Harley Benton Custom Line CLA-15M 5-stars Reviews

Wow!

I can't fault this guitar! Wow!

The finish is amazing. The action spot on. The neck is thin and fast. It sounds superb. Feels good. My friend recently bought a Taylor for $4,300. This cost me $200 and sounds just as nice. I'm smiling!

I don't know how they do it! Wow!

Highly recommended!

Can't go wrong with this one.

To be honest,I was aware that most "Custome Line" instruments are excellent value for money.

Cla-15m is no different.

1)Construction:What strikes you first is how light that guitar is.As a plus CLA-15m looks gorgeous.The bracing and finishing are almost flawless.No uneven frets.Tuners are REALLY good,something that doesn't normally happen with guitars of that price range.Not to talk about the SOLID wood top.That's even rarer for such an inexpensive instrument.

2)Playbality:A pretty thin neck,one of the most comfortable I've played.Action is not bad,but I ended up suiting it to fit my preferences by sanding around one mm off the saddle.Daddario Strings felt harsh on my fingers,so I replaced them with old good elixirs custom light.

3)Sound:It's rediculous how good that 170 euro guitar sounds.If I had to describe the sound,I'd call it dark (which I always look for) and woody with excellent string seperation and more emphasis on the middle frequencies.Of course it doesn't have have the complicated timbre of a Martin OO-15,but the Martin costs around 1500 dollars.

Overall:I own a dreadnaught three times more expensive than CLA-15m.Cla-15m makes my dread sound like a 30 dollar toy.

Absolutely amazing

I wanted a guitar similar to the Martin 00-15 and this guitar looked very good and sounded amazing in the videos as well, so I ordered it and I couldn't be happier now. It even sound and looks better than in the videos. The quality is amazing, and the mahagony sounds unbeliveably nice , especially when strumming. The neck is comfortable, the tuners hold very good also.They could even ask 300 dollars for this guitar . The only thing I had to do when I got it out of the box, was just a little bit action adjusting. Fantastic product for this price !!

Astonishing instrument regardless of the price.

This guitar feels, plays and sounds like a professional instrument, not as a beginner guitar.

It comes with great action, great finish, beautiful inlays, perfectly polished frets and the sound you expect from an all-mahogany guitar.

I've tried several Harley Bentons, mostly electric in the past, and they were all very good, but this particular instrument is way, way better.

The sound is very balanced, not too boomy and not too sparkly, perfect for recording.

The size is very comfortable and the guitar is very lightweigh, making it very good for travelling and/or touring.

Tuners do their job, intonation is spot on.

I don't like acoustics with electric-like action so the default setting was perfect for me.

I really cannot find any cons on this guitar, regardless of the price. You'll find more bass response and more loudness on more expensive instruments, but this one is just right on.

Kudos to HB.

Absolutely incredible

I was expecting it to be good based on the reviews, but it largely surpassed my wildest expectations. It feels like 3 times the price at least.

Great build quality, great settings out of the box, and what a wonderful sound: full, loud, rich and very clear, precise. The D'Addario EXP16 strings that came with it were a bit too boomy to my taste though. I went on to try Elixir Nanoweb PB but the volume loss and lack of life made me go back to D'Addario, but 80/20 this time, EXP11. To me, these are the perfect strings for this guitar, adding that little bit of sparkle and clarity that the EXP16 were missing.

I cannot fault this guitar: amazing playability, rich sound and just a joy to play. I would have expected to be much more for this level of quality.

Awesome acoustic for the price

I dont really have anything to complain about with this guitar. Plays great and sounds great. For the size it is punchy and loud. I honestly would highly recommend this guitar to a friend.

Excellent for the price

From my experience with this guitar, everything about it (playability, intonation, finish, feel) is very good, even tuners although noname are also of good quality. As for the sound quality, I would describe it as punchy and woody but not as harmonically rich as an all solid woods insturment (comparing to the sound of Epiphone Masterbilt). With time, to my ears it only sound better and better. If you're looking for all hog guitar or even just this shape of guitar within a price range of about 250 eur, in my opinion You can't really do better. Definitely recommended :)

Fine Quality Mahogany Concert size guitar!

Practice/home use ...less bulky than dread. guitar to handle. Sanded saddle to lower action although not bad originally. Pleasant..easy player..good sound..fair bass ..mid and treble ..though slightly less bass than my dread......It is a well made and finished guitar..no sharp fret ends etc.Guitar is good for blues styles and looks worth far more than the asking price! An efficient company to buy from...good communications re delivery etc.

Superb guitar

I don't normally write reviews, in fact I think this is my first 'proper' one!! Just had to share my views on this guitar....

Having read many reviews and watched youtube videos I decided to take the plunge and see what all the fuss was about with these Harley Benton guitars, so I sold a couple of 'big name' guitars to help finance / justify some new toys and bought this guitar an a TE-90QM HH (see other review).

Given how highly others had rated these HB's I was pretty excited about getting them in my hands and seeing how they performed but this was tempered by a level of 'realism' given how affordable they are and the fact that others had reported some quality and initial set-up issues.

Maybe I was just lucky, but this little Martin 00-15M clone is a really superb guitar in any company and for the price paid is simply incredible.

Right out the box the set-up was exceptionally playable, the neck may need a little relief added and the action could probably be dropped a touch but I will let it settle down and re-evaluate this in a week or so. Don't get me wrong, the action is very very acceptable and is one of the most comfortable acoustic guitars I have played - this is aided by the nice slim and comfortable neck (I am always a little worried about purchasing guitars without getting my [small] hands on them first!!). The guitar really does play every bit as well as my Breedlove that was ~10x more expensive ;-).

If I were being super critical .... the neck has a couple of TINY imperfections that you would never notice and the single strap button would look better in metal rather than plastic but in reality I will be unlikely to play this with a strap anyway...

This will now be my 'acoustic of choice' for regular playing / practising. At this price you shouldn't really be too bothered if it gets a little bit damaged, but I already know that I will get pretty upset if this sweet little guitar comes to any harm......

Worth every cent!

Honestly, this guitar sounds really good without any touches from the buyer, however, if you shave the bridge saddle slightly to correct the action & restring it with extra light (0.10 - 0.47) strings, it will sound magical!

Overall, I'm very pleased with my purchase, this guitar is worth every cent!

Unschlagbares Preis-Leistungs-Verhältnis

Als Gitarren Anfänger habe ich eine Gitarre gesucht, die nicht all zu teuer ist - sollte es mir doch keinen Spaß machen - aber an der ich gleichzeitig nicht sofort die Lust verliere, dadurch dass der Klang zu schlecht ist, etwas mit der Qualität nicht stimmt oder sie schlecht verarbeitet ist. Ein Freund hat mir alle Gitarren von Harley Benton empfohlen und so habe ich den Versuch mit der Custom Line CLA-15M gewagt. Nach dem Auspacken ist mir als erstes aufgefallen, dass sie unglaublich hochwertig aussieht. Keine Leimnasen, keine Kratzer, alles plan. Sie ließ sich ohne Probleme stimmen, die Mechanik reagiert einwandfrei. An Qualität und Verarbeitung gab es schon mal nichts auszusetzen. Restlos begeistert war ich dann allerdings vom Klang. Schön dunkel, kein Schnarren, leicht bluesig. Man kann sie problemlos mal für eine Woche hinstellen und sie klingt immer noch großartig. Ich bin restlos begeistert.

*****

Just excellent. The sound is great - loud, resonant and sharp, with a great attack that's especially valued in finger-style melodies. The finish is beyond any compliments and the fretmarks are beautiful.