c
Shockingly Good
I've been playing for a while now and I'm a bit of a collector of cheap guitars (I have some nicer ones too such as a PRS SE). I wanted a tele to add to my collection.
Make no mistake, this is a cheap guitar. The tuning posts are somewhat loose, the fretts need a polish and the frett ends are of a mixed finish as you work your way up the neck.
THIS BEING SAID. If you are a beginner, the setup out of the box was really nice. The neck feels a bit wider to me than other teles, and I find its low finish/unfinished nature quite easy to play on/fast compared to laquered necks.
IF YOU'VE BEEN PLAYING FOR A WHILE - buy some cheap fine steel wool, some fret guards and your favourite pack of strings. Spend an hour or two polishing the frets. Raise the pickup height. Congratulations, you've got yourself a guitar which plays absolutely beautifully for this price point.
I will say the pickups seem fairly low output and I'll consider replacing them down the line. To be honest though, it doesn't matter. It still sounds nice when you crank the amp. For the price, something has to give somewhere.
Way nicer feeling, playing and sounding than Squiers which cost more than twice as much. I won't give it 5 stars because at the end of the day it's a cheap guitar, but it seems you get way more than you pay for here and I am extremely impressed.
Make no mistake, this is a cheap guitar. The tuning posts are somewhat loose, the fretts need a polish and the frett ends are of a mixed finish as you work your way up the neck.
THIS BEING SAID. If you are a beginner, the setup out of the box was really nice. The neck feels a bit wider to me than other teles, and I find its low finish/unfinished nature quite easy to play on/fast compared to laquered necks.
IF YOU'VE BEEN PLAYING FOR A WHILE - buy some cheap fine steel wool, some fret guards and your favourite pack of strings. Spend an hour or two polishing the frets. Raise the pickup height. Congratulations, you've got yourself a guitar which plays absolutely beautifully for this price point.
I will say the pickups seem fairly low output and I'll consider replacing them down the line. To be honest though, it doesn't matter. It still sounds nice when you crank the amp. For the price, something has to give somewhere.
Way nicer feeling, playing and sounding than Squiers which cost more than twice as much. I won't give it 5 stars because at the end of the day it's a cheap guitar, but it seems you get way more than you pay for here and I am extremely impressed.
6
1
Report
G
Broken on arrival, but Thomann rectified beyond expectations
When I received this, the bridge pickup didn't work but a quick message to Thomann and they rectified it instantly. Amazing customer service.
The guitar is very nice, paint job is immaculate and the fretboard is great and smooth to play.
The guitar is very nice, paint job is immaculate and the fretboard is great and smooth to play.
0
0
Report
H
tele everyone it’s great!
Wasn’t expecting too much from such a low priced guitar but I was pleasantly surprised. As usual for Harley Benton the finish is superb. There’s a good range of tones and the action is great!
1
0
Report
CC
Good value Tele clone
This guitar is good value for a player who doesn't mind spending a few hours setting it up.
Out of the box the fret ends were sharp, the action was a bit high, the intonation was a bit off and the strings were slightly rusty.
I recrowned the frets, polished them and took off the sharp ends. Lowered the action at the bridge saddles, put on a decent set of strings and intonated them.
Once set up the guitar plays well. The neck is straight and the truss rod did not need adjusting. The tuners are budget but work smoothly and the guitar stays in tune. The tone is not bad with the twangy Tele vibes we all like.
The finish of the body is great - very pretty cherry red metallic with no blemishes. Pots are smooth with no crackles. Knobs are solid chromed metal. 3-way switch works fine.
I like this guitar and am having a lot of fun with it but corners have to be cut in order to keep the price down. In this case, the frets need quite some work. The setting up is not difficult - you just need a triangular file, some masking tape, a few grades of fine sandpaper and a few YouTube videos - all part of the fun!
Out of the box the fret ends were sharp, the action was a bit high, the intonation was a bit off and the strings were slightly rusty.
I recrowned the frets, polished them and took off the sharp ends. Lowered the action at the bridge saddles, put on a decent set of strings and intonated them.
Once set up the guitar plays well. The neck is straight and the truss rod did not need adjusting. The tuners are budget but work smoothly and the guitar stays in tune. The tone is not bad with the twangy Tele vibes we all like.
The finish of the body is great - very pretty cherry red metallic with no blemishes. Pots are smooth with no crackles. Knobs are solid chromed metal. 3-way switch works fine.
I like this guitar and am having a lot of fun with it but corners have to be cut in order to keep the price down. In this case, the frets need quite some work. The setting up is not difficult - you just need a triangular file, some masking tape, a few grades of fine sandpaper and a few YouTube videos - all part of the fun!
0
0
Report
L
Looks really nice
Bought this guitar mainly for the looks. I must say the neck feels great and very nice to play. The pickups are not special in any way, whish they were a bit brighter, if this are changed you would get a really nice guitar for the price with a very comfortable neck. I was also surprised how well stays in tune. Overall I recommend this guitar, looks very good.
1
1
Report
p
Harley Benton TE-20MN CA Quality
Just received in london today. The guitar is beautiful, I really like the neck, body, micro of guitar. Only 1 negative thing is : the frets very bad quality.
I just need to polish my frets with 1500, 2000, 3000 papers it will be fine.
I just need to polish my frets with 1500, 2000, 3000 papers it will be fine.
0
0
Report
m
A tired cliche but this little Tele punches well above it's weight
Bought this as a throw in with another guitar to save some shipping costs. I'd read the reviews and watched the You Tube demos and had to give it a try to see if it lived up to the hype. It did not disappoint.
If you can play you can make most anything sound good and if you can't nothing is going to make you sound good. I can play a little and was more than pleasantly surprised with this little gem.
Like most Harley Bentons, a great value for what you pay. This would be an ideal intro guitar for a beginner and is more than serviceable for a more seasoned player as well as a terrific platform for any aspiring modder. Also the candy apple red with white pick guard makes for a very nice looking guitar.
If you can play you can make most anything sound good and if you can't nothing is going to make you sound good. I can play a little and was more than pleasantly surprised with this little gem.
Like most Harley Bentons, a great value for what you pay. This would be an ideal intro guitar for a beginner and is more than serviceable for a more seasoned player as well as a terrific platform for any aspiring modder. Also the candy apple red with white pick guard makes for a very nice looking guitar.
0
0
Report
l
Amazing simple guitar or mod platform
I bought this to mod extensively but was amazed at what you get for the price.
Electronics are cheap but functional. Bridge pickup is actually pretty good as-is.
There were a couple of expected flaws: the fret ends were a bit sharp, I had to file them. The control plate didn't align perfectly with the cavity, I'll have to fix that.
What surprised me most is the profile and feel of the neck. It's like a very soft V, not very chunky, and with nicely beveled edges fretboard edges. It's so comfortable and silky.
Electronics are cheap but functional. Bridge pickup is actually pretty good as-is.
There were a couple of expected flaws: the fret ends were a bit sharp, I had to file them. The control plate didn't align perfectly with the cavity, I'll have to fix that.
What surprised me most is the profile and feel of the neck. It's like a very soft V, not very chunky, and with nicely beveled edges fretboard edges. It's so comfortable and silky.
0
0
Report
V
Pretty cool
The only downside for the price is the sound, but the rest of the guitar is quite good. If you use aluminum tape to isolate the electronics improves a bit, but I purchased it with the idea to switch the pickups with the Brae Nuckle Boot Camp and I'm very happy I made that choice. I've built a great guitar for less than 250 €.
2
0
Report
d
Amazing for the price, but...
Well, it's probably a random problem, but mine came with a double in thickness fret on the 13th spot, actually making it impossible to play (11th, 12th and 13th fret sounded the same on every string, because strings would touch the 13th fret).
OK, surely it is something that can be fixed, but with its cost.
Otherwise, a pretty good guitar especially for the price.
After resolving this issue, it plays pretty ok.
OK, surely it is something that can be fixed, but with its cost.
Otherwise, a pretty good guitar especially for the price.
After resolving this issue, it plays pretty ok.
2
0
Report
