Harley Benton Electric Guitar Kit T-Style Reviews

Excellent platform for a custom build

Bought this kit with the goal to upgrade it piece by piece over time to make a guitar exactly how I want it and I wasn't disappointed. The perfect beginning platform for upgradability!

Really turned out great!

I ordered this along with a JA kit and two concert Uke kits. This was my first attempt at a kit but I have gotten comfortable setting up guitars and I'm fairly handy and have some tools. This Tele was going to be a Christmas gift for my son after I finished.

I thought the quality of the kit was fine. The neck was really nice. Great profile for me and smooth. The body had a couple of small dings which I repaired with wood filler. Routing was fine. Neck to body fit was kind of meh as I expected it to be a bit tighter but it ended up fine.

I hydro-dipped the guitar body which turned out just awesome. I cut the headstock in a modified tele shape and fashioned my own logos. I wanted to get the color of the neck a bit darker but there was so much sealer on the wood I couldn't get it sanded down enough so just basically went with the natural maple color which is fine.

I think the hardware was all adequate other than maybe the plastic nut which seemed very "plasticky" and looked too high. Despite the hardware seeming ok, I replaced almost everything. Nut, locking tuners, Alnico V pickups, brass compensated bridge saddles and the pots. The included white pickguard looked good but I went with a clear one instead to show the paint swirl underneath. Had to relocate the pickguard mounting holes but that was easy. The clear turned out great. Be careful of the screws as they seem to be made from Chinesium which strips easily.

Took quite a bit of work to get it set up and playable. Ended up having to shim the neck a bit to get the action and intonation to cooperate but it is now very nice and stable.

The end result was fantastic and my son loves it. I also have a HB TE52 which is much heavier with a chunkier neck. This one has a somewhat different tone which is hard to describe. It sounds great and is very playable. I would recommend this is you want a cool project and want to create something truly unique. I wouldn't recommend it if you are trying to save money though :) There are other kit providers out there. I haven't tried them but I would think this Harley Benton compares favorably, particularly at this price.

To DIY or not DIY? To DIY!

A great yet affordable lego guitar kit to try lutherie! Spraypaint or use another finish, upgrade electronics and other hardware, cut the headstock to your liking, put all the pieces together - rock!

I enjoy this.

I put it together after I painted it with a brush to give it an antique look and I love it ever since. Too bad the pickups are not great quality. But what would you expect for such a price? :D You can change those pickups anyways. They have a pretty big background sound especially if hands are not touching the electronics. And the tuning keys are kind of crappy, but hey... I am using it at home for my studies, so I would not wear the frets on the other guitars, and honestly I am reaaaaalllyyyy enjoying this guitar.

Oh... and I recorded and compared all my guitars and found out these pickups have a lower output than the rest of my guitars. Hope that information helps someone out there.

Satisfied customer

Ideal kit for the beginner modder. Easy to assemble. Good quality body and neck/fretboard. Pickups sound good, easy to swap out later if required.

Exceeded my expectations

This was my first attempt at a build and it was really fun. The kit, for me at least, was more than i expected for that price. I replaced most of the hardwear so can not really say anything good or bad there, but the most important parts, neck an body, does the job. The neck fitted well in the pocket and all the slots for tuner, pickups and all was routed nicely. The frets were so much better dressed than expected. Not much work needed at all. The wood on the body actually looked quite good. The thing I am not so sure about is the fretboard material. Do not know, but it felt not as good as my other guitars. But again, for that price the kit i just great.

For the price it deserves 5 starts. Fretboard could be better though. Will probably buy again and would love for these kits to also come with maple fretboard!

Status Quo Replica

Excellent kits for making replica guitars love them

It was WORK!

thinking back, I rather had gotten one that was already compelted!

Great guitar

I’d read these tele kits were good but I didn’t expect it to be this good. The body and neck feel amazing and all the other parts seem good quality except the strings (awful) but I ordered a good set with the kit. I was surprised by how easy it was to put together just a couple of hours although I did have to shim the neck to get a really low action but all in all it’s quite astonishing for the price

Such value for money

These kits are great for the DIY'er with a bit of technical experience. For creating 'relic' projects they just tick all the boxes !!! Sound is OK although I only run them through a small practice amp. 10/10

extra drill holes

in the neck pocked i have 6 drill holes 1 they cocked up and put it in the wrong place then tried correcting it by drilling it in the correct place but stopped as the tip of the drill just got through the back and didn't finish it because it was too close to the badly drilled hole that they didn't fill the 6th hole is the unnecessary big one in the middle of the neckpocket im guessing they used for the cnc (invest in a vacuum plate) all the drill holes that go from the pickup cavities to the electronics cavity have all been drilled to far and have hit the other side of the electronics cavity , the wood was good but that was about it if this got past qc I'm am never touching Benton guitars again

Great Fun

I really enjoyed building this and making it my own

Fun project

A fun project to put together

A great value kit

Everything included is of expected quality and aid a great value !!

There are flaws but might still be the best deal out there.

It is crazy how a kit this good is sold at a price like this. Defenitely recommend.

The best gift to give to a creative musician

I bought 2 of these on separate occasions. Both times for carpenters who play music. They absolutely loved the concept and loved making the guitar as a weekend project. Perfect to put your own stamp on. They were both really happy with the quality and sound of the guitar. 10/10

Super

I have assembled 2 of these kits and they turned out great. A friend bough the first to build with my help and only so he could learn a bit about building, , he already has a Fender and a Gibson. Work kept him so busy that he asked me to build it so that he could sell it, but when it was finished he liked it so much he kept it and the guy who was going to buy it (also a Gibson owner) was disappointed so I eventually made him one to swap for an Epiphone he had. The bridge wear works, the machine heads are fine , the pick-ups are o.k play them before thinking of going up market. The instructions simple and comprehensive, they play in tune, they stay in tune , go for it !

This became one my favorite guitars

I wanted to try to make my own guitar - but had no knowledge or tools. So this was an ideal starting point.

And I am very happy that I did it. The one that I got is excellent.

It was really easy to assemble it, I even did some contours and designed my headstock (which is fun and gives you a feeling of a custom guitar).

Once I completed the project, I am very happy with this guitar - it plays great and now it is one of my 2 favourite guitars (I have 6 of them so far), together with my PRS SE Custom 24.

The only dowside is that the guitar body is heavily sealed - so if you eant to stain the body, you will have to do a lot of sanding.

Good quality

Was suprised by the quality and fit. Boight it just out of curiousity.

Better than i expected for this price

Not all screw holes are aligned perfectly. The wood has a smooth finish and can be used as is, you don't need to work it. The sanding (mainly in the curves) could be better however. Electronics are well prepared, no technical knowledge nor soldering needed there. Pickups sound very good on my vox-amplug, especially in the heavier drop-D tuning. This was my first kit guitar, so i spend quiet some iterations to get the neck setting perfect. No messing around with the frets was needed however, only setting the neck took me some time. The octave is a compromis with 3 settings for 6 strings (typical tele problem i guess). I'm still puzzled how they can make this product so cheap and keep ok quality.