Harley Benton Custom Line CLA-15M Reviews

Incredible Value

Just received my CLA-15M. Astounded at the value for money. Sounds excellent and as good as guitars that cost 5 times as much or more. Arrived in perfect condition, packaged carefully. Set up is good, no quality issues. Intonation is excellent and there are no buzzing frets all the way up the neck. Highly recommended for experienced guitarists as a second or even main instrument. Look no further to buy this if you are a beginner, you will need nothing more for years to come.

Best guitar for the price

This is a very good guitar for the price. I am a guitar professor and I have bought for a student and its the best guitar I have played in that range of money! I have bought 3 for my students and then I bought for my self the same model with the solid wood and its getting better every month. I am very impressed by all harley benton guitars!

My first guitar

It's a great guitar for a great price have been playing it for 4 months without any issues. It's a great pick for a first guitar.

CLA-15MCE // 5 Stars

The CLA-15MCE is a solid wood guitar that sounds and feels exceptional for its price; I highly recommend it for anyone starting out.

The perfect pet

I bought this guitar as I wanted a cheapish acoustic I could have lying around (out of a case). And I have to say it has exceeded my expectations. The neck is absolutely fantastic in terms of action, feel and playability. It has a fairly flat radius (maybe 12 inch) and plays beautifully. I haven't adjusted the action or intonation at all - it was spot on.

The sounds is great, with a nice punchy sound. The finish is really clean and seems to be quite hard-wearing. I have knocked it a few times and it hasn't made a mark. The stock strings are good - I haven't even changed them after 15 months, although they probably need it now. The neck has worn nicely and is now really smooth (it always was smooth but now has a nice polished feel).

I do have one complaint though - the fret markers. Having the double markers on the 9th fret is confusing. My brain thinks it's the 12th. The markers on the side of the neck are fine, with a double dot at the 12th. Fortunately I don't look at the fretboard that much but it can be confusing if I'm trying to learn something new.

For context I've been playing guitar (on and off) since the early 90s and have played many guitars in that time. While this guitar doesn't feel super high end it also doesn't feel cheap. It just feels right and well balanced. I don't worry about damaging it and I don't wish it was better - I just play it.

Nice playing acoustic

I'm an advanced beginner to intermediate guitar player. I'm not a musician or tech, so my assessments are personal and subjective

Finish- really nice. Love the woodgrain and the guitar and neck feel nice in the hand

Sound- I had the dreadnought version of this, and the sound of CLA is more trebly, but that's very subjective. It sounds good to my ear.

Tuners are the weak part, a little hesitant and jumpy. I'd glad pay 20-30 euro more on the purchase price for better ones

Strings need to be changed. The ones that are fitted are good quality but a little aged from sitting in the warehouse.

I'll use it for learning fingerpicking blues, and occasional strumming. I was mostly attracted by the size as I found the CLD-15M dreadnought a little too big for comfortable playing, buy again that's personal. I'm average height so if you're taller you might prefer a bigger body guitar.

The other size advantage of the CLA is in storage. I keep 3 of my guitars in the living room and space is at a premium.

Highly recommended guitar for the price, and even if it cost a little more.

Terrific value

The stars are of course relative to the price point and not compared to a EUR 3k guitar. This guitar is a solid instrument in every sense of the word. Required a bit of adjustment at first but that is clearly expected (action was a bit high). I use it at home. It tunes perfectly, sounds very good and the playability is good. If you are expecting Martin quality at this price then look elsewhere. If you are looking for a beautiful, solid guitar that delivers a nice sound at a very affordable price, this is it.

It is the kind of guitar you can grab and play outdoors without caring that much about dings, etc.

Cons: setup could be better but that is easily fixed in 20 min with basic tools and should not be expected at this price point.

Fully recommended.

Great Value

This is my third Harley Benton and I purchased this for my son after setting up two identical models (CLA15M) in my shop for seasonal set-ups. This guitar required very little adjustment upon arrival in Canada and was flawless in fit and finish. The fretwork was without issues as well. The nut was cut perfectly and the guitar only required a truss rod adjustment to bring the relief within a better range (though the original relief was acceptable). The stained Okoume had a very nice figure to it as well. The guitar sounds very warm and is an excellent value for the price. Anything comparable, in my experience is almost twice the retail cost. I will likely invest in more of these guitars. Even with the cost of shipping to Canada, it is still a very good deal. Shipping is also amazingly fast.

Harley Benton Custom Line CLA-15M

The dreadnought version wasn't available at the time (which is a shame, since I'm a dreadnought kind of person - but seems like it's back in stock again!), so I decided to order the auditorium counterpart, and, I actually placed two separate orders for two of them, since I'm skeptical about guitars from this brand.

Turns out...

Both guitars sound better than what I was expecting, well, at least for an auditorium. We all know that this design will give you a much thinner sound, but on this particular one, it's rather balanced, not too dark, not too bright, which is what I like. The bone nut and the bone saddle do have a significant contribution to the sound amplification: it's clear, natural, and even loud (including harmonics). The only difference is, that the second one seems to have a better setup than the first one, both out of the box and after minor adjustments. Other than that, great smell (I'm not even kidding), great design (I can tell the guitar's heavily inspired by the Martin 000-15M, but hey, this is more like saying "when you want an expensive guitar but your budget is too tight so you ended up getting an inspiration instead, and it's very, very good, no exaggerations."). No sharp fret ends, smooth fretboard and bridge (even the bridge feels smooth!), decent tuners (at least for now, though I'll swap the tuners in the near future).

Yeah, I already returned the first one on the day I received the second one, which I'm happy with. Highly recommended, but always inspect your new guitar before actually playing.

Now, should I get the CLD-15M too?

Amazing!!

Are there better guitars on the market? For sure.

But, in all honesty, you won't find a better guitar for this price. It is an amazing guitar with a lovely, warm sound.

I wouldn't have wanted a different one!

Don't hesitate just buy it!

The quality, finish and sound of this little guitar is top drawer. Ive got a Martin 000-18 which I love, but this comes close. If you're on a budget (or even if you're not) this guitar will more than fit the bill.

Totally amazing!

In the beginning I was really sceptical on this... But then there was the Harley Benton CLA-15M. I have tested a various number of mahogany type of acoustic guitars, but this one I have myself, came out of the winner... This guitar became the one, I really saw myself playing, somewhere in the middle of nowhere.

I really love the warm and brilliant tone of the sounds. And also I am amazed by the fact it has a massive top. And a lovely punch of sustain. The bone nut on the headstock is really a feature witch pays some bills either.

The heavy feel of the neck was also a great and pleasure to me. And the refinements of this great guitar shows a powerfull content, packed into a appearance of modesty.

Next to that, I use an magnetic soundhole pickup by DeArmond Toneboss and using D'Addario strings. All of that all... a great recipe for a long lasting pleasure of playing and sounds.

I feeling very happy right now! And I really would recommend to consider this guitar to check out!

Fantastic sound

The sound is great, shave 2mm the saddle a put 0.11 Elixir nanowed strings and plays like a dream, the shape with a little cosmetics irregularities but nothing to worry is the reason to not give 5 stars

Amazing Guitar

I got this guitar to get me through the quarantine, and I love it.

Really comfortable to play for a beginner, great sound and very beautiful finish.

Nice for the price

Sounds great as a guitar with a mahogany solid top - woody, warm sound, with quiet basses. It needed some fret-works. Some of the frets were bumping, the action was pretty high, fret edges were pretty sharp. I gave it to a luthier and for 40EUR I got a new guitar that plays like a dream. The luthier was surprised by how good it sounds. He also said it's a cheap guitar - fretboard is painted with some dark paint for design reasons. The tuners are fine. The body Is a bit heavy. For the scalloping, they used some fat wooden sticks. For that price is very very good.

Good, but it needs a set-up out of the box.

Set-up:

Out of the box, it wasn't great. The action at the nut was okay, but it gradually got higher as you moved up the neck. I had to tighten the truss rod a quarter turn and sand 1.5mm off the bridge saddle to correct it. (That may not sound like much, but believe me, it is.) The frets were very scratchy, but level. I gave them a polish and now they're great. The tuners work great.

Looks:

1 slight blemish near the soundhole, but otherwise it's perfect.

Comfort:

The neck is rather thick and very flat, I suspect a 14" radius. This makes "thumb over the top" chords rather difficult. A lower radius would've been more comfortable for me.

Sound:

The stock strings were very dull. Replace them ASAP. Even with the new strings, the guitar sounded rather dull out of the box, however, after a week of heavy strumming it's starting to open up. If I could go back in time, I'd rather get the spruce version for some more clarity, but it's still a nice sound.

Amazing Guitar

I own many high end Martins and Taylors and will never sell them but - this is my 10th HB guitar in 3 weeks - Im Hooked. the quility of these guitars is saving me in the long run because i am not sure i can bring myself to buy another 3k guitar for a while - WOW - Having Fun!!

Great guitar for the price, but don't expect miracles

This is a great guitar, but a little disappointing after reading the reviews. Just keep your expectations realistic and you'll be very satisfied.

Pros: good sound, good intonation, nice playability

Cons: high action, sound a little thin

Incredible deal

This is one of the best acoustic guitars I've played. No exaggeration.

The build quality is great, the only hint of a blemish that I can find is that the bridge is a tiny bit rough in one place. Literally makes no difference.

It sounds great, plays great, the action is nice and the neck is comfortable. And then there's the price; this is basically a gift.

Don't hesitate, this is possibly the best deal you can find.

great guitar

Do not let the price fool you, this is a great guitar,my 1400 hundred dollar marten has a little better tone, but not 1200 hundred dollars better