Harley Benton HBMA-50 Mandoline BK

Cheap as chips (but useable) Mando!

First off, at this price point you won't be getting the greatest mandolin ever crafted. However, if you are looking at dipping your toes into new territory without spending hard money - you can't really complain with what you get here. Tuning stability is alright, you'll be tuning up semi-regularly but not so much that it'll be an annoyance. Quality for the price is very good, hardware is functional, body is strong enough to take some hard playing. I've had this about a year or two now and nothing has broken off. Overall, for the price of checking out another stringed instrument you cant go wrong. If you're looking at using this in a professional setting I'd recommend spending a little more for something that'll hold its tuning better.

a decent mandolin (some work needed)

I had to lower the action, replace strings, add some felt padding to the end piece, add grommets to suppress harmonics behind the bridge and sand the bridge flush to the body to make it sing, but it sounds decent out of the box, the truss rod was set correctly, however the action was way too high on the bridge end.

A setup leaflet would be a handy addition. The fit and finish is not great, but more than acceptable at this price range. Once it's tuned up and the strings had time to settle in, it is keeping in tune surprisingly well and sounds OK for a tryout instrument.

Recommended if you have the aptitude to do some setup.

Smooth little Mandolin

At the price unbelievable, a fantastic mandolin, some basics need doing, Change the strings for the best you can afford, adjust the intonation , neck etc., and this will pay for itself very quickly! A1 kit!!

Great for a first mandolin

sounds good, plays well, great value for the price. I'm very happy with it and enjoy playing it

Great for the price

I am not an expert mandolin player and it was a gift of inspiration for my dad, but it really sound great and I can't stop smiling when I play it.

Impressed !

Je suis très surprise par la qualité de cette mandoline. D'après les avis, je ne m'attendais pas à recevoir un "jouet" mais je ne m'attendais pas à cette qualité non plus. Le son est doux (et les cordes sont nickels !), les finitions sont plutôt bonnes. C'est vrai qu'il y a un peu de jeu dans la mécanique mais j'ai pu accorder mon instrument sans problème. Très satisfaite !

Cheap ! Yes, well made and sounds good to me

Cheap! Yes, well made, looks nice and sounds good to me. Bought this for extras on an album we just finished. Changed the strings and it sounds great and another great Harley Bento product as fare as we are concerned. Harley Benton is a great affordable brand that works well in the studio for us at La Foret. Big thanks and we will be buying more

It works

It works for me. Action was painfully high, but I managed to make this instrument playable. This is basically a toy for me :D

Good for traveling

I bought this mandolin to take something with me when I'm traveling.

Lets start with the bad:

There are so many flaws I wont be able to list them all. paint/finish is bad. Many chips, uneven lines on "binding". Rough nut. Some screws are screwed in bad angles so they stick out a bit from body. When it comes to the wood - it is built from all kinds of leftovers. you really don't want to look inside the soundholes. :) Neck is beyond any repairs - it has a weird angle and its warped a bit. truss rod wont fix this. But the good thing is that its playable up to 12th fret and the intonation is alright.

The good:

It somehow stays in one piece and actually sounds ok. Put in some decent strings and it will sound nice. The fretboard is playable up to 12th fret (anything above that - not so good though...). The bridge is adjustable and is a good quality one. at least on mine.

Overall I am satisfied. For the price I paid I got what I needed - a mandolin that sounds good and that I can take on my bicycle and go anywhere without feeling sorry for it getting damaged.

My First Mandolin

I thought I'd try and learn the mandolin as I already play the guitar and a bit of violin. Never owned a mandolin before but tried my mates 'Stagg' mandolin and hated it. This one is easy to play and sounds pretty good. The tailpiece keeps falling off but looks good when on and it was really cheap.