Harley Benton TE-70RW Deluxe Series 4-stars Reviews

Great Quality Guitar except for the tuning machines

I had purchased a Harley Benton CLD-41SE (acoustic guitar) previously and it was flawless with great tuning machines.

The TE-70RW I Just received was beautiful and manufactured with excellent quality throughout except for the tuning machines which exhibited gaps in their screw mechanism and inability to stay in tune. The actual symptom is that when you turn the peg, you get a few degrees of rotation before you start to feel movement on the strings. I plan to upgrade the tuning machines. So, all and all, a very nice looking and sounding high quality guitar except for the tuning machines which are easily upgradeable.

Yeah didn't expect this.

I heard alot about harley benton guitars but this blows all my expectations out of the water. The setup, finish, looks and sound are great.

I have guitars that are 4 times up to 6 times more expensive but man is this one my favorite.

HARLEY BENTON TE-70RW DELUXE

For the money you can't go wrong. looks fantastic plays good,

HEAVY

Sooooo happy, it took me two days but now I'm hooked, never had a Tele before so wasn't sure on what I was waiting for and I don't think this is not the typical alder or ash body sound either.

Sound felt heavier that I would expect, specially on the neck, and the neck has a bulky attitude but on the comfy side. I have an Affinity HSS strat. HB neck sounds better and bridge far less twangy so two for two.

Playing on the sitting position is comfortable and not as heavy as per some youtube reviews, sounds great unplugged as well.

What I am getting used to is the volume difference between neck and bridge, as the bridge sounds much more louder in comparison so need to dial sound down a bit as the bridge sound a lot higher.

Colour, sound, hardware as per website description, most reviews would say that is good for the price, I just say it is good overall with its own personality, don't buy it to try to sound like Tele X buy it if you like the clip sound, for the standard Tele sound though be aware you may need to go for a non basswood model.

I would also buy Harley Benton TE-30 as it sounds a bit brighter but I would keep both to complement each other, the colour is cool and intonation easy to achieve, for my taste no setup required.

Middle position is my favourite so far as it takes the twang and power from the bridge and colour from the neck.

I would also have gone for the black paisley but could only get one, specks seem the same.

So far only negative is the volume difference between pickups

As beautiful as well made

I ordered one after seeing and reading good feedback about it.

I didn't know what to expect but I have to say, it's not disappointing. The guitar is a very little lighter than a standard telecaster, well balanced and well finished. Looking through it I didn't see any flaws. Body well finished, frets are good, neck is straight and the Wilkinson bridge plate is more than satisfying.

Tuners could be upgraded if you plan playing concerts but are enough anywhere else. The neck is a little thicker than a Fender and "C" shaped.

I managed to get a very low action and intonation is on point! It's a beautiful guitar and plays well. Could not expect better at this price point. Fully satisfying.

I would make few mods to get it to my tastes : Change pickups for something with just a tad more punch and bass. Maybe tuners but for now they are enough. Oil the fingerboard a little dry and maybe satin the back of the neck a little sticky to my taste. Maybe I wish they used the same Fender's pickguard screws placement , so I could easily change it.

I strongly recommend this guitar ... actually, to anyone willing on a Telecaster (with super low budget). This one will not go back !

Pretty solid guitar, even if it were twice the price

Im way away in Texas, about 2 weeks to ship to my house. Thankful for double boxing, outside box in bad shape, inner box was fine, A+ for shipping considering. Intonation and string height was uneven all around. The tone of the pickups is better than expected. Some buzzing all around the fretboard, even after setup, have to look further on that. Had some blemishes on the binding, the neck, and string holes on the back, and this was not b-stock.

My luthier asked if I had tightened all the screws, i hadnt, said all were super tight compared to many other brand new Fenders, another A+ there. String holes on the back wanted to come out with every string, so had to wood glue those. Intonation great now, but still has some fret buzz and high E wants to slip off the neck a lot.

Overall very happy, looks great, plays good and sounds great when plugged in, buzzing mostly just noticeable when unplugged. Would consider buying another HB in the future, maybe a LP or PRS copy. EDIT - got the buzzing fixed without fret leveling, plays great now, intonation and tone awesome.

Almost like stealing...

I've owned many guitars of different quality and value, but this rosewood Tele is right up there with the best of them. Okay, the pickups are not the best in the world, but for home play through a modelling amp they're plenty good enough. There's plenty of quack and the neck pup is lovely and smooth for creamy leads.

The finish of the guitar is excellent. From a purely cosmetic viewpoint it's almost flawless and the double binding sets it off wonderfully.

As many have said, the fingerboard was very dry on arrival, but a good soaking with some lemon oil brought it back to life and made it look great. The frets seemed a little sharp, but after playing for a few hours I've barely noticed them so perhaps that was just me.

The only thing that lets this guitar down is the tuners, but for the price I'm happy to replace them. They hold tune fine, but they're very inconsistent in stiffness and quite hard to tune effectively.

all in all, this guitar feels like you're stealing at the £135 delivered to the UK price I paid. If I'd paid three or four times as much I wouldn't have been complaining.

Upgrade Machine

I bought a TE-70 deluxe just to mess around with, little did I know I'd be gigging it weeks later with a new set of AVRI 58s installed.

I'll start from the beginning:

I saw these guitars all over the internet and always liked the look of them. A rosewood top guitar for £135 total? Surely not!

Well I decided to take the plunge and buy one.

Straight out of the box, the setup was immaculate with a medium-low action and perfect intonation. Tuners fell okay and usable, but I absolutely love the option for through body stringing or top loading. The neck feels wide like a Gibson neck, and the fretboard radius flat enough for smooth bending.

The pickups sounded decent, but were unfortunately micro-phonic which wasn't ideal for my gain habits. After investing in some new pickups, the guitar is now a polished gem, a guitar that people have to look twice at (in a good way).

The only issue that my guitar had after several performances was that my not-so-delicate friend managed to pull the top strat button off the guitar, resulting in it not being able to be put back in, but a larger screw solved that problem.

Would I recommend this guitar? YES.

Great value for your money

This guitar is a great budget instrument.

I have her for one year now, and after changeing some parts it has become one of my favorite guitars.

The stock guitar is extremly good value for money.

But with new pickups it will really shine.

The finish is ok, but the it's rather cheap looking when you look at it closely.

Another Harley Bargain

This is a good Tele that looks cool and plays well.

Pros:

Looks good and authentic. I don't know if the rosewood veneer is really rosewood or a laminate and I don't really plan on damaging the surface to find out. It looks great. Bindings are clean and even and the neck is quality.

There is a bit of weight to the guitar but it's not too heavy. It's pretty comfortable to hold.

Cons:

The fretboard is quite dry. I haven't used any on it yet, but I've heard this is common to most of the Harley Benton Teles.

I had/have a sticking G string (snort!). I've replaced the string trees with Goldo roller units and it's made some difference. By the way, this is a very simple modification even for someone with no previous experience. Give it a try ;)

The electrics on this guitar aren't convincing me. I played this side by side with my Harley 335 the other day and the difference in output was drastic. Having said that it's got a good tone and sounds, you know, just like a tele.

I have tried to set this guitar up myself but can't quite get the perfect balance between fret buzz and low action. Out of the box this thing had a ridiculously high action. Upon lowering the action I got a lot of fret buzz. I've had a go at the truss rod but can't seem to get it perfect. I think I'll entrust this one to my local guitar pro (who's awesome, BTW - Hi Dar).

Conclusion:

Another really nice guitar from Harley Benton that, despite not being perfect, is perfectly awesome value for money when compared to the big name brands.

Very well built! Good details, no flaws. Sound is good, not awsome. BEST telecaster in this price range, with no doubt. Better than much more expensive guitars!

Rosewood telee... Harley BentonTE-70

Bought this guitar few months ago. Must say that the craftsmanship has very good quality, the guitar looks much better than on the pictures. The sound is acceptable but dont expect feneder telecaster sound for 150 euro. Strings are 9's which is really thin for my standard so i had to replace it with 10's. Locks hold the tune, no problem with them at all. To make it short: quite good sound of the pickups, it has the typical sound of 2 single coils, finish is awesome, id buy it again.

Martin

Great spec for price

Great service and prompt delivery as always, guitar was well packaged.

This guitar looks much better in the flesh, so to speak, the pictures on the site look good but once you unpack it from box looks even better, you wouldn't expect this kid of finish for the price.

Handling- this guitar feels comfortable, not too light or heavy, just as a tele should be.

Sound- The pick ups blend well together, especially middle position when playing rythmn, bridge pick up has plenty of bite when overdriven, without getting too muddy, and neck has plenty bass, just back off tone control a little to find your sound.

Set up- Set up out of box needed tweaked a little, tightened tuners, lowered action a little, bt neck relief was fine and control plate and knobs were very secure, appears to hold tune well so far.

A beautiful looking, great sounding telecaster, rosewood veneer is flawless and a real eyecatcher.

nice surprise

I have four Fender Teles and was always hoping to pick up a rosewood a la George Harrison but they were way too dear. However, when I spotted the Harley Benton copy for 139E I couldn't resist trying it and I'm glad I did. Okay, the purists will bitch, but life's too short for all that. The quality of the build is amazing, and the Wilkinson pickups pretty good for the money. I've been a guitarist now for 50 odd years and I have bought many guitars that cost more and were no better. Well worth the money.

Great guitar for the price.

Although you may need to set it up yourself (intonation etc) but its not a big job.

Great for beginner to intermediate players.