Harley Benton TUBE15 Celestion

I’m a long time fender blues junior player, playing a US standard tele, vintage Mex strat, epiphone riviera and lots of pedals. My fender blues junior was in for repairs and I wanted something I could use while it was being fixed and I’d had my eye on this Harley Benton amp on Thomann for a while. The reviews looked good but I hadn’t seen anything on YouTube that convinced me. I decided to take the plunge. As usual, the Thomann service was second to none and it arrived promptly in Ireland exactly one week after I ordered it. Thanks Thomann, it arrived in perfect working order and really nicely boxed.

First impressions were good- it’s a handsome amp, not at all too small or cheap looking, knobs weren’t too weak or fragile looking, and the white tolex cover is class. My girlfriend said it looked cool too! Sound wise, out of the box it has a warm, clean tone with very minimal hum, even up at higher levels. Cranking the gain gives a really nice tube break up with a hint of fuzz. EQ range is very responsive and the reverb tank is very impressive for its size. It handles pedals extremely well and it goes all the way up to 11! It’s nicely loud enough to go up against a drum kit and hold its own, and it’s secret weapon is the 1 watt switch. For home practice, having a full tube amp that retains the high gain break up, even at very low volume, is very impressive, and brilliant fun.

The true mark of any equipment is how much you want to play with it, and this amp is impossible not to love. The factory tubes are still going strong so far, and I have zero complaints with them, and it’s enormous fun to play. It’s also light!

I haven’t bothered trying to match it sound for sound with my fender blues, mainly because it’s an unfair comparison between a entry level tube amp and the world’s most popular small tube amp by arguably the world’s best instrument maker. But saying all that, it gives the blues junior a good run for its money, and it stands on its own admirably. The Harley Benton Tube 15 is a quality amp in its own right. If you like tube amp sound and you want the vintage clean tube sound, or dirty gritty fuzzy tone, this amp is the perfect solution for home, practice room, studio or even gigging. Go out and get yourself one, you won’t be disappointed. Thanks Thomann/Harley Benton, this really is a great value piece of kit, and an amp that will probably go on to create it’s own bit of history.

This amplifier is truly a wonderful thing. I used to have a Fender Blues junior...used it for 10 years but never was really content with it...it needed tot be too loud (in my setup) to get an acceptable sound out of it....so last year i decided to sell it...i than bought an Orange Crunch 35 RT.. a solid state..it worked OK for a few gigs but...never really caught me..the smaller 10" speaker didn't deliver so good..sounded boxy from time to time. I could use it on lower volumes but ...it just was'nt it. Started longing for an affordable tube amp...last week i googled and came upon a Monoprice 15 watt tube amp with a celestion speaker..for around 200.- US...read & saw the reviews..most were raving....but only available overseas....i went to Thomann and suddenly i spotted the HB 15 Watt Tube Celestion...an exact copy of the Monoprice , judging the photo's..., i just guess they come from the same factory . Immediately ordered the amp. Within two days i was playing through it. What a great sounding thing it is! Beautiful, full sounding cleans and and cranking up the gain give smooth breakup....it's very loud!..loud enough for gigging without mics in smaller venues. The sound can be warm and trebbly as you wish..there's enough tone control bass, mids, treble and tone...another feature is the possibility to go to 1 watt..for home use..this works very well and it keeps ( a little less) the same warm tube characteristics. There is also a quite nice sounding reverb on board.In my ears this amp sounds (much) better then my previous Fender Blues Junior...it takes compressor and ( Fulltone) OCD pedals very well in front (lower the gain-use volume) and atmospheric pedals (delay-reverb) in the sent-return (not available on the FBJ ) give beautiful sounds. Clean and overdrive. Love it! (already considering buying a second one, for when this one dies, but no worries it looks very well made, knobs and cabinet feel solid, great color with the cream tolex, an excellent handlebar of pu leather and i think it's gonna last. Love it! Love it! & Love it! ( If Harley Benton should bring out a head of this one or same quality, i would buy it for my Celestion vintage 30 cabinet.)

So, I've waited to review this amp for several reasons; firstly, the amp Thomann initially sent me was faulty, there was an awful electrical crackle and hum coming from the amp, essentially, it wasn't safe.
Contacted Thomann who then agreed to replace the faulty item.
*Several* weeks later, I received a replacement, no electrical issues this time, however there are two huge cracks running all the way from the top and bottom of the speaker baffle to where the speakers are mounted on the baffle board.
After experiencing the hassle of returning the last one, I decided to hot glue the cracks myself, which should hold it, (hopefully).
Quite disappointed all in all, the amp has a good sound and having an effects loop is great, but I have no confidence or trust in this amp whatsoever. I will never gig with it for sure, which kind of defeats the purpose of owning one in my opinion.
Make sure you check the QC yourself, because the guy being paid to do it, clearly isn't. 😕

This was my first ever order from Thomann and it arrived double boxed and in perfect condition together with a UK plug converter and an amp cover, all taxes and customs fully paid and included in the website price. It was delivered exactly on time and includes an extended 3 year guarantee. So far I am very impressed with the way Thomann do things. Whilst looking at a lot of amps on YouTube I came across this very affordable Harley Benton amp, a brand which I'd never heard of before. All the reviews seemed very positive and the price is certainly affordable, especially for a tube amp. Having now got one, I'd honestly say that this amp has got the perfect sound for me and it has to be the best sounding amp I've ever owned! There's some really good videos on YouTube on this amp which is I believe also sold in the USA under the Monoprice brand to give you a good idea of the sound. I personally really like the old vintage tones, and maybe this amp could best be described as sounding like a cross between a Fender & Vox although possibly it's overall specs seem very much like a Laney Cub Junior. Either way the Harley Benton Tube15 more than holds it's own against much more expensive amps and doesn't sound abrasive or harsh. I sought certain clear tone characteristics from what I call a bygone golden era, I was always trying to recreate what would be for me my ideal vintage amp sounds. In terms of using the gain for a driven sound I was super pleased to be able to reasonably get close to the Beatles "Revolver" style tones both with the Epiphone Casino and a Fender Strat) and without using the Dr Robert pedal (which cost more than this amp!) which sounds much better on this amp than my last one (a Vox). By the way, the Tube15 amp also takes pedals really well, but to be honest the sound of the amp alone makes me wonder if I now need half my pedals! There's has a one watt attenuation button for keeping the neighbours happy, however it can still sound a tad loud. To get around this, I put a nifty passive volume controller on the FXs loop so it acts as a master volume and any pedals I use go in front of the guitar so I can get the best out of the amp by cranking it up a bit. In the past I've never felt the urge to want to record direct from an amp, preferring instead to use the sim amps within my DAW, but since getting this amp I've also bought a "t.bone MB 75 mic" from this site to directly record the amp's sound on my next project. It really is a superb amp and I absolutely love it, it ticks all the boxes for me, a great looking compact and neat size perfect for my studio setup. Well done Thommann! 8¬)