Harley Benton HB-20R

I can't believe how bloody loud this thing is, wholly overkill for me on so many levels. Highly recommend as a beginner amp 11/10

I've been told to always set volume on max for tuning purposes, I accidentally hit the G string and my heart almost jumped out of my rib-cage. I've been told this is normal and that 20W isn't even that much

I've also been told I *need* to buy a combo for practice and I have to say I agree (even though initially I agreed only reluctantly), but I can see this thing could work at a small club concert, you can probably juice out that much out of this. I can even see this being a good backup solution in case your main amp is MIA

Aside from the loudness the What-Brand Chinesium speaker this ships with isn't exactly an audophile's dream. I should clarify, the sound is great, for 60 euros it's, I mean, I couldn't imagine this level of quality 10, 20 years ago at this price level. Still you should know, anything through the aux input is going to sound dulled? ie. not bad, but not great either

Guitar sounds great of course, I mean great as in unexpectedly good for transistor. I actually greatly prefer the *actual sound* through headphones/an external speaker over aux cable. The difference is noticeable even for an amateur like me

I keep the volume knob at 1-2-4 at most, and strangely I prefer the clean sound. I intuitively believed that if you're gonna have a cheap speaker then distorted sound would sound better since you know... it's distorted and the nuances of the sound are lost. But this didn't turn out to be true in the real world and clean sound has much more "body", it feels more plentiful and vibrant. Remember kids, keep your gain low. Signed: someone who is not an expert

EQ works differently than I expected, but I've been told this is exactly how these things ought to work so yeah

Let's quickly address points made by other reviewers:
- build quality is... I just can't give it all of the stars without feeling like lying. It's amazing for the price. The logo is very well machined. It will probably last I don't know, let's say 10 years. But just... 5% more effort would make this combo look and feel so much better, dare I say premium even. There was one bolt that wasn't fully tightened. This might've happened during travel, but then I'm afraid what kind of travel conditions this was in. Also on the back there's a strange black paint applied? I don't know if this is normal, you'll see if you buy it, I'm neutral towards it
- the two buttons and all knobs are good quality, the lines below are slightly misaligned though and it's triggering the perfectionist nerves in me. Just very *slightly* so, just barely [screaming inside]. I think these are the same knobs from the higher-end models
- the jack seems to be good enough to last a lot of connecting in/out
- handle feels goood, I approve
- reverb sounds amazing except for positions 5 through 9.5-ish. Still you probably should stick to 1-3-4 anyway. 9.5-10 sounds good

Let's start with the most important thing: For the money, it's great. It is a powerful amplifier that can be used at living-room volumes, it has a headphone jack and even built-in spring reverb, a looked-after feature. It's a good option for a first amplifier as I've found it to take pedals in front quite nicely (mind it doesn't have an effects loop so any pedals will need to be put in front) and its own overdrive is all right for a beginner to get you in the ballpark of rock.
However, there are a few less likeable features about it.
First off, The on-board overdrive is not by a long shot as good as I would like it to be, it lacks dynamics, sounds very harsh and artificial and when the knob goes above halfway it doesn't get dirtier, instead it only ads noise without distorting the guitar. My recommendation is to get an overdrive pedal to go along with it, a cheap one will undoubtedly be better than what's on board.
Secondly, the MP3 input lacks a serious function: Remaining quiet. Whenever it doesn't have a signal from another device, it hums like crazy. Also, it doesn't like to be quiet: It wants to be loud.
And thirdly, although this is just me nit-picking, the reverb gets noisy rather quickly. The amplifier doesn't have the best shock-resistance ever so me walking around creates a little noise from the springs wobbling. Do keep in mind that I have quite a heavy step and this might not be an issue for you, but it is a downside in my opinion.
To conclude: If you want to sit in a chair and plug pedals into it, go for it. If you want a cheap solid-state amplifier that will last you, go for it. If you expect it to get crunchy metal tones, it won't, though it does do cleans quite nicely.

pros:
-very low price: it costs like going once to local restaurant with your girlfriend
-pretty good quality
-very loud: I usually play at 30% loudness. I guess you can take it to local pub concert, etc.
-The eq is nice

cons:
-Mine came a little bit scratched
-The spring reverb is very strange. If you play at a big volume, and turn the reverb bigger than 60% percent, it starts to make a very loud noise which go louder and louder, until you turn off the effect at all. First time it happened I thought I destroyed the combo. You don't imagine how loud that was
-Strange sound quality when playing in headphones. That is because the combo doesn't have a cabinet simulator. So playing in headphones doesn't make any sense.
-Also the aux cable quality is very very bad. The sound is very bad, it doesn't have any bass and middle freqs. Also when nothing is playing it makes a very loud noise. So connecting an aux cable for practicing or just listening to music also doesn't make any sense.

In conclusion I can say that if you are a beginner totally buy it! But if you want something serious, buy a combo like Fender, that has digital effects. They are called Modelling combos. Buy something like Fender Mustang LT50.
But from my opinion, the best option is buying a sound card. I bought Behringer Umc204HD. But if you want a sound card, you will have to know at least the basics of a DAW (reaper, cubase, reaper), or you can download different soft(Bias fx2, Guitar Rig 5). Also you need to have a good pc, and some speakers or studio monitors

I am happy with this little amp I got it for playing at home, and I never was happy before without valves. i get a great claen sound with a little spring reverb, not only that it has it s own very convincing character of sound.I used other solid state amps from big names or modelling amps this one has the blues.I am not commenting on the distorted channel right now I haven t tried it enough. Only one thing is funny sometimes if you leave it on for a while and you re not playing it makes loud bang, I dont know what that is but its ok. It has a standby feature, and only starts when you tuen up the volume and start playing the guitar which is kind of cute. Definitele I am happy with that amp. And there is a line out for connecting it to another amp. Great. Just might have got the bigger version and use it for small gigs I can still do that. Thank You

I bought this amp because I had a gig in a club, that I had to reach by train, so it would be easy to carry and could fit it in a trolley. As I tried it, just out of the box, I couldn't believe my ears. Clean, nice sound, EQ very responsive, loud enough to be heard in a club without connecting it to a cabinet o straight to the mixer. Now this is my favorite amp (I also have a Vox, an Epiphone, and a Gallien) and still cannot believe such quality for the price. I guess HB will realize they have a winner, and either rise the price, or discontinue it because is too good for the (generally cheap) HB lines. If you need an easy going amp, hurry up.

Objective:
To determine whether the Harley Benton HB20-R amplifier is worth buying.

Materials:
Guitar- Harley Benton TE-20BK (modded, ifr)
Amplifier- Harley Benton HB20-R (features: overdrive channel - gain, volume, channel switch; clean channel; shared - EQ [treble/middle/bass]; reverb [return depth]; line in, line out, headphone out)

Method:
Playing the guitar through the amplifier to find out how it sounds

Results:
Testing was done with volumes at 4/10, but amplifier has been used at higher volumes.

Clean- tonal variation is quite good across the range, although the 8" speaker might affect the range (especially at volumes <5/10). The guitar sounded good in at least combinations of pick-up selection and tone cut/boost.

Overdrive- Again, good tonal variation, with overdrive provided by a tube emulator circuit. Up to about gain at 5/10, this circuit produces a lovely drive sound, but after that you're getting into weird pseudo-metal territory. It can be fun, but don't expect it to sound exactly like valve distortion. That said, in informal playing with the volumes higher (~7/10), the difference isn't so great. And the sound is very enjoyable.

Discussion:
This amplifier was bought to be used as a recording amplifier in the Sound Lounge, where very good sounds have been got from playing through it. So, this has influenced the conclusion has been influenced by this informal playing. The results are, given the price paid for this amplifier, very acceptable.

Conclusion:
The range of sounds achievable with this amplifier is - for the price - very good. The amplifier is sturdy, but not heavy. It is very easy to operate, and - if one is using it only for recording - the amplifier's channel lack of a footswitch is not a problem. Otherwise, pedals are the user's saviours on this matter.

Is this amplifier worth buying?: Yes.

Rating:
handling- 5
features- 4 (lack of footswitch, small speaker)
sound- 4.5
overall- 4.5

I like this amp. But I mostly practice (or play) at a clean setting so the overdrive/gain is somewhat unnecessary for my needs. And the same goes for the reverb that's also part of the package. I don't use reverb, or tremolo for that matter, and for now at least this will not be something that I will use.
But I will say that it is a very good combo amp for practicing. It works very well at lower volume settings with a very clean tone. And the price was very reasonable for the features whether I use them or not.
Also, the construction quality is very high and all of the controls feel substantial when used and of a high quality. I am very pleased with this amp.

Just to be clear - I am a total novice and I with that device I am setting my first steps with playing electric guitar.
I ordered that amp as part of a bundle ("Fender SQ Affinity Tele MN BB Bundle1"). The amp itself makes a good impression (seems solid / well built). After 1,5 months of usage the device seems to work correctly. I cannot say much about the quality of sound from the speaker, as for the sake of my partner and neighbours I solely use the headphones output.
Advice for total beginners (and maybe manaul writer), as I am/was: During first attempt to use the amp I had no idea how to activate it. Like: once you plug it in to the socket and turn on, the LED light turns green. I have IT background, hence that was an indication for me that all is good/done, however the amp did not play anything (even after plugging in guitar), so I thought that it was broken. Only after review of few youtube videos I noted that amp' LED of ppl playing it is red, not green. Then I noted that you just have to be less gentel with pulling guitar strings to activate the amp.
With all that written, I guess this is a nice device to start with - especially that it comes as a bundle, which make it easier/more secure for total beginner.