Harley Benton CG-400CE Thinline BK - Overview and Best Prices

Harley Benton CG-400CE Thinline BK Review
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  • From Harley Benton's 2022 Standard series
  • Made in China
  • 6 strings
  • 25.591"'' scale
  • 15.827" Fretboard Radius
  • Spruce top
  • Okume back
  • Okume sides
  • Okume with carbon reinforcement neck
  • Blackwood Tek fretboard
  • Bridge pickup: HB-3T preamp with integrated chromatic tuner (Preamp/Active)
  • Blackwood Tec bridge
  • Acoustic C Shape Set neck
  • 19 Medium frets
  • Chrome-plated deluxe machine heads tuners
  • Side-By-Side Comparison
Show Specs
Harley Benton CG-400CE Thinline BK Specifications
Harley Benton CG-400CE Thinline BK
General
Brand: Harley Benton
Year: 2022
Configuration: N/A
Strings: 6
Made in: China
Series: Standard
Colors: Black
Left-Handed Version: No
Body
Type: Hollowbody
Body Material: Spruce
Sides Material: Okoume
Back Material: Okoume
Bridge: Blackwood Tec
Neck
Neck Joint: Set
Tuners: Chrome-plated deluxe machine heads
Fretboard: Blackwood Tek
Neck Material: Okume with carbon reinforcement
Decoration:
Scale Size: 25.591"
Shape: Acoustic C Shape
Frets: 19 Medium
Fretboard Radius: 15.827"
Nut: Plastic
Nut Width: 48mm (1.89'')
Electronics
Pickups: HB-3T preamp with integrated chromatic tuner (Preamp / Active)
Hardware
Strap Lock: No
Hardware Color: Chrome

Our Scores and Tone Evaluation

Playability 70
Sound 76
Build quality 60
Value for money 89
Overall Score 69
Tone Evaluation
  • Heavy Metal
  • Hard Rock
  • Jazz
  • Blues
  • Funk
  • Country
Strengths & Weaknesses
Harley Benton CG-400CE Thinline BK
  • Electronics
  • Cheap Fret Wire (NS)
  • No Locking Tuners
  • Made in China
  • No Expensive Woods
  • No High-Quality Nut
  • No Top Brand Pickups
  • 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

Price Overview

Its average competitor's price is $440, which means that the Harley Benton CG-400CE Thinline BK is around 80% cheaper than the competition. This takes into account all instruments of the same category in our database with 6 strings and Fixed bridge that are made in China.

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User Reviews & Feedback

Not all instruments are created equally. That's why it's important to have different opinions. Here's what our users who have played this instrument say. If you've played it before, help others by voting below!

Weight

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Tuning stability

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Neck access to high frets

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Neck profile shape

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Fret edges

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Hand Size Comfortability

After taking into account the neck profile, scale size, fretboard radius, and nut width, we can conclude that the Harley Benton CG-400CE Thinline BK's construction favors people with relatively small hands.

Nevertheless, this comes down in the end to personal preference. Make sure you test this guitar—or another one with similar characteristics—before buying.

Big Hands
Small Hands

Beginner Friendliness

The Harley Benton CG-400CE Thinline BK meets 5 out of our 8 criteria items for beginner friendliness, which means that it's a good guitar to start with as a complete beginner. 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 to get used to.

New Player Friendliness

Harley Benton CG-400CE Thinline BK
  • Comfortable shape
  • Easy-to-use bridge
  • Tall frets
  • Comfortable neck
  • Soft Strings
  • Comfortable fretboard
  • Narrow nut
  • Short scale
  • Locking tuners

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Playability

Scale Length

Scale length is the distance the strings will span between the bridge and the nut. It can tell you a lot about the overall playability and tone of the instrument. A longer scale length means longer distance between frets, brighter tone and more string tension—which means lower action, but more difficult bending of the strings.

Here's the Harley Benton CG-400CE Thinline BK's 25.591" scale length compared to other common sizes:

Harley Benton CG-400CE Thinline BK Scale Length Comparison
Harley Benton CG-400CE Thinline BK's scale length (at the top) compared to other popular sizes

This scale is close to the popular 25.50" length but longer, which allows you to tune your strings lower while keeping the action low without causing fret buzz. This is useful for lower tunings, 7-string, or even classical guitars.

You want to avoid such a long scale if you don't plan to play in low tunings since the longer scale also means the frets are more separated, making it harder to play fast, especially for small hands. It's also harder to bend the strings.

More with the same scale length:

Neck Profile

Harley Benton CG-400CE Thinline BK Neck Profile
Harley Benton CG-400CE Thinline BK's neck profile

The neck profile tells you the thickness (neck depth) and shape in cross section. Every difference will completely change the feeling and comfortability of the neck. This is a highly subjective thing, but most players indeed prefer certain types of necks (like Cs and Ds) because they feel nice in most hands.

It has a C type neck. C-shaped necks like this have been the most popular for the last years. The reason is that they feel good in most hands. It's generally a thin neck that doesn't get in your way when playing fast, but that also has enough mass to give your hands a comfortable grip for chords if they aren't too big.

Thin necks like this make it easier to move your hand across the neck and it helps when playing fast solos, especially if you like to leave your thumb free while playing high on the fretboard. However, thinner necks are also weaker and will need adjustment more often than a thicker neck.

Fretboard Radius

When it comes to fingerboard radius, personal preference will dictate which one is better for you. However, most people seem to agree that a more curved (lower) radius will make it easier to play chords while a less curved (higher) radius is better for soloing and bending.

The Harley Benton CG-400CE Thinline BK has a 15.827" fingerboard radius.

Compound radius fingerboards give the best of both worlds. Unfortunately, the Harley Benton CG-400CE Thinline BK has the same radius across the board.

Playability compared to main competitors

25.591'' Scale Length
C Neck Profile
1.89'' Nut Width
15.827'' Fretboard Radius
24.75'' Scale Length
C Neck Profile
1.693'' Nut Width
15.748'' Fretboard Radius
25.3'' Scale Length
Asymmetrical Neck Profile
1.685'' Nut Width
12'' Fretboard Radius
25.6'' Scale Length
C Neck Profile
1.693'' Nut Width
12'' Fretboard Radius
25.5'' Scale Length
D Neck Profile
1.68'' Nut Width
12'' Fretboard Radius

Nut Width

Harley Benton CG-400CE Thinline BK Nut Width
Harley Benton CG-400CE Thinline BK Nut Width

The Harley Benton CG-400CE Thinline BK has a nut width of 48mm (1.89''). 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.

Frets

It comes with nickel silver frets, so they won't last as long as stainless steel frets. If you use your instrument a lot, you might need to replace the frets after a few years. But this is unlikely as most people change instruments before this happens.

More with the same amount of frets:

Fret Size

Harley Benton CG-400CE Thinline BK Fret Size Comparison
Harley Benton CG-400CE Thinline BK's fret size (in orange) compared to other popular sizes

Finally, let's talk about fret size. Some people prefer tall frets because it's easier to press the strings and perform bends since there's less friction against the fretboard. On the other hand, some people like shorter frets because they like to touch the fretboard when playing, or because they got heavy hands and tend to press too much on the string and alter the of the note pitch accidently.

The Harley Benton CG-400CE Thinline BK's frets are Medium size. With medium frets, you can feel the fretboard more than with jumbo frets, but it's still easier to press the strings cleanly than with small frets; notes might change their pitch just slightly if you press hard on the fret. Also, if you need to do some fret leveling after years of playing, you'll have some room to sand them down without having to replace them.

Playability Score

Bending & Vibrato Ease 75
Chord Playability 65
Solo Playability 70
Playability 70

Tone

The type of wood and even the shape of the body will have a lot of influence in the final tone of an acoustic guitar. Here's we'll talk about what kind of tone you can expect from its specs.

Wood

Spruce wood pattern used for guitar building
Spruce Top
Okoume wood pattern used for guitar building
Okoume Back, Sides, Neck
Blackwood wood pattern used for guitar building
Blackwood Fretboard

Spruce Top: This wood 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.

Okoume Back, Sides and Neck: It's an affordable wood and it was one of the first to replace Mahogany when prohibitions started. It's generally softer than Mahogany and the tone has warmer lows.

Blackwood Fretboard: It's even harder and denser than Ebony, and it looks similar to Mahogany but with a darker color. As a tonewood, it's also similar to Mahogany but still distinct with a lot of clarity and crisp sound.

More made with the same wood:

Pickups

This guitar comes with preamp pickups that will allow you to connect it directly to an amplifier and record with it, or use it live.

Sound Score

Sustain 65
Versatility 75
Tuning Stability 65
Sound 76

Build Quality

Country of Origin

Knowing where the instrument is produced is a good way to know how well it's built. Some manufacturing countries are known for having higher quality standards. For example, most expensive instruments are made in the US or Japan, but there are some exceptionally great countries—like South Korea—that are building a good reputation.

The Harley Benton CG-400CE Thinline BK is made in China. So you can expect lower build quality when compared to others made in Korea, Japan or the United States. Guitars made in this country are meant for mass production, which translates into less attention to detail and quality control. This doesn't mean the product is made poorly at all. Chinese products have a bad reputation since long ago, but they've definitely improved a lot the last few years.

Still, remember that we're taking about Harley Benton here, which is a brand with good renown. They know how to use cheap labor in this country without sacrificing too much quality. So you shouldn't end up receiving a useless or ugly instrument.

Bridge

Blackwood Tec: The advantage of fixed bridges is that they don't require any kind of set-up. This makes it extremely easy when changing strings because you don't need to adjust anything besides tuning the guitar. Also, the fact that the bridge is directly attached to the body will help to increase sustain. The disadvantage is the lack of versatility since you can't create the same vibrato effects as with tremolo bridges.

Nut Material

Another important thing to analyze is the nut material, as it's one of the most important aspects that can affect the sound and playability of your guitar. A well-cut nut will make sure it stays in tune and will make it more comfortable to play.

In this case, the Harley Benton CG-400CE Thinline BK has 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.

Build Quality Score

Quality of materials 51
Features 75
Quality Control 55
Build Quality 60