Harley Benton HBMA-50E Mandoline VS 5-stars Reviews

Great for the money

Looks and sound beyond expectation, no blemishes or loose screws, fretboard not too sharp either.

Changed strings with some effort, tailpiece cover was on very tight, but the result is great, a big bright sound.

Good intonation and tuning stability.

Playable and fun.

Great value for money.

Awesome little instrument

I bought this as a novelty as I did not play a mandolin before. The build quality and the sound of the instrument is worth all the money. Pick-up is quite ok also.

Works Perfectly

Great for cost. using to learn.

mandomania

Guitarist ..only being playing mandolin a short while, didn't want to break the bank.

Positive reviews led me to this one... Glad I payed attention, for the money it's a delightful instrument.

The finish.. on mine anyway, is flawless.

The sound is good, maybe a tiny bit duller than an expensive old one I borrowed off an Irish trad player... but that's with factory strings, Got new Ibanez strings but not put them on yet.

Good to play straight of the box.. lovely...The intonation was spot on.

But then I did lower the action just a fraction.. easy operation .. just loosen strings and rotate the bridge wheels clockwise til it suits..being careful not to move the bridge...and it made it a little easier on my novice fingers without causing any fret buzz.

For the price.. and for the sound.. and the flexibility of a built-in pick up.. you can't go wrong with this thing, I've hardly put it down.

Excellent value, good instrument

I am a guitarist who bought this because I needed a mandolin part on a recording.

It seems very well made and to me is very playable.

Acoustic tone is nice and the sound from the built in pickup is bright and clear, though of course it does not then have the sound of the wood. Very useable sound either way.

I have no idea how it compares to a much more expensive instrument but I'm impressed.

It does the job and I certainly feel that I got value for money

Great Mandolin

Got it today, tuned it. Played it. Sounds great. I'm very happy with this mandolin. It's exactly what I wanted.

Perfect for that first Mandoline

I'm a guitar player and I wanted to own a mandoline in my arsenal. Probably going to be used at home even though I gig every now and then. I read some of the reviews here and changed the strings and it's a totally different instrument afterwards. I removed the thin strip that was underneath the bridge, don't know why that was there. But this mandoline has a full body sound unplugged with new strings. The craftsmanship is really good for that price. I would definitely recommend this to anyone that wants to get an affordable mandoline. It stays in tune, sounds good for the price and can be a wall decoration if you end up giving up playing it.

A Wonderful Mandolin for Beginners/Learners

I bought this mandolin to replace an older one that had been broken and I didn't want to break the bank. I was pleasantly surprised at the quality that comes with a pricetag under 100 bucks.

Right out of the box this thing proved to fill its role as a beginner/learner mandolin. The stock strings should be replaced ASAP and the bridge should be adjusted for intonation, but you can strum around on this for quite a while without any complaints.

The tone for single-string picking is quite good, but I noticed that the intonation is much, much better when capo'd on the second fret. I'd recommend getting it set up if you ever intend to bring it on stage, but it's got some great sound for the price.

Pros:

- Neck feels good and easily maneuverable

- Great tone quality for the price

- Build quality is satisfactory

Cons:

- Tuning pegs are a bit rough to deal with and "hang" a bit

- Some intonation issues requiring adjustment out of box (not awful)

- String/Fret buzz out of box (personal experience)

All in all a great little instrument to add to any string-player's arsenal. Highly recommend for learners.

Great little mandolin

The finish is perfect, there are no flaws anywhere.

The action was a bit high so I had to lower the saddle. I also sanded the bottom of the saddle a bit for even lower action.

The nut slots needed to be widened by a file cos they were too tall, it took 10 mins to fix this problem.

I can't complain about these issues for the price. I do these fixes with all my guitars anyway.

The single coils sound great, very little noise. The acoustic sound of the instrument is also great.

Happy with the product

Got it to India. No problems faced. A known fact that we will need to pay the custom duty on receiving the item. Product is very nice. Happy with it.

A killer instrument for the price

I am extremely impressed by this mandolin. I play the guitar and wanted to experiment with such stringed instrument.

The finish looks great, the sunburst has been executed flawlessly (only a very small mark on the side of the neck, but totally not important). Everything works great!

Also, came pretty much set up out of the box. You have to change the strings to something better. Also, around the 14th fret there is a buzzing sound, however at least as a beginner, I am not affected by it. A good technician will make it shine. Even guys who work at guitar shops are impressed by it.

It really convinced me to give a nod to Harley Benton for future instrument purchases.

Excellent!

I have been using for live gigs for 2 years now and really happy with it.

Only criticism is tuners could be better but for the price I guess it is acceptable.

Good value.good lookin.Sounds good.

I decided to re- learn mandolin after not playing one for many years. The HBMA-50E has been for me, ideal. Playable straight out the box, just tuned it up, and good to go.The tuners, pick-up,even the strings, good enough, although iv bought a couple of sets of strings just dont need to change them yet.The finish is nice, a lot better than i was expected. So, very good value,plays nice,sounds ok, and i also bought the gigbag, which fits well. I mostly play at home or with a few mates, but i would take it to a gig to do perhaps a few numbers - its certainly good enough.

I love my mandolin

I've never played mandolin before but I got the notion I needed one in my life.

I picked this up as it's dirt cheap and had great reviews. I was not one bit disappointed. I play electric guitar of the metal persuasion so this was a bit different. I had the mando delivered to work and spent any spare time at my desk learning how to tune the thing and some simple chords. Within a week I was celebrated as an office legend with stories of my musical prowess being told all over the business park.

The stock strings were a bit meh and I got spares but haven't changed them yet. Really is great for the money and has a lovely sound.

Excellent for Price

Hi recently bought a Harley Benton HBMA-50E Mandoline VS. It's a great great buy very sturdy and sounds lovely. I play the guitar and always wanted to try out a Mandoline. I would recommend this mandoline for anyone who is just starting to learn instrument. Price wise you could not go wrong. The only thing I would change is the strings, I bought GHS A 260 Bobby Osborne strings. Buy you will not be disappointed.

Perfect for a beginner like me.

My first Mandolin. So even though I haven't got a lot of experience with the instrument I have got plenty of Irish friends who play. Always wanted some trad so it was this or a fiddle and I thought this would be easier to pick up.

As I have been consistently impressed with HB guitar stuff I thought I'd try out one of their other instruments as at this price it worth giving it a try to see if I enjoy it.

The build quality is nice pretty light where usually HB gear is usually slightly heavier than the big brands. Sturdy though. Appearance wise it great. Looks the real deal.

The pickups pretty basic but you'd rather have it than not as you can at least plug in if you need amplification and can't mic it. Socket is in a pretty awkward place at the bottom of the Mandolin if you wanted to play sitting down. Standing its not an issue.

The sound is pretty good for the price and will be enough for anyone learning or just starting to play with others. Put a bit of chorus on through the amps and you can get a really rich sound out of it.

It's never going to be a professional instrument at this price but great for a beginner and at this price if I don't take to it I can just sell it on and not lose out.

Nice Instrument.

Check the machine-heads

This is a lovely sounding mandolin. However, I must forewarn potential buyers that some of the machine-heads were not fitted properly on my one and had to be adjusted. It's a quick enough fix but just keep this in mind when clicking that buy button.

Very good for the price

The finish may be a little rough around the edges but for the price this is a great instrument. I've used it live with no problems at all. The stock strings weren't very good but I restrung it with D'Addarios and it made a massive difference. I'm no mandolin expert and this is my first, but I'm impressed with the sound and playability of such a cheap instrument.

Short version: buy one, but buy some new strings as well.

Harley Benton HBMA-50E Mandoline

crazy money for such a wonderful instrument - I have played it live with the band and its amazing starter mandoline for the price - you cant go wrong!