Harley Benton CLF-200 WN Reviews

Amazing Value

So...Where to start.

Right out of the box, this guitar is GORGEOUS. The conteoured shape, the bidings, the inlays, it's all very well fitted and the walnut sides and back are truly beautiful. The top is solid, with a nice grain to it. The craftsmanship is very good.

Sound wise, this thing is loud. With the strings that came stock (d'addarios 53-12), the low g is a bit muddy, but the midrange really chimes. I've changed the strings to some lighter ones 0.50-011, and the softer action coupled with the more subdued bass suits this guitar perfectly. Bottom line, it sounds really good, and not boxy at all. Still, the midrange is prevalent.

Only issue i have with it, is that the tuners are not that good. It loses intonation fairly quickly, especially if you bend a lot.

All in all, for 200€ this is an insanely good deal, and with the right strings, it can hang with much more expensive guitars.

Some years ago, it would be unthinkable getting this quality for less that 600€.

Superb value

I own four HB custom line acoustics and they are all excellent ,

This being no exception, fit and finish spot on, nice full tone not too boxy for parlour style guitar,lovely choice of woods,bindings ect,

Only downside ,the awful creaky tuning pegs,and the cheap looking tree of life fret board inlays,but all said and done you will not get a guitar as good as this for less than 500 euros anywhere else! So buy with confidence.

Pretty decent guitar after setup

Out of the box the guitar had such high action it was barely playable. Sanded the saddle and the nut quite a bit to bring it down to manageable levels. The slots in the nut are not cut very deep, but that is beyond my skills to fix. The nut was not centered properly, an easy fix

It sounds pretty good and the inlay and binding work is astonishing for the price. Frets are level, even and polished

Tuners, on the other hand, are not very good - it is rather hard to tune the instrument precisely and they don't hold for long

Great little parlour guitar

This little guitar far exceeded expectations and punches way above its price tag. I’ve found with parlour guitars, playing too aggressively distorts the sound so a light touch needed although responds really well to blues type finger picking. A shame there wasn’t a version with a pick up. Needed truss rod adjustment which was very easy, to sort slightly high action. One main criticism is quality of the machine heads/ tuners, which are very poor. I’ll be contacting the company soon to discuss upgrades for this and I would guess for another guitar ordered from them. This seems to be common with these low range guitars. Don’t be put off, for a solid spruce topped guitar that is beautifully made, this is great value for money and a good addition to my collection! Please sort the quality of your machine heads out!

Míxed

I planned to use this guitar at home for light playing. The parlor size and inlay, quality components and rave reviews got to me. The walnut back seemed cool. I read up and learned I might need to do basic setup (sand frets, change strings, adjust truss rod). I did this stuff and it was no big deal. So now I have shiny frets, new strings, proper action (was ok to begin with!) and it stays in tune just fine. The guitar is super light and plays really easily.

This is the first new guitar I've bought for myself in 15 years. My other guitars are a Martins, 2 Taylors and a USA strat. I've never bought an 'entry level' guitar because I need good sound to want to play at all.

At first I didn't like the sound of this Harley Benton. It sounded boxy and closed. But after a week of playing it's sounding better. It actually sounds better than my Taylor 420R from 1993, but not as good as my Martin D16-RGT, of course.

It's neat to have a Parlor sized guitar

A Lovely and Affordable Parlor Guitar!

I've been playing guitar for 22 years and had never owned a parlor guitar. Gotta say I like having one around the sofa now. This one is especially nice because it sounds good and looks great hanging on my wall and didn't cost me too much.

Pros: Looks fantastic, Sound is good, playable from the get-go, smaller size makes it ideal for sofa practice, Nut and bridge is bone and cut nicely, neck was straight, frets weren't rough or uneven, stays in tune okay.

Cons: Neck has a satin finish that makes it feel plastic even though it's mahogany, I didn't like the string it came with, frets are very small, fretboard required some dressing, tuning keys/pegs are a bit jumpy, action is a touch too high at the saddle.

In conclusion I am happy with my guitar as I know how to adjust all the cons I listed it just takes a little time and love.

What a great guitar

This guitar is beautiful to look at but has so much more. The build quality is better than I expected and I can see no flaws in the finish or build. Soundwise, because of size, the guitar has a strong treble and although the bass is not boomy, it is very clear. Highly recommended

Perfect for chill

Really beautiful guitar as a part of interior. Nice, slightly smaller then usual guitar to chill on the sofa. Not loud, just what you need to enjoy on your own.

Build quality is outstanding, I just tightened a bit screw in the neck to make it a bit flatter and that's it.

Everyone should buy one of these...I just Love it

I have never played a small bodied guitar before but after a few looks on Youtube and saw how these little guitars performed I just had to have one. Straight out of the box it just played so well, the sound from this little gem is amazing and out performs my Jumbo that I bought a few weeks ago, the finish is superb, and my buddy who came around to visit says he thought it was a £500 plus guitar...Buy one, its just a fantastic bit of kit and I can only see the prices going upward for these little beauties.

I can also take this guitar on the road as it takes very little space up so for all you budding songwriters out there its a must have....