Harley Benton HB-20R

2171 Customer ratings

4.2 / 5

You have to be logged in to rate products.

Note: To prevent ratings from being based on hearsay, smattering or surreptitious advertising we only allow ratings from real users on our website, who have bought the equipment from us.

After logging in you will also find all items you can rate under rate products in the customer centre.

handling

features

sound

quality

445 Reviews

Harley Benton HB-20R
$71
The shipping costs are calculated on the checkout page.
In stock
In stock

This product is in stock and can be shipped immediately.

Standard Delivery Times
1
D
Great for the price
Danycaster 03.05.2019
I can't believe how bloody loud this thing is, wholly overkill for me on so many levels. Highly recommend as a beginner amp 11/10

I've been told to always set volume on max for tuning purposes, I accidentally hit the G string and my heart almost jumped out of my rib-cage. I've been told this is normal and that 20W isn't even that much

I've also been told I *need* to buy a combo for practice and I have to say I agree (even though initially I agreed only reluctantly), but I can see this thing could work at a small club concert, you can probably juice out that much out of this. I can even see this being a good backup solution in case your main amp is MIA

Aside from the loudness the What-Brand Chinesium speaker this ships with isn't exactly an audophile's dream. I should clarify, the sound is great, for 60 euros it's, I mean, I couldn't imagine this level of quality 10, 20 years ago at this price level. Still you should know, anything through the aux input is going to sound dulled? ie. not bad, but not great either

Guitar sounds great of course, I mean great as in unexpectedly good for transistor. I actually greatly prefer the *actual sound* through headphones/an external speaker over aux cable. The difference is noticeable even for an amateur like me

I keep the volume knob at 1-2-4 at most, and strangely I prefer the clean sound. I intuitively believed that if you're gonna have a cheap speaker then distorted sound would sound better since you know... it's distorted and the nuances of the sound are lost. But this didn't turn out to be true in the real world and clean sound has much more "body", it feels more plentiful and vibrant. Remember kids, keep your gain low. Signed: someone who is not an expert

EQ works differently than I expected, but I've been told this is exactly how these things ought to work so yeah

Let's quickly address points made by other reviewers:
- build quality is... I just can't give it all of the stars without feeling like lying. It's amazing for the price. The logo is very well machined. It will probably last I don't know, let's say 10 years. But just... 5% more effort would make this combo look and feel so much better, dare I say premium even. There was one bolt that wasn't fully tightened. This might've happened during travel, but then I'm afraid what kind of travel conditions this was in. Also on the back there's a strange black paint applied? I don't know if this is normal, you'll see if you buy it, I'm neutral towards it
- the two buttons and all knobs are good quality, the lines below are slightly misaligned though and it's triggering the perfectionist nerves in me. Just very *slightly* so, just barely [screaming inside]. I think these are the same knobs from the higher-end models
- the jack seems to be good enough to last a lot of connecting in/out
- handle feels goood, I approve
- reverb sounds amazing except for positions 5 through 9.5-ish. Still you probably should stick to 1-3-4 anyway. 9.5-10 sounds good
handling
features
sound
quality
13
2
Report

Report

BG
Overall very good for money
Bogdan Guitarist 14.07.2020
pros:
-very low price: it costs like going once to local restaurant with your girlfriend
-pretty good quality
-very loud: I usually play at 30% loudness. I guess you can take it to local pub concert, etc.
-The eq is nice

cons:
-Mine came a little bit scratched
-The spring reverb is very strange. If you play at a big volume, and turn the reverb bigger than 60% percent, it starts to make a very loud noise which go louder and louder, until you turn off the effect at all. First time it happened I thought I destroyed the combo. You don't imagine how loud that was
-Strange sound quality when playing in headphones. That is because the combo doesn't have a cabinet simulator. So playing in headphones doesn't make any sense.
-Also the aux cable quality is very very bad. The sound is very bad, it doesn't have any bass and middle freqs. Also when nothing is playing it makes a very loud noise. So connecting an aux cable for practicing or just listening to music also doesn't make any sense.

In conclusion I can say that if you are a beginner totally buy it! But if you want something serious, buy a combo like Fender, that has digital effects. They are called Modelling combos. Buy something like Fender Mustang LT50.
But from my opinion, the best option is buying a sound card. I bought Behringer Umc204HD. But if you want a sound card, you will have to know at least the basics of a DAW (reaper, cubase, reaper), or you can download different soft(Bias fx2, Guitar Rig 5). Also you need to have a good pc, and some speakers or studio monitors
handling
features
sound
quality
5
0
Report

Report

cj
lovely solid state
cliff james 03.01.2018
I am happy with this little amp I got it for playing at home, and I never was happy before without valves. i get a great claen sound with a little spring reverb, not only that it has it s own very convincing character of sound.I used other solid state amps from big names or modelling amps this one has the blues.I am not commenting on the distorted channel right now I haven t tried it enough. Only one thing is funny sometimes if you leave it on for a while and you re not playing it makes loud bang, I dont know what that is but its ok. It has a standby feature, and only starts when you tuen up the volume and start playing the guitar which is kind of cute. Definitele I am happy with that amp. And there is a line out for connecting it to another amp. Great. Just might have got the bigger version and use it for small gigs I can still do that. Thank You
handling
features
sound
quality
2
0
Report

Report

SC
INCREDIBLE
Sergio Caputo 25.12.2021
I bought this amp because I had a gig in a club, that I had to reach by train, so it would be easy to carry and could fit it in a trolley. As I tried it, just out of the box, I couldn't believe my ears. Clean, nice sound, EQ very responsive, loud enough to be heard in a club without connecting it to a cabinet o straight to the mixer. Now this is my favorite amp (I also have a Vox, an Epiphone, and a Gallien) and still cannot believe such quality for the price. I guess HB will realize they have a winner, and either rise the price, or discontinue it because is too good for the (generally cheap) HB lines. If you need an easy going amp, hurry up.
handling
features
sound
quality
0
0
Report

Report

D
Actually more than I need
DBStuart 07.12.2022
I like this amp. But I mostly practice (or play) at a clean setting so the overdrive/gain is somewhat unnecessary for my needs. And the same goes for the reverb that's also part of the package. I don't use reverb, or tremolo for that matter, and for now at least this will not be something that I will use.
But I will say that it is a very good combo amp for practicing. It works very well at lower volume settings with a very clean tone. And the price was very reasonable for the features whether I use them or not.
Also, the construction quality is very high and all of the controls feel substantial when used and of a high quality. I am very pleased with this amp.
handling
features
sound
quality
0
0
Report

Report

M
Amagazin
MatthPl 08.03.2020
The versability of this amp is so amagazin, i was able to switch a lot of settings and get everytime the sound that i wanted to hear. So cheap as a price but actually can prove to you that this little baby can please you without any problem. yes, actually this is my first amp and im not an expert, and because i am a beginner who likes so much the sound that this amp produce, you should trust my super beginners feels and buy this amp You will not regret anything you can even check around the web and others reviews that will agreed with my point of view. It's so easy to use, just plug in, set your amp to the romantic guy trying to impress a girl, or set your amp to, i want to scare my neighbours with an extreme metal sound. And that's it, simply dont worry about the quality of the amp, because it will not betray you, untill you will not leave him alone in a dark lonely corner of your house.
handling
features
sound
quality
0
0
Report

Report

L
Nice quality/price
Loseyourself 27.04.2023
Great sound to play at home. Nice quality/price. Excelent for beginners.
handling
features
sound
quality
0
0
Report

Report

S
Impressive 20W amp
Sigoljav 03.02.2022
The EQ is well balanced, it's loud enough, the best amp if you are a room guitarist.
handling
features
sound
quality
1
0
Report

Report

R0
Really good sound
RayR 01 15.12.2022
Bought this with a guitar for my son. It's perfect as a starter amp. Really good sound and a quality product for the price.

Very happy with the HB amplifier.
handling
features
sound
quality
0
0
Report

Report

PR
The jewel in the Crown.
Peter R. 438 02.02.2023
A real beauty for the price, clean or "not clean" sound, I never use extreme distortion, but use the "high gain" chanel sparingly, a little more gain for jaz, careful adjustment of the "gain channel" will keep an almost clean sound at a sensible volume {if loud is needed}.

Ive had enough of lack luster & expensive USB modeling guitar amps, I'm needing "actual control" of my amps circuit dynamics, "tone stack", I now have actual control with my HB20r.

My gigs are smaller bars & cafes, 20-30 people max, rock, blues & ballads, acoustic style.

I also love the HB20r line out and line in, both function perfectly for "my amp hook up system.

This HB20r, on a chair or 1/2 a meter off the floor is just perfect, with plenty headroom if I need it.

Nice bass, mid & treble controls with good range making my bunch of guitars (acoustic, jazz & humbucker) all nicely usable with this one amp.

I previously plugged guitars into my PA, but good impedance values have to be respected when using guitar/PA for an OK sound.

All is well sorted now I have an extra piece on stage (HB20r) and I'm certainly happy with it.

Very surprised with this little amp as 'by price', was dubious.
A very surprising little monster :-)

An update, months later.
After using this in my smaller gigs 'many of', I've found this range of little amps actually hold the tone stack settings when "clicked over" from clean to gain, as most guitar amps go treble and thin when clicked over. This is a great feature for performers.
I have also found a very good "on board gain setting" for my bar gigs, careful adjustment and many hours on the kitchen table pay off. I also have the 40 watt version, which I love & use for larger gigs. Perfect!
handling
features
sound
quality
0
0
Report

Report

Harley Benton HB-20R