Harley Benton HB Custom Line CLD-10S NS

Overall I'm pleased with the guitar. I'll preface my short review by stating that I am neither a musician nor a guitar tech. I would describe myself as a lower level intermediate player. On the other hand I have owned a number of acoustic guitars priced around this point €129, so I can compare to those

1. In comparison to similar priced budget guitars. I never managed to find a solid-top acoustic at this price before, they were all laminate tops and not particularly good at that.
I recently sold a budget acoustic, same price as this, no comparison in quality, finish or sound.

2. Aesthetics: looks great, no real visual defects to speak of. Few minor variations in the wood top, but I don't really care. Fittings, tuners, bridge etc all look good. Ne dents, bumps etc.

3. Packaging. Arrived very well protected. Neck of guitar was protected by an additional cardboard sleeve inside box.

4. Action was really good, very playable, especially if you are used to electric guitars. My last acoustic was unplayable (even with adjustments).

5. Tuners: they feel ok. A few slips, some stiffness, not too bad.

6. Very playable, sounds good, more 'articulate' than my previous acoustic.

7. Frets: about 85% there. There are no sharp ones, you can feel them as your hand moves on the neck though, they could be a little better finished. They are not polished to a mirror shine, neither are they tarnished. I would say there is very slight scratchiness when you apply a small bend to a string, but I've had a lot worse (and at higher prices).

Bought it to leave around my work room so that I can play whenever. I am mostly an electric guitar player (5 Harley Bentons of various prices) and mostly interested in learning to finger-pick blues music. But I like to have a go off the occasional big-strumming song and this fits the bill.

A great quality, nice sounding guitar at a great price.

I would definitely buy this as my first or second acoustic, and if either of my sons ever learns to play I'd happily get one for them.

If you want a short version: this is an awesome guitar, buy it.
For this price this guitar is absolutely stunning. Very simplistic but, at the same time, beatiful design with a solid spruce top. The sound this instrument produces is very loud and it has these lows and mids which are typical for the dreadnoughts.
Although, I can say that there are a few shortcomings. Like the strings are too low so they often tend to touch the frets. The first string is especially problematic since it doesn't have a clear sound on the 12th and 13th fret. Or the fretboard doesn't seem to be polished so bends can produce this scratching sound. However, this is totally not a problem and can be easily fixed in a matter of minutes.
Overall, this is a beatiful loud and very tonal-rich guitar... for its price.

This is a shockingly good guitar for the price. I've been playing guitar for 25 years and have some very nice ones, but I needed a cheap beater for a holiday away from home. This way exceeded my expectations. You can tell where HB tried to save some money (eg. the finish is a bit rough) but, IMO, they picked the best places to save money while still delivering a very playable guitar that sounds decent... it used to be that buying a cheap guitar was just throwing your money away - you'd end up with something that was just unplayable. I'll probably try and sand the saddle a bit to lower the action a tad, but right out of the box, I had no problem playing it. The sound is... a little bright? for my taste, but it will probably mellow a bit once the strings age. Overall, I'm very pleased and will definitely keep HB products on my radar for my future needs.