NGD... Harley Benton CLP-15ME SolidWood

BigPaulie

menamestom said:

DiscoStu said:

Just realised that this is an electro! £259 is nuts. 

I know, seems too good to be true.  I'd rather it wasn't an electro personally but hard to argue with the value.

I've been thinking about one of these as an inexpensive fingerpicker.

I don't know anything about Okoume, but assume it's mahogany like in tone?

Have a listen for yourself and see what you think...

https://www.thomann.de/gb/harley_benton_clp_15me_solidwood.htm

bertie

DavidR said:

 

One has to ask again; why in 2023 are we still paying £3-4K for guitars? 

cos we cant afford a Blazer and Henkes ?

earwighoney

bertie said:

DavidR said:

 

One has to ask again; why in 2023 are we still paying £3-4K for guitars? 

cos we cant afford a Blazer and Henkes ?

I have a guitar made by who was briefly their student, who's kind of following on in their tradition of vintage inspired instruments.  The problem is, it's so nice I'm terrified of taking it out of it's case.

bertie

earwighoney said:

bertie said:

DavidR said:

 

One has to ask again; why in 2023 are we still paying £3-4K for guitars? 

cos we cant afford a Blazer and Henkes ?

I have a guitar made by who was briefly their student, who's kind of following on in their tradition of vintage inspired instruments.  The problem is, it's so nice I'm terrified of taking it out of it's case.

I'll be quite honest,  I hadnt heard of them................ there was one for sale on Marketplace about a month ago, I assumed the ££ was a misprint (assumed it should've been £1900, not £19,000 so did some googling  - wow they are amazing.................but with about £10k being their used entry level something I'll never own............

earwighoney

bertie said:

earwighoney said:

bertie said:

DavidR said:

 

One has to ask again; why in 2023 are we still paying £3-4K for guitars? 

cos we cant afford a Blazer and Henkes ?

I have a guitar made by who was briefly their student, who's kind of following on in their tradition of vintage inspired instruments.  The problem is, it's so nice I'm terrified of taking it out of it's case.

I'll be quite honest,  I hadnt heard of them................ there was one for sale on Marketplace about a month ago, I assumed the ££ was a misprint (assumed it should've been £1900, not £19,000 so did some googling  - wow they are amazing.................but with about £10k being their used entry level something I'll never own............

Yeah crazy prices.

They are top of the tree for vintage Martin repros. There are a few others with quality like that but they are even more expensive, eg Wayne Henderson, John Arnold etc

guitarjack66

SlopeSoarer said:

It's got a 45mm nut, spacing is decent.

My Cort Parlour has a 45mm nut and that is what attracted me to it. Very comfortable.

BillDL

I really like that guitar and I have frequently stopped and considered it as a purchase while browsing the "CL" "SolidWood" range of Harley Benton acoustics.

The spec says the soundboard is solid Okoume and the back, sides and neck are solid Ovankol.  Your own photos are an awful lot better than the Thomann ones, and it definitely does look from the grain to have the different wood for the back and sides.  Neither of those woods is at all new for stringed musical instruments.  Another name for Ovankol is Shedua, and Rickenbacker (probably other companies as well) were using this many years ago on their semi-acoustic electrics.  I think it is to be commended that different woods are now being used, but it does make it slightly more difficult to anticipate how they will sound compared with the traditional standards for acoustics.  I really do like Pau Ferro for fretboards and bridges, and that looks like a nicely selected piece for your fretboard.  It's a whole lot better than some of the very open pored rosewood being used these days and is usually smoother and harder in feel than woods like Walnut.

All the specs would suit me perfectly, although a slotted peghead for steel strung guitars has never been my first choice.  I find them a bit fiddly to restring compared with standard tuners, but I suppose you would get just as adept at it after doing it a few times and discovering the best way to make the wraps go to keep them clear of the entrances to the slots at the nut.

How well are the fret ends finished?  They look pretty well finished in your photos, but I am really pernickety when it comes to how smooth and rounded they are on my own guitars and I always do some fine finishing work on all new guitars I buy.

Nice purchase, and I hope you keep enjoying it.

SlopeSoarer

BillDL said:

I really like that guitar and I have frequently stopped and considered it as a purchase while browsing the "CL" "SolidWood" range of Harley Benton acoustics.

The spec says the soundboard is solid Okoume and the back, sides and neck are solid Ovankol.  Your own photos are an awful lot better than the Thomann ones, and it definitely does look from the grain to have the different wood for the back and sides.  Neither of those woods is at all new for stringed musical instruments.  Another name for Ovankol is Shedua, and Rickenbacker (probably other companies as well) were using this many years ago on their semi-acoustic electrics.  I think it is to be commended that different woods are now being used, but it does make it slightly more difficult to anticipate how they will sound compared with the traditional standards for acoustics.  I really do like Pau Ferro for fretboards and bridges, and that looks like a nicely selected piece for your fretboard.  It's a whole lot better than some of the very open pored rosewood being used these days and is usually smoother and harder in feel than woods like Walnut.

All the specs would suit me perfectly, although a slotted peghead for steel strung guitars has never been my first choice.  I find them a bit fiddly to restring compared with standard tuners, but I suppose you would get just as adept at it after doing it a few times and discovering the best way to make the wraps go to keep them clear of the entrances to the slots at the nut.

How well are the fret ends finished?  They look pretty well finished in your photos, but I am really pernickety when it comes to how smooth and rounded they are on my own guitars and I always do some fine finishing work on all new guitars I buy.

Nice purchase, and I hope you keep enjoying it.

Hi @BillDL I'm not sure what it is now as the specification is confusing (looking at it again) as in one place it says the back,  sides and neck are okoume and further down it says back, sides and neck are ovangkol! Like you say the top does look a little different to the rest (perhaps the cut). Edit: Looking at the specs of the other guitars in this range I think it is a typo and there should be no reference to ovangkol! Whatever it sounds good to me.

I couldn't agree more about the slotted peghead/tuners I much prefer standard, there is some play in them but they keep there tuning well. I certainly won't be rushing out and changing them.

Fret ends are absolutely fine no sharp edges at all but don't expect them to be hand finished like if you had sent them in to be done. They (Cort from my observations) have done a slight chamfer to the fretboard edge, so while not rolled it is a slightly softened edge.

£255 at present... they (nearly) had my eyes out at £259! Maybe I got very lucky but it is a very easy guitar to pick up and play, 

BillDL

Yeah, I wouldn't waste any time wondering about the specified woods.  It's how it sounds and feels that counts, and clearly you are very pleased with those aspects.  I really like the appearance of slotted headstocks on folk style steel string acoustics.  Your guitar suits that style well and it's a very nice looking instrument.  It's simply that I don't string classical guitars or slotted folk guitar headstocks very often at all, so I always end up feeling quite clumsy when I do.