Harley Benton Custom Line CLD-41S WN

I received the guitar yesterday and immediately tuned it and began to play it. This guitar has a great neck profile. I have an older v-neck D35 which is great for finger picking but is a little "fat" by today's standards. I just sold a Taylor because the neck was uncomfortable. I played this new Harley Benton for an hour and it is a great feeling neck. There were a few dust particles in the finish at first, but with an hour of playing, they disappeared. The neck is silky and fast.

Overall impression of the guitar is that the construction is flawless. It's a beautiful guitar. On the downside: The MOP inlays in the neck are fairly dark and not as pearlescent as I would have expected; and, I'm old school and guess I like shiny finishes over matte finishes. The guitar would benefit from a gloss finish. That's just me, YMMV.

Soundwise, I'm very happy with the guitar. It isn't a Martin, but it's got to be considered at the top of its class for Spruce top guitars that cost 2 or 3 times Thomann's price. Seriously, this is a very nice sounding guitar from the outset and it continues to open as time passes. Sustain on the guitar is very very good.

The action could be improved by lighter strings. The guitar came with a .012" high E string. I'm happier with 10's, so I'll change the strings in a few days after the guitar acclimatizes a bit more. Initially, the guitar appeared to have a rather high setup with too much bow in the truss rod. After 24 hours, the neck bow is .009", low E is 3/32" and high E is 5/64". Quite acceptable for factory setup. And I really appreciate the quality control card included with the guitar. They show that F8 andBI-BL inspected the guitar and tested setup. Thanks!

Overall, I doubt you can find another new guitar on the market that competes with HB/Thomann at this juncture. This D41 is astounding for this price.

EDIT: I decided to lower the action by sanding the bottom of the saddle. The frets are relatively small and I felt I was working to hard to get clear tones when barring. This definitely improved the action. I've had a chance to really play this guitar for extended sessions and the walnut is impressive for its ability to achieve bell-like tones on the upper frets. I've used the guitar in numerous recording sessions and note clarity has been superb. It's a nice complement to other guitars with rosewood or mohagany backs. Now, the downside: The bridge is a softer wood than it should be AND the string pin holes have been recessed too deep. When I changed out strings, the pins are now about .125" deeper than they were from factory setup. Not good. I don't think I'll need to do a changeout in the near future, but I'll probably install a brass backing plate inside the top, like Mitchell's PlateMate, to prevent problems.

Other than the bridge, this guitar is a gem.

I already own a Harley Benton HB Custom Line King-CE NT and have always been very happy and impressed with it, but I wanted an acoustic guitar with a spruce top that was a little brighter sounding. After some research I settled on the Custom Line CLD-41S WN. I have now owned the guitar for over 3 months and have grown to like it more and more and play it for at least a 2-3 hours every day.

It arrived about 3 days after placing my order in the usual double transit box. My first impression was that, although understated in looks, it was was very impressive and an attractive guitar. Its' Satin finish was flawless and, the white binding to the body, neck and head-stock, really gave it a quality look. It also has a lovely fresh Spruce wood smell coming from the sound-hole.

On the Quality Control tag it was shown the high E was 0.5mm on the first fret and 2.00mm on the 14th fret, and the low E was 0.6 on the first fret and 2.5mm on the 14th fret. I checked the measurements and they were exactly as stated, so full marks for the quality control! However, the strings were a bit too high for me but the saddle had plenty of material to take off to reduce the height of the strings. After sanding down the saddle to give me a lower action, it is 1.5mm on the 12th fret on the high E, and 2.00mm on the low E on the 12th fret. I didn't need to adjust the nut as it seems perfectly cut and its' height was spot-on.

The truss rod had been perfectly adjusted and the guitar does not have any buzzing on any of the frets. The fret ends were fine as well, with no sharp edges. The intonation was perfect when I first received the guitar and still is, even after the saddle adjustment.

The tuners are of good quality and holds the tuning for ages. The Abalone fret markers were nice and flat on the fretboard so they are not noticed when playing. It has a nice comfortable neck which I would call a shallow 'C' profile. I find the sound projects well and is well balanced, with neither the bass or the treble being dominant.

After changing the strings to 10's, (as I like to occasionally bend the strings as I'm primarily an electric guitar player), to me it sounds and plays perfectly.

I know the Custom Line CLD-41S WN is supposed to be a Martin D-41 replica. It certainly isn't a Martin, and I wouldn't expect it to be for the price, but you should really take it on it's own merits as it is a fantastic acoustic guitar in its' own right. It is excellent value for the comparitively low cost. This is my 7th Harley Benton guitar and it will not be my last.

What a great surprise!
Every review of it said it would be the best guitar i could get in this price range and they were right! Even as a begginer who tried some other models around the same price i could notice how better this guitar felt as soon as i picked it up!
Even tho the daddarios sounded pretty good i got some elixirs phosphor bronze and it became even better.
The neck is extremely confortable and the overall looks are amazing and extremely well finished with only minor details that are expected for this price range.
Even this week i took it for a good setup from a luthier and he was crazy about how good it felt and sounded specially for the price!

I am a bass player since my early teens and am now in my 50’s and wanted a nice acoustic guitar without breaking the bank. After months of contemplating on getting this guitar, I broke down and ordered it this last Wednesday. Boy I am sure glad I did. First of all, it was on my doorstep 5 days after ordering it. To the US from Germany. The quality for the money is hands down the best out there. Going to put some new strings on it, but right out of the box all I had to do was tune it. No setup required!!!!! If you are on the fence about this guitar, just get it. I promise you that you won’t find an acoustic guitar this nice for under $350.00. (And that included a capo that I bought plus shipping.) This will not be my last Harley Benton for sure!!!!! Thank you Thomann!!!!! You guys ROCK!!!!!

This is my 8th Harley Benton acoustic guitar and amongst those there were 2 worth mentioning; the CLD-15M and the CLA-16S. Fantastic guitars for the money but not entirelly my cup of tea as I wanted lots of clarity and sustain. I went on to search for my perfect guitar in guitar shops and played all sorts of stuff from expensive Martin and Gibson to Epi, Yamaha etc ... One guitar ticked all my boxes and that was a Yamaha LL16 but it was over my budget. Been told by some that this CLD-41S is a crazy good guitar not just for the money but a "crazy good guitar" for any money, so I went ahead and bought it!

Everything from the nut to the bridge is spot on and needed no adjustemtn of any kind expect me oiling the fretbaord! Tuners perfect, no blemishes in the finish fine comfortable action, fresh D'addario strings that zing well. No fret buzz. All 5 Starts!

The most important aspect for me was that sustain on low E and A strings above the 12th fret which usually on most acoustic guitars sounds as a dead "thump" sound without sustain! This guitar has no such issues! It rings and rings! Sustain for ages!
The over all tone when you strum the guitar hard is awesome! Its as if I have used a slight compression and a slight sweet Overdrive, yet still very satin like clean tone! When strummed gentle it still projects the sound well and very clear, very pronanunced! Also when strumming close to theneck the tone does not go muddy just warmer and of course when strumming close to the bridge the treble is more pronaunced but that is never much of an issue on any acoustic guitar. Its mostly that warm tone when strummed close to the neck that I was after, that stays clear but warm, no muddiness here folks!

This guitar can growl and is very loud outdoors! It also responds well to quiet finger picking, not loosing much volume as it resonates well! No boomy/boxy tones here!

Just a great buy! Well done Harley Benton for offering such an instruments for such price so even the poor can afford it!

Not only for the amount of money paid for that guitar, but considering this instrument as whole - it's just a piece of art. The satin finish, the feel of the wood, the playability are just astonishing. It makes you happy just to think about playing it in the autumn evening.

The materials and finish are great. The sound is very loud and clean. This guitar roars! Even the fretboard wasn't that dry when It arrived. The action is bit high but I assume that's just because they leave you a way to personalize it. Guys at my local guitar clinic were astonished with how well was that instrument built. Of course there are some imperfections with frets and the saddle, but nothing too big. As they said - almost always even the highest-end guitars for $10000 can have couple of those problems. The CLD-41S truly has a great, great, great potential and with a little additional money and time it could be made into really extraordinary instrument.

To be frank, I bought this guitar for all purposes, studio recording and live performances. And to my surprise I was absolutely blown by the outcome - even out of the box.
You have to take in mind this is not a Martin guitar for thousands of euros. It's a 300 euro piece of wood put together into a real fine guitar. It sounds big, tastefully open, lows are really well balanced. Highs are nicely polished and not at all annoying. The way it sits in the mixes is also surprisingly good.
Feeling it the hands is also absolutely superb. The aesthetics of the guitar is amazing but then when you play the neck it is a really good feeling - fast and smooth. For me, action was too high straight from the box but it's a minor thing - just filed it down a bit and changed the strings. Otherwise, built quality is quite spot on and she does stay in tune.

I think it's not necessary to make a disertation out of this matter.. it's just, buy it and send it back if you won't like it. But I guarantee you that you will fall in love with this guitar!

Good job Harley Benton!