Harley Benton Fusion-III HSS Roasted SP

This is my third fusion. I've got two fusion 2s and now a new fusion 3. And though the tremolo, wood and general feel is great, 5 star, there ase some things that really made me wonder if I'd buy again.
First of all, there is lack of QC. My guitar had a crack between the neck and middle pickups. The crack was in color and I believe in the wood too. There is no way that crack was caused in transportation. I sent the guitar back and about 2 weeks later they send me a new one. In the new one there is a bolt missing, and there is a scratch in the neck near the headstock. Pfft (disappointment continues)
Secondly, there was a difference in the finish of the two guitars they send me. In the first one, the cracked one, the finish was harsh and overall bad. Really bad. In the second one they send the finish is perfect. A perfect satin finish, slicky fast feel.
Lastly, As I've said in another review of this guitar model there is an immediate need for a good setup. The action is sky high and the trush rod needs adjusting as the intonation sucks.
Pfft I feel so bad making this review. I really love the guitar model, but the lack of Quality Control(so a possibility of a need to return the guitar) and the really bad setup is something you need to take into consideration when ordering one!
Cheers!

This was my first blind guitar purchase and my second Harley Benton (first one being SC modern, long time ago) and I went into it with, what I believe were - reasonable expectations.
And I wasn’t disappointed for the most part!
The main thing that really bummed me was the lack of QC on the body finish. I understand this is a lo-cost instrument and ok, I can live with pour job of coating the pickup cavities but the paint buildup on the edges of the guitar near neck pocket and all of the cavities is just bad. Plus the paint coat is really thin. I do believe that this will age quickly and that will give it a cool distressed look but if you are not into it - be aware. Shell pink is a bit light bu I like it! Chrome hardware looks great, the roasted neck is dark enough so it provides nice visual contrast.
It’s a good looking guitar, no doubt.
Another disappointment is the pickups. Again - yes, I get that it’s a lo cost instrument but my God! The single coils are just awful. Trebly, harsh, hollow and super quacky. Humbucker is passable but very flat sounding very little sustain… It has some lo-end bump so at first it sounds ballsy but it’s just undefined.
I record and play through sims and my setup is active DI box (warm audio with cinemags), UAD Apollo twin with Neve 1073 in unison slot and my PRS Tremonti USA, Gretch gt600 and custom Tele with BK pickups set certain sonic benchmarks. Again - I didn’t expect much and was planing investing in other pickups but these Roswells are below acceptable.
Maybe mine are defected somehow?
The wiring job is amazing though! Really, really good job.

Ok, with that out of the way - the good and great things:
The rest of the hardware is punching way above this price range. The trem is good (dives smooth and gets back in tune most of the time), the locking tuners are staggered and (impressively) smooth and the neck is exactly what everyone is raving about! I never had stainless frets so I can’t really compre my impressions but the fret work is good, leveled properly and they don’t stick out. It would be great if they were rolled off a bit better but I’m ok with doing that on my own. The nut is good enough and lubricated as well.
There’s really nothing to complain here about, especially for this price.
The guitar is also extremely light. I personally don’t like this and I hope that with new pickups and a brass tremolo block I plan on installing, this will change but for the guys that actually plan on giging with this axe - you’ll love it! It’s just a bit neck heavy but not to a point of working against you.

All in all - money well spent at n a brand new instrument but it definitely requires additional investment if you wanna make it great.

I hope Thomas will dick this pickups for some future models. It really hurts these instruments.

And if they make a four version of this guitar… I’m gonna be pissed because then I’ll need to sell this one and get that one :))

I ordered this as I wanted an HSS Strat / Superstrat style kind of guitar with a trem.
I got it after 4 working days (+ weekend), so it arrived 2 days earlier than estimated.
The packaging was ok, but not a single scratch on the guitar and the box was handled well.

Looks:
It's ping. It's satin. It's got a roasted maple neck and roasted flame maple fingerboard. Of course it's going to look stunning.
No scratches or bad finish spots, no dents, very few tooling marks. I haven't found any flaws here.

Setup:
It came well set up out of the box. I might have to do some minor tweaks to have it to my liking, but this is purely subjective. There factory setup is great and I might end up leaving it as is, but there are some minor tweaks that I usually do to all my guitars that I might do on this one as well.
The trem also returns to pitch pretty well after smaller dives. I haven't given it the Van Halen treatment yet, but for lighter use / smaller dives it's close to perfect.
The trem is a bit stiff, but that might just be the springs that needs breaking in or minor adjustments, not a big issue so I haven't dug into it just yet.

Sound:
I've heard complaints about the pickups, but I can't confirm these.
To my ears these pickups sound good. I really, really like them.
The coil split is actually pretty good. It does that strat, bridge single coil pretty well.
Rolls off really well on all pickups as well, especially the bridge. I can go from a pretty rocking 80s hair tone to RHCP just by rolling the volume, it's great!

Overall:
It looks good. It sounds good. It feels great! (That neck is amazing)
I don't have any complaints so far, and I'd wholeheartedly recommend this guitar if you're looking for a cheap option of a HSS superstrat style guitar. This has made me join the "HB punches way above it's price" bandwagon for sure.

I play pubs & clubs in UK covers band and never keen on using my 'expensive' guitars in case of damage ..I own a Fusion T which is pretty good but was really impressed with this fusion lll .
Delivered just after xmas ,a set up and new strings then a couple of gigs to bed in,then a quick reset up ,now im using it on all gigs since (only 10 so far but be with me for another 3 this weekend)
The neck is super fast (similiar to my 92 Ibanez RG550) frets are good and trem stays in tune......my only fault was i wanted the deep pink but my stupid finger & brain pressed wrong button on phone...!!!!
Tho on saying that the shell pink looks cool under stage lights
And its even cheaper than last month