Harley Benton HBMA-50 Mandoline BK

142

Mandolin

  • Bluegrass series
  • Body shape: A style
  • Spruce top
  • Body: Basswood
  • Neck: Teak
  • Fretboard: Blackwood (Pinus radiata)
  • 20 Frets
  • Dot inlays
  • Scale: 350 mm
  • Nut width: 30 mm
  • Blackwood bridge
  • Cream binding
  • Hardware: Chrome
  • Colour: Black
  • Finish: High-gloss
Available since July 2012
Item number 277630
Sales Unit 1 piece(s)
Shape A-Style
Colour Black
Body Basswood
Top Spruce
Neck Teak
Pickup System No
Incl. Case No
Incl. Gigbag No
Scale 350
$53
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In stock within 4-5 weeks
In stock within 4-5 weeks

This product is expected back in stock soon and can then be shipped immediately.

Standard Delivery Times
1

142 Customer ratings

4 / 5

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features

sound

quality

91 Reviews

A
Good for traveling
Anonymous 31.01.2016
I bought this mandolin to take something with me when I'm traveling.
Lets start with the bad:
There are so many flaws I wont be able to list them all. paint/finish is bad. Many chips, uneven lines on "binding". Rough nut. Some screws are screwed in bad angles so they stick out a bit from body. When it comes to the wood - it is built from all kinds of leftovers. you really don't want to look inside the soundholes. :) Neck is beyond any repairs - it has a weird angle and its warped a bit. truss rod wont fix this. But the good thing is that its playable up to 12th fret and the intonation is alright.
The good:
It somehow stays in one piece and actually sounds ok. Put in some decent strings and it will sound nice. The fretboard is playable up to 12th fret (anything above that - not so good though...). The bridge is adjustable and is a good quality one. at least on mine.
Overall I am satisfied. For the price I paid I got what I needed - a mandolin that sounds good and that I can take on my bicycle and go anywhere without feeling sorry for it getting damaged.
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4
1
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DD
Worth the price (if you buy strings with it)
Dominik D. 17.02.2014
I bought it for fun because I always wanted to have a mandolin (or an Irish bouzouki which was too expensive..) and I hadn't too much of professional demands towards such an instrument. So I decided to go for a cheaper one and ended up with the Harley Benton HBMA-50 and was surprised when I got it. The overall quality was really great (for the price!) and there was nothing to complain about. No sharp frets, no rattling stuff - really usable cheap mandolin. If it weren't for the strings. Those delivered on the instrument were black. I mean really black. The wounded and the plain ones. Incredible how old they must have been.

I ordered new ones and 'Hello World' there was this typical mandolin sound. Bright, small, shimmering. Wonderful. Okay, it's missing the definition and fine treble of more expensive instruments. It sounds a little bit 'rough' if you want to say so. But for an instrument I bought just for fun from time to time or record a melody it's perfectly fine. If you want to learn mandolin seriously I recommend buying something 'better' (and I mean better, not just more expensive) for everyone else or experimenting it's a wonderful chance of gambling around with a mandolin.
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quality
10
2
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N
Good little instrument
Nyli 01.06.2014
When i first got the mandolin i would say i was pleasantly suprised. I think the colour and finish of the body was bright, and it had a fair amount of depth.
The hardware, mainly the tuning pegs feel and look a little cheap, but they do the job. I'm sure you could upgrade these if you really wanted to.
I sanded a little round the bridge, tightened truss rod, and put on new strings to get the mandolin closer to my taste.
I think the acoustic sound of the mandolin is pretty good. Quite woody, and sparkly, especially when the strings were changed.
The amplified tone of the instrument is again not bad. I plugged in and played into my soundcard without issue.
Overall i would say for the price it is pretty good. I don't think it's fair to compare this to mandolins which cost 5 or 10 times as much. Of course they will be 'better'. I did make a few adjustments because i am an experienced musician and felt they would benefit me, and make it easier to play.
I think if you want to try out a mandolin, and don't want to break the bank doing it, this is a good product to start with.
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3
1
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G
Geoff's Mando
GeoffreyH 23.12.2013
This is a fine mandolin. I have two mandolins, the other costs ten times as much as this Harley Benton - it is better, but not ten times better. I play this Harley Benton every day, and like it more and more. With solid top and truss rod, I don't know where you can get as much in a mandolin at anywhere near this price. Set up was also good, only needing a little work on the nut and bridge to get best action.
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2
0
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