Ka
Wish, we had that 40 years ago
Oooookay,
so my Candy Apple Red and Metallic Blue TM20 arrived today. Outer cardboard box was slightly knackered, but inner boxes were okay, except for the styrofoam neck rests, who gave their structural integrity to protect the guitar inside.
No more plastic fillers, but only crushed paper, which I like. Try folded cardboard for the neck rests, you might get rid of those plastic pieces, too.
Have not received any goodies with the guitars, no stickers, no picks, nothing.
From the first looks, the guitars might even come from different factories. The metallic blue guitar is significantly heavier than the red guitar. Haven't had them on the scales - yet - but I'd say the difference is at least 1 kg.
Paintwork is more than acceptable. The blue is a tad lighter than expected, but the red one is that kind of deep "Oooh Yeah!" red that gives me an instant ... cough. Let's leave it there.
The blue one actually has a three ply scratchguard, so that's a pro. The chrome bridge looks better in reality than on the photos. I will check intonation and - yes, it's a Tele, you won't be able to intonate it properly - if it's okay, the chrome bridges may even stay.
Can't say anything about playability yet, as the guitars need to settle down a bit and adjust to the climate here, but so far I'm not disappointed.
Well, there are niggles, though. The neck for instance is cheap. Feels good, but it's not, what you would expect from a proper Tele neck. A maple fretboard Tele neck is hewn from one piece of maple, the truss is set in from the back, hence the prominent skunk stripe. With this neck, they just slapped a maple fretboard on. I know, it is possibly cheaper to use the same neck blanks for all of the HB Teles and then just use different fretboards, but, well, it's not THAT important, but I just noticed it.
Both guitars have a nice first feel. The neck is definitively NOT Tele,, it is wider and flatter than the usual Tele neck. Fret sprout is absent and the narrow thin frets are looking okay -n even though they are not polished. Switches and potentiometers feel solid. Tuners feel and look cheap, but they might do their job.
The red guitar has some issues with the strings not lining up properly, the strings are shifted about 2 mm to the bass side, but this might as well be dealt with by adjusting the bridge, there is enough travel there and then it might even align better with the pickups. The strings are not THAT far off, it's more a bit of a niggle.
Oh dear, the blue guitar REALLY is a heavy one. Don't want to wear that for a long gig ....
Both guitars fell off the production line and passed QC at the 15th of July 2019. Both were checked by Alan.
So, what is my verdict after just ogling over the new TE20 from Harley Benton?
Hardware is better than expected. Triple ply pickguards may stay. Chrome bridge is not too bad, but will be changed to a proper string-through-body part later. Not as soon as expected, but at a later stage.
Paintwork is as good as any Fender.Impressive.
I wish we had guitars of that quality at that price when I was younger. Now I'm in my mid 50's, but when I started guitars, we have had proper sh!t for ridiculous money, you have it good, you don't know how bad we've had it.
Am I happy? If the rest - playability, sound - is up to par, I could not be more happy. Buy the red one - the blue one is too heavy - help yourself to a 5-way super switch and some better pots, caps - without looking at those, they can't be good - and tuners, and you will have a modern Tele. Drop in some better pups if you have to and for way less than 200 €/£/$ you will have a fine, gigworthy instrument. If you ask me "Buy a TE20 HB, pimp it up and put the difference between that and a MiM into gear, lessons, beer?" my answer will always be "Fuck, yeah!"
so my Candy Apple Red and Metallic Blue TM20 arrived today. Outer cardboard box was slightly knackered, but inner boxes were okay, except for the styrofoam neck rests, who gave their structural integrity to protect the guitar inside.
No more plastic fillers, but only crushed paper, which I like. Try folded cardboard for the neck rests, you might get rid of those plastic pieces, too.
Have not received any goodies with the guitars, no stickers, no picks, nothing.
From the first looks, the guitars might even come from different factories. The metallic blue guitar is significantly heavier than the red guitar. Haven't had them on the scales - yet - but I'd say the difference is at least 1 kg.
Paintwork is more than acceptable. The blue is a tad lighter than expected, but the red one is that kind of deep "Oooh Yeah!" red that gives me an instant ... cough. Let's leave it there.
The blue one actually has a three ply scratchguard, so that's a pro. The chrome bridge looks better in reality than on the photos. I will check intonation and - yes, it's a Tele, you won't be able to intonate it properly - if it's okay, the chrome bridges may even stay.
Can't say anything about playability yet, as the guitars need to settle down a bit and adjust to the climate here, but so far I'm not disappointed.
Well, there are niggles, though. The neck for instance is cheap. Feels good, but it's not, what you would expect from a proper Tele neck. A maple fretboard Tele neck is hewn from one piece of maple, the truss is set in from the back, hence the prominent skunk stripe. With this neck, they just slapped a maple fretboard on. I know, it is possibly cheaper to use the same neck blanks for all of the HB Teles and then just use different fretboards, but, well, it's not THAT important, but I just noticed it.
Both guitars have a nice first feel. The neck is definitively NOT Tele,, it is wider and flatter than the usual Tele neck. Fret sprout is absent and the narrow thin frets are looking okay -n even though they are not polished. Switches and potentiometers feel solid. Tuners feel and look cheap, but they might do their job.
The red guitar has some issues with the strings not lining up properly, the strings are shifted about 2 mm to the bass side, but this might as well be dealt with by adjusting the bridge, there is enough travel there and then it might even align better with the pickups. The strings are not THAT far off, it's more a bit of a niggle.
Oh dear, the blue guitar REALLY is a heavy one. Don't want to wear that for a long gig ....
Both guitars fell off the production line and passed QC at the 15th of July 2019. Both were checked by Alan.
So, what is my verdict after just ogling over the new TE20 from Harley Benton?
Hardware is better than expected. Triple ply pickguards may stay. Chrome bridge is not too bad, but will be changed to a proper string-through-body part later. Not as soon as expected, but at a later stage.
Paintwork is as good as any Fender.Impressive.
I wish we had guitars of that quality at that price when I was younger. Now I'm in my mid 50's, but when I started guitars, we have had proper sh!t for ridiculous money, you have it good, you don't know how bad we've had it.
Am I happy? If the rest - playability, sound - is up to par, I could not be more happy. Buy the red one - the blue one is too heavy - help yourself to a 5-way super switch and some better pots, caps - without looking at those, they can't be good - and tuners, and you will have a modern Tele. Drop in some better pups if you have to and for way less than 200 €/£/$ you will have a fine, gigworthy instrument. If you ask me "Buy a TE20 HB, pimp it up and put the difference between that and a MiM into gear, lessons, beer?" my answer will always be "Fuck, yeah!"
16
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BM
Great guitar for the price
I've been playing guitar as a hobby for over 35 years but somehow Telecasters were never on my radar- I don't know why but they didn't really appeal to me. My opinion changed a few months ago when I played a Tele for the first time and quickly realised that I had to have one.
Given that I already own several guitars, I didn't want to spend a fortune. My instinct was to go for a Squier Affinity, however I kept reading good things about Harley Benton so I decided to give this a try.
I'm so glad I did, because in my opinion this is actually better. It feels a bit more substantial (especially at the neck), and it has the classic 3 saddle bridge (with Squier you only get this on the top of the range Classic Vibe models). It's also a lot cheaper!
The metallic red finish looks really good, and I love the maple fretboard. It feels good to play and there are no rough edges. In terms of sound, it performs well. The neck pick-up has a nice warm tone while the bridge pickup has a lot of bite and produces some great 'crunch' sounds.
The guitar was received surprisingly well set-up: the intonation was perfect, the action reasonably low (most cheaper guitars have very high & badly cut nuts, but this looked really good) and there was no need for truss rod adjustments.
Tuning stability was great for the first few weeks. Now it needs daily tweaking but I suspect that this might be due to the ageing stock strings which feel very flimsy indeed.
The only issue I had was that the pickup selector stopped working on first use. Removing the control panel, I noticed that the rear of the switch was covered in a powder-like substance. Blowing this away solved the problem.
For the price I'd say this is a very good buy indeed. Obviously it's not in the same league as a Fender, but for an amateur like myself with multiple guitars it's an excellent choice.
Given that I already own several guitars, I didn't want to spend a fortune. My instinct was to go for a Squier Affinity, however I kept reading good things about Harley Benton so I decided to give this a try.
I'm so glad I did, because in my opinion this is actually better. It feels a bit more substantial (especially at the neck), and it has the classic 3 saddle bridge (with Squier you only get this on the top of the range Classic Vibe models). It's also a lot cheaper!
The metallic red finish looks really good, and I love the maple fretboard. It feels good to play and there are no rough edges. In terms of sound, it performs well. The neck pick-up has a nice warm tone while the bridge pickup has a lot of bite and produces some great 'crunch' sounds.
The guitar was received surprisingly well set-up: the intonation was perfect, the action reasonably low (most cheaper guitars have very high & badly cut nuts, but this looked really good) and there was no need for truss rod adjustments.
Tuning stability was great for the first few weeks. Now it needs daily tweaking but I suspect that this might be due to the ageing stock strings which feel very flimsy indeed.
The only issue I had was that the pickup selector stopped working on first use. Removing the control panel, I noticed that the rear of the switch was covered in a powder-like substance. Blowing this away solved the problem.
For the price I'd say this is a very good buy indeed. Obviously it's not in the same league as a Fender, but for an amateur like myself with multiple guitars it's an excellent choice.
12
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C
Holy Sh*t
I bought this being slightly apprehensive. I was not expecting the quality that I received. It needed no set up work at all, it got in tune extremely quickly, it plays like butter, and the tone was crisp and clear. I've played guitars 10x the price of this one and this one takes the cake hands down. The paint was the highlight. It reminded me of automotive paint that you'd find on a restored classic. The neck was exactly what I like, the action and playability was smooth and could be, and for less than $200 shipped from Germany to the U.S it is DEFINITELY worth the money! I'd love to see what else HB will do.
5
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t
All I can say is: wow!
Telecasters have never been my favourites, but I wanted a versatile guitar to lay in my room so I can pick it up and play a few notes anytime I want - without opening the case of my other expensive guitars. Those are all stratocasters and superstrats that is why I chose this HB Telecaster. I checked it many times, decided not to order it many times, but finally I did. And I did not regret it.
The guitar looks beautiful, the CAR painting is just perfect. The modern C shape neck is bolder than the necks on my other guitars but it is surprisingly good and easy to play. The frets need some polish work, right after the replacement of the factory strings I will do that. The edges of the frets are well worked no sharp-touch feel on them. Tuners and tuning stability is much better than I thought. I think with new and branded strings it may even be better. The tailpiece is classis telecaster type, but the intonation and string height was almost perfectly set up on delivery.
The sound of the pickups is okay though a bit muddy to my taste. I spent two nights playing on the guitar through my Helix LT and I really did not realize how quickly time flew, it was so enjoyous to play this little beauty. I think the hardware is good enough to deserve better pickups for the tonal upgrade. The only problem is that new pickups will cost more than the whole guitar did...
The guitar looks beautiful, the CAR painting is just perfect. The modern C shape neck is bolder than the necks on my other guitars but it is surprisingly good and easy to play. The frets need some polish work, right after the replacement of the factory strings I will do that. The edges of the frets are well worked no sharp-touch feel on them. Tuners and tuning stability is much better than I thought. I think with new and branded strings it may even be better. The tailpiece is classis telecaster type, but the intonation and string height was almost perfectly set up on delivery.
The sound of the pickups is okay though a bit muddy to my taste. I spent two nights playing on the guitar through my Helix LT and I really did not realize how quickly time flew, it was so enjoyous to play this little beauty. I think the hardware is good enough to deserve better pickups for the tonal upgrade. The only problem is that new pickups will cost more than the whole guitar did...
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J
Unreal
I like the look, feel, sound, action, intonation, as much as my Fender custom shop tele…… as a clean jazz & country player …… all 3 positions sound like a high dollar custom shop model. Set up perfect, low action, perfect intonation, switch is real solid. I had to file the low e string saddle down as it was cutting into my right hand …… otherwise perfect. I just ordered strings …… it’s 20 buckets more than a 10 pack of strings lol………
1
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M
for this money, this is the best guitar in the world !
1
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TS
1st Telecaster
While enjoying my H.B. Stratocaster purchase’s (HSS & SSS) I wanted to try a Telecaster so order this model and wasn’t disappointed it had everything going for it … price … quality… sound … looks and no sharpe frets in fact no issues at all.
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B
Unbelievable value for money
I bought this guitar only because I needed some parts of hardware for a project I was working on, and it was easier and cheaper for me to buy the whole guitar. It's flawless metallic finish, and a great tele sound made me keep the whole guitar in my collection.
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R
Blown Away
This guitar is simply outstanding. It sounds and plays absolutely perfect. I bought this as a base for mods but after receiving will keep it as is. Superior in every way to guitars I have costing 3x s as much. I love it.
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[
beautiful guitar :)
I received my order yesterday, and I don't know how Thomann can sell a guitar for this price?!!
It is beautifully made, the paint /colour is second to non and is amazing quality, not one blemish...i just love it :D
Plays good, sounds good, looks good and feels good..what more do you need in your life! :D
At 54yrs , I just play for fun , but I will just do my best playing this beautiful babe guitar in my garden and just have a lot of excellent fun entertaining my family and neighbours with a beer or two :D
If you need a Tele? then for the price, buy one of these , honestly, you will be amazed by the quality guitar you receive, they are worth a lot more in my humble opinion!
Thanks again Thomann for another brilliant guitar, This is my 4th HB and I love them all :D
It is beautifully made, the paint /colour is second to non and is amazing quality, not one blemish...i just love it :D
Plays good, sounds good, looks good and feels good..what more do you need in your life! :D
At 54yrs , I just play for fun , but I will just do my best playing this beautiful babe guitar in my garden and just have a lot of excellent fun entertaining my family and neighbours with a beer or two :D
If you need a Tele? then for the price, buy one of these , honestly, you will be amazed by the quality guitar you receive, they are worth a lot more in my humble opinion!
Thanks again Thomann for another brilliant guitar, This is my 4th HB and I love them all :D
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