Harley Benton Custom Line N-150CE BK Reviews

WITH TLC...

WITH TLC... LIKE ALMOST ALL UNDER 1K INSTRUMENTS, POLISH FRETS AND FRETBOARD TO GLOSS, NAIL BUFFER UP & DOWN THE FRET ENDS UNTIL THERE'S NO ROUGHNESS ANYWHERE GENTLY ROLLING THE EDGE MILDLY... NOW YOU CAN SHRED WITH GROWL AND GROWN

BE REALISTIC !

What can we truthfully expect from a resonator for under £200. ? The answer….is not very much. I bought this as a project to see if I could improve it enough to make it a useable gigging instrument. I like the cutaway access for slide playing. In short, the fret ends were rough, as were the crowns of the frets. The nut was poorly cut, and the action was too low for any serious slide playing. The pickup was weedy, thin and weak, and the pots were scratchy and of very poor quality. The acoustic tone was thin and lacking any real body , warmth or sustain. I cut a new nut, tweaked the truss Rod, refitted the bridge, and upgraded the pickup and pots. Overall cost was about £100, so for under £300, I now have a a guitar that is reasonably ok without being a world beater, though it obviously can’t compare to high quality resos. The physical construction is quite heavy, and I’m not convinced that buying any more new parts is going to make a cost effective improvement in tones. It plays ok, without being outstanding, and would do for a couple of songs in a gig. I’m sure that at this price, quality control is going to vary immensely….. so it will be down to pure luck when your guitar arrives. Having said that, it is certainly the sort of instrument that can benefit from a small amount of work and investment. Be realistic in your expectations, and this guitar will serve its purpose.

Decent Guitar, but not much 'resonator' sound

I like this guitar, I am happy with the quality, especially considering the low price - but it doesn't have the metallic sound I expect from a resonator. It's pretty close to a regular acoustic sound.

Great guitar

Overall a great guitar for the price. Unfortunately the pickup was very low output but was an easy replacement

A flawed gem

It is a pretty weird guitar. Mine came in HEAVY, but other than that it is a pretty neat instrument in itself.

Couple of lightly sharp frets, and the pickup seems to be busted. Luckily, I never needed one, but buyer beware.

What saves the picture for me, is that it's a very pronounced and loud acoustic guitar in itself. It SCREAMS. Not particularly fully in terms of frequencies, but it SCREAMS nevertheless, which comes very useful as a accompanying instrument in some applications where you wouldn't wanna use something small or expensive.

The acoustic sound in itself isn't "resonatory", like, at all. A little bit of metallic overtones, and that's it. Just a very loud, heavy and fun acoustic.

Despite everything, the acoustic sound isn't too bad, and for the price, I kept it even with the busted pickup.

It is a good enough fit for unplugged-style activities also (i.e. Ovations and such).

Meh

It's ok but it has something loose floating around inside it, that sometimes falls on to places that make the guitar buzz on the bass strings. I little shake to move whatever it is, does the trick. Eventually, I will get it out of there, but I don't want to change the strings yet, because I'm not sure how big I want to go (Dobro strings are usually YUGE). Plus, I will have to take the resonator apart to get in there, which is new territory for me, that I'm fearful of. To be fair, I'm not sure I could get much further from Germany, and still be on land, so the blame could be on UPS.

As for the actual instrument, I'm not blown away. The amount of "resonator tone" is a bit thin, but it could be my play, or the small strings. I don't regret buying it; I always wanted one, and the price is right.

Fantastic Resonator Giuitar

I own several Resonators and Dobros including two Harley Benton Custom Line Resonators . It compares very favourably with guitars costing many times more than the Harley Benton . I have been playing it live for fourteen years appart from string changes not a single problem .

This Is My Traveler !!!

This is the guitar I play when I'm busking in the New York City subway. People stop and ask me about this guitar.

Not bad. But!

In general, for this money, the guitar is very good, the sound is good, but there is one moment that caused me sadness!

The lower threshold. It is made of wood and the strings are metal, respectively, after several changes, the strings began to sink in the threshold, which affected the sound quality, the guitar began to get along. I hope the manufacturer will read this review and take it to attention.

A lot of sound for very few pounds

I purchased this so that I could have a reso/dobro for taking to any jam sessions, and outdoor social gatherings, festivals etc, so that I don't have to take my much more expensive resonator and risk damaging it.

I bought this plywood constructed HB expecting a mediocre sounding guitar at best. What I received, however, has impressed myself and players of a much higher calibre than myself alike with clear, rich tones emanating from the spider cone.

PROS: Solid and sturdy construction. The binding works well to both offer a pleasing aesthetic, and hide where the plywood joint are.

The spider cone projects well with a nice rich tone & resonance.

A pickup and dual-tone/vol controls are a nice plus on a guitar at this price.

CONS: The tuners aren't the greatest. Tightening the gears a little helps, but if I was to mod this guitar I would begin with the tuners as they are they weakest feature of this guitar.

This is a dobro guitar, so as such the neck is slightly thicker than some may be used to for a more normal playing style. However, this guitar plays very well whether slung or lapped. It responds extremely well to a slide, and when in OPEN tunings such as D or G this guitar really sings from the slide.

Heavy weight resonator

This guitar feels heavy, but it has a great sound, especially for the price. The neck is a nice, low profile and the action was set up just right. I just checked the intonation on it and it was spot on -- no adjustments needed. That makes it more accurate than the Fender I bought last year!

My first and best guitar!

I could not believe it when I saw it - the impression goes above and beyond photos.. It's honest, solid, heavy - and the resonator sound resembles Buddhist singing cups.

The build quality is so good for the price, and it sounds great when it's plugged too.

Definitely a good buy!

It's only a resonator in the name

It looks like a resonator, but does not sound like one. It's neither a good acoustic nor a good electric guitar. Sold in a few months

Low cost resonator that has all it needs....

For the price, no better found in my check list.

I use it in all conditions, recording, live etc

It is not bright and loud but it is more than descent and I really recommend this one, if budget is low.

worth it 100%

a descend instrument, nice to the eye the hand and the ears.

Pros:

Solid-heavy build, great sound, very good sustain.

The pick-up is more than what you expect. when plugged in just turn the volume up and you'll be surprised. Also in dirty and high gain stands all the way up without loosing frequencies.

cons:

After one and a half year i don't have something actually to say.

Maybe in color there are some minor fades, but i guess it depend on the use.

Much better guitar than expected!

Much better guitar than expected! Sounds louder than expected, too. No sharp fretends, but the nut slots was a little higher than it should. Filed them down, and the guitar was a very playable guitar. Worth upgrading to a K&K spider bridge pickup (the bridge is a spider type, not biscuit type). The electric pickup is at best average, but the instrument is good quality.

Really nice resonator. Great looks and great sound. But came in with bad setup, lots of dead notes, lots of buzzing and setting it up is not that easy as normal guitar. So probably count with another 50€ or so on proper setup by guitar technician.

But otherwise, great look and great sound.

Good for the price

This guitar is pretty great given how cheap it is, but it's by no means perfect.

The saddle is not very good and both E strings slip out quite regularly, sometimes just from picking. It's also relatively noisy.

I looks amazing, though, sounds good both amplified and unamplified, and is overall absolutely worth it at this price.

Outstanding guitar for incredible money!

I've ordered this guitar for my friend. He is a professional musician and he wanted to order bluesman's guitar. He is very impressed with ordered guitar!

Good Fun

Weighs a bit but plays ok