TE-70RW Deluxe Series : Very good and stable

I've tried a lot of Chinese guitars over the years. Most of those guitars were suffering from some cheap parts (particularly tuners, pots or switches) and sometimes very poor overall quality control (finish defects, fretwork, etc). Honestly my opinions of Chinese manufacturers were not very positive. This changed about 4 years ago when I saw a Dean Dimebag signature model made in China (the one with explosion graphics). Then last year when I tried another Chinese guitar (a Yamaha RGX-520 FZ), I started to think that China is going pro on electric guitars business... This HB Deluxe Tele is not different from those good Chinese guitars, if not better, considering price/quality ratio.

Pros:

- Price. You get a good guitar, cheaper than most of Fender SQ Tele models.

- Very nice grainy maple neck with glossy finish. Very fast & comfortable neck. İt is not meaty nor super slim, right in the middle, just like the original.

- Overall finish is almost perfect. I really liked the matching headstock too. Very good QC.

- String-thru body with good quality ferrules. Sustain is good and whole guitar is sonically very responsive.

- Bridge pickup. It is very microphonic and catches a lot of noise all around, but that's my personal choice. I like it dirty.. It almost acts like a P90 and I really love it. Pretty melodious for good old school rock or some country style finger-picking.

- Durable. Although tuners look cheap they are working well and guitar stays in tune perfectly; not once out of tune for about 2 hours of constant playing on stage.

- Double binding on the body (front and back). Looks absolutely gorgeous from every angle..

Cons:

- Fret sprout. Interestingly, only lower ends of the frets are sharp. Not sure there is a QC issue here; it might be the wood itself. If you ask me, fingerboard (or whole neck) probably shrunk from low humidity and left the fret ends open on one side. It is not a big deal for me, I have filed them little bit and they are now sitting with nice ends.

- Not sure about the authenticity of Wilkinson bridge, it feels very cheap.. I will probably change it. I may keep the saddles 'though, they are good quality.

I bought this one mainly for gigging purposes and it already proved itself. Maybe not a recording piece, but it is reliable guitar with nice looks and good playability. And with this price, I think it is a steal!