Harley Benton CLC-650SM-CE VS Solid Wood

I waited nearly 6 months for this guitar and all I can say is it was totally worth the wait. It is easy and very comfortable to play, and the sound is incredible!

Having owned it for a month or so now, there are 1 or two niggles. The side fret markers are black and in subdued lighting, they are almost invisible. I have replaced them with white markers and they have greatly improved the playing experience, as has also giving the neck a light sanding to reduce the friction of the glossed finish. These modifications will have invalidated my warranty I am sure, but they are very well worth it.

Now it is simply sublime and a wonderful instrument to hear and to play.

Don't hesitate (like I did for 18 months and then waited another 6 months for it to be in stock)... Just order it, you won't be disappointed!

Have owned the guitar since April of 2022, so had a few months to play about with it and get out of the "new guitar honeymoon period" sense of feeling.

Firstly, I'll say I'm very happy with it for the money.

Pros
- The guitar looks great at normal audience distance. It looks very classy. (Although, up close, you can see some black fills in between where the binding joins to the arm cut. The fretboard has some residue spots, here and there. At this price, these are not major issues, for me)
- Action is very low. If you're used to playing electric, this will be much easier for you to get used to than most standard acoustic "off the shelf" action height.
- Tuning is rock solid (after setup with my local tech)
- Arm cut is very comfortable. I've played gigs with 2 x 45 minute spots with it and it's a joy to play.

Cons
- Fretwork wasn't great. Fret ends were sharp and weren't very well levelled. I come to expect this with any new guitar, these days, so they all end up getting set up by my local tech. This one needed more than a basic setup. It needed full fret dressing etc.
- The battery connector doesn't come very far out from where the pouch is velcroed. This is really fidly when trying to take the old battery out and put a new one in.

It's not got as much low end as my Taylor 214CE Deluxe, it's a bit more mid focussed. Not a pro or con, just different. Through a Sigma acoustic impulse response, it sounds great through the PA.

I took the pickguard off, as I thought it looked better without. It's stuck on with a low tack, sticky substance, so it peeled off easily. A bit of Goo Gone cleaned up the few leftover residue spots easily. Again, not a pro or gone, just preference.

Again, very happy with it for the money.

The guitar came clearly used. Could clearly see that it was passed around 3-4 times may be more. Someone tried to adjust saddle and sanded it the wrong way so instead of standing straight saddle was leaning towards neck. There was a slight but clearly noticeable damage on the saddle. The pins were loose. Either the pins were too small or the wholes were too big. The pins were trying to pop out, especially on low E string. The neck is a separate story. The quality of the neck in general is low. Looks like it was taken from a 100$ guitar. But the main problem was frets. They were all over the place and half of them were not completely pushed in, I mean they were stinking out. The paint job around the neck was really bad. There was something on the end of the neck right above sound hole. The strings were very dirty and rusty so can't say much about the sound and to be honest I strummed it only a couple of times. Did not want to. So I packed the guitar and sent it back as soon as I could. That was a huge disappointment.

Having problems playing since I had carpal tunnel surgery on both wrists, I passed my rather superb Japanese Takamine onto my son, convinced my playing days were over. The playing bug didn’t go away unfortunately so I thought I might buy a cheap guitar that wouldn’t break the bank if I couldn’t manage to play again. I tried a few acoustic guitars but could find nothing to suit my reduced wrist flexibility. Finally, I discovered that Harley Benton made a small range of relatively low priced all solid wood acoustic guitars. Knowing I could return it if it was too difficult for me to play, I ordered this amazingly priced guitar. Wow, what a find. Excellent build quality, lovely finish but what about the sound? I needn’t have worried. The sound is rich and detailed. The solid mahogany top produces a slightly more mellow sound but it is open and warm with just the right amount of bass. Light and well balanced, this guitar rests nicely in the seated position. If you prefer to stand, it accommodates a shoulder strap fitted between a standard button at the base of the neck and the usual button at the back end. The tuners are smooth in operation and secure stable tuning. For my difficulties the neck is the most important facet of the playing experience. To me it feels very similar to the Gibson 1960’s Les Paul neck ie a lot slimmer than most acoustic necks, it works well for me. The onboard tuner is quite accurate and made me smile when I saw how it indicates correct tune. The electro facility won’t be used by me but I was pleasantly surprised how nice it sounded plugged in. I could see it working well onstage. I had to reduce the bridge height quite a bit to make it playable for me, which can reduce the sound quality but for most players that would probably not be necessary as it was quite well set up for fully able players. I look forward to practicing now. Thank you Thomann. Fantastic service as usual.