Harley Benton HBO-850 Blue

I added this guitar to my order as an afterthought. I needed an acoustic guitar with a pickup for those occasional "acoustic" gigs with amplification. Our band had recently played a gig where miscommunication resulted in our having to mic our guitars, and I thought this might be an economical way to deal with this. I had ordered a blue guitar for my son, and I added this during the wait for his to be delivered. I am really happy. The guitar looks amazing and plays beautifully. The only criticisms I have are that the tuning mechanisms could be a little better; and it is so new, that I can smell the glue from the body. That being said, a good set of locking tuners costs as much as this guitar! The neck is easy to play, and the action is amenable to leads in the higher neck positions. The frets were in need of a rub down with my polishing cloth, but that's all that was required. I really enjoy playing this guitar, and it has become my "go to" acoustic guitar. If you need a guitar like this, just order it and use the savings to buy it a hard shell case like I did.

Arrived today, got it straight out the box and had a little jam. Came out the box almost ready to play, I had to tune one of the strings. But I do that every time I pick my guitar up anyway. As a beginner and only been learning to play the guitar for about 6 months, I have little to no experience when it comes to guitars. And I'm not going to pretend I do. But saying that, for a less expensive 'budget' guitar, I am really really impressed. It covers all my needs. I think it sounds great, it's comfortable and the slim width makes it a lot easier for me to hold and play. I'm even tempted to buy another in a different colour. I'm sure there are more learnered players with greater expirence that could pick holes in it and find a negative, but for me it's perfect.

I bought this as to have as a cheap acoustic and i was surprised by how well it played.
I did have to make a few modifications but found it to have a great sound and feel
I replaced the plastic nut and bridge with a cheap bone set which i was able to buy cheap off amazon. Easy swap and major improvement to sound and sustain.
Build quality is decent but i did notice that the fretboard/frets were very rough and needed a good polish.
Pickup electronics are decent but i found i had to really roll off the bass to get a good tone.
Overall i really am enjoying this guitar, good job HB!

Never had an ovation but i cant imagine it can be much different to this.

I had Thomann fit some of their own locking tuners to it and set it up for me (can recommend that its a good service) so cant comment on the standard tuners but the rest of it and for the price you really cant go wrong.
I know many say it but its not just good for the price its just good full stop.
sounds clear defined and fairly loud

Pros
Good locking and great sounds had the set up by thomann with their locking tuners added and stays in tune well and a good set up

Cons
Fussy and it would put the price up but id like to see a tuner on the pre amp