Harley Benton HBMA-50E Mandoline VS

I'm mostly a guitarist/vocalist and having a mandolin in my songwriting arsenal seemed like a good idea. However, since this would be my first mandolin I just didn't want to pay too much money for it.

Couple of weeks before I ordered this I played one in the local music store. It sounded nice and played well. When I asked for the price (there was no price tag) I was unpleasantly surprised: over $600 :-(.

Time to head over to the Thomann website and check out the Harley Benton models. Much to my surprise there was a model that was below $80 (there's another one without pickup for about $55!).

Although I'm acquainted with the excellent quality of the Harley Benton Western guitars I did not know what to expect of such a cheap mandolin.

What can I say, it's a sweet little instrument, finishing is perfect and the sound is good. I'm absolutely clueless how they can manage to come up with so much quality for the price but I'm not complaining.

A couple of tips to those who are new to playing mandolin:
Replace the default strings for thinner ones like the Pyramid 529 Mandolin String Set.
Adjust the neck with the truss rod. There's a lot of tension on mandolin necks so you really want to get the action as low as possible.

I bought this mandolin to replace an older one that had been broken and I didn't want to break the bank. I was pleasantly surprised at the quality that comes with a pricetag under 100 bucks.

Right out of the box this thing proved to fill its role as a beginner/learner mandolin. The stock strings should be replaced ASAP and the bridge should be adjusted for intonation, but you can strum around on this for quite a while without any complaints.

The tone for single-string picking is quite good, but I noticed that the intonation is much, much better when capo'd on the second fret. I'd recommend getting it set up if you ever intend to bring it on stage, but it's got some great sound for the price.

Pros:
- Neck feels good and easily maneuverable
- Great tone quality for the price
- Build quality is satisfactory

Cons:
- Tuning pegs are a bit rough to deal with and "hang" a bit
- Some intonation issues requiring adjustment out of box (not awful)
- String/Fret buzz out of box (personal experience)

All in all a great little instrument to add to any string-player's arsenal. Highly recommend for learners.

I'm part of a folk group and had always fancied extending my skills to include playing mandolin. I'm mainly a guitarist so I didn't want to buy an expensive mandolin because it will always be a secondary skill for me (and nothing can top my Gibson Les Paul Custom which is nearly 40 years old now!). I checked out the reviews and this electric mandolin seemed a great choice. When it arrived and I tuned it up, I was delighted - it sounded great, and I soon got into learning some chords. I put a new set of strings on it and optimised the action, lowering it a little, and it is now brilliant. It plays easily and it stays in tune really well. For the money, it beats all of the competition and also beats more expensive instruments. The single coil pickup is a useful addition and adds vertsatility to the instrument and the Thomann gig bag is a recommended additional purchase to protect your investment. This is the best value mandolin I have found and sounds as good as an instrument costing 3 or 4 times as much! Thoroughly recommended!

Guitarist ..only being playing mandolin a short while, didn't want to break the bank.
Positive reviews led me to this one... Glad I payed attention, for the money it's a delightful instrument.
The finish.. on mine anyway, is flawless.
The sound is good, maybe a tiny bit duller than an expensive old one I borrowed off an Irish trad player... but that's with factory strings, Got new Ibanez strings but not put them on yet.
Good to play straight of the box.. lovely...The intonation was spot on.
But then I did lower the action just a fraction.. easy operation .. just loosen strings and rotate the bridge wheels clockwise til it suits..being careful not to move the bridge...and it made it a little easier on my novice fingers without causing any fret buzz.
For the price.. and for the sound.. and the flexibility of a built-in pick up.. you can't go wrong with this thing, I've hardly put it down.