Harley Benton Custom Line CLA-15MCE Reviews

Great guitar

I wanted an 000 mahogany guitar (Martin 000-15 style) and this one hasn't disappointed.

First, I love the finish, the guitar is beautiful.

It plays great out of the box.

The pickup is good, as well as piezo can be, but I bough Behringer V-Tone Acoustic ADI21 with it and that made is great for recording.

I would definitely recommend this guitar, especially at this price point, for playing at home or recording.

Out of the box, this one is simply amazing. I love that the mids are really "there".

Eyes closed this is what I can say:

1. Strumming gives a good punch.

2. Fingerpicking gives you balanced sound.

3. Sounds more "Martin-ish" in fingerpick, and "Seagull-ish" in strumming.

I've had lots of guitars in my 30 years of playing, and I'm so impressed by this one.

Unbelievable for the price.

Amazing value

I'm completely blown away by the value this guitar represents.

It came set up perfect the way I prefer, with low action and perfect intonation. No fret buzz.

The guitar is gorgeous with its all mahogany body and perfect finish.

The guitar sounds alot better than my old $1000 Morgan acoustic, and the slim electric guitar-style c-neck makes it really easy to play.

If someone had presented this guitar as a $1000-1500 guitar, I would've probably believed them.

It falls somewhat short to the Martin 15m It's inspired by, but that is a >$2000 guitar, so that is expected.

All in all: It's an amazing guitar!

Amazing Value

I purchased this guitar after doing some set-up work on a few Harley Benton guitars. I work part-time as a guitar tech and am luthier trained. Firstly, you can not build a guitar of this quality and materials at this cost if you were to do it yourself. Although this is not true mahogany, it is mahogany-like in feel and tone (it looks to be stained Okoume?) After tuning this guitar up I took a full assessment of its set-up. This guitar was perfect right out of the box. I was very impressed by the set-up and quality control on this particular instrument. The guitar plays very well and was excellent in fit and finish. The fretwork was smooth with no signs of tooling (this is rare on guitars at this price point). I work on many guitars and I am impressed with this brand.

amazing guitar

the guitar sounds and feels amazing couldnt be happier

HB Custom CLA-15MCE

This is the only acoustic guitar l own now, and it covers all my needs.

I was genuinely surprised at how good this guitar is, and how really good it sounds.

I've never owned a mahogany acoustic before and l really love the rich sound this guitar produces.

I changed the strings to Elixir 12's, adjusted the action slightly to my preference, and it is such a beautiful guitar to play. Anyone who plays it or hearts it, had been freaky impressed.

I've been buying Harley Benton guitars for a few years now, and an a real fan.

Good for the Money

Pros:

- Good Quality guitar for the price

- Great finish

- Above Average sound

Cons:

- Pick up system is not working out of the box. I need to adjust the piezo pick up under the saddle and sanding the height

Just loving it

I haven't been playing the guitar for a very long time. I watched some musical performance video during the recent lockdown and they gave me the desire to play the guitar back. I am not a begainer so know a little bit about the instrument. With comparaison, I decided to buy this one. After playing it around 2 weeks, every aspect, the size, texures of mahogany, the tones, satisfies me. In conclusion, I think this is a wonderful guitar with a very superb price-quality ratio, worth to recommend it.

beautiful form factor and sound but flawed set up

Firstly I must say this is one glorious guitar, the solid mahogany construction gives the guitar a warm , rather surprising full sound given its an auditorium sized acoustic. Sadly the set up out of the box made it unplayable for me, the action was a bit too high,( 4-4.5 mm at fret 12). I"m not someone who is adept or experienced with setting or lowering the bridge, for me I would need to take it to a Luthier. however, for anyone competent in doing this, the sound is wonderful, the size is perfect, the neck is comfortable ( notwithstanding the high action) - the other small issue come cosmetic flaws i.e glue spot showing through the lacquer , and the pick guard was rough on the edges ( yes this can be replaced). Shame - I really liked the sound, and the size - I will definitely order a replacement, albeit one with a lower action

Electro sound is super great!

Wow is all I can say for the electro sound. The set up of the guitar needed some attention when it arrived, but once completed it's been great. Holds tune well and acoustically sounds good. When you plug it in though it really sounds good. Super pleased!

Very good, affordable acoustic guitar

I have used this for more than one year now and I’m impressed with the quality.

When I first got the guitar I changed the tuners because I had some better tuners laying around. After changing strings and lowering the action the guitar now suits my playing style. I’m very pleased with tuning stability, sound and feel.

Great guitar, rough frets

I love the sound and clarity of this guitar, but the first time I picked up the guitar, I was not wowed.

The fretboard and the frets are rough.

After a fret polish and an oiling of the fretboard, the guitar plays great!

bang for the buck

Great product for the price, I am really happy with this. Does not sound or feel like a 2k guitar of course, but definetly beats or ties other 2-3 times the price. The preamp/tuner is handy, although of course entry level. There's nothing really wrong about this instrument, except that it needs a proper setup to be playable, so if you are a beginner keep that in mind: you are going to need either a guitar tech or a friend to lower the bridge at least. The action out of was extremely high, making it a pain to play with 012 (both out of the box and with Elixirs). The mechanics seem good so far, the nut height is maybe not perfect but decent out of the box (and that depends on your play style). I didn't need to move the trussrod. No dead spots.

Good quality

Good quality and nice sound.

Best acoustic guitar you can buy for under £300.

Real quality solid top guitar.

Sounds awesome, plays awesome, looks awesome.

Pickup is great and tuner is really useful.

No negatives.

Amazing guitar

I've been playing guitar my whole life and wow, what a great guitar. It needed a set up and new strings, but it sounds just gorgeous, forget about the cheap price. Only complaint was a little bash on the bottom of the guitar. Also, the pick up system sounds great. My guitar tech / builder friend has no idea who Harley Benton manages to build these instruments so cheaply.

Unbelievable

I, like everybody else, thought I was taking a gamble on this guitar. The finish is near flawless and it plays beautifully (It didn't even really need a set up). It looks beautiful. The tuners are of average quality, but everything else feels great. There is a very small mark on the fretboard near the nut where the factory have knocked it with a file, but it will never affect the playability and you'd have to put your face next to it to notice.

I gave the frets a polish as they were a little rough, tightened the truss rod slightly and oiled the fretboard and now it's near perfect.

Again, just unbelievable for the price, it's a really great guitar.

Loud guitar, different type of sound

I thought I would take a chance on this one, just to see what an auditorium size guitar was like. It is very prominent in the mid-ranges, not so much in the low end, which is to be expected. Also, when I received it the action was very high. I am starting to think HB ships the acoustic guitars with a different setup than the electric models, which I guess makes some sense. After a $70 US setup, it plays great, and I think it will cut through the mix with my band much better than a standard dreadnought guitar.

Follow up: I used it with my band (classic rock style) and for the first time my other guitar player said "Your acoustic is killing me!" It cuts through the mix very well and sounds great. One issue... there is a pop every time I take it off it's tuner. Pretty loud pop, too. I'll probably start using an outboard tuner to see if it is quieter. But overall, still a fantastic guitar for the money.

Great for the price

Wow a great guitar for the price. Harley Benton products are incredible value. I have over 15 years experience playing guitar and it is a lovely guitar.

However, straight out of the box, the guitar was poorly set up. Action was too high and fretboard was dry and killed my fingers when playing. This was disappointing. I brought it to a guitar shop to "set it up" correctly. He applied some love and magic to the guitar i.e. lowered the actions and oiled the fretboard etc, and it a completely different to play.

Therefore, I would recommend the guitar for the price and give it 4 stars overall. But if you a beginner, it is essential to bring your instrument to a guitar store to set it up correctly.

Excellent for the price

Really nice, fairly lightweight slimline electro acoustic.

Looks great, -1 star for two marks on the rear which happened post-manufacture.

Finish looks great

Feel is really nice

Body is very light.

String gauge a little heavy for my liking but easily changed

Have not tried with pickup as will use for acoustic blues fingerpicking.

Doesn't project like a dreadnought but then it isn't meant to. This is a little more subtle and probably not the one for you if you will play big, strumming songs.

Excellent first or intermediate guitar, especially for a younger player or someone of average to below average height.

Came very well boxed, so I don't know when the marks happened, a minor annoyance only, but shouldn't be there on a brand new guitar.

Highly recommended!!!