Harley Benton TE-20 SB Standard Series

Wow! We arrived in France for a couple of days so brought no instruments with us. Things changed rapidly and we realised we were going to be there for longer than we expected. No guitars so we went to the Thomann web site and bought a couple of these, one left handed for me and one right handed for the wife. This is about the RH one. Obviously for something that might end up being used a little I went for the low cost option. Bouyed up by the positive reviews which I took with a pinch of salt, but knowing from experience about Thomann's good customer service I ordered with confidence. The guitars arrived in four working days and we eagerly opened the box. What a surprise was in store for us. First impression, great finish. Closer inspection I could find no faults. Really close inspection and I was questioning Thoman's pricing policy. Under 100Euroes for a great guitar. SO for instance out of the box no issues with the set up. No issues? Yes. Would I adjust it? (I'm apparently the goto guy for my mates). No way! Barre chords? No problem all the way. Intonation. Measured up just fine, on a Tele for heavens sake. So what about the cutaway?
Fender could do with some lessons here. It'seasily reach all the frets. I have seen worse on really expensive kit. The join between the body and the neck was all but indetectable. The gap between the scratch plate and the switch plate was non existant. Fret ends? Here is the one reason for only four stars. The frets themselves, all well polished. No marks on the well finished hardware. Tuners were ok, and it holds it's tune. At this point in the review you might be forgiven for thinking we are enthusiastic! So what about the sound. Obviously whoever makes the pickups has seriously upped their game, or HB have found a better supplier.. Lots of punch, and great tones. Everything you want from a Tele. All the “twang” all the drive, but more. Some mates arrived and we played for a few hours. (Well until after midnight) Everybody tried one of our new guitars, and to a person they were impressed. A lot. We had it plugged into a little VOX 5W amp, with the other four players ere all using amps a lot bigger. Still no problem hearing what we were playing. So the pickups have lots of depth and drive. If we lost them would we buy another? Yes in a heartbeat. In fact we are going to leave these in France and order more when we return to the UK to avoid Carnets. Would we gig with them? Yes definitely! If money were no object would we buy a different Tele? No. Could we afford more expensive gear? Oh yes, but why would we? Would this be suitable for a beginner? We always tell our pupils buy the best you can afford, “beginner” instruments are normally a waste of money because the pupil fights the instrument, thinks they can't learn when in fact a lot of the limitations is caused by the inadequacies of the instrument. So these low cost guitars change the game plan because they are the best you can afford. Buy them once and play them till they are worn out. Are we looking for more pupils? No definitely not. Before you ask we don't teach the RSM curriculum, it's about playing not making money for the RSM. Winge over.

This is a cheap guitar at €69:00 BUT in fairness " you get what you pay for !!

Its never going to be a Fender , But for €69 its a cracking little guitar ! ..

I would go as far as to say this is a better guitar than the Squier Bellet Telecaster or the Squier Affinity Telecaster .

Fit and Finish ...

looks amazing for a €69 guitar :-0 ! Honestly . I was stunned when I took it out of the box !! Ive paid 1000s for guitars and the finish to the body wasent as good as this guitar :-)

The set up was 80% " Over all ok " Just had to do a little tweeking and in no time it was all good.

The Good ... Everything ... remember this is a €69 telecaster !!!!! How could you complain about anything on a €69 guitar :-) .

The Guitar does have its flaws .

I changed the machine heads/Tuners for a 18/1 ratio to get more stable tuning " at a cost of around €40 , so total it cost €104 for a cracking little guitar !

I used the guitar for some home recording and it done the job very very well ,

The above guitar would suit any one and even if its a gift and the person never picks the guitar up " Its no the end of the world as it only cost €69 :-) , the guitar would just look great sitting in the corner of the room :-) .

As always I would recommend a very cheap mod to everyone buying a guitar , " Get a set of strap locks . this will extend the life of your guitar .

to finish ,,

The above guitar is not a Fender and can not be compared with a €1200 Fender telecaster USA ... BUT for €69 you really can not go wrong .

A friend of mine bought the same guitar after seeing my Harley Benton Tele , he changer out the machine heads/Tuners and put a set of good pickups in the guitar and uses it to gig with and the guitar NEVER gave him one moments trouble !!

I honestly think that most people buying guitars get caught up in the name /brand of a guitar , You could buy the above guitar and hate it or you could love it . Its NOT about the name/brand or where it was made , Its how happy the guitar makes you when you play it ..

Hope the above is of some help .