Who Makes These Guitars? Why haven’t I heard of them Before?
Harley Benton Guitars are actually made by the company Musikhaus Thomann, located in Bavaria, Germany. Musikhaus Thomann is a large online retailer in the country, with over 3 million customers as of 2012.
The guitars are manufactured in China, Indonesia, and Vietnam using the same standards as Ibanez, Fender, and ESP for quality checks.
The reason you haven’t heard of them? They simply haven’t advertised to you yet, they also don’t have any storefront in the U.S. but don’t worry, you can still purchase their instruments at www.thomann.de
So, are Harley Benton Guitars any good?
So, are Harley Benton guitars any good? Is the question that pops up in anyone’s head when stumbling across a new brand of guitar they haven’t heard of before. Most likely, I’m guessing you came across one of these in a pawn shop, jamming at a buddies house, or noticed someone selling one absurdly cheap online somewhere.
We’ll cover the good, the bad, and the Ugly in this article. So hang tight, and I’ll let you in on everything I’ve figured out in my countless hours of digging for info and playing the instruments myself.
What’s the Quality Like? (5 Things You Need To Know)
#6 Their guitars are heavy
Some of their guitars are pretty heavy. It’s actually one of the first things you’ll notice when you pick one up.
I love it, but if it’s a problem for you I’d suggest to simply opt for a lighter model. The weight definitely gives it a great feel for sitting down and playing, but keep this in mind if you do a lot of gigging.
A show is never a good time to be tired!
(Hard not to be with a long set, but still everything helps)
#5 These are beautiful guitars, but there are some issues
First I’d like to clarify and say that every single guitar company has small issues here and there…..and even some of the largest companies out there such as Gibson have been getting a lot of hate recently over the quality of their products.
So, in comparison to all the major brands out there Harley Benton does a great job of making sure their products don’t have issues, but there are some.
Never of course anything major, but when you get your piece check everywhere just for small things like tiny scratches and sometimes things won’t be completely aligned.
Harley Benton has no problem refunding you if anything is wrong, so there really is no need to worry at all. Just know that when you purchase you should check out your guitar completely as soon as you get it.
(This is just a good idea of course in general with any musical instrument you buy)
#4 The biggest difference between these and other guitars
These guitars have a very very very flat neck which the technical term is fretboard radius.
Since I play a lot of classical guitar, I personally find this to be a cool feature, but this can be very awkward for someone who hasn’t played a guitar like this before.
Not sure why they chose to add this, great deal for anyone who like the feel of less curve on their guitar.
Some people do find it’s easier to play fast licks on guitars with less fretboard radius than high radius so that might have something to do with it.
#3 They do go the extra mile
This might be obvious, but you’ll find for their price they’re doing great. Just having quality checks like other high quality guitar companies and not charging the same price is enough, but sanding the sides of the fretboard….putting in great electronics for 200$ guitars……Great Hardware….they’re really giving a lot for a little. Which brings me to my next point.
#2 Excellent materials used
The wood choices for all the guitars are great, electronics are great, Hardware……makes for great tone on all the models.
#1 Older models might not be as good?
From what it looks like, a lot of people have found older models of these guitars to not be up to par like the guitars they sell today. When you look at the reviews for Harley Benton guitars what I ended up noticing was that the reviews we’re almost all ranting and Raving reviews of how great the guitars are for their money even people who could afford much higher quality guitars still purchase Harley Benton‘s but every once in a while you’ll find an absolutely terrible review. Looking through these reviews I found that the difference was night and day even though most people found the guitars to be a higher standard, there were still some that claim they were mediocre at best which to me made absolutely no sense. And made even less sense because I’ve played five of these guitars and out of all the ones I’ve played I enjoyed all of them. But instead of just dismissing the negative reviews I tried to see if I could figure out why people are having such different opinions and I think I know the answer…
Turns out these guitars have been around for a while and it might just be that older models weren’t up to standard.
Looking at forum after forum of comments I noticed almost all the negative reviews were posted years ago and almost all the positive reviews have been posted in the last few years and I guess it sort of makes sense there of been a lot of guitar company’s that didn’t make the best guitar in the beginning.
This is the best answer I have for this, because if you look at any other review of these guitars they talk about how great of a purchase this guitar was. (Except for only one review I could find, where the guy seemed to expect a 4,000$ guitar for a couple hundred bucks, lol.)
Look anywhere on the web and you’ll find reviews like these guys freaking out about their purchase.
Summary:
Harley Benton Guitars are incredible, and becoming less and less hard to find in the states. For any player that’s on a budget he/she should seriously consider getting one of these guitars. Definitely going to be a brand to pay attention to in the future. There are of course, some quirks that makes these guitars very unique….and older models aren’t as great…but all in all I’m going to say these are a great guitar for anyone who is on a budget. I know that’s basically what everyone else is saying, but it’s the truth. Go buy one.
Note: Apart from them also being beautiful guitars and well-made……I really like the name as well. Catchy.
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