Harley Benton Custom Line Manhattan-Standard

Jag gillar den matta finishen.
Akustiskt har gitarren en varm fin, inte så volymstark ton.
Den flytande pickupen ger ett skönt lite luftigt sound.
Eftersom mikrofonen är monterad i greppbrädan och
inte i locket bidrar den till bra akustiska egenskaper.
Har bytt strängar och justerat stallet. Inga skorrande band.
Låter helt enkelt utmärkt.
Kan inte tänka mig en bättre gitarr av den här typen
i det prisläget.
Rekommenderas!

I've been playing this guitar at home every day now for about two weeks and for the money this is a really solid arch top guitar.

As far as build quality goes i can't really find anything to critique. I haven't found any marks och blemishes in the finish. There is one small spot where i can feel a height-difference between the body and the binding. But its a really small area and nothing I can see, just feel with my fingers. The nut and saddle are not perfect but definitely playable right out of the box. The only thing I might change down the line is the tuners. They don't have that "high quality" feel to them but on the other hand they work. so...if it ain't broke don't fix it...

Unplugged i find the guitar has a lovely "woody" sound. The pickup is ok. I might change that down the line too to get my favorite. But its' a playable and usable sound for this guitar. I noticed the pole pieces on the pickup seem to be spaced really far apart and I have no idea why. I doesn't affect the sound at all. The pole pieces are still under the strings.

All-in-all I highly recommend this guitar if your are in the same situation I was in - on a tight budget and itching to get your hands on a jazz archtop.

I bought this guitar 6 months ago and have played it multiple times a week since. It was my very first guitar a) which is an electric hollow body, b) I bought over Internet from abroad.

First, I was very nicely surprised by the natural resonance of the guitar. Although its unplugged tone is nothing to write home about (it's an electric guitar after all!) it's good enough for home practice. Very focused, mid-rangy and percussive. You don't have to plug it in at all and you get sound loud enough for practicing with metronome or a not very loud backing track. Its unplugged volume is just a bit lower than a parlour acoustic guitar. If you want to practice Freddy Green style comping in the middle of a night you definitely will annoy your neighbours :) .

Plugged-in sound for me is very sweet, warm and mellow (I have flat wound strings, 12 gauge). If you are into sounding like Charlie Christian, Wes Montgomery or George Benson, this guitar will definitely help you. Although it has just one pickup, it can give you a lot of tone variety depending on your play style. I don't miss a bridge pickup at all. I had a lot of success playing jazz blues with a looper pedal and through a bass amp (Fender Bassman). The whole guitar is made of fairly thick laminated wood and the body is thin which reduces the susceptibility to feedback. However if you are used to play just solid body guitars it can catch you unprepared. It is easily manageable if you get used to it.

Speaking of its quality, it is really superb for the price. It holds tuning very well, is easy to setup and intonate, frets are level and were nicely crowned (although there were some tool marks on their edges, someone probably fixed the fret sprout hastily). Tuning machines are smooth. From the worse bits I found a bit of dust under lacquer in two places, frets were unpolished and the plastic nut was just a bit weird. The output jack hole keeps loosing itself. At first I thought I would have to replace the pickup and pots; I didn't have to - pots are fine and the pickup is nice sounding. I just replaced the nut and polished the frets. Overall, the build quality is on par with guitars at least twice the price. What I really appreciate is the satin finish. Although it does not look so "glamorous", satin finished necks feel much better to me than polished.

This guitar can be a nice addition to your collection, it definitely is the most affordable and useable jazz guitar/electric archtop on the European market. I really wish Harley Benton would add a cut-away model or a lighter colour but it's fine as it is.