Harley Benton HBO-850 Blue

Arrived today, this is not my first Harley Benton guitar but is my first electro acoustic from the range. First impressions were really good the guitar looked great. Started tuning to find that i had muted strings and fret buzz, not an issue as you get provided an allen key to adjust the rod and adjust the neck. Two minutes later nad the buzz and muted string issue is dealt with. This is the first time ive had to deal with that on a harley benton guitar sono probs. Once all tuned i was suprised to find a 9vlot battery provided, nice suprise. Plugged it in and happy with the tone. So why not 5 stars, well on the body where the neck meets the body i have small cracked finish due to neck movement, possibly from tension in the next but either way the finish is now not great. As this is for use in my home recording and not for show im ok with it, if it was for display on a wall etc i would have returned it as its not great to have the finish cracked on the first day of the guitar.

I added this guitar to my order as an afterthought. I needed an acoustic guitar with a pickup for those occasional "acoustic" gigs with amplification. Our band had recently played a gig where miscommunication resulted in our having to mic our guitars, and I thought this might be an economical way to deal with this. I had ordered a blue guitar for my son, and I added this during the wait for his to be delivered. I am really happy. The guitar looks amazing and plays beautifully. The only criticisms I have are that the tuning mechanisms could be a little better; and it is so new, that I can smell the glue from the body. That being said, a good set of locking tuners costs as much as this guitar! The neck is easy to play, and the action is amenable to leads in the higher neck positions. The frets were in need of a rub down with my polishing cloth, but that's all that was required. I really enjoy playing this guitar, and it has become my "go to" acoustic guitar. If you need a guitar like this, just order it and use the savings to buy it a hard shell case like I did.

Pros
Basically it would be a good guitar. The acoustical sound is great, the neck is like an electric guitar's neck: quite comfortable and fast. The pickup is very good, the guitar has an amazing sound via my Peavy Audition 7W combo amplifier or in my DAW software, direct via my USB mixer.

Cons
The guitar's quality is quite bad. The first thing what has dropped off was one of the "leaf ornaments" piece from the front of the body. The frets had sharp edges and I had to polish them. Then, after half a year, the neck twisted, and the guitar became unusable for play solos because of the tuning issues over the 11th fret. So, now, I can use it only for playing some chords around the 1-4th frets. It is very disappointing because, anyway, it has amazing sound both acoustically and via its pickup.

pros-
-well slotted nut
-perfect intonation
-comfortable and easy to get used to
-flat fingerboard (personal taste)
-sounds great
-no finish flaws except a ding on the back of the headstock

cons-
-frets unpolished and scratchy
-last 3 frets weren't even round. they were sanded to the point they are flat
-leaves feel cheap
-whole guitar was a bit dirty with dust, fibre glass and glue resin. nothing that can't be fixed tho
*UPDATE*
the tuning machines are terrible and you might wanna change them if you use anything that isn't standard tuning. high E tuner makes cracking sounds when turning and the rest take a lot of turns to even catch on to the strings. I tried D standard and by the time I tuned the the E to a D, the rest of the strings were already out of tune
*update*
after figuring the tuners out, it's actually fine. just gotta retune a few times for it to stay there. Only issue is that frets are still scratchy, but not sharp and intonation is off and can't be adjusted without changing the bridge saddle

I understand the design isn't for everyone, but I really like it. The round back makes it a bit awkward to play sitting as it slips off from your leg if your posture isn't correct, but on the other hand that forces you to play with correct posture. There was rattling when playing the D string, turns out the springs in the battery compartment resonate with it. Simple fix by putting a bit of foam between them. doesn't stop the battery from working.

Pros:
-Great neck profile
-Great tone both plugged and unplugged
-Interesting design
-can't lose your picks in it

Cons:
-slips from your leg sometimes
-rattling from battery compartment(easy to fix)

Arrived today, got it straight out the box and had a little jam. Came out the box almost ready to play, I had to tune one of the strings. But I do that every time I pick my guitar up anyway. As a beginner and only been learning to play the guitar for about 6 months, I have little to no experience when it comes to guitars. And I'm not going to pretend I do. But saying that, for a less expensive 'budget' guitar, I am really really impressed. It covers all my needs. I think it sounds great, it's comfortable and the slim width makes it a lot easier for me to hold and play. I'm even tempted to buy another in a different colour. I'm sure there are more learnered players with greater expirence that could pick holes in it and find a negative, but for me it's perfect.

I bought this as to have as a cheap acoustic and i was surprised by how well it played.
I did have to make a few modifications but found it to have a great sound and feel
I replaced the plastic nut and bridge with a cheap bone set which i was able to buy cheap off amazon. Easy swap and major improvement to sound and sustain.
Build quality is decent but i did notice that the fretboard/frets were very rough and needed a good polish.
Pickup electronics are decent but i found i had to really roll off the bass to get a good tone.
Overall i really am enjoying this guitar, good job HB!

Apart from the incredible price, this HB purchase fares well when compared to my now aging Ovation - which was bought when I was 18 stone - and a bowl-back was the most comfortable option available .... 15 years ago (I'm now back to my fighting weight of 13 stone).
This time comfort again played a big part in my decision - but it was old age, and stiff, aching joints this time.
I've got a dozen or so acoustics, and half of them are HBs.
Why ?
Well, as well as being very playable and affordable I'm a big fan of alternate tunings, and thanks to Thomanns' prices each of the HB acoustics is in a different tuning, and the cost for all six was slightly more than my latest Thomann purchase - a Taylor 112ce.