Harley Benton HBMA-100E- VS

Awesome Mandolin at an unbelievable price!!

I am a lifelong musician this was my first mandolin. I have already recorded with it the sound is great plugged or unplugged. Fit and finish are better than many more expensive brands. I would recommend this to beginners or accomplished players.

HBMA - 100E VS 8 String F style mandolin

Packed well , Fast shipping , Arrived perfect condition , Action slightly high , will have to lower bridge , sounds fantastic , intonation good , nut position good , Definately will purchase more from HB

My first Mandolin!

I'm a guitarist, of over 40 years now. I have more guitars than any sane person probably should have (don't tell my wife I said that!!). Until I bought this instrument though, I didn't own any mandolins. I decided to buy it because it wasn't expensive, and I wanted to learn how to play it.

I've owned it for a few months now. My initial impression is very good. The acoustic sound is very loud for such a small body! Plugged in, the sound is quite lovely. I love the bell-like quality of the instrument.

For the price-point, the build quality is everything I had hoped it would be. My only real complaint is a small bit of blemish in the binding, around one of the F holes. To be honest, I have to put my glasses on and go searching for it, to be able to spot it. Otherwise, the fit and finish are good and I have no complaints.

I did have to do some setup, on the instrument. By that I mean, I adjusted the bridge to fix the intonation, which was noticeably off when it got to me. I also adjusted the bridge downwards because I thought the action was a bit too high. Also, the tuners feel a bit cheap, to me. Maybe that's common on a Mandolin? I don't know. In any event, I may change those, at some point.

Otherwise, it's a great first Mandolin!

Honestly fantastic for the price. I guarantee you won't find a mando of this quality and features for less. Its well made and does the job completely. I know instruments well as I play music for a living. Is it a £5000 Gibson. No. Is it fantastic for the price YES!

Decent.

It's a nice little mandolin. The sound is good but you might need a little bit of adjustment to get the best out of it. The finish overall is good but could be better. I noticed a few spots where the binding isn't perfect for instance, and the inner parts of the F holes are a little rough, and the liquer inside the scroll also feels unfinished. Overall though, I would recommend for anyone on a budget or a beginner dipping their toes in.

Real SURPRISE - a fine instrument for a quarter price!

Ive been looking for a F-style mandoline, so test this first - GOOD CHOICE!

1. Tone & sound - high, clear, almost cut-through-stone (high freq.) rest frequencies=0. But with such a drillin voice you shouldnt be overheard!

2. Tunning machines and tunning generally at high possitions: so-so to well. No miracle, no tragedy. Good enough.

3. Electronics - eeeh... single pickup. High, little silent, with some noise - minihumbucker would be a better choice; think evryone pay cheerly some euros more for clear, non-affected sound.. Tone potentiometer generate only two colours - high and dark. Nothing between.

But electronics should be changed...

4. Touch and neck - really good.Easy+fine to play.Great possitive surprise!

5. Look and processing - fine. No considerable reservations at this price level.. Antique burst with dark. Cognac yellow.

6. MINUS: dot frets - tiny and flimsy. I dont wait long durability.

CONCLUSION: at its price a VERY FINE INSTRUMENT for beginners and also experienced players. 4me a surprise of year - I love this arrow!

You"ll too!

Great looking mandolin

Great looking but mandolin very hard to keep in tune

Excellent value

Excellent value good quality and sound

I like it, but.....

I love playing the instrument, but there was a few things I wasn't happy with.

It's great to play, and I love it, but, when I first tuned it one of the strings wasn't in the right part of the bridge and I had to move it a little up to get it in the right place. No big deal really.

Secondly, this is the thing that annoys me, the pick up is terrible. It's so quiet I can barely hear it. I going to have to buy a new pick up, which is a shame.

The price is good, so I get what I pay for, but it would have been nice to have a better pick up.

A very good mandolin

Again great playability after very minor adjustment of the bridge, great intonation, holds tuning, fantastic instrument.