Harley Benton TE-90QM Trans Red 5-stars Reviews

Excellent Value Guitar

I've had this guitar for a day now and I've had time to try it out and check it over. All I can say is that I'm really happy with the guitar. It looks much better in real life and is a really nice instrument to play. The pickups are responsive and the tone and volume controls work nicely. I can't make comparisons with high end Fenders and Gibsons etc as I have never played them but it wouldn't be fair to do that anyway given the price of this HB would it?

I am very pleased with this guitar and would recommend them to people looking for a value priced well made guitar.

Classic sounds at an unbeatable price

This is a very nice guitar.

Although the TE-90QM looks like a Telecaster, it doesn't sound like one.

The two Wilkinson soap-bar pick-ups give this guitar a fantastic retro/P 90 twang which places it in a different sphere altogether.

For players who are into Rock 'n' Roll, Country, Rockabilly and Blues, this lovely instrument will peel away the years and give you the sounds that defined those seminal genres.

Configured like a tele, the two pick-ups are selected with a toggle switch for neck, bridge or both.

As a lover of the above noted styles I don't use any overdrive or distortion on my amp - I like it clean. When played that way, the TE-90QM sings like a bird. The range of tones available is impressive.

On the neck; nice, chuggy rhythm tones come across as full and meaty. (I use 10 gauge strings.) Roll off a bit of the treble and you're in a nice, blues lead mood. (A tiny touch of gain and you're sounding 'Chicago' style).

Using both soap-bars allows the bridge to contribute and the combination of the two pick-ups gives the axe heaps of middle. You'll be able to do whatever you please whilst there. Rock 'n' Roll 'double-stops' are fat and full.

Switching to the bridge sharpens everything up. With all the treble rolled on you can breeze through country leads and bends. What I really like about this position is that the sound is pure country but it isn't the usually tele sound. It's different and very distinctive. Authentic but not generic.

As for looks and finish, well I think that the TE90 is a stunner. The rich colour, dappled finish and body contour make for a very attractive instrument. The headstock is 'tele style' and the neck and fingerboard are clean and true. The 'f' holes reveal an expansive, chambered interior; and the guitar feels nice and weighty.

The Wilkinson bridge/tailpiece is solid and reassuring; so too are the machine heads.

On receipt I changed the strings from 9's to 10's and only needed to adjust the intonation on the B string, the rest were all spot on.

The delivery and package of the instrument were excellent.

In sum, this is an incredible guitar for the price.

GREAT SOUNDING ..

THESE ARE AN EXCELLENT VALUE GUITAR...SOUNDS EXACTLY AS IT SHOULD AND THE BUILD AND FINISH ARE REALLY VERY GOOD FOR THE MONEY...HARD TO BEAT.

So pleased I grabbed this !

This guitar, which I have owned for a couple of weeks now, continues to astonish me on a daily basis. It is a joy to play. The variety of tones amazes me - I use a Hotone Ravo through an active PA speaker - the P90 pickups go from clean to quite dirty without fuss. I own a PRS SE 245, which cost considerably more, and the TE-90 holds its own.

For sheer value for money I rate this instrument as outstanding. Forget the price, its just one very nice guitar.

I really like this

Another pleasant surprise from the recent Harley Bentons.

Extremely playable from the off, the individual bridge saddles gave the flexibility to set the action wherever you want it, A few quick tweaks and it was there.

Apart from looking superb, it's no slouch when it comes to sound either.

As with all the recent HBs, you get a very playable guitar with good woods for very little outlay. The stock Wilkinson P90s are more than adequate, but should you feel the need to do so these can be upgraded to the soapbar of your choice.

A little gem of a beast.

Great guitar!

The guitar was delivered within 5 days from the order date.

My expectation weren't too big for the price. But upon taking the guitar out of the box and test play, i was convinced differently.

The guitar looks beautiful, with no scratches from the outside. You can play it directly from the box, as you don't need any setup.

The setup is made as if guitar was built for me. There is no buzzing from the strings.

The guitar is well balanced.

Great and noisy P-90 Wilkinson pickups are set perfectly for 2 of my amps.

The guitar is easy to play and the neck is soft. Height of the strings is perfectly set for my way of playing.

The guitar has great noisy deep sound with gain, but on clean mode it has crystal clear sound.

The guitar is very universal and well rounded when playing jazz, blues, funk, classic 70's rock and roots of rock, even heavy metal and punk.

I am very glad I bought this guitar.

For the low price of this guitar, I would definitely recommend it to everyone who likes P-90 pickup sound as with this guitar you will get the best value for your money.

It's hard to complain!

So look... friends posted a link on social media, and the price seemed ridiculous and absurd to me. I was in the market to spend approximately $200 for a "practice" guitar that I could take out into the desert, camping, wherever... and not particularly worry about damage and the reviews convinced me it was worth the risk. Nothing ventured, nothing gained, right?

To cut directly to the chase, this is NOT a cheap take-to-burningman guitar! It plays magnificently! In the price range I can say, I am beyond impressed with the stability, workmanship, and playability of this guitar.

I'd say the only real detractors I can present are slightly thin tone on the P-90 pickups, and I didn't want to wait until August for Blue, and settled for the Red. Well, the tuning pegs make it hard to get extra windings on the way I usually prefer, but the sustain of this body really doesn't require my extra wraps either.

In short... BUY THIS! You won't likely be disappointed.

Pleasant Surprise

The reviews were great so I ordered one. Everything was perfect out-of-the-box. This is my first P90 guitar and I am extremely happy with the sound and build quality especially for the money.I am so satisfied by the quality that I have just ordered a Harley Benton ST 70 rosewood.

I would happily recommend this guitar and I give it five stars easy.

With such low prices they are a bargain.

Highly recommend it.

Plays, sounds and looks great. I don't know how they do it, but I've got 3 Harley Benton guitars now, and none of them disappointed me. At this price-range, you can't go wrong.

I might install some other pick-ups, not that there's anything wrong with the ones it comes with, but I like experimenting, and these guitars are cheap enough to allow me to do that without risking ruining an expensive instrument.

How do they do it?

I stumbled across some reviews of Harley Benton guitars, and in general they were glowing. I was aware of the make, but had assumed they were bargain bucket instruments and parts for those on a seriously low budget, so the reviews made me think again. I like taking cheap instruments and fettling them to something reasonable, so I had a closer look. The TE-90QM looked beautiful in the photos, and it had P90s which I wanted, so I thought, for the price, why not?

Well, with the addition of a decent cable to earn free delivery, the HB turned up at my work in good time, and what a looker! The finish is quite excellent, and with minor tuning, it played beautifully out of the box! The pots feel weighted, the neck is very good, satin smooth with no sharp fret ends and the frets are pretty good but could do with a polish at least. Two guitarist friends at work were also rather impressed, one went off to check the website to buy one himself! This is not just a good guitar for the money, it is a Good Guitar. We were shaking our heads wondering how they can make them for such a relatively low cost. They really mustn't earn much in the Chinese factory, but if they turn out this quality I'll be buying more to show my support!

OK, there was only one niggle, in that the nut slot for the G string was cut a fraction low causing some buzzing on the open G. This isn't an issue for me as I'll be modding it somewhat, putting in a compensated nut, doing a fret level (not that it needs it much) maybe changing the pots / pups (again they sound pretty good anyway) but it might be an issue for others.

Bottom line, lovely instrument, almost perfectly constructed, with a beautiful finish. Buy one even if just to hang somewhere!

There is no real complain about this guitar. the sound is more than great for its price, much better than many other guitars of double or even triple price. The building construction is also quite ok. So far no problem at all. Playability is also one of the pros of it. I would highly recommend this guitar for anyone who does not want to spend money for an American guitar but still wants a very good sounding guitar, while it also looks amazing in this specific color. Also, the delivery was excellent. I ordered it on Thursday night and it arrived in UK in Monday morning, before going to work. Of course I was late!