Harley Benton TE-20HH SBK Standard Series Reviews

Could not ask for more at this price.

I have been playing for a long, long time. I own and have owned a number of guitars in my time including stuff from Gibson, Fender, Epiphone, Squire and Ibanez.

Ok, there were a few sharp fret ends out of the box and a little tweeking was needed to get good playabilty. The pickups, although not terrible, are a little weak and mushy sounding. So far I have replaced the bridge pickup with an Iron Gear an will eventually replace the neck. The nut and string trees I decided to replace. Mine was an early one so the strings top load, I might get someone to convert it to strung through the body. I have really enjoyed playing this guitar over the last year or so. With a little TLC and afew mods I belive it to be the equal of a considerably more expensive instrument. This was not my first HB, nor will it be my last.

It's worth it

Much, much better than the Squier Affinity line. Not as good as the Squier CV line but really worth it for the money. The best thing about this guitar? Out of the box ready to play!!! Setup is nice. Fret ends are okay (i.e., doesn't bother my playing). Wood is dry so I'll have to apply some oil. Frets are rough at some spots but can be easily polished. Tone okay but I'll probably swap them out with some Seymour Duncans. Overall, I recommend it.

Good for its cost

Pretty good guitar, but the neck required adjusting and frets required equalising.

But overall quality is quiet good.

No idea how they can charge this! Can’t fault it!

So I bought this guitar as I’d sold my old Epiphone as it was on its last legs. It was initially just to get me through until I saved up some more cash to get something better so I could get started with my new band.

After receiving the guitar and doing a basic set up on it, I literally cannot fault it! I play in a punk rock band so for what I play, it really doesn’t need to do anymore that it does, and sound wise from the pick ups, has sounded lovely so far with very clear distortion.

Basically, if you’re in the market for a budget guitar, there is literally nothing better on the market than this. I’ve played on MIM Fenders and I honestly think this is better than some of those once set up!

Get it, you won’t regret it!

Classic telecaster with humbuckers!

The instrument is most suitable for a beginner (price = quality), great for experienced musicians who are ready to modify the guitar for themselves. For myself, I decided to change all the accessories and electronics! I was very pleased with the assembly (very surprising in this price category), I didn’t like the sound out of the box at all, now with the master we change everything that was from the factory, the sound will be EMG 81-85 (I didn’t buy the Set - I already had it), the guitar cost with modding only 425 euros. A great solution if you want a classic telecaster with humbuckers!

Unbelievable value

The guitar is not the most top end piece of equipment you could own, but for the price you are easily getting something on par with Squire or Epiphone's $300-450 guitars. Most guitars at this price range lack ALL niceties and are basically thrown together as cheaply as possible, making for something that functions but little else.

But this? This is a joy to use. Wipes the floor with anything in it's price range.

Just wow!

Don't let the price fool you, this guitar is really awesome! By my opinion it's better then many guitars that have higher price.

Build quality and the sound are both very good.

Overall I think it's the best buy for beginners and even the

Very Impressed

I bought this guitar as a beginner-practice guitar not to be precious about and care if I drop it or scratch it. After I got its set up and new strings I fell in love and I am planning to buy new pickups too. Very good body and great for upgrades. I am very happy and impressed by it

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.

What? For 100?

I bought an MN tele that i use as my main guitar and i also have an epiphone les Paul studio. I was looking for a guitar with HH to use for alternative tunings and stumbled upon this… it looks great! This black matte colour is excellent (although i think it “masks” the lower-quality materials).

However, i think it’s great for a first guitar or for a backup

The guitar is good, but with some peculiarities.

My copy is good, but the delivery has damaged it and has scratches on it.

great

outstanding as a whole for its price

You get what you pay for...

This is a budget guitar with budget quality - which shouldn't really be a surprise.

Bad bits: Control cavity routing goes too far back, so that the screw holding the control plate down misses the wood and splits out into the cavity, meaning the screw can't be tightened fully... leaving the control plate slightly loose. (I have also seen this pointed out on other reviews on YouTube so it must be a systematic issue with the position of the routing)

Machine head screws on back of headstock not tightened down leaving play in the heads. The screw head for the low E stuck up by about 3mm and when I tried to tighten it, just fell clean off - I guess it was forced in by the factory which stressed the screw head.

Significant fret sprout and the fret ends are literally like razors (have a cut on fingertip as evidence!) Fret sprout has also blown a spot of finish off at the fret tang on one fret.

Frets are pretty low profile and very roughly finished so string bending is not the most comfortable.

Some screws holding the pick guard down do not bite into the soft basswood properly so do not seat down fully.

Pickguard is poorly made with some wobbly bits and one spot showing some delamination of the top layer.

Machine heads are poor quality both in terms of visuals due to rough spots from casting and function due to flat spots and play.

Good bits:

Looks cool from a few feet away :-)

Through body stringing is a bonus at this price point.

The satin finish is very nice to hold on the neck and easy to slide your hand around.

The neck carve is very comfortable - maybe slightly thicker than a Fender Player series tele but not by much.

The body is nicely done and the routing is crisp and clean.

If you are a beginner I would say stay away and go for a Squier Bullet which is a lot better finished for a similar price.

If you are looking for a donor body and neck to use as a project I'd say this is ideal and would make a great basis for a custom build... but be aware of the following points: You will need to modify an aftermarket pick guard as the control plate is slightly larger than standard. You will need to drill out the control plate holes if you want to fit full size pots.

You will need to replace/modify the pick guard and bridge plate if you want to use covered pickups as they won't fit.

In summary - if you don't mind putting in a bit of work and expect to deal with some issues then this is a good purchase. If you are expecting something that will not need any improvements/setup out of the box, you will most likely be disappointed.

Pretty as a picture but...................

Like many others I was seduced by the look of this guitar and bought one. Yes in real life it looks great but the problem is if you want to actually play and use this guitar opposed to just hanging it on a wall this is what you should do : Needs new machine heads and new PUP's which will cost you around a 100 Euros? But don't get me wrong it's a nice guitar to play and the common problem of fret sprouts was non existent which is a miracle.

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!

Great for the money

Sound is awesome. Played through an Orange Crush. Had to adjust the action but once I did it plays amazing!!

inexpensive telecaster

Most likely the telecaster is not my guitars at all, so the opinion is subjective. I'm just uncomfortable playing. But there are some minor flaws, the frets are not polished. For some reason the tuning heads are too close, I think it's because of the small neck. For a beginner guitarist, I would recommend.