GS-Travel-E Mahogany : Better than expected - and I expected a lot!

Motivation: I wanted a guitar for the living room.

Background: I've bought and sold dozens of guitars over the years, including PRS Customs. And if I haven't owned it, I've probably borrowed it. I've had many acoustics, my main one is an old Takamine EN10 that I purchased new in '91, I've gigged it 2,500+ times and refretted 6x times. Not the best I've played, but above average and fits like a glove. Plus my daughter loves it so I can never sell it!

Now to the Harley Benton GS-Travel-E Mahogany. I'd read dozens of positive reviews & watched a bunch of YouTube videos before pulling the trigger, so I was expecting something pretty decent.

Over the years I've passed several guitars because their necks were just too "bendy" for my heavy-handedness. Not this one. This neck is stable and I wouldn't have known it was a "V" if I hadn't read the specs, it feels fine, smallish overall though not exactly slim, and nothing as pronounced as the V neck Clapton Strat I once borrowed and disliked. It seems to holds tune pretty good, I've seen reviewers complain that the tuner gear ratio is a tad high & I'd concur, but it's not deal breaker for me. It comes strung with 12s but I suspect I'll prefer 11s on this & I intend swapping them out soon. I happen to love the elegant looking headstock and overall, the guitar easily exceeds my cosmetic expectations. I haven't plugged it in yet, nor will I be able to for a while, so I'm commenting on the acoustic output only here. It's louder, more balanced and more pleasant than I'd expected. The darkish mahogany tone seems to suit this body size well, and perhaps makes up for the lack of bottom end that a small body-size like this is capable of generating. The tone isn't as complex as higher-end guitars, but it is so well balanced that I quickly forget about any perceived lack of sweetness as I enjoy the nice note bloom, something that reminds me of an old Gibson LP Junior that I once played. Not every guitar - even expensive ones - bloom like this and it's a nice surprize that is hard to express in words.

So overall, it's a very enjoyable guitar to play & plenty loud for my requirements. It doesn't feel out of place between my '79 Strat and '91 Takamine EN10 - which says a lot for a €129 guitar! I don't know how they do it for the money.

6 month update; with decent 11 gauge strings this thing really jangles, it really is a fantastic guitar - buy one!