Harley Benton Aeolus Bengal Flame

Nachdem ich etliche Bewertungen über diverse HB Modelle gelesen hatte, war ich überzeugt davon, dass diese Gitarren wohl was taugen. Also bestellte ich und war nochmal mehr überrascht, als ich dieses wunderschöne Instrument nach drei Tagen endlich in den Händen hielt.

Anmutung und Verarbeitung wirklich sehr fein und äußerst wertig. Da ich - 40 Jahre Gitarre auf Amateurlevel, zwar mit Banderfahrung aber einigen langen Unterbrechungen - neben etlichen Akkustik-Gitarren bisher nur eine Fender Stratocaster länger gespielt hatte, war ich vom vollen Blues-Sound der Humbucker restlos begeistert. Zu hause an einem Vox AC 10 wirklich eine Pracht!

Die Gitarre kam einige Halbtöne tiefer (fast) gestimmt bei mir an. Die Stege sind tatsächlich nicht besonders glatt poliert, was sich jedoch nach den ersten 2-3 Stunden spielen von selbst erledigte.

Fazit: Ein Juwel, das man in dieser Preisklasse nicht erwartet. Bin vollends zufrieden mit dem Instrument und habe seit dem ich sie habe keine andere Klampfe mehr in die Hand genommen :-)

Alles in Allem ein unschlagbares Preis-/Leistungsverhältnis. 2 Kritikpunkte muss ich aber anbringen: Die Bünde laden nicht gerade zum flüssigen Solieren ein. Die sind (für mich jedenfalls) zu dünn und nicht so glatt wie man sie möchte. Die kennt man so nur von einer Acoustic. Wenn man einen Blick durch die f-Löcher wirft, ist das Innenleben sehr grobschlächtig gefertigt. Jede Menge weißer Staub/Pulver und ausgefranstes Holz. Sieht nicht toll aus, ist mir aber egal, muss man für den Preis akzeptieren.
Ansonsten alles bestens, an die Bespielbarkeit muss man sich halt gewöhnen.

There is a lot I could write, but I will condense it..

I ordered a Harley Benton Aeolus Guitar from Thomann which, when delivered and unpacked, had a very obvious, and impossible to miss chip 1.5 cm at the nut on the neck and faulty pickups, they kept cutting out.

There was absolutely no quality control on this one so, I returned it using the Thomann return system and label.

This is where the pure frustration begins.

Because I was concerned the Aeolus may sell out quickly I decided to ask for a refund but, I ordered and paid for another Aeolus on the same day, as refunds and replacements in the system can take a week, or two, but I didn’t want to wait.

Because of the whole Brexit thing, Thomann sent a return label, which sends the guitar to a logistics company in the UK who, I guess, then send a batch back to them in Germany, at the same time dealing with Customs procedures .

Fortunately, it was a good thing I did place a new order….. the damaged guitar which I had taken to a DHL main depot the next day, was then tracked and arrived with the Logistics company within 24 hours. Incredibly, it then took a further 6 weeks to get back to Thomann, which meant a 6 week wait plus another week for the refund to arrive in my bank account. Add to that, if I had asked for a replacement instead of a refund, it would have taken another 2 weeks for delivery, if they were even in stock… What a nightmare.

Several polite emails to Customer Service were exchanged during this period for a progress update, as the Tracking on the return label ends once the Guitar has reached the logistic company in the UK, so the Customer has no idea how far along the procedure their item is. The basic answer from Customer Service was…’with apologies but, It hasn’t arrived back at Thomann yet.” This just left me in Limbo…

Meantime the 2nd Aeolus I ordered was delivered….Guess what? Perfect undamaged packaging, but the guitar inside was quite literally broken in half inside its box.

I have never seen anything like it before… How could this happen.? …the neck was broken away at the body, as if it had been broken over somebody’s knee, but both the outer box and inner box were undamaged.

On this occasion I did ask for a replacement. I was sent the same return label which sends the guitar to the logistics company but, at last, a sympathetic Customer Service Assistant, having seen the photos I provided and, given the problems I was encountering regarding the original order, agreed to send a replacement before they received the broken guitar back…” I Guess being broken in half, can’t deny it’s faulty”

I’ve had many guitars from Thomann with never a problem previously, but that was pre Brexit.

I know Thomann have worked very hard to try to streamline the system, but the return process just doesn’t work….. Nearly 8 weeks for a refund result is not acceptable, let alone a further wait for a replacement, if that option were chosen.

So, at Last the 3rd Aeolus turned up…..

Wow…. Perfect… blemish free…. great set up… very nice sounding pick ups…. with an excellent finish and attention to detail all round. What A beauty !!!

If you buy a Harley Benton Aeolus Guitar, and avoid the hassle I have had, You will certainly not be disappointed.

I almost gave up, but eventually the wait was worth it. I could’ve done without the stress of the whole episode.

Will I continue to buy from Thomann?….Yes!!!….

Thomann have tried to streamline a complicated process since the UK left the EU……

There was bound to be problems however, when they occur maybe a more understanding and sympathetic approach to the Customer with a genuine problem, is required and, bear in mind, had the Quality Control been in place for the original order then, none of this episode would have occurred.