had to spend £300-400 to get something halfway to playable. The standard of low price guitars is through the roof which is so good for new players. They have more choice than ever. This guitar is good enough to take out and gig with. It plays great, sounds great. Can't fault it for less than £350!
@@LeighFugeGuitar totally agree! I have a few harley bentons (fusion 2, hb35+) and they're all great. My new hss fusion 3 in shell pink is totally gigable (but I would plan to change the tone pot to 250k, as 500k sounds too harsh on single coils). It compares very favourably to my charvels (I'm in an 80s tribute band), and other fenders and gibsons. Thanks for the video review
@@LeighFugeGuitar Good review and good to know. I just started playing guitar again after 25 years of not playing. I had a Les Paul i purchased in the 80's Use to play but sold it in the early 90's (for some stupid reason). Anyway, I am shock by the prices I am seeing for Gibson. LP. I want to practice a bit before I pay that kind of money. These HB seem like a good option at the moment. What do you think of the SC-DLX Gotoh Black?
@@fredriksvard2603 all guitars are firewood if you put them on a fire. I've played plenty of Squires, Ibanez and Epis that aren't great too... and plenty that are awesome. The QC lottery applies to most brands these days. HB offer fantastic value for money though. The Fusion III line are great spec for a relatively low priced guitar.
Got a shell pink one, and it plays wonderful. After a professional setup, the bridge is perfectly stable for a moderate use, the neck is comfortable and I can’t find any other brand competing with these specs and colors at this price range. Highly recommend it!
I was torn between this one and shell pink... it was a tough choice haha! They're fantastic guitars for the money and you're spot on, they don't have much competition in this price point.
I bought this exact model. Swapped the Bridge pickup for an SB Arena Crunch. Sounds and play great. The bones are there. A few upgrades and you have the quality of a 1000 plus instrument.
They really are getting better! Every one I play is a step up from the last. To offer this level of guitar for under £350 makes me wonder what they could achieve if they started making guitars for £500-600!
@@LeighFugeGuitar At the time of this comment they do have a guitar at 500 EUR, the Amarok 7-strings that has a neck-through construction, flamed maple veneer and EMG pickups.
Wish they'd had something like Harley Benton when I began playing in the early '60s! A Strat was just an impossible dream and even Hofners weren't that cheap!
Around that time, things were starting to change due to Yamaha introducing the Pacifica line. That really was the start of the end of cheap, unplayable guitars. Yamaha got the ball rolling and things were never the same after that. Those Harley Bentons look amazing
Great review. I ordered the new HB Fusion T III Silver Sparkle with 2 Humbuckers. I can’t wait to receive it ! I also bought a set of Thornbucker pickups to replace. This project will be awesome!!
Hey Rafael, Thank you so much for checking out the video and leaving a comment. Oh that sounds awesome! The T Style ones look so good too! I think that will sound awesome with the Thornbuckers. I might swap out the pickups on this one soon but I don't know what for yet. The Roswell pickups sound great, but it's always fun to try other options too.
How is tuning? Can you play Satriani like stuff and still stay in tune? Fusion-II had locking tuners like III. Should i go for a HH double locking guitar? I will be buying it for mostly shredding rock and metal
Always gotta get straight into the Albert King licks!! I get most of my go to blues licks from Albert! Thanks for checking it out and thanks for the kind words! Nice to see a fellow Albert King appreciator around here!
I love the Fusion t FNT. They use WSC locking tuners. Korean I believe but they are great ...these necks are amazing. The frets are top notch. A budget priced guitar that will last longer than many higher end non SS frets I'm sure. I'm no snob but I play what works and responds well for me. This is top notch quality from my experience with fusion line. Killer review man!
The Fusion Range is so cool, they offer some serious bang for your buck! I love the fact they managed to get stainless steel frets and locking tuners on a roasted maple neck and keep it under £400GBP! Insane what they can do for the money! The tuners seem unbranded but you're probably right, WSC probably supply hardware to a lot of the brands made in the same price point, as is often the case. I think the Fusion III is a great playing guitar, I'm actually going to take it out for a gig this weekend to see how it holds up live!
The colour is a lot nicer in person. I had a feeling it might be. I thought the same when I saw the photos but I did have a good feeling about how it would look in person and I was right! You could easily fit a chrome pickup cover to the bridge. They're pretty cheap to buy too.
I love the Fusion stuff. How are you finding the FR version? What model of FR do they add to it? Thanks for checking out the video! Glad you enjoyed it
@@LeighFugeGuitar superb in my eyes. comes out of the box just near in-tune (but okay due to shipping you always need to tune but with the fine tuners only :) ) - the FR is as expected an original floy rose 1000 (I heard others saying that the only difference is that this is made in korea but I dont know, nothing rebranded written on) - stays in tune when using the whammy bar. as every FR it is slightly out of tune when pulling the whammy bar but this is a FR issue and every FR has it. so nothing to complain. mine is Harley Benton Fusion-III HH FR EB FCH
Yeah it does have a DK24 vibe doesn't it. The neck is so good. It's quite a dark roasted maple, but it works well with the colour I think. Theres a nice flame to the fretboard too which didn't show up on video as much as I'd hoped!
Thank you for this review! I was waiting for HB to come out with an HSS (I really didn't like the HSH config of the previous Fusion edition ) . This really sounds more stratty even if I feel Roswell pickups lack some punch, but hey, there's no much else in this guitar that needs upgrade... The specs are fantastic
Hey Victor, thank you so much for checking out the video and taking the time to leave a comment. I'm glad you enjoyed the video. I personally prefer a HSS too. The HSH is great, but I just prefer the sound of a single in the neck, it allows you to really get the Stratty tones with a more rockier tone in the bridge humbucker. The split bridge pickup is a pretty good single coil tone too. It's not exactly the same, but it's fairly close. I think the Roswell pickups do sound great, but they seem pretty quiet compared to other guitars. But, as you said, if you changed the pickups to something you really love you've got yourself one hell of a guitar! I'm thinking about swapping the pickups in this for something else, I just haven't decided what yet.
They're fantastic guitars for the money! I pick it up most days because I just love how it feels. What colour did you get!? Thanks for checking out the video!
I have been after the Silver Sparkle for so long. I really want a heavily flamed neck/ fretboard and don't want to be disappointed if mine came without!
The Thomann guys are really cool, you should drop them an email or call their helpline and ask if you can specify having one with a really flamed neck. I think they'd be cool with it!
As Leigh mentioned Thomann’s customer service is usually very good so it’s worth e-mailing them about whether any of the Fusion lll’s in silver sparkle come with heavily flamed necks. I own 2 Fusion Pro’s and while there is some nice figuring on the maple necks they are definitely not AAA grade or ‘heavy flame’. I’ve seen a lot of Fusion Pro’s but non with heavy flame figuring on the necks, so worth checking with Thomann if the neck is the deal breaker.
Thank you, glad you enjoyed it. Yeah they are great guitars for not a lot of money. They do a huge range of different guitars. Everyone I've played has been good, but this new Fusion model has really blown me away.
Fantastic review! I am definitely getting one I’m just not really sure about which colour. The pink one is pretty but the satin blue one is incredible too… and then there’s the shell pink! so many choices!!!
Thanks for checking out the video. I love the look of the satin ones too, but this colour just grabbed me right away. I loved the combination of the dark pink with the roasted maple. Maybe you should get them all... haha!
I think you have also covered the gretsch g2210. Which of these 2 would you recommend as a first guitar for pretty much all around use with good cleans and modern rock-pop sounds, while also being able to handle a bit of metal? I was also considering a fender squire contemporary strat. As for the amp what would you recommend for someone that wants a modeling one with wide diversity (thinking about mustang lt25). THANK YOU
Hey Nick, thanks for checking out the video and leaving a comment. I did shoot a video on the G2210 about 2 years ago. The G2210 is a great guitar, and for the price point its easily one of the best I think, however, personally I think the Fusion III is a better all-rounder guitar. I like the nice extras like the roasted maple neck and the stainless steel frets, but also the humbucker and 2 single coils gives a lot more tone options. The G2210 is great for the tones it produces, but it doesn't offer as many options as the Fusion III. The G2210 pickups are very vintage voiced, which is great for rock and blues but I don't know how well they'd handle metal tones. Amp wise, it depends on your budget. If you're looking for a good modelling amp you can take to gigs, I'd suggest the Blackstar Silverline series. That range of amps is very good, also has lots of built in effects. If you're on a bit more of a budget, the Blackstar ID Core series is hard to beat. Hope that helps!
I’m interested in this guitar since I wanted something more close to a strat but with more tonal option.. I’m not convinced by the split 2nd position though.. not stratto enough
It's a great guitar for the price but I know what you mean, I personally think that coil split humbuckers never quite sound like a real single coil. They're always a little bit too thin... but, if you used it in a mix with other instruments it would sound right them. On it's own it's a bit thin.
Hey bro! Im thinking about buying a new guitar and I'm cheking out this one or the 40th anniversary gold edition dwuiet telecaster. Could you tell me in your opinion wich one is a better option.
@@ramoncardenas7907 Oh Squier! haha. I was trying to think which brands were around 40 years old haha. Both are great. I haven't played the Squier version myself, but I've heard a lot of good things about it
Awww man just got one last nigjht after watching your video ahaha.... Just want to experiment with stainless steel fret n roasted neck... had an HB before with p90...it was a b stock and the neck was twisted but couldn't be asked to send it back ...hopefully this one will be straight as a whistle... i totally agree on floating vintage trems ... this will be a back up to me new prs s2 35 th scarlet red ... i've never been into trems but i'm discovering them in exactly the same fashion you used it in the video...just a little at the end of the chord whist it rings out!! Cheerio duck
Hey man, Thank you so much for checking out the video and commenting. Hopefully you will get a good one! This Fusion arrived from Harley Benton ready to go out the box. The only thing I did was change the strings because I didn't like the way the strings on it felt. I've recently gotten to like floating vintage trems, I used to hate them, but now I kinda dig them. They aren't great for everything, and they can sometimes be a little temperamental, but they're still fun.
Yeah it does have a little bit of that vibe, the TQM1 is a really cool guitar.... but check out the Charvel Pro Mod DK24, and you'll see even more resemblance! www.gear4music.com/Guitar-and-Bass/Charvel-Pro-Mod-DK24-HH-2PT-MN-Satin-Burgundy-Mist/2ZP4?origin=product-ads&gclid=Cj0KCQiA8ICOBhDmARIsAEGI6o00h2TFJk7SiF_IECRle3jIc6WB26uqCsq-GZREj2jJWni6i66Jo6gaAh97EALw_wcB It's pretty close to the Charvel, it's got the same colour, same body shape and roasted maple neck. Thanks for checking out the video! Glad you enjoyed it!
Great review Leigh, do you know the weight of your HB fusion lll? I have a Fusion l HH and a fusion ll HSH , the Fusion l weighs in nicely at 7.5lbs but the Fusion ll is on the heavy side and is significantly over 8lbs. They are both great guitars but I probably wouldn’t have bought the Fusion ll if I’d known how heavy it was.
Hey Steve, Thank you so much for checking out the video and leaving a comment! Glad you enjoyed the video. I don't know the exact weight, but it's certainly not a heavy guitar at all. It's definitely nowhere near the 8lb mark. Thomann and Harley Benton don't seem to have published the weights online, but I have played some of the Fusion II models and they were noticeably heavier than the III. I compared it to a few other guitars, weight wise, and it's lighter than my PRS which is 7.5lb. I own a Vola OZ which is fairly lightweight Superstrat style which is somewhere around the 6.5lb - 7lb mark and the Fusion III feels fairly similar in weight to that. Hope that helps!
The colour is great! All the colours in this Fusion III range look killer, but I love this dark pink! They're so well priced too. It's a lot of guitar for the money.
The Fusion III is the latest in the series, I'm not sure they even make the Fusion II anymore. This guitar doesn't have a Floyd Rose, this is a vintage style tremolo from Wilkinson. It can take a good bit of abuse, but if you really want to go crazy with the tremolo, they do make a version with a proper Floyd Rose system: thmn.to/thoprod/521249?offid=1&affid=683
Sorry for the semantics, but that bridge is not a Floyd Rose. That’s 2-point non-locking strat-style vibrato bridge by Wilkinson. I can’t guarantee how much it will stay in tune when divebombing as I don’t own the guitar yet and I don’t usually play with that technique myself, but the guitar does come with locking tuners, if that works for you.
@@Pundit07 Yeah, it's not a Floyd Rose... the comment was regarding the original poster asking me if he should get this version OR the version of this guitar that does come with a Floyd Rose.
That's a question only you can really answer, it depends what you want from the guitar. If you love EMG's and you love the way the Fusion III plays then it's definitely worth it. It's a great guitar, so if you think the pickups will take it to another level for you then it'll be a cool mod!
@@LeighFugeGuitar Last time I bought a new guitar has been 15 years ago and I'm still sceptical about "cheap" guitars since where I live there are no guitar stores to actually give them a try. That's why I'm unsure whether or not installing pickups that'll roughly cost the same as the guitar makes sense. I don't want to be the guy who put a V8 into his Opel Corsa if that makes sense. lol
Oh damn... that's tough... I did a video on the AZES guitars a few months back and they were amazing. I might lean slightly more towards the AZES... but only slightly.
Good question... I think Thomann have some sort of arrangement which helps soften that blow. According to their blog, the price you see is the price you pay: www.thomann.de/blog/en/an-update-for-our-valued-uk-customers/ I didn't get an import tax bill for this guitar arriving. Even though I got given the guitar by the brand, I've still found that items being sent even without me paying directly are still liable for import tax. Import tax is based on the value of the item, not the price you pay. So if Thomann have some sort of arrangement in place, then it should be ok.... maybe give them a call!
There is no customs charge when buying directly from the Thomann website, they have a post Brexit arrangement with HMRC in the UK and pay all import duties / taxes directly to them. So the price you see on their site is the price you pay! Well done Thomann for organising this, another great reason to buy from them. I recently (post Brexit) bought a HB SC 550 from Thomann great service, fast delivery and no added import duties.
@@Chirn70 Yeah, it was messy immediately post Brexit with import duty calculations etc but thankfully Thomann got ithat sorted. The Fusion Pro’s are great guitars for the money. In my opinion the Roswell pups are crap so I replaced them in both my Fusion l & ll. The Fusion ll is weighty (well over 8lbs) I’ve just posted a question for Leigh on the weight of the Fusion Pro lll that he reviewed so if the weight of the guitar matters to you and you were thinking about buying a Fusion Pro keep an eye out for his reply.
Indonesia are making some great guitars, they seem to have perfected the roasted maple neck, I just got a Sire guitar made in Indonesia and the neck is absolutely superb. Harley Benton’s are doing some fantastic reasonably priced guitars, I just hate the name. It’s embarrassing.
100% this! I love Indonesian guitars. I have a Jackson and a Schecter that are both Indonesian (Most likely from the same factory!) and they're fantastic too. I love that roasted maple necks are now available in lower price points too. Even just a few years ago the roasted maple neck was a premium feature, but it's so cool that you can get it on affordable instruments too!
They are low output, but they're more vintage voiced. I think these pickups work well for rock and blues, but if you want metal or loads of gain you might need to consider different pickups.
The whole point of the "Roasted" maple neck is essentially to extract all the moisture from the wood so that the neck attains a level of stability that is almost perfect despite any oscillation in temperature. It also feels very nice to the touch but don't let yourselves be fooled kiddies. A Roasted maple neck on a guitar from 1500 or 2000 euros and upward is not what you will find on a Harley Benton that costs 150 or 300 euros. There are HB guitars for 138 euros with Roasted maple necks. Don't delude yourselves kids, it may look like it, smell like it and feel like it but it ain't it! Cheerio.
No one has said that it's the same grade of roasted maple that you'd get on a 1500eur+ guitar... but this is certainly maple... and it's certainly been roasted. I mean... if it looks like, smells like and feels like... then that's a pretty good indication that it is. HB, like all companies, are bound by retailer laws which mean they can't lie about what a product is. A company or brand can't falsely advertise something as something it isn't. There are loads of brands that have brought roasted maple necks into guitar ranges in the 500-800 EUR mark, so it's certainly a spec that is becoming more affordable to add to a guitar. HB, I suspect get necks made and roasted in huge quantities (Plus they self-distribute via Thomann) so there is no middle man, meaning they can get things a lot cheaper.
I'm sorry Lee your probably a nice guy but this review was just shocking. If your gonna review guitars, it's handy to give the viewers an insight into how it actually plays out the box. I can vouch that guitar was setup before you got it because I have the flame veneer roasted neck HH model and it is a piece of shit out the box. You have to get busy with the truss rod, the action was higher than an olympic high jumpers bar, the fretboard had white chalk all over it, the frets were dirty and not polished, the back of the neck had rough spots which needed sanding. If your buying this guitar and have no clue about how to setup a guitar your going to need to take this to a guitar tech to get it to play anywhere near a decent state. You spent the majority of the video pulling faces playing blues licks which I had to forward on. This guitar is marketed as an all rounder, not the impression you gave. Sorry if this is painful but people need to know what they are buying right off the bat. It's a good guitar but my god it needs work to get it there.
I actually did give that insight... at the end of the video I mentioned how much I enjoyed the way it came out of the box. It came to me with a setup that I liked so I didn't tweak it. I still have this guitar and have gigged it lots and the only thing I've ever done is change the strings to my preferred string gauge, which I didn't do before shooting this video. There is an entire section of the video timestamped "My Thoughts" where I say what I thought. The truss rod on this was fine of the box, and I actually set all my guitars up with a slightly higher action anyway so I didn't need to make any adjustments there. Sorry you had a bad experience with this guitar, but I can only make videos on my own experience which was a good one. The guitar is an all rounder, I did say that yes, but I personally mostly play blues and classic rock based styles, which is reflected in how I play in videos. I'm sorry that you didn't enjoy my playing, but I don't really care. I don't play guitar the way I play to please anyone, I play that way because it's how I play. If you wanted to see someone shred, or play metal on it, there are plenty of my buddies on RUclips who's also shot videos on this line of guitars that will cover those styles. Thanks for taking the time to leave a comment and for checking out the video.
@Leigh Fuge - No offense people just need to know exactly what they are getting out the box as a standard customer. It was plain to me yours had been setup before it was shipped to you to review. There's countless reviews on here on Fusions and the ones that don't have any affliation all say it needs work out the box. Infact some have sent back the guitar because the action is so high its almost impossible to lower it with that Wilkinson trem. Some have even tried bowing the neck to get some sort of acceptable playing condition. Anyway it is what it is, people will do what they want, just don't expect legato type action with these guitars unless it's equipped with the FR1000. At least you can lower that trem into the cavity a touch and adjust the truss rod. No offensive intended on your playing Lee, if you like it who cares as you say.
Actually I think it is! I have played all of them and own one of these (as well as many other Fender, gibsons, and several charvels). All I'm going to do is change the tone pot to 250k. It really does sound v good indeed
It's also worth remembering that it's not trying to compete with a Charvel, or an AZ. It's a £330 guitar, but for the money it's fantastic. It outperforms its price point but it's not claiming to be a £1000+ instrument.
That's interesting, I've got this one and played a handful more and not seen any issues, but I suppose at this price range and in the volume they produce guitars there is bound to be a few that aren't perfect... have you contacted Thomann? They'd probably be more than happy to help resolve the issue.
@@LeighFugeGuitar Yeh Thomann have been wonderful. They said if I swap it the replacement is likely to be the same so I can just send it back. All good. I can't post a photo here but the paint work is the worst bit. Especially around the neck joint bolts. It's been touched up with a paint thats not even quite the same colour. A Friday job I think.
Which models did you find had a tiny neck? I actually found that the HB's I've tried have had bigger necks than I expected. The Fusion neck isn't super fat, but it feels like a good sized neck and I shot a video on one of their 335 style guitars which had a chunky neck too.
Compared to the rubbish that was around when I started playing.... its great to see such quality at an affordable price. Pretty much no such thing as a cheap and nasty guitar these days.... thankfully.
Absolutely man! I remember when I started playing 20 years ago, cheap guitars were cheap! They weren't good. You had to spend £300-400 to get something halfway to playable. The standard of low price guitars is through the roof which is so good for new players. They have more choice than ever. This guitar is good enough to take out and gig with. It plays great, sounds great. Can't fault it for less than £350!
@@LeighFugeGuitar totally agree! I have a few harley bentons (fusion 2, hb35+) and they're all great. My new hss fusion 3 in shell pink is totally gigable (but I would plan to change the tone pot to 250k, as 500k sounds too harsh on single coils). It compares very favourably to my charvels (I'm in an 80s tribute band), and other fenders and gibsons. Thanks for the video review
@@LeighFugeGuitar Good review and good to know. I just started playing guitar again after 25 years of not playing. I had a Les Paul i purchased in the 80's Use to play but sold it in the early 90's (for some stupid reason). Anyway, I am shock by the prices I am seeing for Gibson. LP. I want to practice a bit before I pay that kind of money. These HB seem like a good option at the moment. What do you think of the SC-DLX Gotoh Black?
Theres always squier, ibanez, epiphone etc. Honestly most hb:s are firewood too, but there are a few gems, if you win the qc lottery.
@@fredriksvard2603 all guitars are firewood if you put them on a fire.
I've played plenty of Squires, Ibanez and Epis that aren't great too... and plenty that are awesome. The QC lottery applies to most brands these days. HB offer fantastic value for money though. The Fusion III line are great spec for a relatively low priced guitar.
Got a shell pink one, and it plays wonderful. After a professional setup, the bridge is perfectly stable for a moderate use, the neck is comfortable and I can’t find any other brand competing with these specs and colors at this price range. Highly recommend it!
I was torn between this one and shell pink... it was a tough choice haha! They're fantastic guitars for the money and you're spot on, they don't have much competition in this price point.
@@LeighFugeGuitar i am at this exact situation too.. i cant see why the Dark pink is 50 euros cheaper than the Shell Pink except of the popular finish
Roasted neck +SS frets are game changers! Best bang of any brand. Not long ago, HB looked a bit cheap...not any more! Quality has gone up too.
I bought this exact model. Swapped the Bridge pickup for an SB Arena Crunch. Sounds and play great. The bones are there. A few upgrades and you have the quality of a 1000 plus instrument.
HB makes great guitars for the money and are getting better all the time. This guitar sounds great.
They really are getting better! Every one I play is a step up from the last. To offer this level of guitar for under £350 makes me wonder what they could achieve if they started making guitars for £500-600!
@@LeighFugeGuitar At the time of this comment they do have a guitar at 500 EUR, the Amarok 7-strings that has a neck-through construction, flamed maple veneer and EMG pickups.
Wish they'd had something like Harley Benton when I began playing in the early '60s! A Strat was just an impossible dream and even Hofners weren't that cheap!
I agree man! My first guitar was awful!! If guitars like this existed 20 years ago when I started it would have been a game changer.
Around that time, things were starting to change due to Yamaha introducing the Pacifica line. That really was the start of the end of cheap, unplayable guitars. Yamaha got the ball rolling and things were never the same after that. Those Harley Bentons look amazing
Great review. I ordered the new HB Fusion T III Silver Sparkle with 2 Humbuckers. I can’t wait to receive it ! I also bought a set of Thornbucker pickups to replace. This project will be awesome!!
Hey Rafael,
Thank you so much for checking out the video and leaving a comment. Oh that sounds awesome! The T Style ones look so good too! I think that will sound awesome with the Thornbuckers. I might swap out the pickups on this one soon but I don't know what for yet. The Roswell pickups sound great, but it's always fun to try other options too.
You might not need to swap! The roswell laf pickups are really good! (and I have many other hb guitars to compare them with)
How is tuning? Can you play Satriani like stuff and still stay in tune? Fusion-II had locking tuners like III. Should i go for a HH double locking guitar? I will be buying it for mostly shredding rock and metal
I love harley benton!!! I own two of them so affordable and great tone
Great blues playing bro! Just amazing. If my eyes were closed, I'm imaging myself transported to a live Robert Cray concert!
Oh wow thank you so much, that's a huge compliment! I apprecaite that. Glad to hear you enjoyed it!
Trading in ivory is very slightly extremely illegal, which is another reason they probably don't use it for fretboard inlays.
Guess the elephants got a better lawyer than the buffalo did
bought this guitar in daphne blue and it feels amazing. plays something double or maybe even triple it’s price
The blue one looks amazing! I'm glad you're enjoying it!
Took delivery of the Daphne Blue one on Friday. I have a Fender 66, but am beginning to believe that the Fusion 3 is better.
I love the way you didn't waste time..just started playing some serious ALBERT KING style licks.. killing it brother..killing it.
Always gotta get straight into the Albert King licks!! I get most of my go to blues licks from Albert! Thanks for checking it out and thanks for the kind words! Nice to see a fellow Albert King appreciator around here!
Great playing & informative chat, Leigh.
Thank you Mark, really glad you enjoyed the video. Thanks for taking the time to check it out!
I love the Fusion t FNT. They use WSC locking tuners. Korean I believe but they are great ...these necks are amazing. The frets are top notch. A budget priced guitar that will last longer than many higher end non SS frets I'm sure. I'm no snob but I play what works and responds well for me. This is top notch quality from my experience with fusion line. Killer review man!
If I would have seen an HSS I would have so got that instead. But hey. Here's to future. Hahaha
The Fusion Range is so cool, they offer some serious bang for your buck! I love the fact they managed to get stainless steel frets and locking tuners on a roasted maple neck and keep it under £400GBP! Insane what they can do for the money!
The tuners seem unbranded but you're probably right, WSC probably supply hardware to a lot of the brands made in the same price point, as is often the case. I think the Fusion III is a great playing guitar, I'm actually going to take it out for a gig this weekend to see how it holds up live!
Great video!
Been looking for this in the last month.
Thanks!
#StaySafe 🙏
Thank you! Glad you enjoyed the video! Thanks for checking it out! They're great guitars!
I have a good feeling about this one! Waiting for mine to arrive :)
Oh man! This one was great out of the box! What colour are you getting?
@@LeighFugeGuitar Shell Pink :) I'm curious if the sound is gonna be any different to Fusion-II. It seems like the body tonewood has changed
I'm counting on you, Max!
love that intro jam! tasty blues solo!!!!
Thank you Vincent! Glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for checking out the video
Thanx for the review! Very nice playing!
Thanks so much for checking it out!
excellent review thank you for your given time to do this!!!
Thanks for taking the time to check it out and comment, I’m glad you enjoyed!
On the Thomann page it looks less spectacular, here in the video I really like the color. If I had the choice I would go for chrome pickups.
The colour is a lot nicer in person. I had a feeling it might be. I thought the same when I saw the photos but I did have a good feeling about how it would look in person and I was right!
You could easily fit a chrome pickup cover to the bridge. They're pretty cheap to buy too.
Yes that Fusion Series is stunning. Love mine FR Version and good Preview and TShirt :)
I love the Fusion stuff. How are you finding the FR version? What model of FR do they add to it?
Thanks for checking out the video! Glad you enjoyed it
@@LeighFugeGuitar superb in my eyes. comes out of the box just near in-tune (but okay due to shipping you always need to tune but with the fine tuners only :) ) - the FR is as expected an original floy rose 1000 (I heard others saying that the only difference is that this is made in korea but I dont know, nothing rebranded written on) - stays in tune when using the whammy bar. as every FR it is slightly out of tune when pulling the whammy bar but this is a FR issue and every FR has it. so nothing to complain. mine is Harley Benton Fusion-III HH FR EB FCH
Looks like their take on the charvel dk24. That neck looks stunning
Yeah it does have a DK24 vibe doesn't it. The neck is so good. It's quite a dark roasted maple, but it works well with the colour I think. Theres a nice flame to the fretboard too which didn't show up on video as much as I'd hoped!
Harley Bentons are a bang for the buck!
They are amazing bang for the buck!
Thank you for this review!
I was waiting for HB to come out with an HSS (I really didn't like the HSH config of the previous Fusion edition ) . This really sounds more stratty even if I feel Roswell pickups lack some punch, but hey, there's no much else in this guitar that needs upgrade... The specs are fantastic
Hey Victor, thank you so much for checking out the video and taking the time to leave a comment. I'm glad you enjoyed the video. I personally prefer a HSS too. The HSH is great, but I just prefer the sound of a single in the neck, it allows you to really get the Stratty tones with a more rockier tone in the bridge humbucker. The split bridge pickup is a pretty good single coil tone too. It's not exactly the same, but it's fairly close.
I think the Roswell pickups do sound great, but they seem pretty quiet compared to other guitars. But, as you said, if you changed the pickups to something you really love you've got yourself one hell of a guitar! I'm thinking about swapping the pickups in this for something else, I just haven't decided what yet.
Great sound dude!
Thank you! I'm glad you liked it! Thanks for checking out the video!!
Love mine! Its a great guitar with some real good tones and it plays like butter! Nice playing bro rock on!🤘🤘
They're fantastic guitars for the money! I pick it up most days because I just love how it feels. What colour did you get!? Thanks for checking out the video!
I have been after the Silver Sparkle for so long. I really want a heavily flamed neck/ fretboard and don't want to be disappointed if mine came without!
The Thomann guys are really cool, you should drop them an email or call their helpline and ask if you can specify having one with a really flamed neck. I think they'd be cool with it!
As Leigh mentioned Thomann’s customer service is usually very good so it’s worth e-mailing them about whether any of the Fusion lll’s in silver sparkle come with heavily flamed necks. I own 2 Fusion Pro’s and while there is some nice figuring on the maple necks they are definitely not AAA grade or ‘heavy flame’. I’ve seen a lot of Fusion Pro’s but non with heavy flame figuring on the necks, so worth checking with Thomann if the neck is the deal breaker.
Which one would you recommend the Ibanez Azes 40 or the Fusion III
Oh man, that’s a tough one. Both are good… AZES might be slightly better… but the HB looks nicer I think with the roasted maple neck
@@LeighFugeGuitar I really can’t decide, so it is really ur opinion now 🥹. I actually have the same thoughts but, the Fusion sounds „cheaper“ to me
I’ve heard many good things about those guitars, great review and demo!
Thank you, glad you enjoyed it. Yeah they are great guitars for not a lot of money. They do a huge range of different guitars. Everyone I've played has been good, but this new Fusion model has really blown me away.
@@LeighFugeGuitar 👍
Fantastic review! I am definitely getting one I’m just not really sure about which colour. The pink one is pretty but the satin blue one is incredible too… and then there’s the shell pink! so many choices!!!
Thanks for checking out the video. I love the look of the satin ones too, but this colour just grabbed me right away. I loved the combination of the dark pink with the roasted maple.
Maybe you should get them all... haha!
@@LeighFugeGuitar don’t give me ideas…
@@LeighFugeGuitar when I saw this color on the HB website I didn't like it, but after your video I am about to order this color.
Wonderful played and Sound
Thank you Olaf, really pleased you enjoyed the video. Thanks for watching!
Can you compare it with new charvel models dk22 or dk24... ???
If I can get my hands on one I certainly will. I can't promise though. It all depends if Charvel want any content made on that particular model.
I think you have also covered the gretsch g2210. Which of these 2 would you recommend as a first guitar for pretty much all around use with good cleans and modern rock-pop sounds, while also being able to handle a bit of metal? I was also considering a fender squire contemporary strat. As for the amp what would you recommend for someone that wants a modeling one with wide diversity (thinking about mustang lt25). THANK YOU
Hey Nick, thanks for checking out the video and leaving a comment.
I did shoot a video on the G2210 about 2 years ago. The G2210 is a great guitar, and for the price point its easily one of the best I think, however, personally I think the Fusion III is a better all-rounder guitar. I like the nice extras like the roasted maple neck and the stainless steel frets, but also the humbucker and 2 single coils gives a lot more tone options. The G2210 is great for the tones it produces, but it doesn't offer as many options as the Fusion III. The G2210 pickups are very vintage voiced, which is great for rock and blues but I don't know how well they'd handle metal tones.
Amp wise, it depends on your budget. If you're looking for a good modelling amp you can take to gigs, I'd suggest the Blackstar Silverline series. That range of amps is very good, also has lots of built in effects. If you're on a bit more of a budget, the Blackstar ID Core series is hard to beat.
Hope that helps!
Should i by this one or the Hagstrom F200P. ?? Can get the hagström with hardcase for 300€.
I’m interested in this guitar since I wanted something more close to a strat but with more tonal option.. I’m not convinced by the split 2nd position though.. not stratto enough
It's a great guitar for the price but I know what you mean, I personally think that coil split humbuckers never quite sound like a real single coil. They're always a little bit too thin... but, if you used it in a mix with other instruments it would sound right them. On it's own it's a bit thin.
@@LeighFugeGuitar yeah that’s what I mean it always sounds not quite like the real thing
Would you recommend this guitar over the Sire S7? Thanks
Both are great, there isn’t a huge amount of difference between them but I personally prefer the S7
Hey bro! Im thinking about buying a new guitar and I'm cheking out this one or the 40th anniversary gold edition dwuiet telecaster. Could you tell me in your opinion wich one is a better option.
Hey, which brand makes the 40th anniversary Telecaster? I don’t think I know what that is! The HB fusion is great though
Sorry, hehe it's Squier the brand that makes that 40th anniversary tele..
@@ramoncardenas7907 Oh Squier! haha. I was trying to think which brands were around 40 years old haha. Both are great. I haven't played the Squier version myself, but I've heard a lot of good things about it
What happened to the roller string trees ?
I didn’t know it was meant to have them? I’d never owned a prior version .
I have one in Daphne Blue. I think it is my most useful guitar.
I was torn between all the colours when I chose this one. The Daphne blue looks awesome too! They're really versatile.
@@LeighFugeGuitar For real. I will be selling some guitars later this year as a consequence of acquiring the Fusion 3.
Would love to this one in satin black or white.
Awww man just got one last nigjht after watching your video ahaha....
Just want to experiment with stainless steel fret n roasted neck... had an HB before with p90...it was a b stock and the neck was twisted but couldn't be asked to send it back ...hopefully this one will be straight as a whistle... i totally agree on floating vintage trems ... this will be a back up to me new prs s2 35 th scarlet red ... i've never been into trems but i'm discovering them in exactly the same fashion you used it in the video...just a little at the end of the chord whist it rings out!!
Cheerio duck
Hey man,
Thank you so much for checking out the video and commenting. Hopefully you will get a good one! This Fusion arrived from Harley Benton ready to go out the box. The only thing I did was change the strings because I didn't like the way the strings on it felt.
I've recently gotten to like floating vintage trems, I used to hate them, but now I kinda dig them. They aren't great for everything, and they can sometimes be a little temperamental, but they're still fun.
headstock, pick up configuration and the fusion name.. reminds me of Ibanez TQM1 ( Tom Quayle).. nice review.. subscribed..
Yeah it does have a little bit of that vibe, the TQM1 is a really cool guitar.... but check out the Charvel Pro Mod DK24, and you'll see even more resemblance!
www.gear4music.com/Guitar-and-Bass/Charvel-Pro-Mod-DK24-HH-2PT-MN-Satin-Burgundy-Mist/2ZP4?origin=product-ads&gclid=Cj0KCQiA8ICOBhDmARIsAEGI6o00h2TFJk7SiF_IECRle3jIc6WB26uqCsq-GZREj2jJWni6i66Jo6gaAh97EALw_wcB
It's pretty close to the Charvel, it's got the same colour, same body shape and roasted maple neck.
Thanks for checking out the video! Glad you enjoyed it!
@@LeighFugeGuitar Yeah, Right on.. The charvel is a beaut..
How about it's tune stability?
Seems pretty solid so far! It's been here a week and I've hardly tweaked it.
Great review Leigh, do you know the weight of your HB fusion lll? I have a Fusion l HH and a fusion ll HSH , the Fusion l weighs in nicely at 7.5lbs but the Fusion ll is on the heavy side and is significantly over 8lbs. They are both great guitars but I probably wouldn’t have bought the Fusion ll if I’d known how heavy it was.
Hey Steve,
Thank you so much for checking out the video and leaving a comment! Glad you enjoyed the video. I don't know the exact weight, but it's certainly not a heavy guitar at all. It's definitely nowhere near the 8lb mark. Thomann and Harley Benton don't seem to have published the weights online, but I have played some of the Fusion II models and they were noticeably heavier than the III.
I compared it to a few other guitars, weight wise, and it's lighter than my PRS which is 7.5lb. I own a Vola OZ which is fairly lightweight Superstrat style which is somewhere around the 6.5lb - 7lb mark and the Fusion III feels fairly similar in weight to that.
Hope that helps!
@@LeighFugeGuitar Thanks Leigh, that’s really helpful. Keep up the good work!
Best regards,
Steve
@@LeighFugeGuitar out of interest, what are your thoughts on the Vola Oz that you own?
Really pleasant tone, and oh man that design :) Need to get a better job to buy about five or so new HB's :)
The colour is great! All the colours in this Fusion III range look killer, but I love this dark pink! They're so well priced too. It's a lot of guitar for the money.
That sounds so good. Hardware is better as well
Yeah absolutely! They'd stepped up their quality on this run!
Great video! How heavy is this guitar?
Mine is very light.
It's fairly light. It won't break your back if you play it standing up!
Would you recommend this for someone with short fingers?
Yeah I would say so, the neck is very comfortable to play and the fretboard isn’t too wide
Maybe this is the one for me with singlee coils? Nice playing. I am jealous :)
They're killer guitars for the money! Thanks for the kind words! Glad you enjoyed the video!
This or Fusion-II? Will it stay in tune if i abuse the Floyd rose? Or should i go for a double locking system?
The Fusion III is the latest in the series, I'm not sure they even make the Fusion II anymore.
This guitar doesn't have a Floyd Rose, this is a vintage style tremolo from Wilkinson. It can take a good bit of abuse, but if you really want to go crazy with the tremolo, they do make a version with a proper Floyd Rose system: thmn.to/thoprod/521249?offid=1&affid=683
@@LeighFugeGuitar i see so i can get the Fusion-III with trem. (double lock whammy). Should get this or jem junior? Jem junior is more expensive
Sorry for the semantics, but that bridge is not a Floyd Rose. That’s 2-point non-locking strat-style vibrato bridge by Wilkinson. I can’t guarantee how much it will stay in tune when divebombing as I don’t own the guitar yet and I don’t usually play with that technique myself, but the guitar does come with locking tuners, if that works for you.
@@Pundit07 Yeah, it's not a Floyd Rose... the comment was regarding the original poster asking me if he should get this version OR the version of this guitar that does come with a Floyd Rose.
Thinking about putting an EMG 81 and two EMG SAs in there. Is it worth it?
That's a question only you can really answer, it depends what you want from the guitar. If you love EMG's and you love the way the Fusion III plays then it's definitely worth it. It's a great guitar, so if you think the pickups will take it to another level for you then it'll be a cool mod!
@@LeighFugeGuitar Last time I bought a new guitar has been 15 years ago and I'm still sceptical about "cheap" guitars since where I live there are no guitar stores to actually give them a try. That's why I'm unsure whether or not installing pickups that'll roughly cost the same as the guitar makes sense. I don't want to be the guy who put a V8 into his Opel Corsa if that makes sense. lol
would you say go for this versus an ibanez azes40?
Oh damn... that's tough... I did a video on the AZES guitars a few months back and they were amazing. I might lean slightly more towards the AZES... but only slightly.
Anyone know what the Customs charge is to the UK?
I'm imagining that actual charge + service charge is going to be about £70
Good question... I think Thomann have some sort of arrangement which helps soften that blow. According to their blog, the price you see is the price you pay: www.thomann.de/blog/en/an-update-for-our-valued-uk-customers/
I didn't get an import tax bill for this guitar arriving. Even though I got given the guitar by the brand, I've still found that items being sent even without me paying directly are still liable for import tax. Import tax is based on the value of the item, not the price you pay. So if Thomann have some sort of arrangement in place, then it should be ok.... maybe give them a call!
@@LeighFugeGuitar Cheers! I shall look into it further 👍
There is no customs charge when buying directly from the Thomann website, they have a post Brexit arrangement with HMRC in the UK and pay all import duties / taxes directly to them. So the price you see on their site is the price you pay! Well done Thomann for organising this, another great reason to buy from them. I recently (post Brexit) bought a HB SC 550 from Thomann great service, fast delivery and no added import duties.
@@steviesynapse Aye, I didn't realise.
It's put me off a purchase or two in the last couple of years.
If only I'd known 😬
@@Chirn70 Yeah, it was messy immediately post Brexit with import duty calculations etc but thankfully Thomann got ithat sorted. The Fusion Pro’s are great guitars for the money. In my opinion the Roswell pups are crap so I replaced them in both my Fusion l & ll. The Fusion ll is weighty (well over 8lbs) I’ve just posted a question for Leigh on the weight of the Fusion Pro lll that he reviewed so if the weight of the guitar matters to you and you were thinking about buying a Fusion Pro keep an eye out for his reply.
Ivory dots ! I'm glad they're not , Great review .
Do you know radius neck?
It's a 12" radius according to the Thomann website!
Ist das das Modell SPAHN?
I'm not sure what Spahn is but it's a great model regardless!
Yamaha Pacífica 112v o Harley Benton fusión III??
For me, the Fusion III wins. The new Pacifica models are great. They play and sound fantastic, but the Fusion III for me is a better guitar.
Indonesia are making some great guitars, they seem to have perfected the roasted maple neck, I just got a Sire guitar made in Indonesia and the neck is absolutely superb. Harley Benton’s are doing some fantastic reasonably priced guitars, I just hate the name. It’s embarrassing.
100% this! I love Indonesian guitars. I have a Jackson and a Schecter that are both Indonesian (Most likely from the same factory!) and they're fantastic too. I love that roasted maple necks are now available in lower price points too. Even just a few years ago the roasted maple neck was a premium feature, but it's so cool that you can get it on affordable instruments too!
Lol. It goes with your lighting scheme. Very....2021.
Does 2021 have a colour scheme? haha
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bisexual_lighting
Cool, but I’d still rather have the Charvel DK24, they feel amazing to play.
It feels fairly similar. A friend of mine has a DK24 and I was surprised by how close it was. The DK24 has a slimmer neck than the Harley Benton.
But it is 3 to 4 x the cost of the Harley Benton
In my country they are like 682 USD 😔
Really? Is that because of import fees?
Rippin off Charvel DKs, but for 1/3 of the price, nice!
Yup! It's a Charvel for just over £300! And it plays great too. I'd love to compare them side by side.
@@LeighFugeGuitar I'll love to see that, a HSS vs HSS or even the HSS HB vs HH burgundy mist Charvel just for the looks haha
The Pickups have a really low Output... Quite bad and shy sound.
I tested the Fusion II 2 years ago, It Was So bad compared to Yamaha Pacifica
They are low output, but they're more vintage voiced. I think these pickups work well for rock and blues, but if you want metal or loads of gain you might need to consider different pickups.
The whole point of the "Roasted" maple neck is essentially to extract all the moisture from the wood so that the neck attains a level of stability that is almost perfect despite any oscillation in temperature. It also feels very nice to the touch but don't let yourselves be fooled kiddies. A Roasted maple neck on a guitar from 1500 or 2000 euros and upward is not what you will find on a Harley Benton that costs 150 or 300 euros. There are HB guitars for 138 euros with Roasted maple necks. Don't delude yourselves kids, it may look like it, smell like it and feel like it but it ain't it! Cheerio.
No one has said that it's the same grade of roasted maple that you'd get on a 1500eur+ guitar... but this is certainly maple... and it's certainly been roasted.
I mean... if it looks like, smells like and feels like... then that's a pretty good indication that it is. HB, like all companies, are bound by retailer laws which mean they can't lie about what a product is. A company or brand can't falsely advertise something as something it isn't. There are loads of brands that have brought roasted maple necks into guitar ranges in the 500-800 EUR mark, so it's certainly a spec that is becoming more affordable to add to a guitar. HB, I suspect get necks made and roasted in huge quantities (Plus they self-distribute via Thomann) so there is no middle man, meaning they can get things a lot cheaper.
its like a AZ but actually worth it
It's definitely got the AZ vibe for anyone without the money for a proper AZ. That said, the new budget Ibanez AZ's are also insanely good!
@@LeighFugeGuitar agree
but the roasted maple and the finish on this one is awesome too
No tiene nada que envidiar a otras guitarras de 1000€ . Es una guitarra de 400€ que vale más del doble.... : )
You won’t do dive bombs on a vintage trem… take a look at Hendrix’s playing 😂
You can maybe get away with one... but then the trem starts fighting back haha!
tocai como el pico
I'm sorry Lee your probably a nice guy but this review was just shocking. If your gonna review guitars, it's handy to give the viewers an insight into how it actually plays out the box. I can vouch that guitar was setup before you got it because I have the flame veneer roasted neck HH model and it is a piece of shit out the box. You have to get busy with the truss rod, the action was higher than an olympic high jumpers bar, the fretboard had white chalk all over it, the frets were dirty and not polished, the back of the neck had rough spots which needed sanding. If your buying this guitar and have no clue about how to setup a guitar your going to need to take this to a guitar tech to get it to play anywhere near a decent state. You spent the majority of the video pulling faces playing blues licks which I had to forward on. This guitar is marketed as an all rounder, not the impression you gave. Sorry if this is painful but people need to know what they are buying right off the bat. It's a good guitar but my god it needs work to get it there.
I actually did give that insight... at the end of the video I mentioned how much I enjoyed the way it came out of the box. It came to me with a setup that I liked so I didn't tweak it. I still have this guitar and have gigged it lots and the only thing I've ever done is change the strings to my preferred string gauge, which I didn't do before shooting this video. There is an entire section of the video timestamped "My Thoughts" where I say what I thought.
The truss rod on this was fine of the box, and I actually set all my guitars up with a slightly higher action anyway so I didn't need to make any adjustments there. Sorry you had a bad experience with this guitar, but I can only make videos on my own experience which was a good one.
The guitar is an all rounder, I did say that yes, but I personally mostly play blues and classic rock based styles, which is reflected in how I play in videos. I'm sorry that you didn't enjoy my playing, but I don't really care. I don't play guitar the way I play to please anyone, I play that way because it's how I play. If you wanted to see someone shred, or play metal on it, there are plenty of my buddies on RUclips who's also shot videos on this line of guitars that will cover those styles.
Thanks for taking the time to leave a comment and for checking out the video.
@Leigh Fuge - No offense people just need to know exactly what they are getting out the box as a standard customer. It was plain to me yours had been setup before it was shipped to you to review. There's countless reviews on here on Fusions and the ones that don't have any affliation all say it needs work out the box. Infact some have sent back the guitar because the action is so high its almost impossible to lower it with that Wilkinson trem. Some have even tried bowing the neck to get some sort of acceptable playing condition. Anyway it is what it is, people will do what they want, just don't expect legato type action with these guitars unless it's equipped with the FR1000. At least you can lower that trem into the cavity a touch and adjust the truss rod. No offensive intended on your playing Lee, if you like it who cares as you say.
Oh btw i've never owned a pink guitar ahaha
It's never too late!! Welcome to the pink guitar club! Did you get this same colour?
@@LeighFugeGuitarjust got this guitar for only £222 with a b stock while also getting a gig bag and a strap for £250 great price
This is ok guitar for the price but don’t fool yourself thinking it is as good as Charvels or AZs
Actually I think it is! I have played all of them and own one of these (as well as many other Fender, gibsons, and several charvels). All I'm going to do is change the tone pot to 250k. It really does sound v good indeed
It's also worth remembering that it's not trying to compete with a Charvel, or an AZ. It's a £330 guitar, but for the money it's fantastic. It outperforms its price point but it's not claiming to be a £1000+ instrument.
I have this guitar and the quality of finish is absolutely dreadful. Bad purchase. Same price Jackson is way superior.
That's interesting, I've got this one and played a handful more and not seen any issues, but I suppose at this price range and in the volume they produce guitars there is bound to be a few that aren't perfect... have you contacted Thomann? They'd probably be more than happy to help resolve the issue.
@@LeighFugeGuitar Yeh Thomann have been wonderful. They said if I swap it the replacement is likely to be the same so I can just send it back. All good. I can't post a photo here but the paint work is the worst bit. Especially around the neck joint bolts. It's been touched up with a paint thats not even quite the same colour. A Friday job I think.
@Jl Jad defo prefer the Jackson brand but aside from that the quality difference was black and white. Maybe just lucky/unlucky.
@Jl Jad my JS32T was in the same price range as this HB. £250. It's far superior.
@Jl Jad what does that have to do with craftsmanship?
Sounds and looks like a cheap-o to me.
It lacks the real stuff
1000% not real ivory.
Yeah, I was being slightly sarcastic but I don’t think that came across haha
I'm pretty much done with HB. Tiny necks, no sustain, and terrible customer service if you want to return their junk!
Which models did you find had a tiny neck? I actually found that the HB's I've tried have had bigger necks than I expected. The Fusion neck isn't super fat, but it feels like a good sized neck and I shot a video on one of their 335 style guitars which had a chunky neck too.