Harley Benton TE-40 TBK Deluxe Series Reviews

Plays even better than it looks

The TE-40 TBK Deluxe is a beautiful guitar that plays even better than it looks, if that is possible. The action is light, the tuners hold tune, and the guitar is perfectly balanced. For the price, it is an absolute bargain. For a T-style guitar, the ease of play is very good. I actually prefer playing the TE-40 to my Les Paul for extended periods of time. It is obviously lighter than the LP, and this makes it very easy to play for long stretches. As for looks, it is stunning, with the semi-translucent finish. Under the right lighting, the wood grain on the body is visible and subtle in a sophisticated way. The only downside, and it may have no effect on the guitar, is the use of generic string trees rather than rollers. This is nowhere near being a deal-breaker. The fret ends could have been smoothed out a little, but a light treatment takes care of that.

Wow it's a looker

I purchased an aftermarket case that was almost as much as the guitar.

People think it is a $$$$ guitar when I remove it from the case. I may replace the tuners but it plays well and looks fantastic. I had an issue with the bridge but the simple fix was to just reverse the bridge pins. You will be happy with the TE-40 but remember it's not a Freedman or USA Tele but it is a great value.

The guitar is amazing, but the quality is bad

This guitar is very nice with amazing sound. Unfortunately my guitar arrived with several defects-two cracks on fretboard and tuning machines were not aligned. I sent it back for replacement and I hope the next new guitar will be perfect. I recommend checking the guitars before sending to countries from Eastern Europe.

Pretty awesome tool for any guitar player!

It is what it is, a pretty good deal for the price. It has its flaws, and some materials (nothing serious, really) feel cheap. In any case, this is a REALLY good guitar for the price. Sounds and plays very well, so if you are looking for a very balanced, good sounding, inexpensive guitar, this is a great choice

Beautiful guitar

Overall, really great guitar....some fret sprout

Another GREAT H B guitar!

It looks as if I am slowly, but surely becoming a collector of Harley Benton guitars! LOVE these guitars!

great guitar

very good guitar ready to play!!!

Staggeringly Good!!

I have owned numerous Teles over the yaers - this is fantastic. I have upgraded the Tuning Keys, but the pickups are great, as is the general build quality. Only 'con' for me is it a rather heavy but loos great!

Fantastic value for money.

Beautiful guitar with minor issues

I use the guitar to practice and play at home as well as for smaller jam sessions. I am not a professional by any stretch.

pro:

The guitar has amazing fretwork for the prize and plays like a breeze. A lot of fun indeed!

I like the sound of the humbuckers a lot and you can push your tube quite a bit.

con:

the tuners are to be replaced. I already have a broken plasitc washer after a month.

The intonation is awful. I cannot even seem to get it close to good by adjusting the bridge. Well I guess there are some trade offs for this price.

Also worth mentioning:

The guitar has a weird center of weight. It feels like the chunk of the weight is too much towards the neck, but that might just be me..

In total: I am stunned by the guitar and I play it a lot more than my more expensive ones these days, definitely worth it's money maybe even more.

Don't get demoralized by my cons. It is a great guitar and the issues I have with it can be fixed while still paying very little money for a great instrument.

Cheers, Nik

Great AXE for the price!

At 75 yrs. old And still have my vintage SG & fender tele. After seeing the reviews on YouTube I bought this TE-40 & a spider v60 amp to keep in touch with the times. The guitar was great right out of the box & with a few quick set ups to my liking it is a very playable unit!

Awesome

I ordered this guitar after viewing a review on Guitar Maxx youtube channel and have to say "WoW". It's amazing to get this quality for less than 200 dollars. I plan on purchasing more Harley Benton guitars.

As a first-time Harley Benton owner, this guitar has exceeded my expectations. Great quality for the price as well.

The only complaint I'd have is that the tuners are way more stiff than what I'm used to.

Aside from that, the contours of the body, the finish, the hardware, the sound- its all great.

The guitar feels good to play, and it doesn't get in the way of your playing. The Roswell humbuckers that come installed in the guitar are also good quality.

If you're in the market for a telecaster styled guitar and don't want to break the bank, you can't go wrong with the TE-40 TBK Deluxe.

Amazing guitar

great sound - great looking - perfect action out of the box - arrived in perfect condition and last but certainly not least - amazing price

Beside some flaws it's ok

Guitar arrived with decent action height.

Gold hardware on glossy black looks killer.

The neck is pretty good since I have relatively small hands and fingers. Frets were just fine. No sharp or rough edges.

Sadly I have fret buzz on 1st fret when I play open strings because the nut is cut too deep. Will have to send to luthier since it's not very usable when your open notes are cut short by the buzz. (Yes the neck have relief and the bridge is set up)

There are 2 black spots as big as a pea on the maple neck wood.

Theres wood chipped off at the end of the last fret.

It feels little compact and petite but it weighs decent.

Over all it's what you pay for.

Quality check could be better.

Yeah, the positive stuff you've heard is true

As a very poor individual I always do quite extensive research before I buy something.

In this case I was eying the guitar for about a year and devouring every review I could, while playing my Squier Affinity Tele and there just didn't seem to be any reason why I shouldn't pick this one up. And yeah, the less expensive TE-40 is simply better. ...by better I mean more bang for your buck.

I love Teles and since I play metal I wanted one that is more suited to my needs. I got everything I wanted .

PRO'S:

- First of all, it looks really sexy. It's difficult to see it on the photos, but in reality the body is not black, it's kind of grey-ish brown with visible wood grain and it looks really cool. This is subjective though, you may not care.

- Another I guess subjective things is that the carved top and the belly cut feels awesome and at this price it feels like you're holding something more expensive.

- The guitar was very well set up. I didn't have to do anything (except tune it a little).

- The (obviously) cheaper hardware works well. Tuning pegs are a bit stiff (I don't personally care) and people are sometimes "calling their quality out", but at least in my case they hold the tuning well. Especially considering I play metal and agressively abuse the strings with 3mm pick and a lot of bends. It's kind of surprising to be honest.

- Small thing I guess, but I love the pickup selector switch. it's not the usual cheap piece of thin metal. Functionally it doesn't matter, but it just feels more expensive and rugged.

- Frets were filed well and the fretboard wasn't dry at all (as some review mentioned). Everything on this guitar is just nice and smooth.

CONS:

- Well, for the price it's really hard to say. I guess I don't LOVE the pickups. They're kind of flat. But, for the price,....you know...

- The strings (when going out the body) touch the bridge. This technically doesn't matter (though not ideal), but this actually really bugs me sometimes.

- My guess is that all the shiny gold will be much less appealing in a year or two, but hey, I gotta write something negative.

WELL ANYWAY:

- Honestly I can't really bring myself to nitpick, because at this price I would be personally happy even with less.

It looks beautiful and everyting works well.

If you're considering it, just get it. Really.

great guitar

This is the 1st guitar I've ever gotten that all I had to do was just tune it & it was ready to go. The set up was dead on. The quality was excellent & it just feels right. I've got 15 guitars, counting this one. 1 PRS, 4 Les Pauls, 1 ES-335, 1 Washburn N2 & 1 N4, 2 Kiesel, 1 cheap strat copy, & 3 acoustic, 2 Martins & 1 Washburn. The PRS was the only one that was close to the Harley Benton as far as set up & that thing cost me $2200.00, so YES !!! I'm thrilled with the TE-40.

this guitar I really liked its appearance, performance quality and excellent sound, which is not inferior in quality to the leading guitar companies!...I am glad that I have acquired this instrument from You-thank you!!

What you can get for a budget price is very impressive

Finally a good budget guitar that is the same price as a good budget smartphone.

I bought this for looks. Obviously I didn't want it to be crappy sounding or playing either, and happily the quality has been on the mark. Clean production, no fret buzzes, no sharp edges, no loose connections, smooth and firm volume knob.

Thank you for being there!

My name is Sergey and I am from Russia.

I watched a lot of videos about Harley Benton and had no doubt that the guitar would be good. In Russia, there is simply no alternative for this money!!! Appearance-fire (so they say in Russia)! The quality of every detail is very pleased.

I'm not a professional, but I've been playing guitar since I was 11, and I know something about it. The tool is perfectly configured. The guitar does not need to be carried by the master, for improvement. Everything is ready, take it and play.

I say an honest thank you for your work!

Solid guitar, Easily feels more expensive than it is.

This thing has some serious output with those Roswell humbuckers. It puts out a lot louder signal than most of my other guitars in comparison. Only downside to these pickups is they can get a little muddy. Body and fretwork is A+, especially at this price point. Neck is a fine shape, and frets are comfortable. Fun to play, and great for rhythm sections when it comes to recording. POWERful power chords. The weight is a little heftier than my preference, and the tuners are just meh. I'm in the habit of tuning at the beginning of a play session anyways, since I record a lot, so this doesn't really bother me, but modders will probably want to change those first. I wish it had at least one more volume knob to control the pickups seperately, as I don't hear too much of a change in tone through using the tone knob or pickup switch alone. Might be good to crank your gain and volume on your amp, and then use the volume knob on the TE-40 to change your tone. Shaped like a tele, but sounds like an HH something :)

TL;DR: Would recommend.