Harley Benton Custom Line CLR-Chrome

A beautiful resonator guitar, I love it, but tin sound resonates from the cone and sound holes.
My expectation beforehand were not too high after reading some other reviews concerning finish, however my one that was delivered is beautifully finished to an exceptional high standard.

I am like a man in love ...with his first guitar.

The guitar is much smaller than you think from the images online, it approximately the size of a small travel guitar.

Slips about when playing as it's super slick.

Guitar sound better when tuned to open G or E as opposed to standard tuning.

My guitar arrived very poorly package and the box was in bits, however unbelievable as it may sound the guitar was undamaged. Thomann should package products better especially when shipping outside of Germany.

Now folks.... It's bluegrass time so got to go and sing some old time gospel songs. See ye all later

As the title suggests this is my third resonator guitar.
I previously has a Regal RC-51 Tri-cone and a Regal RC-2 single cone.
I never liked using them.

I again ventured into the realm of resonator guitars again with this HB.
The quality of the HB is every bit as good as the Regals. In fact, in certain respects it is better. Aesthetically, it looks the part with the slotted headstock and Art Deco tuners. The tuners are smooth and excellent as well as fine-looking.

I am now enjoying playing a resonator. That is due to my greater experience and using picks on all fingers. You really have to use picks to get the sound out of it. Bare fingers no good. Picks make it ring out bright and strong.

Having owned a resonator in the past, I knew what to expect from such an instrument. Upon opening the box, the guitar looked nice and the quality was acceptable. There was a little excess glue showing where the neck met the body, but that was easily removed.
The biggest disappointment was the sound. Initially it sounded very "banjo" like with little resonance from the higher strings. This was improved by an immediate string change to a branded make. The next problem was that the nut was low, so that when using a slide, there was a lot of string rattle from the first fret. Again, this was rectified by removing the nut and adding a thin strip of plastic card beneath the nut to raise it slightly. The guitar now sounds bright and loud, particularly when using a brass slide. The remaining criticism relates to the very sharp fret edges. This is something I will have to take to a luthier to be corrected. Despite all of the small problems I have experienced, I would still recommend this guitar, but there are some QC issues and maybe I was unlucky. Considering the price point of this guitar, I would summarise by saying it is worth the money but be prepared to possibly having to work on the setup.

After two weeks of playing I'm glad to say that I'm really enjoying this dobro. I'm using it a lot with a slide, mostly in open g tuning, but it also sounds amazing in regular tuning. The guitar looks really good but there are some minor flaws on the finish, but for the price definitely worth it. thumbs up for Thomann.

Ps: order some new resonator strings with it. Currently I have the John pearse 790nr strings set up which are a rather small gauge for resonator strings. I think they sound especially good in standard tuning but when using a slide they sound a bit thin. So if you plan to use the guitar only for slide, try a thicker gauge.

This guitar is great for someone who wants to venture into the world of resonator guitars.

In honesty it isn't fantastic. The quality can be lacking. I found that the machineheads don't like to stay screwed into place though this is easily fixed. Some areas are a bit rough, the finish can tarnish is not cleaned on a regular basis and the holes near the headstock are rough.

It isn't going to stand up to a £1,000 resonator but don't let it put you off. It's very good for the price and still has signature sound. Stick some heavy gauge strings on, whack into an open tuning and get a good quality slide for some really authentic blues.

It's the sound you want at a price you want. What more could you ask?

A resonator guitar like this is not something you’ll find «usefull» 24/7 unless you’re a dedicated bluegrass-guitarist - which I’m not. But at a price like this, I figured it’s worth a shot concidering the few times my music needs an extra flavour. So far I’ve used it on a couple of songs for my upcoming album, and I have to say it’s done a great job. It sounds like a true resonator guitar either you play with or without a slide. The only «downside» for me is that playing it over time Can Really tire out the muscles in my fingers. But all in all, this guitar is a real bargain. And the service at Thomann is absolutely perfect.

This Resonator instrument is attractive with it's slot headstock and faux Grover heads. It is good value but it arrived with a nut that was far too high and terrible strings.
The neck was slightly bowed. That was corrected quickly with an allen key.
The nut itself need to be cut down in height and the nut slots properly re-cut to prevent damping vibration and strings 'binding' in the slots.
With new strings and the nut 'fettled' it plays quite well.
However it is not very loud and we suspect that it would benefit from a better cone.
Taking into consideration the price of the guitar these are minor quibbles.
Recommended at the price, provided that you have someone to 'set it up' properly.