Harley Benton Custom Line CLR-ResoElectric

Let's face it, we're all attracted by the National Style O from Mark Knopfler, but they are really expensive. If you're looking for a guitar that has the looks of a National O and sounds more or less like one, but you only want to spend like 1/10th of the money, go for the Harley Benton.
First thing that pleasantly surprised me: the action! Really very good. The guitar came actually tuned as well!
The sound might be not exactly like a National O, but you've paid really a lot less as well! I've bought the guitar just to be able to play around a bit with the resonator and steel guitar sound, and I'm having a lot of fun with it. Just try it out!

Just had my guitar for over a week now, so still getting used to it. I am a guitar player with 50 years experience, so I know what feels good or not. Pros: As the title suggests, it looks the business. Neck wood looks very nice (wenge?) and neck feels nice to play. Contrast between silver body and gold cone is very effective. Generally sounds good acoustically. Cons: Heavier than I thought it would be but it is metal, so....Fret edges very rough in places. Slight 'clonk' everytime I pick the guitar up so don't know if there is something loose inside or it's the pickup wire hitting the metal body. Height of action makes it hard to play up the neck normally but I guess it's meant to be played predominantly with a slide. Tone volume controls very scratchy and feel cheap. Pickup very weak output, have to up the gain on my amp to hear it properly. Etching looks lovely but is quite rough on the back catching on jumpers. I could replace various elements and/or get a luthier to sort out action/frets/pots/pickup etc. as I'm not confident enough to do any such changes, but once you do that, the price goes up and it's not such a bargain. Mind you, is it a bargain at over £500 ? When I first started considering buying this guitar, it was a lot cheaper. This is probably one of the more expensive HBs you can now buy, due to its popularity. I will persevere.

At first glance, this is an inexpensive, high quality resonator. Out of the box, mine was easy to set up and had a high standard finish (ie, level and smooth frets and bridge, neck and nut built for comfortable action.
But, "Is this a good guitar for the money?" is a wholly inappropriate question for this instrument. The question this guitar answers is "Is this guitar what I need?" It feels like it was built to have no compromises. It's loud, bright, and jangly as all hell. Banjo made from metal is what this sounds like. I want to change the bell to make it sound less jangly, but for some, it's volume and slice through mix ability will be perfect.

I have a collection of various six string acoustic guitars. At my solo gigs I like to have a variation of sounds and often thought of getting resonator guitar but High prices put me off a little as I only wanted to use it on a few songs. I researched some entry to mid-level instruments and was looking at the secondhand market. I was on YouTube one day and saw a very honest review on this guitar. The guitarist reviewing picked up a national guitar Played it for two minutes and said there we are we all know how wonderful an instrument this is and how it sounds but if you don’t have the budget but want something that emulates that sound this could be the guitar for you. I was impressed enough to go ahead and order one and when it arrived I was pleasantly surprised. This was a well-made instrument sounded okay acoustically but when I plugged it into my PA system I was amazed with the great sounds you get from the lipstick pick up.
This is a great guitar and I would recommend it to anybody who wants to take the first steps to get that true blues sound.