Harley Benton Custom Line CLA-15M

Ok, first off I love this guitar.
In the early 90's I went into Andy's guitar shop, London, and tried a Martin 150th anniversary all mahogany 000-15 (or 00) and a '68 Gibson hummingbird. Both gorgeous guitars, the Martin was the 2nd best acoustic I've played (the best being a 60's Martin 00/000 made with Brazilian rosewood and spruce or cedar top). I loved it but it was £950, which I didn't have back then - to put that into context the '68 hummingbird was £100 cheaper. Fast forward to now and Martin had reissued the all mahogany 000-15s a few years ago, which I didn't realise - at a bargaintastic £1200. Post Brexit vote however and they are now £1500 or more, due to our devalued currency and exchange rate. So while I'm waiting for Sterling to improve, I got this Harley Benton version.
Straight out of the box, this guitar was in tune and immediately playable. I mean seriously playable. I immediately recognised the tone from that old Martin I tried. It doesn't have all the complex timbre of the Martin, or quite the sweetness of the notes - but It was instantly in that tonal family. I recognised the tone; not just that, it has warmth but also a surprising punch to it - out of the box it blew me away.

Set up, out of the box, is excellent. This is the first of my Harley Bentons to actually come with a set up card. It's really easy to play, excellent action. The strings sing out clearly and evenly (the Martin is probably a bit clearer) - it's really well balanced like that across the whole guitar, nothing jumping at you or hiding away. The intonation is pretty much spot on, across the fret board, straight out of the box. Impressively precise. Construction is simple and clean. No extra heavy bracing added by accountants worried about warranty periods (like certain acoustics have had). This is a really light guitar. The bracing is scalloped to reduce weight and allow the guitar to vibrate and resonate. And boy does it do that. A lovely warm, rich tone with it's own complexities and resonances and timbre - and plenty of punch if you drive it. This is so much lighter than my other acoustics (which are worth a good bit more). I can't remember playing a lighter one.

The one thing that surprised me a little was that mine is a little headstock heavy - no more so than my other acoustics but a lot of HB's a very well balanced this way - the old Martin sat perfectly balanced on my leg. To be fair - it's so light it would need a very light weight set of tuners to counterbalance that lovely resonant body. Also, I suspect the nut was cut for strings a gauge lighter - as this is strung with 12's and only needs 11's to drive it. A couple of the strings catch on it - but it's no biggy, a bit of graphite will probably fix it - the nut is well cut for the string heights - the tuners do their job well. The strings had also been bedded in properly - no tugging on them required.

Did I mention how good this guitar sounds, feels and plays?
I was hoping for a good guitar but was taken aback by it and by the set-up and the simple quality and precision of the construction (ok, the nut wasn't cut for this gauge of strings but I really don't care, the strings sound great on it and are surprisingly easy to play).
Mine looked pretty much like the pictures on the site - I thought it might have a closer grain but it sounds great (and looks great) and it will only get better. It already sounds like it's opened up so how good will it be when it does.

This will suit a variety of styles from quiet, introspective fingerstyle to punchy strumming and anything in between. I'm sure this will be a good recording guitar. (I'll be recording with it)
I have it in an open D tuning at the moment - it loves lower tunings.
Forget all the stuff about this being a good guitar for the money - this is a good guitar.
And an absolute bargain.
Get one - while they still can do them in mahogany.
(Makes me feel unfaithful but - my new go to acoustic)

I bought this guitar as I wanted a cheapish acoustic I could have lying around (out of a case). And I have to say it has exceeded my expectations. The neck is absolutely fantastic in terms of action, feel and playability. It has a fairly flat radius (maybe 12 inch) and plays beautifully. I haven't adjusted the action or intonation at all - it was spot on.

The sounds is great, with a nice punchy sound. The finish is really clean and seems to be quite hard-wearing. I have knocked it a few times and it hasn't made a mark. The stock strings are good - I haven't even changed them after 15 months, although they probably need it now. The neck has worn nicely and is now really smooth (it always was smooth but now has a nice polished feel).

I do have one complaint though - the fret markers. Having the double markers on the 9th fret is confusing. My brain thinks it's the 12th. The markers on the side of the neck are fine, with a double dot at the 12th. Fortunately I don't look at the fretboard that much but it can be confusing if I'm trying to learn something new.

For context I've been playing guitar (on and off) since the early 90s and have played many guitars in that time. While this guitar doesn't feel super high end it also doesn't feel cheap. It just feels right and well balanced. I don't worry about damaging it and I don't wish it was better - I just play it.

The dreadnought version wasn't available at the time (which is a shame, since I'm a dreadnought kind of person - but seems like it's back in stock again!), so I decided to order the auditorium counterpart, and, I actually placed two separate orders for two of them, since I'm skeptical about guitars from this brand.

Turns out...

Both guitars sound better than what I was expecting, well, at least for an auditorium. We all know that this design will give you a much thinner sound, but on this particular one, it's rather balanced, not too dark, not too bright, which is what I like. The bone nut and the bone saddle do have a significant contribution to the sound amplification: it's clear, natural, and even loud (including harmonics). The only difference is, that the second one seems to have a better setup than the first one, both out of the box and after minor adjustments. Other than that, great smell (I'm not even kidding), great design (I can tell the guitar's heavily inspired by the Martin 000-15M, but hey, this is more like saying "when you want an expensive guitar but your budget is too tight so you ended up getting an inspiration instead, and it's very, very good, no exaggerations."). No sharp fret ends, smooth fretboard and bridge (even the bridge feels smooth!), decent tuners (at least for now, though I'll swap the tuners in the near future).

Yeah, I already returned the first one on the day I received the second one, which I'm happy with. Highly recommended, but always inspect your new guitar before actually playing.

Now, should I get the CLD-15M too?

I'm an advanced beginner to intermediate guitar player. I'm not a musician or tech, so my assessments are personal and subjective

Finish- really nice. Love the woodgrain and the guitar and neck feel nice in the hand
Sound- I had the dreadnought version of this, and the sound of CLA is more trebly, but that's very subjective. It sounds good to my ear.
Tuners are the weak part, a little hesitant and jumpy. I'd glad pay 20-30 euro more on the purchase price for better ones
Strings need to be changed. The ones that are fitted are good quality but a little aged from sitting in the warehouse.

I'll use it for learning fingerpicking blues, and occasional strumming. I was mostly attracted by the size as I found the CLD-15M dreadnought a little too big for comfortable playing, buy again that's personal. I'm average height so if you're taller you might prefer a bigger body guitar.
The other size advantage of the CLA is in storage. I keep 3 of my guitars in the living room and space is at a premium.

Highly recommended guitar for the price, and even if it cost a little more.

The stars are of course relative to the price point and not compared to a EUR 3k guitar. This guitar is a solid instrument in every sense of the word. Required a bit of adjustment at first but that is clearly expected (action was a bit high). I use it at home. It tunes perfectly, sounds very good and the playability is good. If you are expecting Martin quality at this price then look elsewhere. If you are looking for a beautiful, solid guitar that delivers a nice sound at a very affordable price, this is it.
It is the kind of guitar you can grab and play outdoors without caring that much about dings, etc.
Cons: setup could be better but that is easily fixed in 20 min with basic tools and should not be expected at this price point.
Fully recommended.

I scrutinised this guitar when I received it ( it actually arrived sooner than I expected ) and I could find no flaw anywhere either in construction or finish. I inspected the inside with a telescopic inspection mirror and found nothing but well cut and glued bracing and binding. Outside, the look of the wood is nothing short of gorgeous. The tasteful little position dots on the side of the neck, the fret markers on the fingerboard are a touch of class and the purling is perfect. I've never bought a guitar, no matter the price , that I didn't have to tweek bridge saddle and nut and this guitar was no exception. I filed 0.75mm off the nut and 1mm off saddle and both were indeed bone. The smell is very distinctive as anyone who have file a bone nut will attest. Once action was set to my preference I strummed barre chords up and down the neck to check for rattles or buzzing. There was nothing except and smooth sounding well balanced chord voicing ,no heavy, muddy bass drowning out trebbles, just and lovely chocolatly rich guitar sound. All in all I extremely well pleased with this wonderful instrument even just looking at it gives me a smile and when I take it in my arms the feel of the neck and the sounds it produces just blows me away. This guitar is worth far more than I paid for it and I thank the makers for their craftsmanship and Thomann for making these amazing instruments available to the likes of me to enjoy and get great pleasure from. I would recommend this guitar to anyone without a moment's hesitation. For goodness sake, I was in a furniture shop with my wife not so long ago and they were selling 'dummy' guitars as ornaments that cost more that this wee baby! Has the world gone mad? P.S. I just ordered the Harley Benton flamenco guitar and I'm hoping that I'll have a similar sort of a story to tell about it. Can't wait to get it!!

To be honest,I was aware that most "Custome Line" instruments are excellent value for money.
Cla-15m is no different.

1)Construction:What strikes you first is how light that guitar is.As a plus CLA-15m looks gorgeous.The bracing and finishing are almost flawless.No uneven frets.Tuners are REALLY good,something that doesn't normally happen with guitars of that price range.Not to talk about the SOLID wood top.That's even rarer for such an inexpensive instrument.

2)Playbality:A pretty thin neck,one of the most comfortable I've played.Action is not bad,but I ended up suiting it to fit my preferences by sanding around one mm off the saddle.Daddario Strings felt harsh on my fingers,so I replaced them with old good elixirs custom light.

3)Sound:It's rediculous how good that 170 euro guitar sounds.If I had to describe the sound,I'd call it dark (which I always look for) and woody with excellent string seperation and more emphasis on the middle frequencies.Of course it doesn't have have the complicated timbre of a Martin OO-15,but the Martin costs around 1500 dollars.

Overall:I own a dreadnaught three times more expensive than CLA-15m.Cla-15m makes my dread sound like a 30 dollar toy.

ok so i want to be totally honest with this review, first off the guitar is very well made and looks beautiful, straight out off the box the guitar was down tuned with nice but not my usual strings , i'm used to elixirs 12s nano phos , after a good look around her i tuned up and my initial thoughts were not great as there was quite a bit off fret buzz in the middle off the neck, but with a little patience and one or 2-3 adjustments to the thrust rod we seemed to sort that problem , now two the only let-down i think the guitar really has , after a few tuneups and TR adjustments and a few days for settling, i'd become aware the tuners were slipping on multiple strings & not holding tune, there simply not good quality , fairly disappointing considering the rest off the guitar stands up to my taylor's which are more than 15 times the price, now that's a fairly big statement considering this guitar cost 185 euros including delivery (WOW) does come to mind wondering did i get lucky but after reading reviews i don't think so , bit the bullet only one thing to be done, pulled the tuners off and replaced the with a fairly good quality set made by boston which i picked up in the local music shop , all considered after new tuners fitted, new elixir 12s and a few adjustments, this Chinese made guitar is an absolute whopper, and for the money you will not get a guitar anywhere that is this well made and sounds as good for less than a grand if your lucky , two put it short this is simply unbelievable, this guitar is a five star diamond and would highly recommend it to anyone on any level, i brought the guitar with me two a break away in co longford with friends over new years and had a listen two her in other peoples hands and she sounds great BIG WARM tone which really stands out while being finger picked, my advice get one straight away and change the tuners happy new year from irishboypickin.

I wanted an inexpensive 2nd guitar for teaching and here I fell fowl of my own advice - never by a guitar off the internet - but i was seduced by the reviews and the nice price. In short, I bought with my eyes.

Within seconds of unpacking the guitar, I saw that the bridge was starting to lift away from the body. The degree to which it was coming away is unimportant - it shouldn't happen and serves to highlight that the guitars are not checked before being sent out by Thomann. I didn't bother going any further with guitar so cannot report on sound or playability. The action looked unusually high though. I repackaged the guitar and contacted Thomann to arrange a return (with photographs). Experience here was negative too - the timeline of response was too slow and long and the solution was unacceptable: return the guitar, wait until it has been inspected then a replacement would be sent out. Not really very fair or the best way to do it. What should have happened was that Thomann sent a replacement and collected the faulty guitar at the same time. Had they offered that I would've agreed and Thomann could have kept my money. Instead I had to drive around to find a Post Office that would accept large items via Parcelforce. I pity anyone who has to send back a large faulty product and doesn't have access to a vehicle.

The guitar was returned for a refund and received by Thomann and I was notified that it would be dealt with immediately. 3 days later and still no refund. So far the transaction has taken 20 days from ordering to this review and it's still not resolved plus some of my emails have gone unanswered.

In the interest of balance - I can't comment on the quality of the instrument as I couldn't play it. I know that bridge lift is quite common on acoustics and even occurs on more expensive models. Mistakes can happen of course, but it shouldn't be sent out like that. I would suggest checking instruments before they are sent and sorting out your poor support and returns procedure. The customer shouldn't have to suffer the inconvenience. I'm disappointed and annoyed that my time has been wasted and and my money held for such a long time with nothing to show for it.

Maybe I was very unlucky and all the staff were having a bad day, but Thomman, you have lost my business.

I wonder if this review will get entered into the prize draw ...