JF
First Impression? there's only one
For many years my only folk guitar was a Yamaha FG-180 made in Taiwan bought in London 50 years ago. Those FGs are famous for good reason. This one still plays and sounds very nicely. But, I wanted a wider neck instrument to practice some fingerpicking, maybe with a bit of amplification, and that´s how the CLG-48CE stepped in.
The guitar is very well finished, to my eyes at least, it's almost as good looking as the CLJ-412E NT 12-string I also have. The walnut back and sides, although more sustainable ecologically of course, are a bit darker and greyer that the - more luminous - Ovangkol and abalone-gold combination of the 12 string. But that was a minor issue.
Much sadder was the sound of that thing, or specifically, the lack of it. No resonation whatsoever. That was the real bummer. To make things worse, the setup was irritating since the nut was about half a millimeter too high and the bridge saddle also higher than "normal". I reported the problems to Thomann's after-sales, hinting at maybe rusty string cores and poor setup, but they just recommended to see a luthier. Maybe I should havesimply returned the instrument but still went ahead with my not-so-great DiY skills. Sanded the undersides of both nut and saddle, somehow ignoring the recommendations (pick up won't work etc).
In the meantime the guitar was placed on a stand and very slowly it seemed to be gaining some voice, until by the time I bought some new Elixirs locally and put them on the *ROUGHLY* adjusted nut and saddle - it started to sing! Not perfection, but what a difference!
For myself anyway, the conclusion and moral of the story is that - probably the guitar was kept in humidified environment as it should yes, but for too long or too humid conditions. That would explain the visibly rusty strings and mute wood behaviour. And also how after a couple weeks ventilation and string change it normalised to a large extent. And BTW, I never got replacement strings or nuts. Service was obviously too busy and so was I, to vehemently demand it.
Apart from these important issues and considerations, the instrument is quite good for its price range, decent finish, very good intonation (important since not little or no regulation possible) and decent sound, acooustically and amplified.
But I would leave Thomann a suggestion: why not include in these instruments a spare saddle and nut, maybe a hair lower than the main one just to help the buyer solve these all too common issues? It might increase costs a couple of € but it would be well worth it. Or, alternatively, make available the concerned parts on the store.
The guitar is very well finished, to my eyes at least, it's almost as good looking as the CLJ-412E NT 12-string I also have. The walnut back and sides, although more sustainable ecologically of course, are a bit darker and greyer that the - more luminous - Ovangkol and abalone-gold combination of the 12 string. But that was a minor issue.
Much sadder was the sound of that thing, or specifically, the lack of it. No resonation whatsoever. That was the real bummer. To make things worse, the setup was irritating since the nut was about half a millimeter too high and the bridge saddle also higher than "normal". I reported the problems to Thomann's after-sales, hinting at maybe rusty string cores and poor setup, but they just recommended to see a luthier. Maybe I should havesimply returned the instrument but still went ahead with my not-so-great DiY skills. Sanded the undersides of both nut and saddle, somehow ignoring the recommendations (pick up won't work etc).
In the meantime the guitar was placed on a stand and very slowly it seemed to be gaining some voice, until by the time I bought some new Elixirs locally and put them on the *ROUGHLY* adjusted nut and saddle - it started to sing! Not perfection, but what a difference!
For myself anyway, the conclusion and moral of the story is that - probably the guitar was kept in humidified environment as it should yes, but for too long or too humid conditions. That would explain the visibly rusty strings and mute wood behaviour. And also how after a couple weeks ventilation and string change it normalised to a large extent. And BTW, I never got replacement strings or nuts. Service was obviously too busy and so was I, to vehemently demand it.
Apart from these important issues and considerations, the instrument is quite good for its price range, decent finish, very good intonation (important since not little or no regulation possible) and decent sound, acooustically and amplified.
But I would leave Thomann a suggestion: why not include in these instruments a spare saddle and nut, maybe a hair lower than the main one just to help the buyer solve these all too common issues? It might increase costs a couple of € but it would be well worth it. Or, alternatively, make available the concerned parts on the store.
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W
fantastische Gitarre
Die Gitarre ist perfekt verarbeitet.
Der Klang geht vom neutralen Sound aus in die helle, brilliante Richtung.
Die anderen Frequenzen sind aber auch noch ziemlich ausgewogen vertreten.
Wenn man leise spielt hört sie sich auch leise an, hat also eine tolle Dynamik.
Im Vergleich klingt die CLD-1048SCE etwas wärmer, dunkler und lauter (kann sich nicht so leise anhören wie diese). Beide verdienen 5 Sterne, sie sind einfach unterschiedlich.
Die 48mm Halsbreite sind toll für meine dickeren Finger!
Ein echter Geheimtip!
Der Klang geht vom neutralen Sound aus in die helle, brilliante Richtung.
Die anderen Frequenzen sind aber auch noch ziemlich ausgewogen vertreten.
Wenn man leise spielt hört sie sich auch leise an, hat also eine tolle Dynamik.
Im Vergleich klingt die CLD-1048SCE etwas wärmer, dunkler und lauter (kann sich nicht so leise anhören wie diese). Beide verdienen 5 Sterne, sie sind einfach unterschiedlich.
Die 48mm Halsbreite sind toll für meine dickeren Finger!
Ein echter Geheimtip!
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G
Spectacular value for money
I have around 40 guitars, I’ve had most makes, Taylor’s, Martins, Guilds etc
but this guitar is absolutely amazing for the money , it actually compares favourably with all of them. I’ve been playing for over 60 years pretty well every genre of music from finger picking to heavy strumming and this piece of kit copes with it all either plugged in or unplugged. I have no hesitation in recommending it, I’m certain you won’t be disappointed.
but this guitar is absolutely amazing for the money , it actually compares favourably with all of them. I’ve been playing for over 60 years pretty well every genre of music from finger picking to heavy strumming and this piece of kit copes with it all either plugged in or unplugged. I have no hesitation in recommending it, I’m certain you won’t be disappointed.
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r
Very nice guitar, for the money, astonishing
Had been looking for a steel acoustic for ages, tried MANY, and had given up in preference for a classical as the wide neck suited my sausage fingers! Then came across this and thought I'd give HB a punt after hearing good things, only £244 and 30 day return policy, nothing to lose. On arrival looked promising but action high, so took it to my local guitar tech. He set it up and now feels and plays great, he was gobsmacked by the build quality etc. for the money, I am delighted with it and think I would be even if it had cost twice as much, possibly 3 times as much!
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PP
Great product. Good value
Having bought other guitars from Thomann , I wanted to try a guitar with a slightly wider neck and I must say that I am very pleased with this guitar. It has a good tone, good action, and is very playable straight out of the box. There are a couple of marks on the front which are under the varnish but are not too visible but for this price delivered to the UK one cannot complain. Overall I am impressed by both the guitar and the speedy service. It took just a calendar week from ordering (Friday) to delivery (Thursday). Well done Thomann
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BP
This is an outstandingly good guitar I would wholeheartedly recommend.
Materials: great quality woods, very well crafted. Fretwork excellent. Die cast tuners.
Intonation: first thing I checked and it’s as good as intonation can be.
Action: perfect for me, on the low side but not so low as to attenuate the strings when strumming. Quality control apparently checked string height and recorded this on a little card.
I chose this guitar for the 48mm neck and at last I can play a basic A chord without my fingers fouling the other strings.
Pros: everything; this is a fabulous guitar out of the box; because of the woods, it will improve with age; maybe I got a particularly good one but this instrument sings out beautifully and gives off wonderful harmonics.
Cons: tuners are not as precise as I would like but this is certainly not a deal-breaker; it’s possible to tune the guitar as accurately as it’s possible to tune a guitar.
Summary: blown away! An absolute gem of a guitar.
Intonation: first thing I checked and it’s as good as intonation can be.
Action: perfect for me, on the low side but not so low as to attenuate the strings when strumming. Quality control apparently checked string height and recorded this on a little card.
I chose this guitar for the 48mm neck and at last I can play a basic A chord without my fingers fouling the other strings.
Pros: everything; this is a fabulous guitar out of the box; because of the woods, it will improve with age; maybe I got a particularly good one but this instrument sings out beautifully and gives off wonderful harmonics.
Cons: tuners are not as precise as I would like but this is certainly not a deal-breaker; it’s possible to tune the guitar as accurately as it’s possible to tune a guitar.
Summary: blown away! An absolute gem of a guitar.
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A
Harley Benton Custom Line CLG-48CE Wide NT
Amazing guitar and beautiful sound!! The best purchase I’ve ever made!! Thanks Thomann
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DB
Exceptional guitar for the money
Although in 250 euros range, this guitar would cost at least 350-400 euros from other manufacturers. Also, this guitar is special because it has 48 mm NUT width, and finding that feature in this price range is unique. Action is good, overall quality is high, sound is warm and crispy. Guitar is somewhat pretty loud, so have that in mind if you want a more quiet alternative. I haven't had experience with Harley Benton until I ordered this guitar for my dad, and after playing it I want another Harley Benton acoustic for myself.
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S
Unique and impressive
I bought this CLG-48CE Wide NT for the neck width because it’s hard to find guitars with nut widths wider than 1 3/4”. I was not expecting to fall in love with the entire guitar. It’s beautiful, first of all. The neck is very playable and exactly what I was hoping for in a wide neck guitar similar to classical guitar width. The finish and quality kinda blew me away. I’ll never play through the Fishman pickup, but I love that it is a built-in tuner. And again, I bought it for the neck, not the sound, but it actually sounds great! The top is very wide-grained spruce braced very well with a striking abalone-looking rosette… it might be real, I dunno… and the guitar vibrates very well when played. The ONLY downside I noticed was the pickguard. It’s very low-end, thing, and unattractive, and the plastic covering on the pick guard won’t come completely off. I’ll be changing the pickguard out, but KEEPING this guitar!
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Eb
Outstanding Value
I have large, bass player hands, so I needed a guitar with a wider nut, and ordered this based on the positive reviews given by others. I must say, that those reviews are correct - this is a quality instrument, beautifully made and set up virtually perfectly out of the box. How do they do it for the price? Thomman service is second to none.
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