Harley Benton TE-20HH SBK Standard Series 5-stars Reviews

Unbelievable quality

When you consider the price, you will be amazed. This guitar plays like is cost x6 the price and looks like it cost x10 the price. The neck is smooth and plays fast. This will handle any style.

metalcaster

've never played heavy music on a telecaster. I decided to try it and bought myself this tool. excellent quality of the instrument, the frets are neat, the hand is not scratched. the color is beautiful. charcoal black matte.I really like how the guitar sounds on a pure sound. very readable. there are a lot of high ones on overload, but for a heavy style it needs, this is suitable. I gave the same tool to a friend. I really like it!

Great first impressions…

Edit: Update after a few weeks' play and assessment - it's an excellent instrument for the price, but it has needed some work to get it there. The pickups are surprisingly good on such a budget guitar, with three distinct but balanced voices. High output but typical tele in the middle which is why I bought it in the first place.

The neck/bridge/action has been a bit of a mission - when I bought it the action was too high with almost no scope left to lower the bridge saddles. So, I did what I've done to previous Harley Bentons and took the neck off, added a maple veneer shim and put the neck back on, raised the bridge saddles and it has transformed the guitar. Now, it holds its tune infinitely better, and the action is perfectly low enough now to enjoy it. I also wire wooled the fretboard and frets, which has made it feel more smooth.

I would highly recommend this guitar if you are willing to put a little work into it - but, like every other guitar I've had to tweak, it feels more like 'mine' now that I've got it set up right.

Arrived after 8 days, so lots of time on the road, but it doesn’t seem to have caused the guitar much stress.

It was well-packaged, and once opened it looks spotless on first glance (I’ll need to give it a more thorough scan over tomorrow in the light).

Action was crazy high and so I’ve adjusted it down - it could do with being able to go a little lower for my taste, but there’s a buzz introduced, so I’ve got it as low as I can from the bridge. Neck seems nice and straight.

I bought a Harley Benton s-type years ago and had to add a neck shim to it - it might be that this guitar needs one too, but I’ll let it settle and see how it goes.

I bought it for the middle pickup tone and I’m not disappointed. The neck is really warm, possibly too warm for me, but the blend of both pickups is really excellent (especially for this price).

First impressions excellent - think I’ll enjoy this one :)

It has something for everybody

Before I came across this guitar I was never a fan of the telecaster look, it simply didn't have an appeal, but that all changed when I saw this awesome piece of equipment. It looks and sounds killer, period.

I was trying to decide between several guitars (some costing 3x the price tag of this one) but kept coming back to this one, and it did not disappoint.

Is playable right out of the box, great finishes and your fingers just slide through the board.

So I'd say is great for beginners, it's a reliable backup(or main) for gigging and a great platform for mods, and since its very affordable, a good axe to get into teching and upgrades.

great

outstanding as a whole for its price

Wanna be a Metalcore superstar?

I was missing a Tele shaped guitar in my guitar rack, and was REALLY interested in how good or bad HB's are, and I play mostly metal. So, I didn't expect much considering the price, and thought it would be a good backup guitar for when I don't wanna drop my other guitars too low or whatever.

Boy was I wrong. First of all, the guitar looks amazing. My band was amazed by the looks as well, for a guitar that cheap. I paid almost double for re-fretting my '88.-'89. Squier with stainless steel frets than I paid for this whole guitar.

Now for the playability. After playing the guitar for some time with the original HB strings on, I took it to a repair guy with a pack of .12 D'Addario strings and said "I wanna play Parkway Drive on this thing". The guitar was very playable right out of the box, but when he set it up with those strings and they loosened up a bit, I was like WHOA this thing ROCKS. I have 4 other guitars (Ibanez RG1451 Premium, LTD EC-1000 Deluxe, etc.) and still play this one as much as the others.

As for the bad things about the guitar, and I'm not saying this in a bad way, the tuners are rubbish, and if you plan on doing some serious playing, I would recommend swapping them out. The other thing is the pickups, same thing applies. But I use it with my Focusrite Scarlett Solo and BIAS FX II and it sounds amazing with what ever pickups you have, so I recommend it all the way. That's why I'm giving this a 5 star review. Not because it's perfect, because it's not, but I think they saved money on in the right places and you can easily switch the stuff out if you need to. The rest of it is great.

I would recommend HB to anyone as long as they're aware of the things I mentioned above. Also, it's highly likely that this won't be my only HB guitar. Maybe the headless one will be next :)

5/5 HB, would buy again!

Shipping to Canada

Had to try a Harley Benton out so ordered a TE-20HH SBK as it was cheapest in stock and wanted to test getting it to Canada.....all went well guitar arrived in about 10 days....was contacted by a customs broker and payed duty online....total cost 129+ 93 shipping+22 duty + 11 pick up fee =255 cad....well boxed....not a blemish on it anywhere....playable right out of the box....had a friend who is a Telecaster nut (owns 5 fenders) try it out...and he was blown away with the quality , sound and playability ....had have it for a couple of months now ...and still impressed

based on this experience just ordered the model I wanted from the start

a CTS-24T P90 Black Flame....here's hoping things work out on this one

Hats off to HB

Wow, just wow this made me like Tele’s

This is an unbelievable guitar that has a dark side. The neck is my favorite part but the satin finish comes a close second. If your not a fan of bright shrill pickups you will love love this. Clear, smooth, and warm are the best words to describe this double hum-bucking Tele.

You have to buy one

Superb quality, sound and playability, I have guitars that cost 10times this and you really would struggle to tell ….. spent 10 minutes adjusting the action, only because I like a very low action and that was it , played great straight out of the box….. unbelievable for the price !

Black Magic

Was taken by its matt finish and smart looks. As with all HB products, this is well made and does it’s job well. And the price is a complete bargain. For something a bit different, this fits the bill. Magic!

Snatched from me in a second.

I ordered this for myself as a backup guitar for heavy riffs. When my friend saw it and tried I couldn't get it back from him. This ended up as a present 'cos my friend's birthday was coming soon. The best present I ever gave to anybody.

Absolutely Insane Quality

I bought this guitar as a back up I figured for the price I couldn't go wrong. Man that was truth and then some. for 100 bucks this guitar punches far above it weight class. Everything came in great and the thing was flawless. The only thing that was lack luster was the pick ups, but you can easily swap those out and still be under 400 or 500 bucks

good

very good guitar for this price

Plays great

Great tele … plays great out of the box, better after a little set up… really fun guitar

How do they do it..?

Just took delivery of this guitar and all I can say really is 'wow!'. Its very nice, well put together, sounds great, no sharp fret edges, nothing out of place, machine-heads all in a neat row, pots nice and firm - also the vol pot is not an 'on-off' type found on many guitars, cheap or otherwise, it actually brings the volume down nice and steady, tone pot is also quite usable.

I think the only negative I've sort of found so far would be to note that the body thickness is around 38-mm which is rather slim, however, given the price and indeed the pup configuration this is not a great issue tonally and I will not mark it against in my conclusion.

The neck feels great btw. Oh, and strung through the back... I wish they would do that with the TE 30 model, which I also own and rate as the nicest guitar I possess, only let down in a small way by having no through-body stringing.

The PUP's have some growl - this is not your standard 'tele' but that's obvious by the pup; this is a rock guitar through and through - the all-black finish screams 'rock' and so the the tones.

Finally the guitar has arrived pretty well set-up, I've lowered the saddles a tad and not a buzz to be heard anywhere!

Pros - great guitar irrespective of the price... take the price into account and really...!?

Cons - None. I've paid 5 x times the money for less satisfaction on many occasions. If HB keep up this level of product they will soon either cause certain other budget brands to seriously up-their-game, or just give up.

Played well out of the box.

Good Finish without any blemishes.

Neck is very confortable (not very thin) and it holds the tuning well (Eb Standard).

Nice mod base if you wish to do so.

Excelent Value for the money.

As everybody says!

Absolutely amazing! The odd review mentions sharp frets, cant say I have them. Faultless guitar, delivered 2 days before due date.

Not a Tele knockoff

This is a great guitar, a couple of simple tweaks after it arrived and it plays like a dream. This is not a cheap Fender/Squire knockoff guitar this is its own beast. The modern C neck and 12" (as opposed to classic C neck and 9.5 radius) gives this neck a much faster sleeker feeling than a comparable "name brand" guitar.

I'll refrain from reviewing the electronics as I plan to replace them anyway, but they appear adequate in all respects.

The fit and finish of this guitar is impeccable for what this fiddle costs, a similar squire is $249.99 (6/30/21) and doesn't include a matching neck finish or modern neck.

Pros: Great beginner rock or metal guitar that can grow with you for many many years. An extremely solid instrument that feels far more expensive than it is.

Cons: About the only drawback for this instrument for me personally is that I live in the USA so it costs me $65 to get this shipped, but even the sting of that was lessened by it arriving so quickly (ordered on a Sunday night, it arrived Thursday afternoon).

Great guitar, great company. This is my second Harley Benton guitar (the other is a SC-Custom II Active White) and its probably not gonna be my last.

Hope that this helps someone out there.

They don't get much better

I didn't expect much, just simply a play around mod/experiment guitar. Boy was I ever shocked, plays excellent and the sound is absolutely the best I have ever heard. The pickups sound better than all of the high priced ones you all know about. So if you are looking for a telecaster on a budget you won't go wrong here.

ALL AROUND A GREAT GUITAR

guitar played good right out of the box, can't really say there are any cons about the guitar, the action was a little high for my preference but you tweak pretty much every guitar to your personal feel so that's not a con, the quality is beyond the price, all around it's

a great guitar