Harley Benton HBMA-50E Mandoline VS

I'm mostly a guitarist/vocalist and having a mandolin in my songwriting arsenal seemed like a good idea. However, since this would be my first mandolin I just didn't want to pay too much money for it.

Couple of weeks before I ordered this I played one in the local music store. It sounded nice and played well. When I asked for the price (there was no price tag) I was unpleasantly surprised: over $600 :-(.

Time to head over to the Thomann website and check out the Harley Benton models. Much to my surprise there was a model that was below $80 (there's another one without pickup for about $55!).

Although I'm acquainted with the excellent quality of the Harley Benton Western guitars I did not know what to expect of such a cheap mandolin.

What can I say, it's a sweet little instrument, finishing is perfect and the sound is good. I'm absolutely clueless how they can manage to come up with so much quality for the price but I'm not complaining.

A couple of tips to those who are new to playing mandolin:
Replace the default strings for thinner ones like the Pyramid 529 Mandolin String Set.
Adjust the neck with the truss rod. There's a lot of tension on mandolin necks so you really want to get the action as low as possible.

I bought this mandolin to replace an older one that had been broken and I didn't want to break the bank. I was pleasantly surprised at the quality that comes with a pricetag under 100 bucks.

Right out of the box this thing proved to fill its role as a beginner/learner mandolin. The stock strings should be replaced ASAP and the bridge should be adjusted for intonation, but you can strum around on this for quite a while without any complaints.

The tone for single-string picking is quite good, but I noticed that the intonation is much, much better when capo'd on the second fret. I'd recommend getting it set up if you ever intend to bring it on stage, but it's got some great sound for the price.

Pros:
- Neck feels good and easily maneuverable
- Great tone quality for the price
- Build quality is satisfactory

Cons:
- Tuning pegs are a bit rough to deal with and "hang" a bit
- Some intonation issues requiring adjustment out of box (not awful)
- String/Fret buzz out of box (personal experience)

All in all a great little instrument to add to any string-player's arsenal. Highly recommend for learners.

I have been looking for travel and/or harsh party instrument low price (not to fear to damage or loss); tuned and should be played 4-5hours without finger-cramp. This is it - Simple, zen-builted, easy, no flimsy parade, but real workhorse! Test!
1. Tone & sound - high, clear, almost cut-through-stone (high freq.) with some middle range taste, as "A" mandolins have. Fine.
2. Tunning machines and tunning at high possitions: so-so to well. No miracle, no tragedy.
3. Electronics - eeeh... single pickup. High, little silent, with some noise - minihumbucker would be a better choice; think evryone pay cheerly some euros more for clear, non-affected sound..
4. Touch and neck - from acceptable to - good. Great possitive surprise!
5. Look and processing - fine. No considerable reservations. Back is black!
6. MINUS: dot frets - tiny and flimsy. I dont wait long durability.
CONCLUSION: for its price a VERY FINE INSTRUMENT for beginners and also experisenced players as a less-care paddle-board, where the beers-flies-through-the-air-with -glasses-and-dent-prosthesises... :-)
DRINK A LAMP & - ENJOY!

I'm part of a folk group and had always fancied extending my skills to include playing mandolin. I'm mainly a guitarist so I didn't want to buy an expensive mandolin because it will always be a secondary skill for me (and nothing can top my Gibson Les Paul Custom which is nearly 40 years old now!). I checked out the reviews and this electric mandolin seemed a great choice. When it arrived and I tuned it up, I was delighted - it sounded great, and I soon got into learning some chords. I put a new set of strings on it and optimised the action, lowering it a little, and it is now brilliant. It plays easily and it stays in tune really well. For the money, it beats all of the competition and also beats more expensive instruments. The single coil pickup is a useful addition and adds vertsatility to the instrument and the Thomann gig bag is a recommended additional purchase to protect your investment. This is the best value mandolin I have found and sounds as good as an instrument costing 3 or 4 times as much! Thoroughly recommended!

My first mandolin. I've been playing ukulele and guitar for a while and wanted to give the mandolin a go. I got the electric one because I thought it would be interesting to play through an amp with distortion and some effects. After waiting 10 days for its arrival (held up in customs), my first initial impressions were good. It looks beautiful and feels good to hold. However, that was outweighed by the sound. The overall sound is very tinny and there is an obnoxious buzzing when you plug into an amp. The tuning pegs are tough to turn and sound like something is cracking when I tune. I am disappointed and wish I had saved some money and just got the basic mandolin.

Guitarist ..only being playing mandolin a short while, didn't want to break the bank.
Positive reviews led me to this one... Glad I payed attention, for the money it's a delightful instrument.
The finish.. on mine anyway, is flawless.
The sound is good, maybe a tiny bit duller than an expensive old one I borrowed off an Irish trad player... but that's with factory strings, Got new Ibanez strings but not put them on yet.
Good to play straight of the box.. lovely...The intonation was spot on.
But then I did lower the action just a fraction.. easy operation .. just loosen strings and rotate the bridge wheels clockwise til it suits..being careful not to move the bridge...and it made it a little easier on my novice fingers without causing any fret buzz.
For the price.. and for the sound.. and the flexibility of a built-in pick up.. you can't go wrong with this thing, I've hardly put it down.

I needed a mandolin for augmenting my home recording demos, I make absolutely no claims to write this review as a mandolin player - but as a guitarist using it for fills, chords and dynamics for song writing ideas.

Pros - price (crazy money for such a nice instrument)
Sound is grand acoustically (as with all stringed instruments you buy - use the set of strings they send to set up the guitar/mando - then fit better strings - as long as the gauge you want is the same)
Pick ups - decent single coil sound - but comes into its own when you try various effects - you can get a very sweet sound that you just cant get on a hi-strung guitar or a 12 string.

Cons - the action was quite high for me when it arrived, but was easily sorted with some filing and sanding - neck and nut were fine - bridge needed sanding ... a floating bridge means you MUST set the intonation carefully yourself. But that's the whole point isn't it? I enjoy doing this work so it wasn't a 'con' to me.

The frets were a bit sharp on the edges ... but you expect that when you buy a cheaper instrument, a bit of polishing and it's sorted.

If you want to add Mando sound to your arsenal - fantastic option for you. Can't beat Thomann for this range of instruments. You will need to do some basic setting up (action - intonation - pick up levelling) if that scares you .. youtube it, you'll be surprised just much you can improve an instrument without needing an expert to fine tune some things.

Superb value.