Harley Benton Custom Line CLA-28VE WN

I have instantly fallen in love with this guitar. This is my third HB acoustic, and once again I’m very impressed with the quality.

Visually, this is a beautiful guitar. It’s really well thought out on the design front. It has a lovely satin finish, and the walnut sides give it a really unique look. The intricate designs on the sound hole and back inlays are very nice. There v notch on the top of the rear of the neck also adds something different. The open gear tuners and the binding add to the classic look of the guitar. All the little details are there and very well done.

Set up wise there wasn’t much to do. The action is spot on, and the frets are clean and line up nicely with the neck. Of the three HBs’ I own this one was the best out of the box - it just needed tuning. It’s instantly playable, and would be a great guitar for a beginner. The extra width on the nut is perfect for finger style.

The sound, again is unique. This is my first OO guitar and it’s louder than I expected, but it’s really sweet, clear, and bright. I was very surprised with the bass, I thought it would be lacking, but it’s great. Every note when picking is distinct and not lost with the others.

I haven’t tried the pick up yet, but it’s the same as my other HBs’ so I know it’ll do a great job as will the tuner.

To wrap this review up, I’m very excited about this guitar and can’t wait to play it more. I honestly can’t imagine a better guitar at even ten times the cost. Bravo Thomann and the Harley Benton Team..

As an owner of many high end instruments
I decided to give one of these a try as a cheap knock about guitar.
On opening up the box, I was pleasantly surprised by the quality look and feel of the guitar.
Tuned up and played it.
Wow, not only good out the box but quite well set up!
Walnut back and sides gives a nicely balanced sound and with a solid top, has the potential to be something quite special.
The strings are not bad, but will be changed when I set it up myself to my own preferences.
But for the cost, you really can't beat it for tone comfort
Great neck, wider nut is great for picking and lots of volume if you dig in.
Haven't tried the pick up yet but fishman are quite decent for under saddle systems.
All in all, for what I bought it for, very impressed and in my opinion unbeatable for the price.
Bought the case too for it.
Decent and a great fit.

Just received the CLA -28VE WN yesterday and have not been able to put this guitar down for the last 24 hours, its simply sensational straight out of the box. Lets start with the set up - it was perfectly set up at the factory or at Thomann, low action 2.5mm at fret 14, intonation perfect, the tuners are great, even the factory fitted strings are fine, but will change these anyway this week.so The materials and construction, is top notch, lightweight, small, a beautifully engineered neck 45mm nut is so much easier to play than the standard 43, you wouldn't think 2mm is a lot but it is for me, its perfect. The tone of this guitar is nothing short of brilliant - I"m more about finger picking than strumming , the clarity of each note played is excellent, mid and high notes and even the bass notes. Only played through the pick up briefly but everything works as it should, and again a lovely tone and clarity.Aesthetically pleasing as well with the walnut back and sides.......not much else to say really, except that if you're in the market for an auditorium sized acoustic with sitka top for deep rich tones ideal for a finger picking style then this is a guitar worth serious consideration, for the price its great value - I'm delighted with this purchase,

The guitar arrived safely and well packaged as usual by Thomann. Out of the box it was essentially unplayable due to the extremely high action due to the height of the bridge and ‘upbow’ in the neck which was easily adjusted with the truss rod wrench (supplied). 30 minutes spent working on adjusting / sanding down the bridge produced a good action. Some sharp fret ends needed dressing and I also rolled the fingerboard edges to reduce the sharp fretboard edges. The gears on some of the tuners slip and are far from precise.

Overall the sound of the guitar ‘unplugged’ is dull, lifeless and lacks projection and volume . Open chords lack any ‘ring’ or sustain and bar chords lack volume and articulation. The onboard Fishman mic is okay.

In summary, the difficulty with this guitar was that it arrived with a number of ‘set up’ problems that were potentially rectifiable, however in order to see the potential of the guitar in terms of how it could play and sound a significant amount of work had to be carried out which involved altering the guitar’s original ‘shop state’, after which it could not be returned. In retrospect I regret not returning the guitar after receiving it. If the guitar I received is a fair general reflection of this model, I would suggest it’s one to avoid.

I have been looking for a nice first acoustic, and was going back and forth on Martins but wasn't sure which body I would like and which features I wanted. I decided to see what Thomann had for Harley Benton acoustics after my dad asked me to order a couple guitars for him. I found the CLA-28VE WN and compared it with the specs from a similar Martin and decided to give Harley Benton a try.
I was expecting a playable guitar but probably nothing too over the top, and was very surprised at the quality of this and the 2 guitars my dad got. This one has a very bright, punchy warm sound for strumming chords, and is very articulate with those little piano sounding under tones. The intonation is spot on.
The Fishman preamp is a very nice addition, being able to use the built in tuner without plugging a cable into the output of the guitar is very convenient, and the phase switch gives more tone options when plugged in.
The frets could use a good polish, they were still a little gritty, but that was the only thing I noticed, which bumped it to a 4 star on quality. Maybe a tuning machine upgrade in the future, but its holding tune so far so, maybe not.
Fit and finish were nicer than some Gibsons and Jacksons I've seen people get lately. The binding was straight and neat, the fret inlays look great, NO gaps or spaces, NO smeared, sloppy glue left anywhere, nice clean bridge with recessed peg holes so the bridge pegs are lower profile and don't bother your hand when playing, and a compensated bridge.
I would recommend this for beginner to intermediate players who don't like how big a dreadnought is, but still want a loud acoustic electric guitar with all of the features you need without being overloaded.

I was on the market for cheap acoustic with great look and after many hours research, I found this guitar. Visually, it was perfect and honestly I wasn’t expecting too much. I would accept just playable guitar...
What can I say?

OMG!

Unbelievable look, great sound, playability...
The action was too high, but I took it to my local luthier and he setup the guitar very easy and quickly. When I told him how much money is this guitar, he told me "you've bought Martin" :)

No other words!
Highly recommended.
Thanks Thomann!