Show Full Spec Comparison
| Harley Benton CLJ-45E VS | Fender FA-125CE Dreadnought | |
|---|---|---|
| General | ||
| Brand: | Harley Benton | Fender |
| Year: | 2021 | 2018 |
| Strings: | 6 | 6 |
| Made in: | China | China |
| Series: | Custom Line | Fender Alternative |
| Colors: | Sunburst | Natural |
| Left-Handed Version: | No | No |
| Body | ||
| Type: | Hollowbody | Hollowbody |
| Body Material: | Spruce | Laminated Spruce |
| Sides Material: | Mahogany | Basswood |
| Back Material: | Mahogany | Basswood |
| Bridge: | Ovangkol | Laminated Hardwood |
| Neck | ||
| Neck Joint: | Set | Set |
| Tuners: | Keystone vintage chrome machine heads | Die-Cast Sealed |
| Fretboard: | Ovangkol | Walnut |
| Neck Material: | Mahogany | Nato |
| Decoration: | Dots | White Dot |
| Scale Size: | 25.5" | 25.3" |
| Shape: | Acoustic C Shape | Acoustic C Shape |
| Frets: | 20 Medium Nickel Silver | 20 Medium Nickel Silver |
| Fretboard Radius: | 15.748" | 11.81" |
| Nut: | Bone | Plastic |
| Nut Width: | 43mm (1.693'') | 43mm (1.693'') |
| Electronics | ||
| Pickups: | Fishman Presys-II preamp with integrated tuner (Preamp / Active) | Fender FE-A2 Preamp (Preamp / Active) |
| Hardware | ||
| Strap Lock: | Yes | No |
| Hardware Color: | Chrome | Chrome |
Reasons to Get
Harley Benton CLJ-45E VS over Fender FA-125CE Dreadnought
Reasons to Get
Fender FA-125CE Dreadnought over Harley Benton CLJ-45E VS
Other Key Differences
Harley Benton CLJ-45E VS vs Fender FA-125CE Dreadnought
Shared Features
Harley Benton CLJ-45E VS vs Fender FA-125CE Dreadnought
Common Strengths
- Top Pickup Brand
Common Weaknesses
- Solid Top Wood
- Solid Side Wood
- Solid Back Wood
- Pickup Alter Switch/Knob
- Locking Tuners
- High-Quality Frets
- Compound Radius Fretboard
- From a High-Quality-Standards Country
- Luminescent Sidedots
- 21:1 Tuner Ratio
- Active/Passive Preamp
Price History Comparison
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Hand Size Comfortability
After taking into account the scale length, nut width, neck profile and fretboard radius, we can conclude that both favor small hands .
Harley Benton CLJ-45E VS:
Fender FA-125CE Dreadnought:
Beginner Friendliness
The Harley Benton CLJ-45E VS meets 4 out of our 8 criteria items for beginner friendliness, while the Fender FA-125CE Dreadnought meets only 3. This takes into account the type of frets, scale length, nut width, bridge type, fretboard radius, and neck profile to determine the easiest combination for new players.
New Player Friendliness
Harley Benton CLJ-45E VS- Comfortable shape
- Easy-to-use bridge
- Tall frets
- Comfortable neck
- Comfortable fretboard
- Narrow nut
- Short scale
- Soft Strings
- Locking tuners
New Player Friendliness
Fender FA-125CE Dreadnought- Easy-to-use bridge
- Tall frets
- Comfortable neck
- Comfortable shape
- Comfortable fretboard
- Narrow nut
- Short scale
- Soft Strings
- Locking tuners
Sound Quality Comparison
The most important thing that will determine the tone of an acoustic guitar is the wood. Let's take a look at the differences between both .
Woods Used in Both
Spruce has a light color with tight grain patterns. It's very stiff but relatively light. It's known for producing a well-rounded tone with a broad dynamic range. Find out more about Spruce.
Woods Used in the Harley Benton CLJ-45E VS
Mahogany is a fairly rare wood nowadays. It's used mostly for bodies due to its relatively lightweight. Gibson popularized it with their Les Paul guitars during their golden years, so this wood has a lot of good reputation behind it. The most expensive type comes from South America and it's still used by Gibson even today. Find out more about Mahogany.
Ovangkol is a beautiful wood that's popular for acoustic guitars. Its tone sits somewhere between rosewood and mahogany, meaning it has a punchy low-end and nice mid-range. Find out more about Ovangkol.
Woods Used in the Fender FA-125CE Dreadnought
Nato a hard and dense wood similar to Mahogany, but cheaper and not quite as hard. Tone-wise, it's also similar, but it doesn't have quite the same attack as Mahogany.
It's a hard wood with a chocolate color that is often used to give an elegant finish. Since it's quite expensive and rare, it's mostly used for guitar tops. Find out more about Walnut.
Basswood is a lightweight type of wood that isn't as expensive as other popular choices for guitar building. It gives more power to the mid-range frequencies. Its color can vary from pale white to light brown. Find out more about Basswood.
Winner: Harley Benton CLJ-45E VS.
Electronics
Both come with electronics that allow you connect them to an amplifier or interface for recording.
Winner:Tie.
Final Sound Quality Scores
Build Quality Comparison
When it comes to build quality, we like to take into account everything used to build the instrument. This includes materials, hardware and the quality control expected depending on the country where it was built. Let's see how the Harley Benton CLJ-45E VS compares to the Fender FA-125CE Dreadnought.
Country of Origin
The manufacturing country can tell a lot about the build quality of an instrument. Both in this comparison where made in China.
China has a bad reputation when it comes to building quality. However, times have changed and now respectable brands use China's cheap labor to build good instruments for a lower price. Don't discount a guitar only because it was built in China, but also expect more quality from countries like Korea.
Winner: Tie
Nut Material
If you want your guitar to stay in tune and sound good, you need a well cut nut. Nut quality can be inconsistent even when comparing two copies of the same model. The best way to make sure you're nut will be well done is by getting a nut made by an expert company like TUSQ or Micarta.
The Harley Benton CLJ-45E VS has a Bone nut. It's a type of nut found in high-quality instruments. They sound similar to Ivory since they give a lot of sustain and a bright sound (at least when striking open strings). The only problem they can run into is that you may get a bone piece that simply doesn't sound as well as others because that's just how natural materials are.
On the other hand, the Fender FA-125CE Dreadnought comes with a Plastic nut. This is a low-quality nut that you might want to consider upgrading soon. Bone and TUSQ nuts are the best for guitars with a fixed or simple tremolo bridge.
Winner: Harley Benton CLJ-45E VS.
Fret Material
Most fret wire is made of nickel silver. This material eventually wears down after a lot of use and most instruments end up needing a complete fret replacement. However, some expensive models come with stainless steel frets. This is what you should aim for if you can afford it.
Unfortunately, none of them come with stainless steel frets.
Winner: Tie.
Tuners
Both come with regular tuners. The Harley Benton CLJ-45E VS's are Keystone vintage chrome machine heads while the Fender FA-125CE Dreadnought's are Die-Cast Sealed
Winner: Tie.
Here is the list of features that were considered when choosing the winner in the Features subcategory:
Harley Benton CLJ-45E VS
- Expensive Wood
- Bone Nut
- Top Brand Pickups
- Electronics
- Bone Saddle
- Strap Lock
- Cheap Fret Wire (NS)
- No Locking Tuners
- Made in China
- Laminated Top Wood
- Laminated Side Wood
- Laminated Back Wood
- No Compound Radius Fretboard
- No 21:1 Tuner Ratio
Fender FA-125CE Dreadnought
- Top Brand Pickups
- Electronics
- Cheap Fret Wire (NS)
- No Locking Tuners
- Made in China
- No Expensive Woods
- No High-Quality Nut
- Low-Quality Material Saddle
- Laminated Top Wood
- Laminated Side Wood
- Laminated Back Wood
- No Compound Radius Fretboard
- No 21:1 Tuner Ratio
- No Strap Lock
Final Build Quality Scores
Playability Comparison
Let's now compare their playability. Bear in mind that the instrument will feel different depending on your hand size and play style. That's why you should always test before buying. But if you can't or want a second opinion on it, we can still take a look at each of the important measurements of the instrument for you. This way, we can predict how easy a guitar might be to play, or how different it will feel compared to the other.
Remember that, even though the difference might seem small, every inch counts when it comes to feeling of the instrument in your hands. Any variation can completely change how comfortable a guitar feels in your hands.
Nut Width
The nut width will affect the separation between strings at the nut. In this comparison, both have a nut width of 43mm (1.693'').
This is within the most common range of nut widths for a 6-string guitar. It offers a good balance of string separation at the nut. It's the size that most guitarists prefer as it gives them just enough space to play open chords without muting the strings, but without spreading the strings too wide and making bar chords difficult to perform.
Scale Length
The scale length is one of the things that influences playability the most. This is the distance between the nut and the bridge and will affect everything from low action allowance, difficulty to perform bends, fret separation, and even tone.
The Harley Benton CLJ-45E VS has the longest scale: 25.5". The Fender FA-125CE Dreadnought is only 25.3" long. This is a 0.2'' (5.1mm) scale length difference.
This longer scale means that the strings need more tension to get in tune. This is good if you want to avoid fret buzz, which can happen when the strings are too loose and touch the frets while vibrating. This is especially important when playing in lower tunings. This will also let you reduce the gap between fretboard and strings (low action) to make them easier to press down. However, this higher tension will also make it harder to perform bends and vibratos as the strings will feel stiffer.
This also means that the frets have a longer separation between each other, so this will make it harder for people with smaller hands when playing some chord positions.
Another characteristic of a longer scale is that it makes the guitar sound 'snappier' or brighter. This is due to the extra separation between harmonics and overtones produced by the tension. This influences tone more than any other factor (except the pickups).
Lastly, remember that you can also affect the tension of the strings by changing your string gauge. You can use a thicker gauge for more tension and a lighter one for less tension.
Neck Profile
No single neck shape is better than others. However, most people tend to prefer a thinner necks because it doesn't get in their way when playing fast and most hand sizes can adapt to it pretty well. However, some people still prefer thicker necks for a better grip, especially if they have big hands.
Both the Harley Benton CLJ-45E VS and the Fender FA-125CE Dreadnought have a C-shaped neck. This is what you'll find in most modern guitars. Most people feel like the thickness of a C neck is simply the less intrusive one for playing fast, while at the same time allowing you to grab the neck easily for resting if you want to.
Fretboard Radius
Most guitar fretboards are not flat; they usually have a curve or arc across their width. A curved fretboard will make it easier to perform chords without muting strings, while a flatter one will make it easier to play single notes, which is good for bending and soloing in general. The best fretboards have a compound radius that varies across the fingerboard, but they're not common since they take a lot more work to build.
In this case, the Fender FA-125CE Dreadnought's fingerboard radius is smaller, which means it's more curved than the Harley Benton CLJ-45E VS's. This extra arc will make playing chords easier in this model. You won't be as likely to mute the strings, especially if you have big hands. However, playing single notes and bending will be easier on the Harley Benton CLJ-45E VS.
Fret Size
Both have a Medium fret size. If you like feeling the fretboard when you play, but also appreciate some easiness to press down the frets, this size offers a good balance for that.
