Harley Benton CLD-15CE Koa Exotic - Overview and Best Prices

Harley Benton CLD-15CE Koa Exotic Review
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  • From Harley Benton's 2021 Custom Line series
  • Made in China
  • 6 strings
  • 25.315"'' scale
  • 15.748" Fretboard Radius
  • Koa solid top
  • Mahogany back
  • Mahogany sides
  • Mahogany neck
  • Pau Ferro fretboard
  • Bridge pickup: Sonicore with Fishman Presys II preamp (Preamp/Active)
  • Pau Ferro bridge
  • Acoustic C Shape Set neck
  • 20 Medium frets
  • Black DieCast machine heads with Mushroom buttons tuners
  • Side-By-Side Comparison
Show Specs
Harley Benton CLD-15CE Koa Exotic Specifications
Harley Benton CLD-15CE Koa Exotic
General
Brand: Harley Benton
Year: 2021
Configuration: N/A
Strings: 6
Made in: China
Series: Custom Line
Colors: Natural
Left-Handed Version: No
Body
Type: Hollowbody
Body Material: Koa solid
Sides Material: Mahogany
Back Material: Mahogany
Bridge: Pau Ferro
Neck
Neck Joint: Set
Tuners: Black DieCast machine heads with Mushroom buttons
Fretboard: Pau Ferro
Neck Material: Mahogany
Decoration: Acrylic Pearl Snowflake
Scale Size: 25.315"
Shape: Acoustic C Shape
Frets: 20 Medium
Fretboard Radius: 15.748"
Nut: Bone
Nut Width: 43mm (1.693'')
Electronics
Pickups: Sonicore with Fishman Presys II preamp (Preamp / Active)
Hardware
Strap Lock: No
Hardware Color: Black

Our Scores and Tone Evaluation

Playability 73
Sound 85
Build quality 70
Value for money 86
Overall Score 76
Tone Evaluation
  • Heavy Metal
  • Hard Rock
  • Jazz
  • Blues
  • Funk
  • Country
Strengths & Weaknesses
Harley Benton CLD-15CE Koa Exotic
  • Expensive Wood
  • Bone Nut
  • Top Brand Pickups
  • Electronics
  • Plastic Saddle
  • Solid Top Wood
  • Cheap Fret Wire (NS)
  • No Locking Tuners
  • Made in China
  • 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 CLD-15CE Koa Exotic is around 30% 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.

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 speed (thickness)

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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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Pickups noise

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Pickups power

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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 CLD-15CE Koa Exotic'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 CLD-15CE Koa Exotic meets 3 out of our 8 criteria items for beginner friendliness, which means that it's not recommended for complete beginners. 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 CLD-15CE Koa Exotic
  • Easy-to-use bridge
  • Tall frets
  • Comfortable neck
  • Comfortable shape
  • Comfortable fretboard
  • Narrow nut
  • Short scale
  • Soft Strings
  • 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 CLD-15CE Koa Exotic's 25.315" scale length compared to other common sizes:

Harley Benton CLD-15CE Koa Exotic Scale Length Comparison
Harley Benton CLD-15CE Koa Exotic's scale length (at the top) compared to other popular sizes

This is similar to the scale found in most PRS guitars, and it's right between the length of most Stratocasters and Les Pauls. This scale will feel like it's easier to bend strings than on a Stratocaster, and will help smaller hands reach far notes. However, it doesn't allow for the same low action you can get with Strats unless you use thicker strings.

Neck Profile

Harley Benton CLD-15CE Koa Exotic Neck Profile
Harley Benton CLD-15CE Koa Exotic'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 CLD-15CE Koa Exotic has a 15.748" fingerboard radius.

Here's an image comparing this fretboard radius to other popular choices:

Harley Benton CLD-15CE Koa Exotic Fretboard Radius Comparison with Fender Stratocaster and Gibson Les Paul
Harley Benton CLD-15CE Koa Exotic's fretboard radius compared to others

Compound radius fingerboards give the best of both worlds. Unfortunately, the Harley Benton CLD-15CE Koa Exotic has the same radius across the board.

Playability compared to main competitors

25.315'' Scale Length
C Neck Profile
1.693'' Nut Width
15.748'' Fretboard Radius
25.5'' Scale Length
C Neck Profile
1.693'' Nut Width
12'' Fretboard Radius
24.72'' Scale Length
C Neck Profile
1.693'' Nut Width
12'' Fretboard Radius
25.5'' Scale Length
C Neck Profile
1.68'' Nut Width
12'' Fretboard Radius
25.3'' Scale Length
C Neck Profile
1.693'' Nut Width
12'' Fretboard Radius

Nut Width

Harley Benton CLD-15CE Koa Exotic Nut Width
Harley Benton CLD-15CE Koa Exotic Nut Width

The Harley Benton CLD-15CE Koa Exotic has 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.

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.

Fret Size

Harley Benton CLD-15CE Koa Exotic Fret Size Comparison
Harley Benton CLD-15CE Koa Exotic'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 CLD-15CE Koa Exotic'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 80
Playability 73

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

Koa wood pattern used for guitar building
Koa Top
Mahogany wood pattern used for guitar building
Mahogany Back, Sides, Neck
Pau Ferro wood pattern used for guitar building
Pau Ferro Fretboard

Koa Top: It's a type of wood native to the Hawaiian Islands, where it's pretty common. Its musical properties make it a great wood for making guitars, but it's especially popular for building Ukuleles.

Mahogany Back, Sides and Neck: This is the type of wood found in many top-of-the-line guitars, so that's a positive point for the build quality. This red-looking wood Mahogany is found in Africa and Central America and has great sustain and a warm tone due to its high density. The downside about this type of wood is that it's relatively heavy.

Pau Ferro Fretboard: It's a beautiful wood used mainly for fretboards. It has a high density and looks very similar to Rosewood with its straight grains and dark brown color. According to Fender, it has a warm tone with a fast attack.

Pickups

This guitar comes with pickups from one of the top brands: Fishman. So you can expect well built pickups with great sound that shouldn't need an upgrade anytime soon.

Sound Score

Sustain 85
Versatility 85
Tuning Stability 70
Sound 85

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 CLD-15CE Koa Exotic 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

Pau Ferro: 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 CLD-15CE Koa Exotic has a Bone nut. This material is one of the highest quality you can get. It provides excellent sustain and tune stability if cut well. The only disadvantage is that it's an organic material, so it's not consistent. Two different bone nuts, even if made from the same bone, will probably sound slightly different. However, bear in mind that this is only relevant when playing open strings.

Build Quality Score

Quality of materials 71
Features 85
Quality Control 55
Build Quality 70