Harley Benton Santos Series C-40SCE BK Reviews

Pretty decent

Sounds warm, a bit on the quieter side compared to my other guitar (idk much about classical guitars though).

It's got a built-in tuner, which makes things more convenient.

Some of the frets should have been rounded a bit more + a clicking sound is observed while tuning, I fixed it using lead; but it's an issue nonetheless.

Great guitar for little money

I've been playing guitar for 30+ years. In this time I've owned around 30 guitars, of those several classical (Cuenca, Alhambra) and flamencas blancas from the 1500 eur and more range. I sold them all and played electric guitar for the past 15 years exclusively. So I figured why not try a cheap classic guitar. Harley Benton has come a long way from their humble beginnings. This guitar is well made, for the price extremely well. Of course the paint job isn't perfect but I don't care much about that. For me playability and sound is everything. Playability on this guitar is great, low action, very accurate intonation from the box. No sharp frets, nice comfortable neck. The Fishman electronics at this price are unbelievable. Amazing sound with no feedback, even playing around with overdrive/distortion amplified through a Marshall DSL.

Now the acoustic sound of this guitar is nicely balanced, but lacks some projection and overall loudness. This could be because of the thinline body or the cutaway, but I can't compare this to my old guitars since they were all full bodies and much more expensive. Overall this is a great guitar for both beginners and advanced players, as long as they don't expect concert guitar performance. For the money the overall value is absolutely unbeatable.

Gran valor a un bajo costo.

Puede ser que yo tube suerte pero mi guitarra lego impecable, solo tuve que bajarle un poco la acción pero nada drástico. Llevo alrededor de 35 años tocando guitara y he tenido 18 guitaras de ditintos precios y estilos, esta guitarra compite fácilmente con guitaras de 3 o 4 veces su precio. En mi experiencia las reseñas no ayudan mucho pues cada quien tiene distintos gustos y diferentes expectativas, al final es cuestión de suerte cuando compras. En esta ocasión creo que tuve mucha suerte.

FOR BEGGINERS

I bought this instrument because of its price as an experiment to be modified to accomodate (way) heavier gauge MAGMA TRANSPOSITOR strings.

First the goods: For USD 175 I got a classical acoustic with a cutaway, a transducer, a preamp and tuner. It's all black! And the best part it's that for such a budget it sounds way better than expected!

Then the bads: The fretwork on the unit I got was the worse I ever had. I had to level all the frets, re-crown one by one and then polish in order to make this guitar usable. Luckily I have luthery skills and after several hours of work the guitar plays beautifully. The nut and bridge are the cheapest low density plastic and you should swap both for bone or graphtech to get the most of this instrument. Depending on which part of the world you are, having these tasks taken care by a luthier might cost you the price of the guitar or even more. The black glossy finish is not as comfortable as matte, open grain or even glossy finishes from high-end models. In addition, this finish gets marred and scratched quite easily and somehow I don't think it will stay pitch black for long since white hue started to show in different parts of the body.

The conclussion: provided the frets are leveled and nut and bridge are replaced I find this is a great instrument for begginers (studying and performing). Just be aware of your local luthier's reparation price-list before ordering.

good for the prize

very nice for the prize,good sound,has trussrod ,and good tuner ,very eazy to play

Multiple cracks

Kept in the same room as all my guitars, was oiled and cared for. Three cracks on the body. Shocked when I spotted them.

Frets needed work when I received it.

Otherwise a nice playing and sounding guitar.

Nice looking but not very high quality

Guitar looks nice but does not sound very good and is not super good to play. It is not bad for the price, so if you have to be under 200? and need mic's then this is fine.

But if you do not need the mic's you could be better of with something like Yamaha C40.

If you need mic's and have a bit more cash to use, I would go with Ortega.

I bough this for work office coffee brake instrument. Just to use those few minutes for good purpose. This does not fit perfectly to that because I woul like it to be better playable, but I will try different strings to it and see if it gets better.

There is big difference between metal plated strings and the full nylon strings. Nylon ones are quieter and do not feel that well playable.

Guitar weights a bit heavy side, but not too much.

I selected this because it was the cheapest with tuner and with cutaway.

The tuner is showing about right, so you can get it into the play field, and ear tune the rest. The 12th fret is not in tune according to internal tuner.

My background for this review: I have played guitar for 25 years just for my own fun (no band/gigging), but I think I have a good feeling what guitar is good and which ones are not. I have owned many guitars, but currently I have two electrics and this is my third acoustic for now.

I did order another guitar also (the sub 100? Harley Benton HBO-850 round back). They do not have it in stock so can't say anything about it yet, but if it is not good either, these are my last HB instruments I'll purchase.

EDIT: Changed strings to A'Addario Classic (~7¤) and the sound and playability got better. For the price it is nice guitar!

Great guitar

Sounds good and very playable. Also a looker. Have had it for a couple of years now, and it has been played quite a bit. Holds up like a champ and sound keeps getting better.

Good guitar not only for beginners

I play guitar for about 20 years and own 7 different guitars. I bought this one just because I wanted one black in my collection. But actually there is nothing wrong with sound too! Totally working good sounding guitar.

Excellent!!

I just received the guitar today. The strings are a bit old and a few a few scratches, but that is to be expected when product is being shipped internationally.

Pros: The quality of sound without an amp sounds great. I connected it to my portable Blackstar Fly 3 Mini amp and it sounded great. It has two (2) built in effects which adds a little bit of tone depending on which style of music you are playing.

Cons: It has no guitar strap locks with the guitar and have to buy seperately.

I definitely would recommend this guitar to anyone who wants a good affordable classical guitar for rehersal or just for personal pleasure. It has a good build quality, excellent sound and the matt black color adds it uniqueness compared to the high polished body which are fingerprints magnet. For a price of 133 euro its a grab.

Value for money!

I was impressed by the quality of the guitar as I paid 178 euros, it's my first classical guitar and I am not disappointed at all.I fully recommend this product!

a lot of potential

When I bout this instrument I did not expect much, I was to be used on a trip and maybe do some recording of ideas.

The sound samples were mot that great ...

I played the guitar without amplification and was very surprised how balanced and full she sounded (and yes It's a She :P )

I played her along my Dad's Martin as crazy as it may sound .. I like the sound of the Harley Benton better. I still feel silly writing this.

I tested her with 4 different acoustic amps and was frankly blown away that the Fishman system which I believe to be the cheapest OEM the company sells could produce such a defined and authentic classic guitar sound.

The on-board tuner is .. well a fallback if all else fails including tuning by ear.

It is entirely possible that I just got the one guitar where everything lined up to be perfect during construction, but this one is much more than I expected it could be, especially at this price-point.

I polished the frets and rounded the fret ends, (something I had to do with all Harley Benton guitars so far but also to much more expensive brands )

adjusted the string action and changed the strings because they would not stay in tune for 5 minutes but after that I dare to say almost perfect.

Globally, a nice guitar

This guitar is easy to play, has very nice features and a fairly good sound. I would have liked to have the possibility to modify the treble and bass on the fisherman microphone but this is not a big deal if you are playing with a good amplifier.

Another small thing: if you plan to buy some ergoplay suction cups to be able to use a strap, they do not work on this guitar because of its finish.

Overall, I am happy with this purchase and I recommend it.