21 September
Dear Hans Thomann,
I am writing first of all to extend my compliments on your excellent Harley Benton guitars. I really feel your brand is transforming the guitar industry for the better.
I bought my first Harley Benton last year after reading many superb reviews, including from music journalists whose opinions I really respect. It’s the HB-35 Plus model, which of course emulates the Gibson ES-335 for less than ten percent of the price. It looks simply gorgeous with its flamed maple top and vintage burst finish and sounds fantastic. It’s my go-to guitar for playing live and it handles everything from jazz and blues to hard rock with ease, often attracting compliments on its looks and sound. The build quality and playability are great to boot. I had to polish the frets and opted to upgrade the nut and machine heads for better tuning stability, but otherwise it needed little setup and the rest of the stock hardware seems solid. I was seriously impressed, so much so that I now prefer it to my Gibson Les Paul.
My second Harley Benton guitar was a more recent acquisition. I wanted a decent acoustic-electric for playing live, without spending a fortune, given that gigging instruments can readily get knocked about a bit through use. I opted for the solid mahogany version of the CLD-15, a cutaway dreadnought. This time, I didn’t even need to do any setup at all, and took it straight out to play the same night. The only issue I had was due to the strange design choice of the strap button, which was merely wedged into the base of the guitar and promptly fell out, but that was nothing a bit of glue wouldn’t fix. The tuners on this model are very smooth and stable. It is frankly an astonishing guitar which is friendly to play and its tone both plugged and unplugged is sweet and balanced, being actually much brighter than I was expecting from mahogany. It sounds delicate and responsive for fingerpicking and rich and robust for strumming. Again, the compliments come rolling in every time I play it, and again, it has become a favourite with me.
I should start asking for commission soon, as I’ve now enthused about this brand to a lot of fellow musicians and given it my firm recommendation! I would do the same to any other readers of this letter. I have been playing for fifteen years and owned instruments by the likes of Gibson, Fender and Ibanez, the old-guard kings of the guitar world, but now I would look first at the Harley Benton catalogue. They now produce a huge range and the combination of quality and value is very hard to argue with. Beginners and professionals alike, I’d suggest you check them out.
My second reason for writing this letter is to make a request. Despite that wide range that HB now produces, including close copies of most of the major Fender and Gibson styles, there is a notable omission. There is no Harley Benton Firebird! The streamlined shape and particular sonic profile from the mini humbuckers makes the reverse Firebird a truly iconic and distinctive guitar, and it’s one that I’ve long longed to own. I enquired some time ago with HB customer services and was told there were no plans to make a Firebird-style guitar. Would you please consider adding one to the Harley Benton range sometime soon? I would love for it to be my third happy guitar acquisition from your company!
Many thanks and best wishes,
Christopher Crompton
Christopher Crompton