Opinions on Harley Benton Acoustic

guitarjack66 · February 2022

I tried out a Sigma travel guitar today and while it was a bit smaller than I want I was very impressed by its sound and build quality. I will certainly look around more at Sigma.

bertie · February 2022

guitarjack66 said:

TTony said:

HB are typically reviewed as good VFM, accepting that you may well have to swap various bits and pieces and do some set-up work to get a decent playing and sounding guitar.

You can still tweak an acoustic's set-up to some extent, albeit you'll struggle to adjust a neck angle, and adjust bridge height is a bit trickier.

But you can't really tweak its sound by swapping pickups - you're dependent on the quality materials used and the construction of the guitar.

In short, I'd say an HB acoustic is a riskier proposition than an HB electric.

If you really want an acoustic, I'd be playing a few from the different brands and deciding which approach felt and sounded best (to my ears) and then either buying the one that spoke to me most, or keeping my eyes open for something s/h . There still seem to be a fair few s/h acoustic bargains appearing here.

Something with a decent brand on the headstock, s/h for £400, is likely to be much more than twice as good as a new HB for £200.

Thanks for your input Tony.
Isn't it the case though that Harley Bentons are mostly made at the same factories with the same materials as the £400 guitars and for all intents and purposes they are £400 guitars?

no - absolutely no correlation

while they "might" be made in the same factory...................they probably arent made to the same spec-sheet/standards/QC/ exactly the same materials

PetGerbil · February 2022

You don't think guitar company "A" says "How much to build a guitar with this spec ?

Manufacturer says "..If you're buying a thousand, £100 per unit." Great,says company. I'll charge £300 trade and it will be in the shops at around £450.

Whereas Thomann says "How much to build a guitar with this spec ?"

Manufacturer says "If you're buying a thousand, £100 per unit." Great says Thomann, we'll charge £200.?

guitarjack66 · February 2022

I've plumped for a Sigma. It should be arriving next week so I will have my first NGD in quite a while.

hollywoodrox · February 2022

I’m chuffed to bits with this . I play electric mainly but thought it was time to get another acoustic to tote along to friends,cafe’s park ,beach whatever . £66 bloody bargain of the year love it.
spent another £30 or £40 on a good setup .it’ll do me fine bit of “wild horses” “wanted DOA” “every rose “ “patience “ etc

BillDL · February 2022

guitarjack66 said:

I've plumped for a Sigma. It should be arriving next week so I will have my first NGD in quite a while.

That's good news. I hope you like it. I'm very fond of Sigma guitars. You don't tend to find many 2nd-hand ones, and I think that's because most buyers like them and keep them. I particularly like my OM one with the nice wide nut much like this, but it looks better in real life than in the official photo:
https://www.sigma-guitars.com/guitars/1-series/omtc-1e-sb/

DannyP · February 2022

guitarjack66 said:

DannyP said:

I have the Custom Line CLA-28VE RW.....

I remember preferring it to the Sigmas I was trying out at the time when I bought it.

Sigma is a brand I've also been looking at too.

The reason I preferred the Harley Benton to the Sigma was the specs rather than quality or sound, TBH.

Sigma 000 guitars aren't quite built to true 000-28 spec:

- Scale length is 645mm instead of 632mm
- Nut width is 42.9mm instead of 45mm
- No soft-V neck profile

I guess they make them a bit more 'normal' to give them mainstream appeal and save money on tooling.

I wanted proper 000-28 specs so my new guitar would be significantly different from my dreadnought. The Harley Benton had the right specs so I went for that.

One advantage of Sigma though is resale value. I'm sure my £230 HB is now worth about the same as an empty crisp packet!

CavemanGrogg · February 2022

DannyP said:

guitarjack66 said:

DannyP said:

I have the Custom Line CLA-28VE RW.....

I remember preferring it to the Sigmas I was trying out at the time when I bought it.

Sigma is a brand I've also been looking at too.

The reason I preferred the Harley Benton to the Sigma was the specs rather than quality or sound, TBH.

Sigma 000 guitars aren't quite built to true 000-28 spec:

- Scale length is 645mm instead of 632mm
- Nut width is 42.9mm instead of 45mm
- No soft-V neck profile

I guess they make them a bit more 'normal' to give them mainstream appeal and save money on tooling.

I wanted proper 000-28 specs so my new guitar would be significantly different from my dreadnought. The Harley Benton had the right specs so I went for that.

One advantage of Sigma though is resale value. I'm sure my £230 HB is now worth about the same as an empty crisp packet!

That depends, I hear the Cheese and Owens, and Salt and Liniker crisp packs are worth quite a bit to collectors. Yes people collect empty crisp packets, they even have a grading scale for them like comics stamps and coins do.

Tannin · February 2022

Jack, two questions.

1: Which exact Sigma did you end up getting?

2: Are you going to do a New Guitar Day thread with pictures?

guitarjack66 · February 2022

Tannin said:

Jack, two questions.

1: Which exact Sigma did you end up getting?

2: Are you going to do a New Guitar Day thread with pictures?

Did I not do one? If not I will fix that very shortly. It was a Sigma GMC STE Grand Concert/Orchestra size.

Tannin · February 2022

Oh nice. Good looker, solid top, and Sigma don't sell crap. It will do you nicely.

guitarjack66 · February 2022

Tannin said:

Oh nice. Good looker, solid top, and Sigma don't sell crap. It will do you nicely.

Thanks. It's nice to get a vote of confidence from a true forum acoustic expert and connoisseur.

Tannin · February 2022

Yes, it is nice. Let's hope it happens soon. (Where is Bertie when you need him?)

dazzer22 · March 2022

I turned down getting a Harley Benton acoustic I don't know enough about them and for £250 - £300 i would rather be looking at washburn , Alvarerz , yamaha ,

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