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. 😕