Harley Benton D-120CE NT

I'm a purely amateur player of about 45 years. I have a small collection of budget fretted instruments: Squire Strat, Ibanez nylon string, no-name eastern european Mandola, decent, but cheaper range David Freshwater bouzouki, cheap Portuguese Guitarra, and, my main workhorse, 40 year old Eko ranger 6 steel string.

I've been looking for a second steel string, preferably with pick up, as I mainly use the Eko in DADGAD, and am too lazy to keep retuning when I want to go back to standard. Sadly, my skill level (and finances) don't really justify the purchase of a Martin D28 (Father Christmas, I've been a good boy). So in reading this review, bear in mind I'm not making any comparisons with high quality instruments, as I've never played any.

OK, so out of the box. All looks good and clean. No marks, dints or scratches. No issue with sharp edges on frets, as some other reviewers have reported, although some of the higher frets more apparent than lower ones, but nothing that affects playability. Guitar body is quite light compared to my Eko.

I'm used to a wide neck and very low action. The action is slightly higher than my Eko, but nothing that causes me problems. I know other reviewers have said the action is too high out of the box, but I didn't find that. There is the occasional hint on fret buzz, especially playing finger style, but that may be down to my poor technique - I do tend to pull the strings up John Martyn style. Again, nothing too much of a problem.

The intonation is excellent pretty much all the way down the fretboard, being quite true as checked by a chromatic tuner. The tuners seem good and it stays in tune quite well.

The neck is slightly narrower than I'm used to, but nothing that I haven't been able to adjust to quite quickly.

The tone is nice and bright using included strings. I've not changed these yet, but they're still ok after four weeks.

The pick up system works well through the clean channels on my Blackstar ID core 10, but I've nothing to compare this to, so others may be more critical.

OK, so I bought this as a second guitar, but I find the playability and tone is so good, its become my first choice - my Eko needs a good clean up and a bit of a rest, so this works well.

In summary, I think this is an excellent guitar for the price. It would be great for a beginner or as a back up. As I said, I can't make any comparisons with high end guitars, so others may be more critical than me. But having said this, I'm delighted with my purchase, and would recommend to anyone looking for a guitar at this sort of price level.

OK, so I have one issue with this guitar so let's get that out the way. On inspection I ran my thumb and index finger down the edges of the neck (gently) and sliced open my index finger. These were the worst fret ends I have ever seen on a guitar, ever. Now don't let this put you off, this takes seconds to remedy with a fine grain sanding sponge. Just be aware that the frets are quite weedy and probably couldn't be re-crowned when they wear, there's not a lot of material there. So, this isn't a 'keep for life' guitar unless you are prepared to spend twice what it's cost for a refret at some point down the line. However, for a beginner or low usage player (electric guitarists, bassists who like an acoustic hanging around) this shouldn't be an issue.

Now onto the good stuff. Generally this is a pretty nice guitar, nice wood, surprisingly good tone for an inexpensive guitar, tuners aren't high end but have a pretty decent ratio and it stays in tune. I hear of so many people who plan to swap out tuners on Harley Bentons before they have even received the instrument but I now have 3 HB guitars and 1 bass and I have had zero tuning issues.

I had very low expectations of the preamp given the price point, and was pleasantly surprised when I plugged it in. Obviously it isn't as good as a more expensive guitar but it is entirely usable if you had to take it on stage or into the rehearsal room and plug into an amp or PA.

Any beginners reading this - you need to understand that pretty much any new guitar you buy will probably need an initial setup. Higher end more expensive guitars will often need to same tweeks as budget guitars, so don't fall into the trap of thinking I only paid so much so its not worth spending almost as much again on a setup. A good setup is worth every penny on any guitar, and this guitar is no different. This could make the difference between learning to play and having a lifetime of pleasure and giving up because it seems too hard.

So to conclude, excellent value for money, invest in a setup, and if you wear the frets out in a few years then it's done its job, you've learnt to play and will probably want something better anyway.

For over five years I had an amazing dreadnought guitar from Yamaha, that was worth 8 time as much as this guitar, and I really enjoyed playing it. However, when I was moving abroad, I had to sell some of my guitars, and I had to part with this amazing instrument. I am trained classical guitarist and steel string guitar is not a priority in my guitar arsenal. Recently, however, I wanted to experiment with different types of guitars, and try different sound arrangement with jazz, steel-string and bass guitars. Harley Benton proved to be a positive surprise in the past, which is why I decided to give a go to this guitar, while buying a semi-hollow electric guitar.

WOW! I was really surprised by this guitar when it came. It sounds amazing! It also looks really well. There is no negative feedback I can give to the acoustic side of this guitar. In 18 years of playing guitars, I have never encountered such an extra-ordinary price/value ration. If you are looking for well-sounding acoustic guitar, just go for it. At that price you don't have much to loose.

I am less enthusiastic when it comes to pickups. They are OK, but not as great as the rest of the guitar. Nice to play around with them, but could use an upgrade for professional music playing. The controls are made from rather cheap plastic, which really stands apart from the rest of the guitar. However, for a bit under 80 euro this is not a thing to complaint about. It is also a great idea for a gift, that will stun those who will get it.

To start, I should say that I am not by any means a professional guitarist, however I have played for several years, and am a bit of a gear nerd. I like to think I can tell a quality instrument when I see one, and know many common flaws or issues to look for.

So far I have been completely blown away with the quality of this guitar. For being one of the two least expensive options on the website, it not only met but greatly exceeded all my expectations. Shipping was very fast and it arrived to me in the US in two days and with no damage. I was somewhat amused that the shipping cost more than the actual guitar did, but it was well worth the cost.

The craftsmanship is second to none considering the price. I was simply hoping for something in the starter - guitar range to replace my old Ibanez acoustic that was stolen years ago, but this gorgeous Harley Benton has created a new standard that I doubt anything short of a much more expensive guitar manufacturer could exceed.

The natural, unamplified "tone" of this guitar is rich and beautiful, and the intonation is spot-on all the way down the neck. The finish of the guitar is impressive and eye-catching. This guitar makes me want to pick it up and play every time I see it.

The electronics and pickups are perfectly acceptable and useable. I admit I don't have much of a reference there when it comes to acoustics, but I don't find there to be any issues or noticable negatives when it comes to the amplified sound.

The tuners are smooth and responsive, though the plastic nut does cause tuning to be a little jumpy at times. I will likely upgrade to a bone nut and saddle in the future as I've noticed that simple and cheap upgrade did wonders for tuning stability on the other guitars I own.

The guitar came with two different colors of pick guard options (marbled red and traditional black), which was nice except that the sound-hole border was improperly sized on both and would have to cover up the abalone inlay if used without making any changes. I had to cut and enlarge the circumference of the pick guard's curved edge so this would not be the case as I really like the look of the abalone and didn't want to cover it up. Personally, I would have preferred that the pick guard came pre-installed from the factory, however I'm sure that some appreciate the option of leaving it off.

There are minor imperfections, the most noticable of which was a small amount of fret sprout over the neck. This caused a few cracks in the finish and binding along the underside of the neck; however this could have happened after I received the guitar as I live in a desert which is undoubtedly causing the wood to shrink, so I wouldn't hold it against the manufacturer. I corrected the sprouted frets with a file where necessary, and could likely fix the cracks in the finish and binding of the neck with a little paint and lacquer if I wanted to, however I am not very concerned with that as it doesn't affect playability or appearance at all. None of the flaws are anything more than minor cosmetic issues; none are noticable at a glance; and none take away from the fact that this is undeniably a well constructed and beautiful guitar.

To summarize, if you're considering getting an acoustic to practice or possibly even do some small street or bar performances, I don't believe that you could go wrong choosing this guitar. I'm looking forward to many more years playing this and hearing how the sound develops as it ages. I most certainly will be back for more Harley Benton guitars in the future.