Harley Benton CLF-200 WN

I have been playing guitar for 27 years and professionally for 19 years and have had some expensive guitars over the years too. i bought the harley benton walnut version thinking that it would be a cheaper guitar that perhaps could be less worrying in venues where, for some reason its always other musicians and soundmen that dont care about my instruments and they get thrown around in transit and by airports where i have had to sit on a delayed flight once or twice and watch as torrential rain bounced off the case of my guitar on the baggage transport next to the plane. I mainly play fingerstyle so this type of guitar (parlour) i hoped would suit me ok. I saw the reviews but as i dont live in germany and because of covid could not get there, so it was the first guitar that i have bought without playing on it first. I was very worried crossing my fingers to be honest.

I recieved item on time and well packaged, thanks to thomann who has always been pretty great.The guitar looks beautiful. The feel and size more of the same. Looks are nice but down on the list of concerns for me. I have had the guitar since the middle end of 2020 and i cant believe how good it is. Its sound and playability makes me smile when i play it. Very clear and precise for fingerstyle guitar which is pretty much all i do. Intonation as good as it gets with far more expensive fretted guitars. I was very surprised that i did not have to set it up ( im usually quite picky). The guitar i have used for many years was many more times the price and i had to set it up and experiment with the right string gauge. From my experience with most guitars i have needed to tailer them to me quite a bit, but this came pretty perfect for me. I also actually prefer the hb to most guitars i have played including ones in the thousands of euros. I genuinely cant believe i am writing this as it was very unexpected quality. I think thats why i left reviewing until i had used it for some time. During covid i have set up a small studio to write and record. The parlour combined with vocals is a dream due to frequencies of voice and guitar naturally having separation so it sounds great for those who wish to use for studio. I cant speak highly enough of this guitar. When we can all gig again i will probably be just as worried about this guitar getting damaged as i was of far more expensive guitars ive owned in the past because it is such a great one regardless of the price. If you are worried about the quality dont be scared if its anything like mine you will love it.

Pros: everything

Cons: nothing

I play blues and have been happy with a very good Hohner Gruhn accoustic for about 25 years. Lately, I have been looking for a parlor guitar for home use and to have a second accoustic I can keep in open tuning.
I have never bought Harley Benton before but have been seeing rave reviews on Youtube and decided to explore their range.
At the price, the CLF-200 WN seemed a good deal for a solid Spruce topped guitar. So, I ordered it. It arrived in 48 hours - great tracking, good service.
Pros - The guitar is great. Flawless construction - could not find any faults. With a truss rod tweak, playability was fine. Loud and bright sound.
Cons -The tuners creak a bit, but they do hold tune.
Very impressed with Harley Benton and the Thomann service. The price seemed too good to be true and I was not expecting such a great guitar for the money.
I have been playing guitar since 1967 and have had at least 40 guitars. The quality and especially the value of modern guitars is amazing.

Use:
I use this guitar for practice, playing on the patio, and recording.
Clarity:
The guitar looks amazing, Thomann always does a good job capturing the instruments with pictures. When it arrived it looks just like the pictures if not better. The inlay work is great.

Pros: Played perfect right out of the box, even after being shipped to the U.S. in cold temperatures. The guitar is stunning to look at and sounds absolutely amazing especially when finger picked.
Cons: I can not think of a con, this guitar could be priced a couple hundred more and it would still be worth it.

Overall I highly recommend you buy this guitar if you are looking for a guitar with a great sound, plays easily, and you want something that looks great. This guitar is a 10/10 for me.

Picked this little thing back in early 2018, and it has only gotten better. Lovely rich tone, bright but carrying a nice warmth underneath. Despite the small parlour body, it projects surprisingly well. Not the best guitar for strumming chords, but for fingerstyle it is an absolute steal.

Arrived set up perfectly, didn't even slightly need to adjust the truss rod. Smooth frets, no jagged edges and polished well. The machine heads are absolute crap though. After a little work they hold the tuning very well, but they are not very accurate/smooth while tuning making it a much slower and tedious process than it should.

All in all, at this price point it is a fantastic value buy.

It's also really pretty (just a couple minor blemishes).


An edit - There are many 5 star reviews of this guitar, and that is easy to understand why - it is a marvelous piece. However, there's a very big difference between a guitar that is as pleasantly surprising as this one vs one of extremely high quality craftsmanship by master luthiers and I think people might be being a little bit generous with their 5 star ratings. WITH THAT SAID - BUY THIS GUITAR, you won't regret it and you will fall in love.

This guitar arrived very well packed and with a cover over the sound hole to protect from drying (nice touch). I let the guitar acclimatize and then took measurements of its set-up. I am luthier trained so I can easily make adjustments to the instrument and make a judgement on the fit and finish. The bone nut was cut perfectly and required no work. The relief required only a minor adjustment for my liking but it was within and acceptable range to begin. The action was actually within a perfect range for finger style and strumming. The saddle required no changes. The only issue was the finish on the neck. There was rough spray on the neck and heal. I used micromesh to polish the finish level and smooth. It easily was remedied as I have the tools to do so. This is the only reason I give the quality a rating of 4 stars. The drilled peg holes around the slotted headstock are also a bit larger than the pegs and largely goes unnoticed. This does not affect playability in any way. There was some buffing compound left on the headstock but easily removed. For the cost of this guitar and the quality and value it provides, you could not build something this nice for this cost or buy an equivalent for this price. This is my third Harley Benton and I have set-up several for other customers here in Canada. It was my experiences with the guitars of others that lead me to buy a few of my own.

I bought this guitar to help me back into acoustic fingerpicking. I used to be exclusively an acoustic performer till a hand injury forced me over to easier playing with electrics. I'm very neck profile fussy, which was a major consideration with this purchase. The one thing I know with Harley Benton is virtually every instrument has the same neck profile... And I like it. Quality of build is way above price point, and all solid woods, great. Inlays aren't the best. plenty of filler padding out what would be a loose fit, but hey it's not a four grand Martin is it? The guitar has a lovely voice, the walnut back and sides (my first experience of it as a tone wood) are an excellent compromise between rosewood and mahogany. Very well balanced projection.
Major CON: The tuners on this instrument are a complete joke. Plastic capstan classical style and not fit for purpose. Slot head guitars have enough tuning issues due to their design. They certainly don't need this sort of cock up to ruin it further. Plastic are fine if your instrument is nylon strung, but the extra tension of steel strings require far better build quality in tuners. Eventually these plastic capstans are going to crack and break. Guaranteed. Tuning stability is pathetic, and tuning up on this guitar is one of the most difficult and frustrating things I've ever done. It's virtually impossible. with it slipping and jumping in pitch constantly. However, if you are handy and able to do the job yourself and find a set that will fit, changing the tuners to a set with steel or brass capstans turns this little parlour into a gem of a guitar. For crying out loud Thomann this should not be an issue with all your experience. The Harley Benton 'Big Tone' had totally the wrong Bigsby style trem. forcing way more pressure onto the floating bridge than it could handle and now this! Come on I know you can do better. Listen to your customers. Silly little design flaws are really annoying in light of how good 98% of the instrument is, just to be let down by poor tuners? That's my honest opinion and sadly only 3 stars even though mine is now a 5 star guitar.

I have been playing lots of acoutic guitars these past years and some of the ones I own are worth up to four times the price I paid for this little gem. Right out of the box, nothing had to be fixed or adjusted (maybe a little turn of the truss rod to lower the action a bit) but I will put lighter gauge strings before. Other than the strings that I don't like (and that is my personnal taste), this guitar is flawless. Great finish, nice abalone detail all over, tuners keep it in tune, fret ends nicely polished. Wow! All that for 300$ canadian.
I bought this guitar to carry around in my camper because it is small and light. But since it is such a beauty and has that great sound, I won't let it sit around unattended. I will be well taken care of and cherished.
If you want a nice guitar for a bargain, you can't go wrong with this one for sure.

I have never played a small bodied guitar before but after a few looks on Youtube and saw how these little guitars performed I just had to have one. Straight out of the box it just played so well, the sound from this little gem is amazing and out performs my Jumbo that I bought a few weeks ago, the finish is superb, and my buddy who came around to visit says he thought it was a £500 plus guitar...Buy one, its just a fantastic bit of kit and I can only see the prices going upward for these little beauties.
I can also take this guitar on the road as it takes very little space up so for all you budding songwriters out there its a must have....