Harley Benton Custom Line CLA-15MCE VS

I am not that experienced with acustics, but regarding the hype around harley benton and experience with other products, this was a bit of a disappointment, at least building quality wise. It sounds good, unplugged and plugged as well. But the setup was terrible, very high action, and the trustrod is very hard to get to, it's very deep inside a hole, unlike other acustics I have seen. After the setup it's better, there are a few high frets as well, but not that high, so it is still well playable. The tuners are fine. The strap button was the biggest problem though, it was not glued or anything, so when I tried to put a strap on, it just fell out. That could have happened after I put the strap on, when I am playing, so that's for sure is something to check if you buy one of these.
With all that said I still consider this a great buy, specs are great for the price.

I have to put my title in context here. I haven't been able to play my acoustics because of a problem with my left hand. I now primerely only play electric. However after playing a friends HB J200 copy and his HB Ta***r (Shh!) copy I was pleased to find that the radius and neck profile where really easy on my hand. Now, when I was only playing acoustic's I played 000 models 00028 Martin and 00016 rgte. I thought I would have those guitars till the end of my day's and hand them on to my son. I had owned to 00016 for over 20 years. I just couldn't play for long periods anymore. So sadly I sold them. I'm a finger picker so I also chose rosewood backed spruce topped instruments as I found they projected better. Now the CLA-15.... If you're a finger picker you'll love this guitar, but don't expect it to cut through if you jamming with friends and they have spruce topped instruments. The CLA-15 does not have a top conducive to resonation and or projection due to the mahogany construction. Fear not though as a song writing tool it has a lovely sweet little voice and is very pleasant, if muted. If you use a plec and are a strummer this may not be a problem for you in the slightest. The pre-amp however is killer. I had the early PREFIX system in my 00016 Martin it never sounded natural and I was always trying to EQ it to my taste in live situations. I ended up with a 'make do' sound that I was never entirely happy with. However the system on the CLA-15 is beautifully voiced (EQ wise). Plugged into the PA it sounds fantastic live. Finger picking is a joy again. It was hard to believe this guitar came with 12's on as standard, the feel and the action were that good. I have dropped to 11's (even better for me) and as a live tool this is now my only acoustic instrument. No it's not an all round guitar it is very quiet (due in most part to that mahogany top, but it comes to life when plugged in. A gem of a find and I understand why so many people have given this such good reviews. Only 4 stars overall and with sound because of how quiet it is for me as a finger picker, but that's down to me, others may not even notice.

This guitar came to me in good condition. It did have some minor blemishes on the top but they are not noticeable. The strap button at the rear of the guitar was not glued and pulled out when I attached a strap. Poor designing on that. The guitar came setup and very playable. It has a sweet warm voice. Substantial volume but not like that of a dreadnought. Overall I am pleased but really had higher expectations after watching videos and reading reviews. It is worth the money paid but I feel just a little more attention to things like adding a front strap button and definitely not using a cheap plastic one in rear and not even having it fastened would make this guitar seem more appealing. The tuner works perfectly and the preamp sounds very good. The guitar stays in tune very well. The tuners work well but they aren't as precise as could be. They have quite a bit of travel to make change in the sound of pitch. Once tuned it stays in tune very well.