Harley Benton D-120CE NT Reviews

Good value for money

This guitar offers good value for money. For this price, off course you cannot expect the best finish and quality. But overall, for a beginner this guitar is an excellent choice. I recommend it.

Nice

Wasn't expecting much for the price but am really happy with this guitar. The fret ends need a little attention and I probably wouldn't trust it too much on tour due to the materials being evidently less premium than other more expensive acoustics but I think this guitar sounds and plays brilliantly. It holds its tuning well and has the option for both a DI and miked sound with the built in preamp, which also very much surprised me in terms of sonic quality.. in a good way!

As a electric guitar player primarily, my knowledge and interest in acoustic guitars is very limited but as something inexpensive and solid to knock around on and record with, this guitar is perfect.

Great value. Punches above it's weight

I'm a purely amateur player of about 45 years. I have a small collection of budget fretted instruments: Squire Strat, Ibanez nylon string, no-name eastern european Mandola, decent, but cheaper range David Freshwater bouzouki, cheap Portuguese Guitarra, and, my main workhorse, 40 year old Eko ranger 6 steel string.

I've been looking for a second steel string, preferably with pick up, as I mainly use the Eko in DADGAD, and am too lazy to keep retuning when I want to go back to standard. Sadly, my skill level (and finances) don't really justify the purchase of a Martin D28 (Father Christmas, I've been a good boy). So in reading this review, bear in mind I'm not making any comparisons with high quality instruments, as I've never played any.

OK, so out of the box. All looks good and clean. No marks, dints or scratches. No issue with sharp edges on frets, as some other reviewers have reported, although some of the higher frets more apparent than lower ones, but nothing that affects playability. Guitar body is quite light compared to my Eko.

I'm used to a wide neck and very low action. The action is slightly higher than my Eko, but nothing that causes me problems. I know other reviewers have said the action is too high out of the box, but I didn't find that. There is the occasional hint on fret buzz, especially playing finger style, but that may be down to my poor technique - I do tend to pull the strings up John Martyn style. Again, nothing too much of a problem.

The intonation is excellent pretty much all the way down the fretboard, being quite true as checked by a chromatic tuner. The tuners seem good and it stays in tune quite well.

The neck is slightly narrower than I'm used to, but nothing that I haven't been able to adjust to quite quickly.

The tone is nice and bright using included strings. I've not changed these yet, but they're still ok after four weeks.

The pick up system works well through the clean channels on my Blackstar ID core 10, but I've nothing to compare this to, so others may be more critical.

OK, so I bought this as a second guitar, but I find the playability and tone is so good, its become my first choice - my Eko needs a good clean up and a bit of a rest, so this works well.

In summary, I think this is an excellent guitar for the price. It would be great for a beginner or as a back up. As I said, I can't make any comparisons with high end guitars, so others may be more critical than me. But having said this, I'm delighted with my purchase, and would recommend to anyone looking for a guitar at this sort of price level.

Nice sound

Nice sound and finishing.

Instrument with a rich sound.

I play jams sometimes. Went to one of those recently. Big immense. People loved how it sounded. I don't have anything critique to say about it. However I did a setup - streamlined truss, installed better strings and lowered the action. But every musician has its own style. Those are just the necessary adjustment. I consider the guitar for such a price is a real steal.

huge sound at low price

its already the 6 one that i buy for my students

this harley benton can kep up with a lot of fenders acoustics even put them to shame

if you are starting, this is the one you need

pros - it got a pickup for that price, what a dream guitar and cheap

cons - could have tuner intergrated

An excellent guitar for this price. I absolutely recommend it. Buy it for sure.

Probably the best option for the money

The sound is really good for the money.I have been playing for many years and I didn't think you could actually get a descent piece of acoustic ,not even electric acoustic,guitar.

Sounds very good for the price. Loud full sound. I didn't play a lot with the EQ but it works fine.

1-way street for that amount of money.

Simply unbeatable

I seriously doubt that you can find a guitar on the market in this price range better than this guitar. It is just amazing to me how can such instrument be so affordable. I give it 5/5 all around, I am super pleased and happy with the purchase and yould seriously reccomend it to anybody, from beginers to intermediate players. Go get one!

Best budget guitar

You just can't go wrong with this purchase. Can't believe the price. It sounds better than some more expensive ones.

I am just a begginer and have tried a few cheap guitars that are not very good this is the exact opposite really suits me and looks and plays like a much more expensive guitar love it

Great budget acoustic (with a few tweeks)

OK, so I have one issue with this guitar so let's get that out the way. On inspection I ran my thumb and index finger down the edges of the neck (gently) and sliced open my index finger. These were the worst fret ends I have ever seen on a guitar, ever. Now don't let this put you off, this takes seconds to remedy with a fine grain sanding sponge. Just be aware that the frets are quite weedy and probably couldn't be re-crowned when they wear, there's not a lot of material there. So, this isn't a 'keep for life' guitar unless you are prepared to spend twice what it's cost for a refret at some point down the line. However, for a beginner or low usage player (electric guitarists, bassists who like an acoustic hanging around) this shouldn't be an issue.

Now onto the good stuff. Generally this is a pretty nice guitar, nice wood, surprisingly good tone for an inexpensive guitar, tuners aren't high end but have a pretty decent ratio and it stays in tune. I hear of so many people who plan to swap out tuners on Harley Bentons before they have even received the instrument but I now have 3 HB guitars and 1 bass and I have had zero tuning issues.

I had very low expectations of the preamp given the price point, and was pleasantly surprised when I plugged it in. Obviously it isn't as good as a more expensive guitar but it is entirely usable if you had to take it on stage or into the rehearsal room and plug into an amp or PA.

Any beginners reading this - you need to understand that pretty much any new guitar you buy will probably need an initial setup. Higher end more expensive guitars will often need to same tweeks as budget guitars, so don't fall into the trap of thinking I only paid so much so its not worth spending almost as much again on a setup. A good setup is worth every penny on any guitar, and this guitar is no different. This could make the difference between learning to play and having a lifetime of pleasure and giving up because it seems too hard.

So to conclude, excellent value for money, invest in a setup, and if you wear the frets out in a few years then it's done its job, you've learnt to play and will probably want something better anyway.

A fantastic acoustic guitar

Wow again Harley Benton have pulled another fantastic great value musical instrument

FRET ISSUES

Unfortunately, the frest 14 and 15 in G string (3rd string) is busying not allowed to play the notes. QC is fake

Awesome

Great starter and experienced player guitar.

Every penny was worth paying.

I gave this to my father, he was very pleased.

The only thing is that i would recomend you file the end of the frets. Not a problem, but do account that you will most likely need to do it also, as i did.

Excellent guitar!

I would have given 5* if not for the strings that came with the guitar, that were a little rusty and one of them snapped right away. Fortunately, customer service is excellent and they sent me a new set of strings! Besides that, for the price you're paying, the guitar is incredible. I'm not a pro or anything, I just use it mainly to have a little fun everyday, but I loved it!

Great Sounding Inexpensive Acoustic Guitar

I bought this for a family member. I, of course kept in in my possession for a while. It sounds fine acoustically and really sounds great with the preamp. I have some fairly expensive acoustics but I don't have a cut-away.....so I may have to buy on of these for myself! Happy with this one!

Awsome

I bought this guitar to sand it down and make a drawing on the front with a pirographset and than perhaps selling. I hardly played the guitar. After burning and finishing with lacquer I lowered the action for play-ability. I Played it,......I don't sell it. It sounds awfully good. It is not going to leave. And I have played quite some expensive guitars to. Adition....After 2 years of use this is still flawless. Wonderful and a very good sound when using the right strings.

WoW! What a great buy!

This is my 3rd Acoustic. The first two were a Epiphone and Fender that cost about 5 times the price of this guitar. They are ok but no better in fit and finish. They don't sound as good as the HB with its factory strings. The only fault I can report is the wiring retainer block inside the body which has double sided tape on it came loose during storage or shipment. A easy fix when ever I decide to change the strings. If there has to be something wrong I'll take that every time. Order a Saddle when you buy. The one that ships on it is brittle plastic. Tuning the "G" string it popped a chip out of it. The other strings are digging slots into it. Still thrilled with the Guitar and expected that part would need a upgrade. The Nut is doing well so far. I have one on hand just in case.