Harley Benton GS-Travel Spruce

Jag ville ha en mindre akustisk gitarr som komplement till elgitarren. Jag ska använda den för övning och den ska vara lätt att ta med på resor.
Leveransen till Sverige tog 4 dagar. Gitarren var förpackad mycket väl.
Väldigt ostämd, kanske har den legat länge? Men då fick jag anledning att testa stämskruvarna direkt, och dom fungerar precis som dom ska. Förutom det, var den bra intonerad och bra action utan buzz.
Kvaliteten på bygget går inte att klaga på även om det inte är 100% -igt. Bara några få anmärkningar på lackeringen kan göras om man letar ordentligt. Banden är sköna och bra monterade, inga vassa kanter.
Ljudet är jag nöjd med, likaså spelbarheten. Liten och lätt gör att den fyller min önskade funktion mycket väl.
Strängarna är jag inte vän med än. Kanske byter jag dom.
Ett extra plus är att en gig-bag följer med, det gör det enkelt att ta med den.

Gitarren rekommenderas varmt.

My five stars don't mean this is an amazing instrument, just that it is a very good value. The guitar works well out of the box if all you're going to do is strum some open chords. But if you wish to play higher on the neck you'll want to lower the action, and if you wish to do some bends or vibratos you'll want to polish the frets. This is fully to be expected from a cheap factory-made instrument though, so no complaints there.

I'm using this one with "Nashville tuning", which the slightly shorter scale makes it very suitable for. This tuning is the same as standard tuning, but with the four lowest strings tuned an octave higher. A Nashville tuned guitar is handy for doubling a regular acoustic when recording, giving some extra sparkle to the sound. To tune it like this, suitable strings are:

E 032 wound
A 022 wound
D 014 plain
G 010 plain
B 016 plain
E 012 plain

I would recommend this guitar for Nashville tuning, and it will of course also work well as a slightly smaller "travel" instrument, or as a first guitar for a child.

There aren't many reviews out for this product so hopefully mine will help some people out here.

TL;DR: Awesome small guitar with amazing sound, especially for the price. Finish lacking a bit but won't affect the performance of the guitar. Good tuners, matte neck and comes with a gigbag.

Having moved to Germany recently I was missing my guitar back home; a big dreadnought which is actually pretty hard to play. I wanted something small and robust I could take with me everywhere and wouldn't mind getting dinged or scratched up.

Lo and behold the Harley Benton GS-Travel. Of course, somewhat of a copy of the Taylor GS Mini. It has a shorter scale length than a full size guitar but is still about 50mm bigger than the Harley Benton Mini. When I first unpacked it I was kind of shocked, it's small! The sound however is anything but small. I was so surprised at how good it sounds and how well set-up it is from the factory. Neck didn't need any adjustment, action was perfect and the 10 gauge strings make it a breeze to fret.

The V-shape neck might take some getting used to, but for me it complements my playing style. For a tiny guitar, it is sufficiently loud. Its actually somehow louder than the auditorium guitar I used to borrow from a roommate but it doesn't project as far. Of course, this version doesn't have a solid top, but for about 20~30 euro's more you can get a solid top version (but won't be able to handle abuse as much as a laminate). Tuners work remarkably well and are accurate, even more so than the 350 euro guitar my roommate has.


The finish isn't perfect but honestly I don't mind and don't notice unless I look for it. The neck has a matte finish which makes it easy to slide up and down on and the headstock looks absolutely gorgeous in my opinion. The lower frets have some dirt/oxidation on them but it doesn't affect the playing. The bag that it comes in offers decent protection, just a normal gigbag.

If you're looking for something to play around the house or take with you and don't care about getting abused then definitely go for it. The V-neck might not be for everyone but I like it. For 80 euro's, I cannot figure out how they can produce such a good guitar. This easily beats guitars in the 120~150 euro's range from well-known manufacturers. I still have to try out 12 and 13 gauge strings to see how they perform, but the 10's are already impressive.

I recently started teaching and wanted a small and light weight guitar to sling in the car and not really worry too much if it was knocked , it obviously needed to play to a certain standard. Having looked at a number of travel guitars I checked Thomann and found the Harley Benton and with a gig bag included I thought this looked like this would fit the criteria I had set and was less than a £100 . Has it met expectation?
I am pleased to say I am more than happy with the guitar although it needed a little bit of work to get it to how I wanted it to play which I will explain shortly. First off top marks for delivery , guitar was well packaged and quickly delivered .
Out of the box the guitar was well made with no obvious defects , fret ends had been filed properly, and I also could find no high frets which evidences good quality control. The lacquer was well applied and finished to a good standard . The action was a little too high for my liking however that being said it played well around the first 5 frets where it matters most especially to anyone who is starting to play. I have taken off about 2mm from the bridge which was quite easy with a sheet of sandpaper and digital callipers to make sure I didn't make it too low, I also adjusted relief and it is now has a playing action similar to my other more expensive acoustic. Strings are basic but adequate .
How does it play? Sound wise it is quite bright but fairly balanced, its also pretty loud although I would recommend buying the same guitar with the pickup installed if you considered you would be giging with the guitar. I fingerpick and strum and the guitar is suited to both producing acceptable tones . The neck is quite slim much what you would expect on an electric guitar which is a bonus for me as I also play electric lead guitar enabling me to be able to switch between instruments with ease, the slim neck is also ideal for people with smaller hands.
Final thoughts
I played the guitar now for the last 3 weeks and I am more than happy with my decision , I find myself playing the guitar more than I intended which is a clear sign it has exceeded my expectation, the gig bag is a nice addition and feels well made and has saved the additional expense of having to purchase a bag separately . I would recommend this guitar based on quality and playability versus price , all things considered I really don't think you could get a similar priced guitar elsewhere, 5 stars from me!