Harley Benton Custom Line N-150CE Black

I looked, I read the reviews online, thought about it, thought about it some more, and finally bought it. For so little money I could hardly be disappointed. I just had no idea I could be that impressed! This is a great sounding resonator guitar. Unplugged it gives that superb metallic twang reminiscent of those old Dire Straits albums. Out of the box it was superbly set up with a great action. I may tweak the action down the line for some of the slightly more interesting tunings. Dropping the low E to a D did make it buzz a little but that's easily sorted out. Plugged in the sound is a little murky, but tweak the EQ of the desk and it's not half bad. Playing this live a few weeks back everyone was so bowled over with the look and the way the chrome-wear reflected the light that I don't think anyone noticed the sound. But that's me being nitpicking when really it exceeds all expectations. Honestly I couldn't have been more pleased if I'd been given this for free. It's inspired new songwriting, and made older songs that needed that little somethin' somethin' shine. Seriously at this price, and with this good build quality, what's to think about? I would highly recommend this model. Yes, you could spend more and get a high end model but what if your resonator phase is just a passing fad and it ends up sitting in a corner unused? Stop reading this review and buy it now.

I purchased this so that I could have a reso/dobro for taking to any jam sessions, and outdoor social gatherings, festivals etc, so that I don't have to take my much more expensive resonator and risk damaging it.

I bought this plywood constructed HB expecting a mediocre sounding guitar at best. What I received, however, has impressed myself and players of a much higher calibre than myself alike with clear, rich tones emanating from the spider cone.

PROS: Solid and sturdy construction. The binding works well to both offer a pleasing aesthetic, and hide where the plywood joint are.
The spider cone projects well with a nice rich tone & resonance.
A pickup and dual-tone/vol controls are a nice plus on a guitar at this price.

CONS: The tuners aren't the greatest. Tightening the gears a little helps, but if I was to mod this guitar I would begin with the tuners as they are they weakest feature of this guitar.

This is a dobro guitar, so as such the neck is slightly thicker than some may be used to for a more normal playing style. However, this guitar plays very well whether slung or lapped. It responds extremely well to a slide, and when in OPEN tunings such as D or G this guitar really sings from the slide.

I've had this guitar for a couple of weeks and just love it. At the £138 I paid for it it's an absolute steal. The quality of the hardware is amazing for a £138 instrument and the guitar is very well built with a good durable matt black finish. The frets are well finished and the action is just under 3mm at the 12th fret which is just about perfect for slide playing yet is still low enough to play chords and notes with your fingers. Tonally the sound is loud and ringing with no buzzing or rattles of the kind often heard on cheap resonators. Delivery to the UK took 5 days which included a weekend in the run up to Xmas which is fantastic. If you're looking for a quality inexpensive resonator give this one a try.

It is a pretty weird guitar. Mine came in HEAVY, but other than that it is a pretty neat instrument in itself.

Couple of lightly sharp frets, and the pickup seems to be busted. Luckily, I never needed one, but buyer beware.

What saves the picture for me, is that it's a very pronounced and loud acoustic guitar in itself. It SCREAMS. Not particularly fully in terms of frequencies, but it SCREAMS nevertheless, which comes very useful as a accompanying instrument in some applications where you wouldn't wanna use something small or expensive.

The acoustic sound in itself isn't "resonatory", like, at all. A little bit of metallic overtones, and that's it. Just a very loud, heavy and fun acoustic.

Despite everything, the acoustic sound isn't too bad, and for the price, I kept it even with the busted pickup.

It is a good enough fit for unplugged-style activities also (i.e. Ovations and such).

I am very pleased with this purchase from Thomann. This guitar sounds good, looks great and is lots of fun to play.

In more detail........ It does not have quite the "ring" (for want of a better word) of a steel bodied resonator, It lacks that "National" sound which I naively thought it might have. So obviously the body material has a large influence on the sound not just the mechanics of the resonator. But that said the guitar does have a great tone, punchy, bright, bluesy and loud - plenty of character.

When the guitar arrived I struggled with the 12's fitted and if dropped to an open G tuning some unpleasant buzzing was produced by the resonator. Fitting a new set of 11's transformed it (for me) making the instrument instantly much more playable and any strange noises cleared up. Plugged in, it's great fun. Using a Katana with various "effects" applied is entertaining, I think the pick-up is pretty good. Though the natural volume of the guitar is such that the amp has to be wound up a bit or I play through headphones to feel/hear a blend of the two.

Build quality and finish - Solid construction and nicely made. It feels and looks great. I like the satin black finish, very smart with the chrome and cream edge detailing. The fretboard and neck are nice, smooth and enjoyable to play. I would have given 4 and half stars for quality if that were possible, needing to mark it down slightly, there are a couple of very minor imperfections in the finish and the frets are slightly sharp, but it's pretty good.

So in summary. Great fun. Great value. I am very happy with this addition to the collection. I anticipate many more hours of fun with this guitar - Thanks Thomann.

I have to admit this was an impulse buy, but I do not regret it one bit! Right out of the box it was very playable, with a lovely full sound, which I did not expect as I hadn't ever played a resonator, and this is a fairly cheap instrument. I began doing my regular practice and gigs on this instrument, in place of my original acoustic, which costs roughly twice as much. The electronics system is reliable although a little buzzy, I haven't had chance to test whether this is the pick up or the electronics yet, although I suspect it i =s the electronics as the pickup is a humbucker. I took this guitar to a variety concert and it was used over an electric guitar (albeit for jazz) immediately. In fact, everyone at the concert used this guitar in place of their own! The actual quality of the build is excellent, all sturdily constructed including a very reliable fret board. The only problem IO had was that the bridge was not glued down at all,(it had been held on from string pressure) so it fell into the resonator chamber and took a while to get out. This is more of a caution than a criticism, other than that an amazing buy!