Harley Benton TE-25TH Firemist Reviews

Beautiful guitar

Love this guitar...there is no other that looks like it....so glad I waited for it.

Great guitar

Waited 8 weeks for stock- glad I did

I'm a home player, intermediate level, don't gig and I have entry level amps.

Mostly these are my observations and comparion to other HB guitars I own or have owned.

Compared to the TE-62 and TE-52

Sounds:- can't really tell a difference- pups are the same, maybe with better ears and amps you could tell

Weight:- A shade lighter than the TE-52 and slightly heavier then the TE-62 but this will vary depending on what you get

Hardware:- Significantly better quality. Bridge is solid, brass saddles look better (but this is subjective), don't know if they make any sonic difference. Tuners are solid and precise and better than the other Ts.

Frets:- No sharps, comfortable playing, no choking of notes. They will need a light polishing.

Neck:- Looks amazing and a very comfortable play, the hand glides on it.

Finish:- Looks great, slight copper tint as others have noted. Negligible imperfections.

Gig bag:- Solid, good quality, good padding

Would be nice to see some of these features, Stainless Steel frets, tuners, bridge on similarly priced HB T guitars in some of the amazing colours offered by the TE-62

Max bang for the buck

the overall quality of the instrument is spectacular, no dings and nothing. The only real complaint would be the pickups are somewhat uninspiring but it is very usable with a proper setup.

I know I had pretty high expectations but

This guitar is far better than I had hoped.

The tone- the Tone...

The finish is darker in person and far better looking.

The neck is just stunning to look at and amazing to play

The box had seen some rough stuff during shipping but the guitar was perfect inside the box and is perfectly setup, just needed a quick tune and it was singing.

I only wish I had gotten all of the anniversary models.

Love the TE-25th, Only had a couple of issues and hoping easy resolution

Playability is great, love the tele style

Great guitar

Hard to beat for the money. Sounds and plays like guitars that would cost $1000.

Great value and worth buying

Such a good T style guitar with great components - plays really well and apart from a couple of minor items (control plate not exactly straight, action needed lowering for me) I strongly recommend

Absolute steal

Such a great instrument for the money

Bought as project guitar, didn't end up needing to do much

My plan was to buy this, put some work into it and then hopefully get a decent instrument for students. But it turned out to be really great on its own. I made a couple modifications: thinned the neck out a bit and added a coat of modified tung oil, smoothed the fret edges. Aside from the fret edges though, it was mostly personal preference stuff, I easily could have left it as is.

I own a Fender Am. Pro II Tele and you'd be surprised how close this guitar feels to that in terms of quality.

In terms of pick-ups, I have a set of Lollars I planned on putting in this but I may not even end up doing that because the stock pick ups actually sound solid, I even think the Alnico-5's with the alder body give better sustain than some other Tele's I've played. Gig bag is good too, better padding and storage than a standard gig-bag.

All in all, when I got this I hoped it could turn it into a decent guitar, turns out it was a pretty great guitar from the start and with a little work I can actually make it an awesome guitar. Can't get much better at this price point.

Stop wasting time reading reviews, just buy it now

The amount of quality that HB has packed into a $250 USD guitar is absolutely wild. Locking tuners, vintage style tuning pegs, roasted maple neck, double bound body, custom color and satin finish, stainless steel frets, compensated brass saddles? If you spec out an equivalent fender, it runs about $2000. The neck is really nice, I sometimes just walk past the guitar on its stand and run my hand up and down the neck a couple times because it's so velvety smooth. And it looks great on the roasted neck which has a nice level of stripes and darker color. The fretboard is incredibly smooth. I just added a light layer of lemon oil and it looks dark and beautiful all the way down. The fret job is noticeably better than the Epiphone LP I bought last November. They could maybe use 1 more pass on the ends with the file but that's about it. And they're really beefy frets so it's easy to finger them if you're newer. Pickups are really good sounding, my only complaint is I wish they had just a bit more clarity when playing clean chords, but other than that, they sound like a pretty typical tele bridge and neck and that's why I was looking to buy a tele in the first place. The body binding looks really good and is flush with the body all the way around. 3 layer pickguard, chrome finishes. Plus a pretty decent gig bag. I think it even came with decent strings (elixirs if I remember correctly). What more can you ask for?

It's $250, buy it now because the wait time looks like it's doubled since I got mine a couple months ago. The satin gold is beautiful in person too, with a nice sheen when the light hits it.

Exceptional

The spec and materials were almost a perfect combo, so I took the plunge into the Harley Benton world. I have set the guitar to my personal preference and have been amazed at how this guitar fells, plays and sounds. Unplugged, it has a nice resonant tone, which is great for evening doodling when the family is in bed.

The D shape satin neck with rolled Laurel board is just wonderful. I have Roeswood, wenge, maple, ebony and this is my second laurel fretboard. I'm a fan.

This is not a great guitar for the money. This a great guitar for 3 x the money.

Very, very happy

Trust me

This is my first review ever and I didn't mean to write one, but Harley Benton deserves it. Before I ordered that guitar, I changed my mind and thought that it was impossible to get a quality guitar for that money (€29). In fact, I've been playing for more than 40 years and I'm a telecaster fan. In short, the guitar exceeds all expectations! If you're still changing your mind, my advice is to order now and you won't regret it. Trust me.

TE-25th Anniversary

This guitar is absolutely amazing!

And For this price, it’s unreal!!!

Gonna be playing it more than my main Gibson SG for a while now for sure. Seriously good instrument.

This is THE HB Tele to get

This is the best Harley Benton traditional Telecaster that they make. It has great playability and feel, but lacking a bit in the pickup department. Everything else is great besides pickups. Action was high out of the box, but adjusted nicely. That's just it with these guitars, they are good guitars shipped, but great guitars after you make the adjustments that they don't take the time to do at the factory and I don't mind the discount doing it myself.

25 Years and getting better all the time !

I received my HB TE-25TH today and I am absolutely blown away with it. For the money it is an absolute no brainer BUT even for three times the price it would still be a bargain ( Seriously this looks, feels and sounds like a thousand pound guitar ). The Firemist colour is ultra cool and the satin finish, for me, is far better than a gloss. The added bonus of a lovely gig bag just adds to the amazing value. The whole 25th Anniversary package makes it a lovely piece of Harley Benton history to own. The spec is top drawer and it came beautifully set up with a wonderfully low action, the intonation is spot on. All I had to do was tune it ... and the vintage style locking tuners are fabulous, they operate perfectly and keep the guitar bang in tune, even with brand new strings on. The fretboard is lovely dark laurel and has a very expensive feel to it, accentuated by the excellently finished stainless steel frets. The stunningly figured roasted maple neck feels wonderful in the hand and it is a complete joy to play. The graphite nut is cut perfectly. The pickups are by far the best sounding of all my Harley Benton Tele's ( I have 3 others. Roswell must have upgraded them ? ) the controls knobs feel nice and firm and are responsive and the three way switch also feels very good ( I love the selector being on a slight angle - making it very easy to switch whilst playing ). If I was being ultra critical, the only thing I picked up on, with this particular purchase, is this is not a brand new guitar. It came with evidence of having been played before. There is one very minor mark on the back of the guitar, the pick guard had no protective plastic cover and there are obvious pick markings below the high E string. As I say, this doesn't really bother me as I like well played instruments but it should really have been sold as B-Stock. I can accept these minor points as whoever had it in their hands prior to shipping knew how to set a guitar up properly. Thank you once again Harley Benton for another wonderful instrument and CONGRATULATIONS on the 25 years.

Impossibly good deal.

If you're on the fence about this one, just go for it. The specs speak for themselves, but the finish, frets and set-up are all at least what I'd expect on a guitar costing twice as much. No dead spots or high frets that I can find, no sharp fretboard edges either. The finish and body binding look great all over, and the flamed maple neck is just wonderful. Hardware is all good quality and fitted properly, no loose screws, knobs, switch or jack. Set-up is good also, intonation sounds about right, nut and string height are just fine for me, truss rod is set correctly. Tuning stability seems solid too.

A couple of screws on the control plate are just a tiny bit off-axis, but this is nitpicking really. I can't tell if the body cavities are shielded - they appear to be painted the same as the outside of the body. Regardless, there's no noise problem that I've noticed when plugged in. The wiring is really tidy as well. Switches and pots feel pretty good, no scratching noise or looseness. Knobs are push-fit, but that's fine - no push-pull pots on a tele anyway!

I saw that some people reported high grub screws on the bridge poking their hand, but that's not my experience at all. Despite being a vintage-style design, the bridge is perfectly comfortable and I can palm-mute as much as I like without any issues.

The pickups sound absolutely fine. No microphonic noise or any of the real problems you find on budget guitars, anything more is a matter of taste.

And you get a nice gig bag too. Plus elixir strings - far and away my favourites. Just an unbelievably good deal all round. Happy anniversary Harley Benton!

Amazing guitar for the money... go for it!

I'm really supper impressed with this order. TE-25TH Firemist is a really well built guitar. The setup was good out of the box, it looks incredibly good & plays really well. The neck is super comfortable and is very similar to my Stratocaster Elite one.

I also don't have anything bad to say about the pickups. I was able to get some really good sounds out of it. My initial plan was to replace them, but I think they will just stay for now... and I will rather direct that budget towards more 25th guitars :) Fusion-III 25TH is already on the way!!

I have 3 top tier guitars at home (that range up to a few thousand euros) and yes compared to them the quality and the sound is slightly lesser. That is why I gave it 4 stars on some categories. But it is not exactly a star less, just a few % :) But for that kinda of money you could buy at least 6 of 25th series, change some things on them and you will have 6 top tier guitars for the price of one. I don't think I'll ever spent that much on a guitar anymore. What a good time to be a guitar player!

For the price I think there is no way you go wrong with this one! Well done Harley Benton and congrats on your 25th anniversary!

unfortunately I din't like it

I bought this guitar to possible be my main guitar. But I didn't like it.

There was some tuners not correctly attatched to the headstock. A big black stain on the pickguard. The 3 lower strings were buzzing a bit and when you bend those strings you feel a lot of grit.

But my experience with Harley Benton is very very good, this will be the first item that I will send back. I have a SC 450 plus that is flawless! Maybe I had unlucky with this one. I will try another T style but maybe I will go for another Harley Benton model.

Cannot be Beat for the Price

This guitar is insane for the price. A double-bound gold body fitted with a roasted flame maple neck with stainless steel frets and locking tuners? It's crazy that they can sell this for the price it's at. Also, the frets are jumbo sized, not medium-jumbo and the bridge is fitted with brass saddles. The nut is cut fine and I the finish across the instrument is impeccable.

The one issue I take with this model (and I also had with another 25th anniversary model) is that the fret leveling leaves much to be desired. The low e string buzzes up and down the fretboard and there is light buzz across the rest of the strings throughout as well. I wish more attention was given to this, as this is a critical element of the playability of what otherwise would be a superb guitar.

Unfortunately, they didn't send me the 25th anniversary lanyards!

Beautiful guitar

Arrived exactly as I expected. Great figuring through the entire neck. Smooth frets and in tune still after flying halfway around the world through differing temperatures! Only critique would be why not use the same colour pickguard as on the ST-25th? This one comes standard with a bright white one. Having a natural headstock would also have topped off the beauty.

In all, this guitar isn’t vastly different from a non 25th except the neck which is worth the extra in my mind.