Harley Benton HB-20R

pros:
-very low price: it costs like going once to local restaurant with your girlfriend
-pretty good quality
-very loud: I usually play at 30% loudness. I guess you can take it to local pub concert, etc.
-The eq is nice

cons:
-Mine came a little bit scratched
-The spring reverb is very strange. If you play at a big volume, and turn the reverb bigger than 60% percent, it starts to make a very loud noise which go louder and louder, until you turn off the effect at all. First time it happened I thought I destroyed the combo. You don't imagine how loud that was
-Strange sound quality when playing in headphones. That is because the combo doesn't have a cabinet simulator. So playing in headphones doesn't make any sense.
-Also the aux cable quality is very very bad. The sound is very bad, it doesn't have any bass and middle freqs. Also when nothing is playing it makes a very loud noise. So connecting an aux cable for practicing or just listening to music also doesn't make any sense.

In conclusion I can say that if you are a beginner totally buy it! But if you want something serious, buy a combo like Fender, that has digital effects. They are called Modelling combos. Buy something like Fender Mustang LT50.
But from my opinion, the best option is buying a sound card. I bought Behringer Umc204HD. But if you want a sound card, you will have to know at least the basics of a DAW (reaper, cubase, reaper), or you can download different soft(Bias fx2, Guitar Rig 5). Also you need to have a good pc, and some speakers or studio monitors

Let's start with the most important thing: For the money, it's great. It is a powerful amplifier that can be used at living-room volumes, it has a headphone jack and even built-in spring reverb, a looked-after feature. It's a good option for a first amplifier as I've found it to take pedals in front quite nicely (mind it doesn't have an effects loop so any pedals will need to be put in front) and its own overdrive is all right for a beginner to get you in the ballpark of rock.
However, there are a few less likeable features about it.
First off, The on-board overdrive is not by a long shot as good as I would like it to be, it lacks dynamics, sounds very harsh and artificial and when the knob goes above halfway it doesn't get dirtier, instead it only ads noise without distorting the guitar. My recommendation is to get an overdrive pedal to go along with it, a cheap one will undoubtedly be better than what's on board.
Secondly, the MP3 input lacks a serious function: Remaining quiet. Whenever it doesn't have a signal from another device, it hums like crazy. Also, it doesn't like to be quiet: It wants to be loud.
And thirdly, although this is just me nit-picking, the reverb gets noisy rather quickly. The amplifier doesn't have the best shock-resistance ever so me walking around creates a little noise from the springs wobbling. Do keep in mind that I have quite a heavy step and this might not be an issue for you, but it is a downside in my opinion.
To conclude: If you want to sit in a chair and plug pedals into it, go for it. If you want a cheap solid-state amplifier that will last you, go for it. If you expect it to get crunchy metal tones, it won't, though it does do cleans quite nicely.

I am happy with this little amp I got it for playing at home, and I never was happy before without valves. i get a great claen sound with a little spring reverb, not only that it has it s own very convincing character of sound.I used other solid state amps from big names or modelling amps this one has the blues.I am not commenting on the distorted channel right now I haven t tried it enough. Only one thing is funny sometimes if you leave it on for a while and you re not playing it makes loud bang, I dont know what that is but its ok. It has a standby feature, and only starts when you tuen up the volume and start playing the guitar which is kind of cute. Definitele I am happy with that amp. And there is a line out for connecting it to another amp. Great. Just might have got the bigger version and use it for small gigs I can still do that. Thank You

I can't believe how bloody loud this thing is, wholly overkill for me on so many levels. Highly recommend as a beginner amp 11/10

I've been told to always set volume on max for tuning purposes, I accidentally hit the G string and my heart almost jumped out of my rib-cage. I've been told this is normal and that 20W isn't even that much

I've also been told I *need* to buy a combo for practice and I have to say I agree (even though initially I agreed only reluctantly), but I can see this thing could work at a small club concert, you can probably juice out that much out of this. I can even see this being a good backup solution in case your main amp is MIA

Aside from the loudness the What-Brand Chinesium speaker this ships with isn't exactly an audophile's dream. I should clarify, the sound is great, for 60 euros it's, I mean, I couldn't imagine this level of quality 10, 20 years ago at this price level. Still you should know, anything through the aux input is going to sound dulled? ie. not bad, but not great either

Guitar sounds great of course, I mean great as in unexpectedly good for transistor. I actually greatly prefer the *actual sound* through headphones/an external speaker over aux cable. The difference is noticeable even for an amateur like me

I keep the volume knob at 1-2-4 at most, and strangely I prefer the clean sound. I intuitively believed that if you're gonna have a cheap speaker then distorted sound would sound better since you know... it's distorted and the nuances of the sound are lost. But this didn't turn out to be true in the real world and clean sound has much more "body", it feels more plentiful and vibrant. Remember kids, keep your gain low. Signed: someone who is not an expert

EQ works differently than I expected, but I've been told this is exactly how these things ought to work so yeah

Let's quickly address points made by other reviewers:
- build quality is... I just can't give it all of the stars without feeling like lying. It's amazing for the price. The logo is very well machined. It will probably last I don't know, let's say 10 years. But just... 5% more effort would make this combo look and feel so much better, dare I say premium even. There was one bolt that wasn't fully tightened. This might've happened during travel, but then I'm afraid what kind of travel conditions this was in. Also on the back there's a strange black paint applied? I don't know if this is normal, you'll see if you buy it, I'm neutral towards it
- the two buttons and all knobs are good quality, the lines below are slightly misaligned though and it's triggering the perfectionist nerves in me. Just very *slightly* so, just barely [screaming inside]. I think these are the same knobs from the higher-end models
- the jack seems to be good enough to last a lot of connecting in/out
- handle feels goood, I approve
- reverb sounds amazing except for positions 5 through 9.5-ish. Still you probably should stick to 1-3-4 anyway. 9.5-10 sounds good

I read many comments here stating that this is a good amp for a beginner. Personally, I do not agree with it.
I was a beginner, I bought this amp, and that was so ******* hard to play to understand that this overdrive is not good enough, does not sound like further away with sum tutorials on youtube. And the constant buzz it has, when you are not playing, it is very loud. I made me feel that something is bad with mu power lines, and I tried to make some configurations of it, in order to escape the buzz, but no luck. Later, on electrical forums, I just figured out that that's just how the amp is.
Pretty "not good". Literally, if knew this all from the beginning I would never buy it. I would add may be $50 and I think in around $100-$150, you can definitely find something better. Of course, not as the best ones. But I'am sure better that this one.

i use it at home and it is more than enough for playing at home.
pros:
sound loudness and quality
3,5 mm jack for earphones/headphones
cons:
no accumulator for playing on the street

The versability of this amp is so amagazin, i was able to switch a lot of settings and get everytime the sound that i wanted to hear. So cheap as a price but actually can prove to you that this little baby can please you without any problem. yes, actually this is my first amp and im not an expert, and because i am a beginner who likes so much the sound that this amp produce, you should trust my super beginners feels and buy this amp You will not regret anything you can even check around the web and others reviews that will agreed with my point of view. It's so easy to use, just plug in, set your amp to the romantic guy trying to impress a girl, or set your amp to, i want to scare my neighbours with an extreme metal sound. And that's it, simply dont worry about the quality of the amp, because it will not betray you, untill you will not leave him alone in a dark lonely corner of your house.

I am using HB-20R in my bedroom,mostly with
headphones and playing my Harley Benton ST-62CC RW (fantastic value for money).

I would like to give the amp full blast,but my neighbors are senior citizens, so headphones are criterion for my feedbeck.

In few words-you cant go wrong with combo i have.Next step is upgrading my headphones.

Also die Tatsache, dass man zwei Channel zur Verfügung hat und Standard 3,5mm Kopfhörer anschließen kann machen diesen AMP zu dem Preis zu einem hervorragenden Erstverstärker.

Ordered it with my guitar, to be used as a practice amp. It's decent quality product. Nothing overwhelmingly stellar tho.

Pros:
it gets the job done, is loud enough and has the features you might want as a beginner. Headphone jack, AUX and spring reverb are useful for a new guitar enthusiast.
It is also compact and light, so you can transport it easily.
Seems sturdy.

Cons:
Does not sound the best.
Using phone via AUX cable is somewhat underwhelming - if you play music via your phone, you cant control its volume on the amp - only on the phone itself. And sometimes it gives you heart attack by making a loud bang sound. For no real reason I could find.

Suitable for a beginner, loud enough even for a small concert for a selected company. Very good buy for that money.

this is my first combo amp and it fully justifies itself

Nice combo for this price, but so weight

This is great for a beginner for home / solo outside playing.
No need buying the 40 watt version but it depends on You, for starters this is awesome start, don;t get the 10 watt cause You wount know if it is Your strings You hear or the amp. Here You will definetly know that the sound You making is coming from the AMP.

20 watts is perfect for home practice or a garage
I am playing at home with 2nd / 4rd level on knobs
On the guitar i have volume around 7 and this is a perfect setup.
Do not need to go louder.

Reverb is not as good as i would think but it is there non the less.
Clean / Overdrive definetly work.The sound quality is ok, but of course the tone and tune depends on Your preference.

Bas, mid , trebles knobs work as they should.
There is a AUX in which is nice.
Playing with headphones works nicely.

ProTip:
Want less bass ? Put it higher , on some table, or similar, and keep it away of corners of the room.

There's everything I wanted but I wish there would be more specific settings

The 20 watts of the HB20R are more than enough to fill a room with sound; at 1/4 of the way to max, it's already too loud for bedroom jamming.

The HB20R has a good clean channel with customizable EQ settings shared with the overdriven channel; but I'd avoid the overdrive. It crunches and crumples the sound into an unintelligible mess at any noticeable gain level.

Otherwise, a nasty glitch/issue is shared between this model and it's bigger brother, the HB-40R ; plugging your phone into the dedicated backing-track aux-in port on the front panel results in terrible, terrible clicking/buzzing until you start playing a song through the connection on your device; as well as this, the sound from the aux-in is *NOT* affected by your amps' EQ, or even volume settings; I was nearly deafened when I accidentally connected it with my phone set to maximum audio on the aux cable output!

Apart from these issues, the amp does serve well on the clean channel for general practice and playing, and the EQ knobs provide clear, noticeable tonal changes to the sound emitted. Would recommend most for a beginner.

Pros:
Good for smaller rooms.
Everything works as it was expected.
Cheap.

Cons:
Overdrive not very sensitive, more effect comes from 50% and more.
It broke after 1 month and 4 days of not intensive use.

P.S. I don't know if it's normal, but 3,5mm input do not "wakes up" AMP from standby mode, only a 6,35mm does that.

Brilliant amp, great price, Features are brilliant with inputs.
Size is perfect for me as I use it at home, not too loud and volume adjustment is easy to get just right.
Headphone option and Aux port and line out a nice extra.
I'm not in a band or gigging so I don't need all the bells and whistles.
This fits just perfect to be honest, nice and compact and light, but not too small or big.
Pros and cons
From reading above - that's the pros
Cons, genuinely, i have none.
Its a sturdy well build amp , crisp and clear.
For the price, you cant go wrong,
I was going to buy by a "bigger" brand name, I'm glad i didn't.
I have similar her and the difference is nada.
More options on this to be honest.
Id love to be more direct for more buyers on the cons,
But i don't have any.

Great amplifier. I like the sound more than others in this price category

Great amp for juniors &beginners

This little amp looks small and week, but wow! I was really surprised by the quality of sound for the price, and it is actually quite loud as well! More than enough for practice at home or at a small rehearsal. It think I?d even try it with a microphone at a small gig or in studio! :)
Very nice sounding clean channel and the overdrive channel is very responsive to the amount of overdrive you give it. Just a little bit overdrive for cool blues and wham it on for killer metal riffs! Nice treble, mid and bass adjustments. The reverb adjustment is also very responsive and is sounds sweet! I bought the amp for a student to practice at home. I think I?ll advice him to move it around with caution so the reverb spring doesn`t come loose.
And then I?m getting one for myself as well! :)

I got this amp as part of a Harley Benton electric guitar bundle. It's small, but the knobs are easy to use and understand, and it's more than loud enough for at-home use.

I use the amp for basic practice in my bedroom. It's sounds a little bit bassy but that's probably my fault by not putting the amp on a table or something like that.

It's has the features you would expect a 50$ amp to have, such as a switch between a clean and an overdrive channel, equalization, reverb, etc..., but nothing like a chorus-, flanger- or delayeffect.

In my opinion, the overdrive is quite low even when the gain is turned at it's highest value. I would recommend a pedal for better distortions, i myself am already considering buying one.

I can't find any messy finishes on the amp, i really like the looks of it.
Overall i'm more than happy with my purchase.