Harley Benton TE-62CC SP 4-stars Reviews

very nice feel and nice to play pickups are a bit sensitive to noises

Great Guitar

Purchased this just because I wanted a vintage style pink tele. It looks and feels amazing with nice Roswell pickups. I really liked the vintage tuners and the caramelized maple neck, a steal for the price. The contrast of the shell pink with the mint green pickguard is also beautiful. Absolutely no problems whatsoever aside from some minor fret buzz here and there that can be fixed by a luthier.

A real Tele but be prepared for the finish to distress

When I opened up this guitar I thought it looked fantastic and had a lovely light weight to it (I liked light guitars). I care about tonewood and usually go for alder/ash/mahogany but the poplar body has some good properties: it's as articulate as basswood, as rounded as alder but has done if the brightness of ash. Anyway, the Roswell pickups are great for cheap units. The neck pickup in particular has some sweet top-end to it that stops it from being dull. I use it in a covers band and feel no need to upgrade anything.

The bad-ish side is that the pink finish is thin and not very resilient. Surface scratches develop quite easily and neck pocket cracks appeared within a month. I suppose this means that the guitar can resonate and is no issue unless you have mild OCD like me! There neck is a great mid C profile.

Overall, This is a real Tele and strictly reminds me of the Brad Paisley Mexican Fender for much less money and a less garish paint job.

A Budget T-Style Guitar That Exceeded My Expectations

I'm an advanced guitarist but I don't believe in spending thousands on big-name brands as the marginal benefit is so low the higher up you go (I am also an economist). That being said I was looking at an affordable T-style guitar that gave me the most value that I could upgrade down the line and learn advanced luthier skills such as fret levelling, etc (And to play math rock) and this guitar intrigued me. I had really low expectations because of the price tag but was very impressed with what I received in comparison to similarly priced instruments from Squier.

Positives

- The fit and finish are amazing, I love the mint pickguard and pink finish! But the pickguard is a lot more mint than in the images. 0 defects that I can see. My only complaint is one of the screws for the control plate was a bit too close to the cavity but no functional issues there. If I was being really picky, the pickguard edges and the bottom of the vol/tone knobs are slightly rough.

- The neck looks and feels amazing, and the fretboard edges also feel slightly rolled which was a surprise.

- No sharp fret ends and scratchy frets! I was surprised that they were polished pretty decently, it's not perfect but it's way better than Squier's for sure.

- Great tone, obviously not identical to Fender tele pickups but I'd say they are 90% there, I don't think they are ceramic either so I probably won't be replacing these soon!

- Very lightweight, the body is poplar and seems to be a few millimetres thinner than an actual tele body which I'm all for if it decreases the weight!

- The nut is perfectly cut

- Tuners honestly are decent, I really liked them

- Switch is decent as well, a little flimsy but not too bad.

- No crackling with turning pots, no microphonic pickups, awesome!

Negatives

- It came terribly setup out of the box, the action was a mile high but the neck relief was ok, just gave it a quarter turn and lowered the saddles so it was playable

- The strings on it were old and sounded terrible, I immediately replaced them.

- There are a few high frets so there is some buzz with my preferred action setting, but no dead spots no choking on bends.

- Intonation isn't great on the low e but that's a tele problem

- It has mini pots, GuitarGeek did a review for it and the model he got had full-size pots, not a deal breaker but I do feel a bit misled.

- Tuning stability was poor initially, but I used a pencil to add graphite to the nut slots and it's alright now.

- I can't lower the high e-string saddle height anymore as I reached the limit, it's fine but I would like it slightly lower, maybe I'll shim the guitar.

- Saddle adjustment screws protrude after setup, I don't mind it as it doesn't hurt but yet another tele design problem.

- It was 21 frets, I prefer 22 but it is what it is.

Overall a great guitar and for the price you can't go wrong but it NEEDS a setup, IMO all guitarists should know how to do a basic setup and if you're scared of doing it with your expensive axe, practice on a cheaper one! I'm pretty happy with it now but I'm planning to change the saddles to compensated brass saddles, get a tusq nut and level the frets. Maybe down the line, I'll replace the electronics. Giving 4 stars as I might've gotten lucky and your mileage may vary with cheap guitars so keep your expectations low!

Does everything a T-Style guitar should do

For the price, it is hard to believe how good this guitar is.

I couldn't find any blemishes on the guitar, the body is painted beautifully without any scratches or dents.

The neck is smooth with no sharp frets, and the roasted maple looks stunning. A neck like this usually comes with a much higher price tag. The satin finish makes it a pleasant experience, but it is a bit chunky if that's not your thing. It was set up well aside from the action which was high.

The weakest part of this guitar are the pickups, especially the neck pickup sounds a bit muddy. However, they are perfectly fine, especially at this price, and tinkering with the height could clear up this issue.

Overall, this is an incredible guitar for anyone looking for a T-style, from beginners buying their first guitar to experienced players looking for something inexpensive to gig with.

Very good

It's a heavy guitar, Heavier then my Les Paul. Neck pick-up is a bitt woolly, other then that an insanly good product for the price.

For the same price of a Squier Bullet Tele you get at least twice the guitar!

Recommended

Great fro its price

Overall great quality. There are some minor cosmetic issues that don't affect overall impression

For the price it can't be beat.

The caveat must be the price point. Obviously, a more expensive brand would have more of the finer polish you expect from a global name. However, for less than €200 this guitar is phenomenal. It feels like a tele, plays like a tele, and most importantly it sounds like a tele. The finish is fantastic and the over all craftsmanship is stellar.