Harley Benton GS-Travel-E Spruce

My first purchase from HB, and overall I'm very satisfied. This little guitar is fantastic for anyone wanting a travel or comfortable 'sofa' guitar. I decided to pay the extra for the preamp and glad I did as it sounds great plugged in and the built in tuner is not only handy but accurate (even came with a battery and cable which surprised me).

Acoustically this projects surprisingly well and is more than enough for practice, to play in a small room or around a campfire with a few friends, really impressed.

Unfortunately I can't give five stars as my instrument's bridge was installed slightly wonky (two to three mm higher on one side). I contacted Thomann and although they were really helpful I felt that after sending pictures they either thought I was talking about the saddle (which obviously is installed at an angle) or were happy that the bridge placement was normal. To be fair they really tried to help in returning the guitar (my local drop off points refused to take it as the package was to large) but in the end it was too much trouble considering the price I paid so I decided to keep it, I'm really glad I did.

I bought this for a travel, knock about, everyday 'don't care about' guitar so the imperfection kind of helps me do that. If it had arrived in almost perfect condition I think I might have found myself babying it like my other guitars.

All that said my second Harley Benton is on the way so if you're on the fence and happy to accept the odd issue (you can return it if you're not happy) just buy one...

The truss rod is overtighten so the fretboard is curved which causes buzz at any level.
In addition the ends of the frets are not well finished and scratch the fingers.
On the other hand the sound is very good, tuning machines are accurate.
Do not forget that this is an instrument priced at 109.00 euro with the internal pickup.
Without, it costs 98,00 euro ! Beautiful high gloss finish, V-shape uncoated neck profile, very comfortable.
It is a travel size with shorter 596 mm scale delivered with a nice gig bag.
For the price you can not find better. I have not tested it amplified but I rarely travel with an amp in my bag.
+ sound, machine heads, strings, travel size, gigbag, pickup (not tested).
- factory settings (trussrod) & finishes (frets), a little scratch on the side, you have to take the strings off to change the battery (!!!).
Try it, a must have!!

Just received my GS Travel E Spruce and I’ve given it a thorough going over. It is a remarkable guitar for the money. The sound is very impressive, both in tone and volume. The action is great - low and with the give you would expect from a short scale guitar. The finish is good too EXCEPT for the fret ends which are pretty dreadful. They are so sharp that I cannot grip bar any chords and I have to be careful just playing anything. It’s a real shame because HB could have smashed it out of the park with this one - instead they dropped the ball. So frustrated I’m mixing my metaphors. Come on HB!!! Sort it out and go the extra mile.

It looks very nice, sounds great. It has a V-shaped neck, which is unusual, but not uncomfortable. I like glossy finish on the body. Neck is satin. I prefer a glossy neck to, but that's just me. Some say satin neck is easier to play. It's a matter of opinion I think.

I'm not so pleased with electronics. It has no controls what so ever. Only piezo pickup and a battery sack inside the body. Internal battery is difficult to exchange.
Also, my guitar has somekind of grounding problem. It has a humming sound and it disapears when I touch the cable (metal part at cable ends) or output jack.

So, guitar is great, electronics not so much.
To me it makes more sense to buy it without electronics and install proper system myself, or have them installed by pros.