Harley Benton Custom Line CLD-16SCE

81 Customer ratings

4.7 / 5

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55 Reviews

Harley Benton Custom Line CLD-16SCE
$219
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R
Everything you need at a very good price
René1591 01.11.2014
My rating is based upon value.
When buying cheap acoustic guitars with pickup (and tuner) I have for a long time bought Washburn and occasionally Yamaha. The Washburn WD10sce (and the d10sce before that) have been my pick again and again in this price range. This guitar is very similar to that. Not as fancy looking as the wd10sce and for me that is a good thing. The CLD-16SCE is very basic when it comes to looks. But that also means less stuff to go bad. The one I received had a different logo at the headstock. It says HB only and looks better I think. Some of the other Harley Benton guitars on this website have the same logo as this guitar.
The quality of the craftsmanship is good and on par with the Washburns I've bought.
The pickup and preamp from Fishman is identical with the Washburns. It's not the best sounding pickup system in the world, but it does an acceptable job. It's better than the other low end preamps I have tried. Having an onboard tuner is great and it makes my guitars with no tuner hanging on the wall. When it comes to amplified sound my Fishman Matrix equipped guitar sounds much better. But it is not fair to compare these two guitars when the price is so very different!
All in all I'm very pleased with my purchase and the next time I need to get a good but low cost acoustic it is this one again. Only problem with this guitar is the respect-from-other-guitarists-factor. This does not say some fancy brands name on the headstock. The resale value might not be as good as with a more recognized brand. But hey you'll not be selling this little gem!
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Rough start, happy ending
Photosynthetic Shrek 08.01.2019
At first I was quite disappointed. The action was pretty high and the sound lacked this brightness, volume and life. I made some truss rod adjustments and it lowered the action a bit. The sound tho. Normally first thing to do when you get a new instrument is to change the strings, but I thought the factory strings are decent and seem fresh ... so yeah. I considered sending the guitar back, but thank god I did not.

(few months later)

I took off the old strings, sanded the bridge a bit lower and put on 80/20 11-52 set. And WOW! Now we`re talkin. This thing sings! Its all there. It was like taking the first pill in Limitless. I like really bright and crisp sounding acoustics and with these strings, it definitely is that.
So kids, change your strings right after unboxing.

Finish, intonation, neck, frets, preamp all are lovely.
Fretboard looks like it is painted darker. not 100% sure, but I?ve seen it on other acoustics too.
Oh, and the thickness of a pick has a huge impact on the sound.
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T
Couch guitar
TiagoMaltez 14.12.2022
Perfect couch guitar, came well set up and spotless.
Different strings and endpins impact the sound greatly.
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E
DON’T BUY IT!!!
Elias.A 20.09.2023
As the tittle says. DON NOT BUY THIS GUITAR UNTIL THEY FIX THE FATAL ISSUE!
It looks great.
Sounds good.
BUT
The slot in the bridge for the bone saddle is too shallow which causes too much tension, which caused the whole bridge to break… a fatal mistake, don’t waste your money on it.
I’ll update this review incase the replacement guitar that they send me doesn’t have the same issue. But for now, NO DO NOT BUY THIS!
Lol Thomann are hiding my review, I wonder why….
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B
Good guitar
Beau 07.02.2020
I really like this guitar, it is my first steelstring acoustic guitar. I have now been playing on it for 10 months or so. It is quite loud which is good in my opinion, and has a great sound to it.

You get far more than what you pay for. I also like the electrical features on it like the tuner and a insert for a cable that allows for recording.

I would recommend this guitar!
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A
I am well impressed!
Anonymous 12.05.2016
I ordered this guitar in Jan of this year and I was waiting for a few months for it to come back into stock, I was nearly considering cancelling the order and getting something else but very glad that I did not.
I own a Martin D-15 with a fishman elipse pick up and was looking for a basic semi acc that was good quality and value and that I could throw around a little. This guitar is far beyond what I was expecting. It has a great finish, great balance, great sound and great sounding electrics. I would highly, highly recommend.
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BG
Harley Benton Custom Line CLD-16SCE
Brendan G. 04.05.2016
Bought this guitar for the singer in the band who wanted a drop D set up guitar to hand. I played it when it arrived, its an amazing guitar! - last year I bought a Martin at around 2500 ¤ ........... this is not miles away from that guitar. It is well made with a good pickup and the sound is just incredible - if you are looking for the martin sound but don't want to part with the cash this is the guitar for you.......maybe that is why we waited 3 weeks for it to come back in stock!
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D
Excellent guitar for the price, not the best in Custom Line imho
Drebezg 04.09.2019
Harley Benton CLD-16SCE has the most "standard dreadnought" sound (well balanced, not boomy or dull) and look in HB Custom Line (personally tested against CLD-15MCE and Superior-E). It easily holds it's own against similar solid top guitars from Fender and Yamaha I tested (those sound slightly different but not necessarily better or worse) with the added benefit of being cheaper while also featuring a very good pickup system. CLD-16SCE is definitely a solid buy.
That said, I tested it against HB Custom Line Superior-E VS and found the latter to be a notably better sounding guitar - richer fuller sound, better projection, deeper bottom end and sparklier highs, more punch and swag to the sound, really impressive.
The action on all three guitars HB Custom Line guitars I tested was too high (I filled down the nut to bring it down), but the neck relief was set up correctly. Be prepared to put in some time into guitar setup if you chose to buy this or other guitar in HB Custom line.
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M
More than awesome for the price!
MarkoMilkovic 06.05.2017
Cosidering the budget I thought this could be used just for strumming open chords and some fiddling in the lower part of the neck but boy was I in for a suprise! The guitar sounds fantastic! I wish I didn't have to install the strap knob by myself though. The tuner isn't the best but it gets the job done, and the preamp is pretty decent, but it's nowhere near a high quality one. All in all, for the money, I can't recommend it enought!
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A
A decent guitar for the price
Anonymous 29.05.2016
I bought this guitar to bring with me when I travel. I needed an inexpensive guitar for this purpose. The guitar is light but well constructed. It projects its sound well and stays in tune.The Fishman pre-amp works well. This in no way sounds like a quality acoustic (rather hollow in sound) but it does sound good for a guitar in this price range and better than most double in price. If its sound opens up as it ages it will be even better. The neck is very comfortable and playable. I have had only one problem with it. I was playing it hard and suddenly there was a terrible buzzing from the 3rd and fourth strings located at the what appeared to be either the bridge or the top wood of the guitar below the bridge. To make the story shorter, after a half hour of checking the guitar (were the bridge pins loose, was the bridge separating from the guitar, did I have bracing coming unglued) I took the battery out of the preamp and the buzzing stopped. This will be an easy fix, either the battery will need to be shimmed from the bottom or its sides or a new battery might make the difference or the springs in the battery compartment compressed during shipment. Don't let this put you off from this guitar since it is something so easy to fix if you experience it.

Overall this acoustic guitar gives you good value for your money. I am very happy with this purchase.
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Harley Benton Custom Line CLD-16SCE