Harley Benton TE-52 NA Vintage Series Reviews

Impressive

I wasn't expecting much, when I ordered this, just wanted a T-shape guitar. It's now one of my main guitars and I love every bit of it, thanks!

It great guitar love it one it a little on the heavy side that side give it great tone also

BLOWN AWAY!

Read good reviews & I heard good reviews on youtube but you never know really until you have one in hand. I am blown away by the TE-52

Let's start with the BAD! Just the tuners, everything else was good, fixable/setup issues, or great!

GOOD

3 piece ASH body

Pickups surprisingly sound great! Those youtube reviews changed them in many cases, but I don't believe you need to. They sound exactly as a TELE should, not as loud as my G&L & not as articulate as my American Fender Tele with Broadcaster and Twisted pair but sounds more like a TELE than both

NECK

Frets were polished but not as well as an Am Fender, Fret ends were filed nicely, better than an American Tele but Fender puts glue/varnish on theirs that make their necks smoother. Neck was almost straight but it still had high action and then buzz if I lowered it. So I straightened the neck STRAIGHT and adjusted the height and it's perfect now

BRIDGE

Great! but I will eventually replace saddles with comp brass saddles but I like this tone so if it changes that I will change them back

I always heard Wilkinson made decent pickups but I had never played them before. I'd say these are VERY GOOD, as I said maybe not comparable in some aspects to G&L or Fender pickups but where they surpass this pickup in some aspects, this pickup also beats them in others.

Will be ordering 2 more of these very soon, they are "that" nice. I'd say this is comparable to a Fender Baja Strat or the other MIM Fender Ash strat, both of which I have played before. I also bought (2) TE-30 as project guitars and they are not as nice. Their sound is just a tad warmer with less bite, in other words, it doesn't stand out. The TE-30 neck is also a bit unfinished, but about 2 or 3 weeks of playing will get it close to the TE-52's neck with the exception of the filed edges. You will have to do that yourself, although I have played Fenders with worse necks than the TE-30. Also the TE-30 has a thicker bridge, but it's not an ashtray type, and it does not have string through body. It also does not have a skunk stripe or truss rod rosewood like insert so it looks like a plain neck. The TE-30 has a beautiful ASH body still though, I got lucky and got a ONE piece and the other was a 2 piece also centered. If you are wondering which is better, the TE-52 is better than the TE-30 in every aspect. If you want a guitar to upgrade, the TE-30 once fret ends have been filed and string through holes drilled, and pickups replaced would be as nice as the TE-52. It's ASH body and paint job is just as nice.

TE-52 NA Vintage

everything is fine only very hard

A nice cheap tele

I've got this tele to start playing guitar and I'm impressed. The pickups sound pretty decent, but with different strings. The stock strings are not very comfortable and tend to wear down quickly. Mine has a 3 piece body with a maple neck. The tuners are fine, one has a bit of slack, nevertheless, they do the job and stay in tune. If you're looking for a heavy guitar, look no further. This weights an impressive 4.7 kilograms, so get yourself a nice wide strap. My only complaint is that the screws of the pickguard aren't straight in the holes.

Good Guitar

Really good considering the price

Great guitar

Great guitar. Period. Not great for the money, just great.

I couldn't stop playing it after I got it. It's got a nice chunky neck, but still feels very "fender" with the C profile. Frets are alright and my only tiny nitpick would be that they sanded the edges of the fretboard & frets in a way that left a clear line along the edges that is not even and stands out against the lacquer. This is to be expected with such a low cost instrument.

It's superb !

I cannot believe how good this guitar is when you consider the price. Mine was perfect straight out of the box, no sharp frets, no marks / scruffs etc, the intonation was spot on as was the action for me personally. iIt plays so well and the tones are amazing.

I honestly can say I have not found any of the faults that some have mentioned in other reviews.

All I can do is to say if you are in two minds about buying one ... don't be just do it and I am convinced you will be so pleased you did. Oh forgot to mention mine took less than a week to arrive from Germany and that's fast !

Guitar OK. Initial setting (truss rod) NOK.

Hello.

PROS.

Guitar is great in terms of look and quality.

CONS.

But after breaking 5 thin "E" strings in a couple of days I had to re-set the truss rod and action with the included tools.

Now no more broken strings and, finally a happy customer.

My suggestion is to double check upon arrival the guitar.

The best Tele for the money

Played great out of the box! The fret ends were a bit sharp for my taste buy an easy fix. Other the that small fix (happens with all brands) I love it. Fie Stars all around.

A GREAT guitar for a budget price.

Overall this guitar is great for the price, the finish on neck and body are really good colour with nice wood grain, the neck shape is good even for my small hands.. The Hardware is good for the price, Tuners stay in tune, the controls function adequately, the Pickups are good for the money It did require a couple of tweaks, action lowering, nut slotting, fret polish, Still an amazing guitar for the money.

Harley Benton TE-52 NA

The cheapest and best quality option to learn to play the guitar. Perfect for a gift to your child. The thing is 100% paid off and serves without failure, I bought it recently and use it daily. Despite the ridiculous price , it can compete with more expensive musical instruments. You can change the position of the pickups and achieve the best sound. Has one minor minus, during the game there are quiet overtones on the lower threshold, but the sound through the amplifier is not reflected. Recommend for beginners.

great value guitar for money

I love body color polish finish.

a little like color satin in neck.

the edge of neck near fret a little rough.

Head stock someone tight someone good someone loose but and lock well done.

An excellent option for a '52 style tele

My main goal when purchasing this was to downgrade my current model telecaster as it wasn't getting used very often. This more than did the job. I was expecting something reasonably playable which looked like a tele and was in the same general ballpark tone.

I was very pleasantly surprised with the instrument I received. The quality is certainly high enough to warrant gigging the guitar (I did, less than a week after it arrived) and tonally, it does exactly what a telecaster should. Sure, there are a few finishing issues here and there but nothing noticeable when you're playing (maybe the frets could be polished a little more, but that'll sort itself out with playing). She's got it where it counts, kid!

Held tuning fine, sounded great, neck was incredibly comfortable, and yet cost less than 10% of my previous model. Also, an honourable mention to the new HB logo. A big improvement over the last one and adds a touch more authority to the instrument.

Much more than I was expecting. Well done HB!

Bank for your buck, needs work to be awesome

I got this guitar in November 2018. At the moment this review is written, I have been using it for 6 months.

Specs:

Mine has the Roswell pickups, a 3-piece body and Strat pickup routing in the neck position (I am mentioning this as there are variants with Wilkinson pickups and humbucker routing). The reason I bought it was because I have another guitar with a floyd rose and wanted to have a second one with a fixed bridge.

Pros/Cons/Middle

Pros:

-Tone: It sounds great out of the box(sound wise, we'll get on the setup later). The pickups won't go anytime soon. I love the neck pickup, sounds really bluesy. The bridge pickup has a lot of grit and when overdriven, it can get heavy.

-Build quality: I feel it comes on par with other budget teles, costing a hundred euros more

Cons:

-Electronics(not the pickups): they feel cheap. Welding seemed ok but the switch feels really cheap.

-Bridge: I changed it with a Wilkinson with brass saddles. Tone improved, the metal is of better quality.

-Tuners: functional, a bit too stiff.

Comments:

-Setup: The frets are a bit sharp. The intonation was already fixed and stock strings were not bad, however. Came almost tuned out of the box.

-Weight: This is a heavy guitar, period. I kinda like that, others may not. I have not measured it, definitely heavier than my Ibanez RG (basswood).

Conclussion:

Overall, I really like this guitar. I have already spent about 30-40 euros on it, I will take it to a professional to have it setup, maybe change the nut to a bone one. I highly recommend this guitar for modding. If it is your first guitar, take it directly pro to fix it up for playabillity and you will have a fine instrument in your hands.

Edit: After 2 years of owning this, it is still my go-to guitar. After installing a bone nut, the next improvement will be to change the tuning pegs.

Best price / value ratio.

Mine came fully setup, and I was quite surprised when I realized, that the frets were leveled correctly.

Cons: tuners. But hey, this guitar cost a dinner.

There is no other match for the price! Fantastic finish, clean, crisp sound and nice setup from the factory.

This is the guitar to get

A couple of decades ago I treated myself to a Fender American Stratocaster and a couple of days ago I received my latest acquisition, a Harley Benton TE-52. So how do these two guitars compare? Apart from price they both appear to be in the same league.

Quality is very similar. The Fender has better tuners and is constructed from 2 symmetrical pieces of alder while the TE-52 is constructed from 3 non-symmetrical pieces of ash disguised as a single piece from the front of the guitar. Playability, the TE-52 is better. Tone wise, they both sound good but different.

A while back I replaced my strat pickups with something more to my liking but the TE-52 pickups sound pretty good so they will be staying. Both guitars arrived intonated and ready to play. Both had good necks and required no fret work. I replaced the TE-52 saddles with brass compensated ones that I now realize weren't necessary. However, it does look more like a 50's tele. As for cost, the TE-52 is more than 5 times cheaper than what I paid for my strat 2 decades ago.

Bottom line, even if you can afford to pay more why bother. This is the guitar to get. Why pay >X5 for the name on the headstock!

Excellent little guitar.

I find this to be a beautiful looking guitar, even nicer than the pictures on the website. It has a nice bright t.style sound and if this is what you are looking for you will not be disappointed.. The details and features are equall to many more expensive guitars and I would certainly rate this as the best value for money guitar of its type. I am more than pleased with my purchase and would highly recommend this to anyone interested in or thinking about buying one. I can not find any faults with this guitar, it's perfect. So all that's left to say to any potential buyers is Go for it.

Great for the price

Great guitar for the price..