This is the second R-458FFB LH I've ordered. The first one came from the B-stock and arrived with an enormous dent in the fretboard, making strings on the 11th fret virtually unplayable. But it's the kind of thing you expect when ordering a cheap guitar from the even cheaper B-stock, so I played the hell out of it for 24 hours, and eventually decided I really liked the model. So I returned it and got one from the main stock.
If you're a broke lefty looking for a budget multiscale extended range, this guitar is a monster. A flawed monster, but a monster nonetheless.
Cons:
— The pickups are, as is to be expected, not great — not awful, but not great. If you have a good EQ pedal you can kind of tweak the signal into sounding acceptable, but an upgrade down the road is virtually unavoidable.
— HB quality control is unpredictable. The fretwork on my first order was (almost) flawless, it's horrendous on the second one. Terrible fret sprout on the upper frets, and bending feels like I'm playing a sandpaper fretboard. It's nothing that a luthier (or an experienced player) can't fix, though. There's probably a nut problem too (which the first guitar didn't have), but again, a basic setup should do the trick.
— Virtually no padding around the guitar when it was delivered (it arrived in perfect condition though).
Pros:
— "Affordable extended range" and "left-handed" are two phrases that don't usually mix.
— The color is gorgeous and the chameleon effect moving from purple to green is magical.
— The roasted maple neck looks very nice too, and plays really well (personal preference; I dislike rounder necks, this one is just the right amount of thin).
— It's overall a very comfortable guitar to play and is surprisingly light.
— I had only ever played one multiscale from a very expensive brand before, and hated it for some reason. Weirdly enough my fingers took to the R-458FFB immediately.
TL;DR: it has its issues, but for the price, it's an amazing axe. Would buy it again. Oh, wait, I actually did.
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