Harley Benton Custom Line CLA-15MCE NS

I'm primarily an electric guitar player so this was my first acoustic. Hence I'm not absolutely qualified to judge it. I have 3 other HB electrics, I'm very happy with them and I have a lot of love for the brand.

The Good

- packaging was good and undamaged.

- The guitar looks really nice in a dark, understated way. This is a budget guitar and in my opinion, the flashier the budget guitar, the cheaper it looks. I paired it with the cheap, leather HB strap, which is also chocolate brown and looks great. The HB logo looks cool and minimalist on the headstock, better than the full name logo. I don't really like the name, but I love the guitars.

- The guitar sounds great to me. Really loud, vibrant and clear. The body vibrates like crazy and really lives.

- The tuners are really nice and this surprised me as it's often a weakness of HB's cheaper guitars. They're solid, chunky and kidney bean shaped, like the Grovers on my Epi SG. They're really smooth and precise, and the guitar is easy to tune. They feel much higher quality than the price.

- the guitar stays in tune really well, much better than my other guitars, which are generally more expensive. I don't know if this is a peculiarity of acoustics vs electrics.

- The nut is bone and perfectly cut. The guitar arrived very clean - no fretboard gunk, over-glue or wood shavings in the cavity. The bridge is also bone and compensated. The guitar intonates near perfectly.

- the Fishman Presys II works well and sounds great through the acoustic channel of my Boss Katana. I'm no expert, but I'm happy with it.

- the supplied strings seem reasonable quality, but I got rid of them immediately as, being an electric guitar pussy, I hated the relatively heavy gauge, but this is a personal thing.


The (not very) Bad if I'm being really picky...

- The fret ends are very crudely finished and not rounded at all. Fortunately there's no fret sprout at all so this doesn't really bother me. They were also quite scratchy so I gave them a polish.

- Frets 3 and 6 are a little high in places, but only noticeable with a fret rocker. There's no perception when playing.

- The action was very high at 3mm+ on the low E at the 12th. There was a QC ticket with the guitar which was very comprehensive and gave the height at 2.5mm. but I didn't believe this. I lowered the bridge which was really no hassle and took some relief out of the neck.

- there is only one strap button on the bottom of the guitar. It's plastic and I think glued in. The guitar is very light so it's not too much of a worry. I installed a metal strap button on the heel of the neck.

- The battery cover despite being branded Fishmann, is very cheap looking and feeling, but it's hidden at least.

The Neutral

- There was slightly excessive neck relief, but again it was no hassle to tighten the truss rod with the tool provided. The truss nut is a bit tucked away so the tool is indispensable.

- I changed the strings for 10s. Apparently this is detrimental to the tone on acoustics, but it still sounds fine to me. Ok, maybe there's some depth and resonance lost, but it still sounds better than my not being able to play the 12s supplied.

In conclusion...
- a great guitar for the price. It needed some setup, which I was ok with, but beginners might prefer to add 50 bucks to the price to get a pro set up.

I'd give it 4.9 out of 5, but this rating system doesn't cater for pedants like me.

I am a gigging musician and during the winter months I work mostly at bars with small or no stage in place. I, therefore, needed a guitar that would be smaller and lighter than my main guitar for ease of transport and that could take some abuse without me worrying too much about scratching the finish etc. I decided the Harley Benton CLA-15MCE was the right guitar for me: priced competitively and low enough that should anything irreparable happen to it (there are loads of drunk people stumbling around a musician's gear at bars after all) I wouldn't lose an expensive instrument. I did not expect anything spectacular when played unamplified but I was very wrong, I have in fact used this guitar to record with in a couple of albums where the tone and projection of a rosewood B/S dreadnought was not appropriate. As far as the build quality goes I found no flaws whatsoever, it is very clear to me that the people at Thomann take their job very seriously, as a matter of fact the guitar was tuned one step down when it arrived, a very safe practice to insure the neck is not strained during transport. The onboard Fishman pickup/preamp deliver a very useable and pleasant sound that can be used equally well when gigging solo or with a band.

Pros:
- Price
- Build quality
- Onboard pickup/preamp system by Fishman

Cons:
Didn't really find any, for this kind of money you can do much worse. You'll be hard pressed to find more guitar for your money.

Update: After approximately 2 years of regular use the Fishman preamp started acting up. I narrowed it down to the tuner button, it was staying engaged and thus the sound was cutting in and out. I contacted Thomann about it, they sent me a replacement unit right away free of charge (the guitar was still under warranty). A year and a half later the new preamp is going strong, I probably just had a defective unit.

I value greatly other fellow guitar player's reviews when considering a new guitar purchase, so I hope I can help others with my review here.
I prefer 000 size guitars for all round playability of styles (strumming and finger picking) and comfort. I fancied a good mahogany Martin 15 copy.
As I already own a solid spruce top acoustic, that costs a lot more than the copies I was looking at so this was to be my second "knock-about-guitar" I could happily take to a jam session - without worrying too much about damaging it.

I read all the reviews of the budget copies from Cort to Sigma, Tanglewood to Vintage brands and finally narrowed it down to a Sigma or a Cort acoustic - only both retailing at around £200 to £240 - with a view to adding a post purchase pick up at a later date. Long story short.....this guitar comprises all the better features of the Cort and Sigma (I believe it might even share some of the Cort's DNA) but costs £100 less with a Fishman pick up with tuner on board........so I took a gamble and bought the CLA-15MCE.

The satin finish on the first one I received was uneven, with obvious milky/cloudy in places on the solid top and dark brown over spray where the bridge hadn't been properly masked off. A last stage let down in the manufacturing and quality inspection processes.

Thankfully, Thomann's return process and Customer Service are both fair and good to deal with - second to none in fact. I now have a replacement. No the satin finish still isn't perfect - there are still patches that reflect the light differently than others (if you hold the guitar to the light and look closely), in fact the finish on the laminated sides and back is better - perfect, actually.

But bare in mind I'm really being picky here for a £140 solid top guitar with bone nut and bridge, complete with Fishman pickup and D'addario EXP strings! Incidentally, I've changed these for EJ13's - less tension so easier to fret, but 011 - 052 gauge so good volume.

As per all the other reviews I have to say it plays great (easier than my Breedlove), sounds great with a tone all of its own (don't expect Spruce brightness) that is ideal for finger style playing and blues. In short I love it! Buy with confidence.

Firstly I must say this is one glorious guitar, the solid mahogany construction gives the guitar a warm , rather surprising full sound given its an auditorium sized acoustic. Sadly the set up out of the box made it unplayable for me, the action was a bit too high,( 4-4.5 mm at fret 12). I"m not someone who is adept or experienced with setting or lowering the bridge, for me I would need to take it to a Luthier. however, for anyone competent in doing this, the sound is wonderful, the size is perfect, the neck is comfortable ( notwithstanding the high action) - the other small issue come cosmetic flaws i.e glue spot showing through the lacquer , and the pick guard was rough on the edges ( yes this can be replaced). Shame - I really liked the sound, and the size - I will definitely order a replacement, albeit one with a lower action

Terrific for the price.
Already well set up on arrival; finish is of a high quality.
Acoustic sound even and clear; plugged in sound very pleasing - Fishman controls provide good range although the treble and bass pots are tiny and a little difficult to see/alter when standing and performing (maybe because of my age and vari-focals need adjusting!!).
Delivery was on time plus the company dealt with my need to delay arrival for a couple of days with no fuss. Guitar well packaged and ready to play immediately after un-boxing and tuning.
Thomann have never disappointed - another well described item on the web site (with plenty of feedback examples) and the actual item living up to the information provided.

Wow a great guitar for the price. Harley Benton products are incredible value. I have over 15 years experience playing guitar and it is a lovely guitar.
However, straight out of the box, the guitar was poorly set up. Action was too high and fretboard was dry and killed my fingers when playing. This was disappointing. I brought it to a guitar shop to "set it up" correctly. He applied some love and magic to the guitar i.e. lowered the actions and oiled the fretboard etc, and it a completely different to play.

Therefore, I would recommend the guitar for the price and give it 4 stars overall. But if you a beginner, it is essential to bring your instrument to a guitar store to set it up correctly.

I thought I would take a chance on this one, just to see what an auditorium size guitar was like. It is very prominent in the mid-ranges, not so much in the low end, which is to be expected. Also, when I received it the action was very high. I am starting to think HB ships the acoustic guitars with a different setup than the electric models, which I guess makes some sense. After a $70 US setup, it plays great, and I think it will cut through the mix with my band much better than a standard dreadnought guitar.

Follow up: I used it with my band (classic rock style) and for the first time my other guitar player said "Your acoustic is killing me!" It cuts through the mix very well and sounds great. One issue... there is a pop every time I take it off it's tuner. Pretty loud pop, too. I'll probably start using an outboard tuner to see if it is quieter. But overall, still a fantastic guitar for the money.