Harley Benton GS-Travel-E LH Mahogany

I (try to!) play both acoustic and electric guitar. I few years ago I had a really nice Crafter D8, but had to sell it due to a frozen shoulder which made it difficult to play, so I had to find something smaller. I had a conversation with Gordon Giltrap who has used several smaller guitars for both live performance and recording over the years. He kindly recommended the Vintage LH-VTG100N travel guitar which he was using on stage at the time (fitted with a Fishman pick up). I love this guitar and still have it so I was looking for something of a similar size with a pick up, but not another spruce top. I found that Adam Black made a Taylor GS Mini copy, but with no pick up and then came across the Thomann site and this guitar. For just over £100 I thought I’d take a punt!
When the guitar arrived by UPS it was very well packaged. After unpacking the guitar came with a decent gig bag, a cheapish jack lead (but still a nice touch) and of course the truss rod allen key.
Onto the guitar as it came out of the box. Positives were it wasn’t damaged, came with decent bronze strings (unusual for a budget guitar to come with good strings) and is a really nice looking guitar. Minor downsides were I think this should have been a B stock model and said so to Thomann, but I didn’t ask for a price adjustment because the guitar is such good value for money anyway! The issues were white tape marks on the body, a few dings and the tuners were a bit skew. Also, the finish of the bridge is poor, but will be easily rectified when I change strings.
How did it play out of the box. Well as I hoped the size was ideal for me, although it is towards the large size for a travel guitar. However, this means that the neck dimensions make it easy to play as opposed to a smaller guitar. I found the arched back and v-neck comfortable, and the action good for me, although it’s always good to let the guitar to acclimatise to its new home before making a judgement. The intonation is also good. I found the fret finish to be a bit rough, but again fairly minor and what you usually get with a budget guitar.
Onto how it sounds. Well for such an inexpensive guitar I think it has an excellent tone and is quite loud for its size. Of course it sounds different to my spruce topped Vintage guitar, but then you would expect that. The Bellcat AP-55 Active Powerjack is a bonus and while the guitar has no onboard controls I bought a Behringer V-Tone ADI21 preamp which inexpensive and works well, particularly to eliminate some of the piezo harshness. I can get some really nice tones using the Beringher and a Roland Microcube GX, particularly with chorus.
So what is my overall verdict? Well I absouluty love this guitar and try to play it most days. Everything about it is ideal for me and I’d be just as happy if I’d have paid a lot more for it! Would I make any changes? Well probably a robust pick guard if I wa gigging, and possibly a new pins, bone saddle and nut. Again all minor improvements to what is a really enjoyable guitar to play. Thanks Thomann and I look forward to my next purchase!

This is my 5th HB.And my second acoustic.Firstly this a loverly looking instrument,the sound is bright,the action and intonation are perfect.The on board tuner and tone controls are useful.A small LED informs when the battery is low,it comes complete with one,a 9v pp3 zinc carbon.This will get you going but recommend you fit a alkaline one as soon as you can.Aso a lead,Allen key for the truss rod.A loverly gig bag is also included.If your a Leftie order ASAP,if you a right,WAIT,till the new model comes out,the lefties is the new model with the tuner and controls.This was delivered in days to the UK double boxed and well packed. clever touch.Also you can put the pick up out of phase.There is a strap button on the body but not on the neck?If you need to use a strap you will need one with a headstock lace,I bought a strap that secured around the headstock and buttoned to a regular strap.A clever feature,when your using the tuner the pick up is muted.Feeds back a lot,but thats common on piezos.This also comes with a cracking gig bag.please note.This does NOT have a belcat AP55 pickup.I think the one now fitted is better,with a onboard tuner.I just love the shape of the headstock.Some simple instructions would be handy.Be interested to see when the new stock arrives.

How I’ve reached my ratings very much takes into consideration the price: £111, a pleasingly odd number. I have a damaged left shoulder, which has resulted in my playing a regular-size acoustic a very painful experience.
Hence the appeal of a smaller travel guitar.
It arrived well boxed, and the outer carton was in pristine condition. The inner carton was also perfect, which allayed any fears of the guitar being damaged, which was the case.

First impressions are that it is rather cute, and rather good looking. Everything appeared to be in order, with no obvious blemishes or faults. It was tuned very flat ( I presume for transit ), and used the ‘on-board’ tuner to get it play ready. It plays nicely, and sounds surprisingly loud for such a small guitar. My shoulder still creaks a little, but it’s a marked improvement when compared to before; with a full-sized acoustic I could barely make it to 10 mins before my arm went numb, so far I’ve made it to 30 mins, and could definitely go way past that, which is great.

The gig bag is a nice addition.

Have now played it plugged in. I’ve not got much prior experience of electro-acoustics, so I have to take that into consideration. It’s totally possible my set-up is wrong, and future adjustments may bring better results?!

That’s not to say it sounds terrible; far from it. But there is a thinness to the sound that isn’t there when it’s unplugged.
However, I’m 99% sure that further investigation will get it to sound better.

For the money ( and the convenience), this is highly recommended.

Thomann’s service was excellent throughout, with regular updates on my order’s progress, and delivery was quick & efficient.

Having read several reviews about the HB GS travel e guitar I decided to take the plunge and order one.
Having played it for a few hours I am absolutely amazed at what HB have achieved here. To be fair I haven’t played a Taylor GS mini on which this is obviously styled but I have had a Taylor acoustic so think I can speak reasonably accurately on the comparison. This little guitar has a fantastic tone for its size and is finished superbly by HB. For £111 this has to be the best value guitar by far I have in my acoustic collection which includes a Martin, Takamine, Yamaha and Lag Hyvibe.
Considering the included electronics and quality gig bag it’s hard to work out how HB have manufactured such a great instrument for this price. The only very slight issue I can find is the scratch plate which has harsher edges than you would expect but really this has no effect on sound or playability. This guitar just feels comfortable as soon as you pick it up and it is hard to put down which is exactly what you want from a guitar.
This would be a great starter guitar but is also ideal for more experienced players who want something to mess about on sitting on the sofa or travelling.
Hope this helps anyone thinking about buying this instrument and worrying about it being too cheap to be true. This is very good quality at a great price!

I love the feel of the guitar and was initially impressed with the overall quality and sound, but there were some issued that became apparent after playing for a bit. I had read somewhere that all instruments shipped are first inspected by Thomann. So I was surprised at the following;
1-The fret ends were very sharp and needed to be filed down
2-The twelfth fret had to be reset
3-The nut extended a bit over the width of the neck
4-The jack plug was loose
5-The finish on the back of the guitar had a feeling of grit, not properly sanded.
6-A small gap between one side of the neck and the body, that was touched up with paint.
Note these are minor superficial issues easily taken care of. Thomann was notified of the defects offered a replacement and I made the decision to keep the guitar.
I am glad I did.
It is light, with good sound ,particularly through my Spark amp. I like the way feels, period.
The landed cost of this guitar, in Canada December of 2020 was just over $ 328 Canadian dollars, bad exchange rate at the time So not expensive but not cheap.
Overall it is good, enough for me to try one of their electric guitars