Harley Benton TE-90QM HH Trans Blue Reviews

Beautiful guitar

Great value for money.

Great guitar for the price

As a bass player who wanted to branch out in to guitar playing, I was looking for an entry level guitar (sub £300) and this guitar fits my needs perfectly.

When it arrived the guitar looks much better than it does on the website and the semi hollow nature allows me to practice without an amp if the family are asleep.

Exactly what I was looking for, and just that little bit different to everything else out there at the entry level.

Nice guitar for that price

Tested with fender mustang 7 and marshall mg30

Left hand worked with confort and strings are “soft”. It’s playable for hours.

Pickup Roswell are good enough, I was expecting something a little bit better.

But considering the price I’m satisfied. For beginner it’s a nice tele.

For expert not recommended. 4 stars of 5.

Good project guitar

I bought this guitar wholly knowing I will be upgrading some parts of it. As a standalone instrument it is a good instrument for practice use.

Pros:

The satin finish on the neck feels good,

fret ends are not sharp

nut seems to be low enough so that cowboy chords do not go out of tune. (although it is filed very deep, which might cause issues later.

The finish is beautiful and so far haven't found any faults in it.

The bridge seems so work well.

Pickups sound good for the money,

Cons:

Frets at the low e string had scratches, which were visible, and bending high e string feels like trying to bend on a sandpaper. (might be just a case in my model)

Setup out of the box was off. The action was too high and intonation a bit out of place.

Tuners are not the best, and probably will need to be upgraded

In total I would recommend this guitar as a good cheap option to those who can do a bit of maintenance (setup and fretwork) themselves. After setup and polishing frets the guitar plays like a dream.

First I want to say that I'm a classic rock and blues player. I do not play heavy metal so i don't Know how this guitar would sound for that.

That said.

It's an absolutely beautiful guitar that one should not be afraid to buy. You can't beat it for the price. I love everything about it.

The Positive

The finish was beautiful.

The frets are level and pretty well polished.

The tuners are tight and do the job well.

It stays in tune quite well once you stretch out the strings.

It sounds great and I would not hesitate to play it in a band situation

In fact I look forward to it

The negitives for some people.

I like my action just a little lower.

It Nose dives a little.

Both of these I can easily deal with.

All and all, well worth the money

Guitar full of contradictions

Already during unpacking it was clear, that they had no quality wood. Quilted maple completely without drawing what's for sale photos forget. The bridge is also different. Inside, you see that no one has done the job cleanly. Humbucker dirty from wax. The fingerboard came completely dusty. The sound is a bit sharp thanks to a small mahogany plank, the maple top it partially repair. Neck material only average material, but straight and well functioning. I didn't return the guitar because most of the bugs can be removed. It's my second guitar from this brand. If I were a strict design-oriented customer, I'd return both. I had to replace all frets on the LP and regrind the fingerboard, there were bulges. I had to wash and clean everything on the guitar. This brand is more like a semi-finished product for people who want a good material that makes a good sound when is a little finished-tuned. It's not a bad choice, but the risk of returning here is high. Quality is not well controlled. I'm sure you never go to the B-Stock One I saw and have a neck in the propeller. As I say, the guitar is full of contradictions, but for such a price some investments can be a good tool for the discerning.

I was expecting more...

I already own the red one TE90 with P90 and its unbelievably good guitar but this was dissapoitment.

Color is different than on the pictures, more like pastel blue and nod very nice. Veneer patern almost invisible, looks more like solid blue. The neck is different than on the red one, its wider which i dont like it and its pau ferro wood and not roseacer.

Roswell pups are OK, dont expect a lot though.

All in all, returned it. Not worth it.

Great straight out of the box

Usually HB guitar need a good setup and some modding to get them to their full potential... that is was we love about HB after all, which is the ability to customise having had the opportunity to get a guitar with great basics at an incredible price. This one was great straight out of the box... no modding needed. Well done.

Some minor issues.

Bought it as a "teaching guitar", an inexpensive guitar I could take to the school where I teach and use it with my pupils. For the price, it's more than great.

The neck is a bit chunky for my taste. The finishing has some issues (some paint over binding, some fret ends popping out, catching strings, some irregularities in the fretboard and the sloppy job on the inside of the guitar).

Pickups are good, not much noise even on really high gain, nice sound, tuners are great, keeping the guitar in tune even after some extreme bends and the veneer looks amazing.

For a very low price you get an amazing looking guitar, with binding even in the f-holes, with a very nice top, good pickups and good hardware.

Stunning guitar, superb value!

My first Harley Benton guitar, what a pleasing sight, so stunned to feel the quality in the kneck and the qm top is nothing but so beautiful. In use it sounds really damn fine, the pups are tremendous really, the faults are few.

I had a little over paint from the stain into the lower horn at the front and I have a nylon bushing on one tuner that is cracked, apart from that nothing else is wrong, I have indicated that I would like a replacement tuner sent out and hope that will be the case, so I can swap it myself.

I have no doubt that all will be resolved admirably in time.

I truly believe apart from the very minor faults, this is just stunning value considering the appearance, playability and overall quality of the materials and construction- just so pleased!!

I urge you to cast aside any doubts and pick up what is a real bargain, this is just such a fine player, and with the looks of a very much more expensive guitar, what's not to like?

Go for it, get one of these beauty's and enjoy her!

Nice accessories, very useful and at a good price.

Great guitar for this money!!!!

Buy it Now!

I've been playing in bands for over 30 years and I haven't found a such a good deal with the quality and its playability since the early 80's. It took a while to get to San Diego, California.

It is definitely worth the wait. I'll be getting a few more guitars before this year is over. It does need a little work with the output with pickups and sound level.

The fretboard needed a good cleanup and conditioning out of the box. Frets are all leveled and needed a good setup. You can't go wrong for this price so I'd get one before it's too late!

Fell in love

I needed a guitar that's at least a good back up for gigs where i play 3-5 hours.

I decided at before the first gig that i was going to begin the gig using it instead of the other guitar and long story short, i used it for every single song for the next 5 gigs.

I was playing quite alot of clean songs for the first hour and it handled that very well. Then later I was playing a few very fuzzy songs and i loved it. Then everything from clean to very distorted and it was just great.

This baby has got the looks. Everything about the look and the finish says "higher price tag"

-Tuners are working great.

-I like the neck, although that differs between players.

-The action was perfect

-No fretbuzz anywhere

-I am not a pickup snob.. but they sound just perfect for me.

I also have the "Harley Benton TE-40" and it is lovely to play but the pickup position is weird and i found that it didn't handle distortion well.

Can't say enough great things about this guitar.

Beautiful!

I have to Edit this. I have now played it for a month or so and The neck humbucker wobbles in its frame, the volume knob has lost its fixation and therefore wiggles in the top and bottom positions. The whole thing just lost all its quality except for the finish. Tuning holds for 5 minutes. i am gonna send it back. Cant play it...

I play keys......so have no idea

So asking a keyboard player to rate a guitar is wrong on all levels, BUT....its been a couple of weeks now and while i am learning it seems easy to play and while I can't believe my fingers won't work while round the wrong way up, i think I'm slowly getting somewhere.

it is a "Gorgeous guitar" just look at it all of my friends who have seen it have commented on it, yes I could have bought a slightly cheaper one but i think i made the right choice....it really looks amazing, great lacquered finish, as i said I'm getting those things on the tips of my fingers (who knew!), So recently I went to a local music shop and saw guitars at a similar price.....check out your local shop as I don't think you'll see anything in the same price point with this quality.

My only complaint is I would love to buy a bass 4 strings should be easier, shouldn't they? but they don't do one in a similar colour.

C'mon Harley Benton....this is a no brain'er.

Quality control...

When i first saw this guitar on the website I thought a lovely double F hole telecaster for that much....WOW...how can they do that !

Decided I would pull the trigger and purchase ( usually only go for well know brands).

First impressions of the guitar were what a great finish, neck profile was good not a modern "C" like a fender but not a massive baseball bat either almost a slim D.

The guitar had a reasonable setup out of the box, just a quick tune needed.

It comes with a good set of Daddario strings, machine heads and hardware seem O.K. considering the price range of this instrument.

Now this is where I had problems...on closer inspection I found flaws in the finish this was not a B stock item but the flaws I found should have been considered B stock. Finish cracked and had come off at the heal, cracked binding and badly filed fret board on the last two frets.

Great instrument for the price... but better quality control needed.

Handsome and Beautifully Balanced

This is a beautiful instrument. It is extremely handsome to look at, in a stunning shade of deep blue. The pair of ‘f’ holes give a lovely symmetrical look to the guitar. It’s unusual and a real head turner. The paintwork is finished to a very high standard and the binding really adds to the high quality appearance.

My favourite thing about this guitar is how beautifully balanced it feels to hold. It gives the impression of being as light as a feather, especially at the neck end. However, I was surprised to find it actually weighs in at 8 lbs (3.6 kilo) which is the exact weight of my Fender standard MIM telecaster. It is also precisely the same width, excluding the arched top section.

The action is amazingly low and comfortable for an instrument with this price tag. Right out of the box it feels ‘right’ and effortless to play. The frets look very slightly chunkier than on a standard telecaster but they are not at all cumbersome to the touch.

The sound is warm, full and rich, with a particular emphasis on the bass to mid tones. It sounds jazzy and yet has an edge and a growl when you want it to. There is nothing at all wishy-washy about the pick ups.

My criticisms are few and very minor. The back of the neck is very slightly rough feeling but this doesn’t pose a problem. The fret markets are very faint. The strings were a little greasy on arrival and one was kinked but that was easy to put right. My one disappointment is that the quilted maple effect is not as strongly defined as I had hoped. However, this is made up for by the elegant shade of the blue glossy finish.

All in all, this is a heck of a guitar for the money. I don’t know how Harley Benton have managed it but they have produced a top notch instrument that compares very favourably to guitars many times the price.

It is a total joy to own and play and everyone comments on its good looks. The TE-90QM HH is a unique and valued addition to my guitar collection and I feel lucky to have it. If you want a guitar that stands out from the crowd, look no further.

Almost excellent Gibo-caster TeLesPaul !

Well, I play since 1960 and have >25 guitars even now, and yes I have the Tele MIJ and 3 Strats and 9 Les Pauls and everything else X3 ... This is very good guitar and Willkinson pickups are very good. Sore, the neck needs to be played-in, yet after the adjustment of the neck tension and some fine tuning she is so good that I can play her even LIVE, as she is light and sounds great. My Gibson Midtown Custom is better sounding (= same type of quasi-hollow LesPaul rock-blues-quasy-almost-Jazz), yet too heavy and too big, so I will earn at least EUR800.- by selling my Gibson Midtown (but will keep the EUR2400.- Gibson ES-339 custom shop for jazz). If you need a LIGHT quasi-airy-jazzy sounding versatile stage TeLesPaul-caster buy this one for peanuts :-)