Harley Benton TE-20MN BM Standard Series Reviews

Excellent value

What an excellent telecaster, absolutely astounding for the price.

Just scratch that itch!

I wanted a T-style guitar. €66.00 is a no brainer! (Something such as a decision that is very easy or obvious – Cambridge dictionary)

Although it was purchased as a curiosity I have really bonded with this guitar! So much that I am adding locking tuners and noiseless pickups to suit playing out - with the need to combat lights, hearing loops and the like. The only other thing I’ll do is reverse the control plate as I think it looks good that way!

So:

Tuners – no problems with mine (I have since changed them to HB locking tuners for their convenience and because it is a main guitar now.)

Neck – no problems at all. Fretting all okay.

Body – lovely, metallic blue finish has stunned most of my friends.

Intonation – no problems. I believe some YouTube reviewers are being overly “sensitive”, it is as good as any production guitar never mind a sub €100.00 guitar.

Pots – quiet, slightly stiff (new!) – To be honest that point wasn’t worth making, they are fine!

Pick-ups – three good sounds. Neck through a good Bassman is a real surprise, very warm. Bridge takes mild overdrive very well and I keep it in the middle position almost all the time. My one comment is that they are lower in output to all my other guitars but I am going to put some “named” hum cancelling pickups in the guitar as it is getting so much use I’m planning to gig it when things get back to normal!

Incredible Value

As a disclaimer, before buying this guitar I have only had experience with the bass guitar, so I can't give some super in-depth insight as to every small detail, but I can provide some general impressions I have (comparing to the different bass models I have had before).

Firstly, it's weightier than I expected. I'm not necessarily against that, but it surprised me. Compared to the bass it's not too bad however.

It came packaged really neatly with a few accessories. I was blown away with the quality of the finish, the blue colour is just as it is on the picture and in my opinion is one of the best features with this particular model.

The included strings are as to be expected, they're stock strings after all. I plan to replace them fairly soon, but they certainly do well for the beginning stage of learning this instrument. The neckboard has a nice smooth finish to it, the only downside being that the frets are rather scratchy. (not the fret-ends) I'm sure a good polish along the fretboard would iron out this particular issue, since it seems rather common with this model. It doesn't detract from the overall value whatsoever, since more expensive guitars can also have this of course.

The sound quality is better than expected! I initially used the cable that came with the guitar, but quickly came upon the realisation that it is basically useless. After switching the cable I was really impressed by the overall output, buzzing is rather minimal in my opinion. It's possible that the cable included was simply faulty with mine, but I wouldn't recommend using it either way.

The guitar tends to lose its tuning quite quickly, but it can last for a little while before needing a tune-up again. Replacing the tuning pegs might alleviate this, as it seems to be a common upgrade path for this model. Personally I will be keeping it stock, but it may be a good option for those who want more stable tuning in the long-run.

The protective film was a huge pain to remove, but with some care it comes off okay. I've seen worse with other instruments. Pots are quite nice for such a cheap instrument, they feel like they will survive quite well, alongside the output jack of course.

TLDR: Here are some pro's and con's:

Pro's

- Phenomenal finish to the guitar, lovely colour!

- Fret-ends are nice and smooth

- Sound is better than expected, nothing too fancy

- Feels higher quality than the purchase price

Con's

- Screws were put in a bit wonky in a few spots

- Scratchy frets, but all they need is a polish!

- Protective film was annoying to remove (like on many guitars, although also somewhat satisfying)

- Goes out of tune quite quickly

- Included cable is rubbish! (but it's nice that one was included anyway)

Overall, it's a fantastic purchase if you're going for a cheap guitar. You can't do better for the price in my opinion. This 100% beats the first bass I ever had, which was over twice the price of this guitar.

(perhaps an unfair comparison, but that's all I can compare it to)

Exception Value

For what you pay there simply is no beating this guitar. It's beautiful, it plays well, it sounds great. As most guitars do it will benefit from a true setup & fret polish but that's about all it needs. I have played some entry level/budget guitars and none of them touch this in terms of quality.

Excellent! Top Notch!

Better than an affinity. Just great, feels nice to the touch and looks beautiful. Sounds great. Just a bit more bassy than other pick ups at three times the cost of the guitar. Great, I have an epi LP standard and a few washburns. This is top game

1st but not last Harley Benton

This was my first tele styled guitar and my first Harley Benton and as has been said many times before, I can't believe the quality of these guitars for the money. Beautiful finish, awesome neck, tele twang. I replaced the tuners with HB locking tuners and those are awesome as well. It sounded great out of the box but I put some Wilkinson compensated brass saddles on it and it just sings, baby! The guitar is resonant, feels great, plays great. If you're still curious, yes, just get one

Nice guitar

Very good guitar for the price. All parts are of high quality. The guitar has a beautiful color. Frets don't scratch right hand. Guitar was carefully packed. Good guitar for beginners and for musicians who have been playing for a long time

Brilliant guitar

I've built up quite a collection of guitars (mostly Harley Benton, admittedly) and on reflection I'dve been very happy with just this one, the cheapest (full size) one.

Great colour, not too heavy, nice slinky feeling with the toploading (haven't missed through-body stringing really). Solid pickups too. A great first tele (and I reckon teles should be the default first guitar rather than strats)!

Good for the price.

Sound is a little week but for $90 I’m not composing. I sill upgrade the pickups and the bridge and it will be a great guitar.

quality

I can't believe how good this guitar is for the price, mind you, I'm no expert. But it does exactly what I expected it to do and that's good enough for me.

Great guitar.

Recommended to friends. No complaints.

How is it so good?

So this costs €88... how is that possible? Is it the greatest Tele of all time? No but for the price it is so impressive. I can't think what it would have been like to have guitars this good at the price point when I started playing 400 years ago.

I am super impressed with this. Will probably swap out the pick ups at some point for Fender ones but I don't think it will need much more than that to be a long term member of my collection.

Budget price, high quality guitar

Although the price of this guitar may be budget, the build quality is great. The guitar sounds great and is a definite buy for beginners or average players, or better !

I would highly recommend this guitar - Why buy a more expensive guitar when you can buy this. Cheap postage and quick delivery (to UK)

Real value for money

I wish I had this option back in the day when I first started tinkering on the guitar. Fantastic price and quality is the opinion of a guitar hacking Drummer.

Best value telecaster you can find

Been playing for around five days with it, and here's the summary:

Pros

-Price/performance - you get the whole guitar for a price of 1 pickup.

-Feels solid - all hardware feels nice: knobs, switch. There is no play in them. They're not loose or anything. However, I'd like to mention that the top screw that holds a bridge has been cross-threaded and doesn't sit evenly with the rest.

-Neck - it feels very nice in my hands. Fret height is perfect.

-Paint - flawless on mine; the sparkle is visible too. No blemishes or scratches. All around perfect. It's a beautiful guitar. So, if you stop playing after some time, it will still be an excellent decoration for your room, lol.

Cons

-Pickups. The bridge is fine, but neck... Just muddled with bass. The middle is fine. I'm thinking about replacing them some time in the future. But it has that distinct tele "twang", so for the time it'll do.

-Unpolished frets - it's not bad, I could feel a little bit of scratchiness early on, but it quickly went away as I played on.

-I have to retune it every day. It drifts away 1/4 step. But I play lots of bends with it, so maybe that's the case.

Overall, a lot of guitar for not a lot of money. Perfect, if you're a beginner. I don't want to go nuts with the guitars buying spree, but I'm tempted to get more Harley Bentons.

Unbelievably good for $90

I bought this T Style guitar to modify pretty exstensively, not really expecting much for the $90 it costs... man I don’t know how Harley Benton does it. This guitar is just as good as a Squier Classic vibe as far as build quality goes, for like a THIRD of the price. In all fairness the pickups in the guitar are its weak point, and unfortunately are microphonic. With that being said, if you are like me or many other people buying this guitar, there’s a really good chance you’re buying it and swapping out the stock pickups for some aftermarket ones. The thing is, you can buy this, upgrade the pickups and hardware to your liking, and STILL maybe be in the ballpark of the other guys’ top tier guitars. I got to admit that I scoffed at the idea of a sub-$100 guitar being good, but HB you’ve made me a believer!

This is my 2nd HB, first being the JA-60, which is an incredible guitar. This tele is almost as good as that one, not quite, but it’s also almost half the price.

unbeatable guitar for the price

switch knob felt of immediately and got lost in the wormhole with a few pick probably but oder then fret polish and string change perfectly good instrument for the price.

Brilliant Value and Great Service.

I have bought several of these guitars over the past few months and they have all been beautifully finished requiring very little adjustment to make them into great playing and sounding instruments.

I upgraded the pickups on one guitar, but in all honesty the difference was hardly noticeable.

To summarise , the service and delivery to the UK are second to none and these guitars are fantastic value for money.

Amazing bang for the buck!

I was shopping for a TE style guitar to see if I liked it any better than my St style. The price was amazing. I received it in 3 days and it was if perfect shape. Not a blemish. The set up was pretty much right on. Did a simple tune up and went to work. Plays great and holds tune very well. Has a very good feel. I'm just blown away by the quality. Im really digging deep for a negative. The only negative thing I can see is it's slightly heavy. Other than that, no negatives. Great guitar for the money. This is my second HB. I'm very satisfied. Thank you.

Worth every penny. If you are looking for a good guitar at a very inexpensive price BUY! The blue sparkles it plays great and for the money you cannot find a match.