Harley Benton TE-30 BE Standard Series

I always wanted a telecaster, but somehow never got one. Since I couldn't spend a whole heap of money on one, I kept trying out guitars that went somewhere around 250 euro, but I never found them likable, they never sounded like a tele should. So, after reading lots of good reviews, and having purchased a Harley Benton strat before, I thought I'd give it a shot, thinking that if it turned out to be lousy, it'd be a good modding base, but how wrong was I. This guitar is simply unbelievable, especially for a mere 89EU. Upon inspection, I could find no flaws in the overall finish of the guitar - the color looks great, lighter than in the pictures, creamy, very sweet, the neck is of a satin finish and is extremely comfortable, the tuners are alright, the spin ratio seems good enough, though I see why some would want to upgrade, though I would rather suggest trying rolling string trees first. But as of now, it stays in tune. The pickup switch feels cheapish, but it does it's job fine and it's not something that would bother me since an "upgrade" is very very cheap. Now, these things that I mentioned are absolute nitpicks, as the guitar looks and plays amazing.

Firstly, the neck - many that reviewed this commented on how fat or wide the neck is, ala the baseball bat neck. While it is surely subjective, I find the neck to be very comfortable as I dislike very thin, flat ones. It's similar to the HB ST-62 strat, but a tad slinkier, and feels much much faster. The satin finish is very nice and helps with slides. As this is my first guitar with a satin neck, I am absolutely loving it! The fret job is great, no sharp ends, everything is rounded off and such, really extremely impressive for this price! The only bit that was wonky was that the frets themselves weren't fully polished, but that went away after playing for a couple of hours. The leveling is astonishing, considering the price, no buzz, nothing. Also, the action was great right out of the box. I must be lucky or something.

Electronics - I have no quarrel with them. I quite enjoy the pickups, the middle position is very chimy and full, the bridge is biting, snaps right back at You, just as a proper tele should, and the neck is heavenly. I also should mention that it must be properly shielded because it doesn't buzz anywhere nearly as much as I expected, considering it's single coils.

Body - it's a two piece, and let me tell You, it's damn heavy. I don't mind it since I'm used to an LP that weighs a ton, but even so I was surprised since it weighs exactly as much as the full blown LP! I'm used to the weight and have a good back, but I can see how this could be an issue for some, so beware - it is darn heavy!

Playability - honestly, it's one of the best playing guitars I've ever played and I've been playing for over 15 years and played a whole lot of guitars. I bought this on the basis that my HB ST-62 strat was surprisingly okay, since I wanted something that would lay around the house, but Jesus is this nicer that the strat! The neck is miles away and overall it just feels good.

You may choose not to believe me, it might sound like a bought review but I absolutely swear that it is not so, it's just a very very good guitar. Maybe I lucked out and got the best one, I don't know, but once I've picked it up and plugged in I couldn't stop playing for a couple of hours! Very comfy, and startlingly versatile.

Overall - I honestly can't believe that I payed only 89 euro for this, it's comfortable, sound great, looks great too!
Would I recommend?

YES.

You'd be a fool not to get one of these.

After watching many reviews, I purchased my TE-30 as one of a batch of three guitars. (shipping to Canada is expensive but is one price for up to three guitars, so...) a SC 450 Gold Top; a TE-52 and this TE-30. The latter two are telecaster style guitars both with Ash body and Maple neck. Of interest to me was that, while the TE-30 is significantly less expensive than the TE-52, the basic construction and materials are the same. These are both quite heavy coming in at just shy of nine pounds each but I like the weight (for the balance) and the tele style, and so took a chance on the two. I was not disappointed. The TE-30 is a beautiful guitar. I checked first for shipping rash or other damage and there was none. (well done Thomann, CBSA, and shippers!) After a careful visual inspection and a quick tune, I verified the switching, volume, and tone pots. I found all functions on the TE 30 respond exactly like those on the TE-52. The electronics on both are smooth, predictable, and effective. The pickups are the same on both guitars and sound very good even against a traditional telecaster. I also found the volume level between the bridge and neck pickups to be well balanced with neither louder than the other at the same setting. So, the pickup resistances must be close which suggests to me a reasonable level of quality control at the manufacturer (which is a good thing). So, what are the differences that cause the TE-30 to be significantly less expensive than the TE-52? I have not yet had the pick guards off and so cannot speak to some possible difference in the switches or pots used but I can say both guitars respond in very much the same way and so probably have the same guts. There is, however, a very significant difference in the tuning keys. The TE-52 has very nice Kluson style tuners while those on the TE-30 are less interesting. While neither are top of the line tuners, (they cannot be at this price point) those on the TE-30 are just not as precise. They have a small but noticeable dead spot between tightening and loosening. Oddly, on mine at least, this is the almost exactly the same across all six tuners which suggests to me it is a design issue and not some random thing. To the positive, once tuned they do hold well. (I will probably change them out at some point though) The only other 'issues' I've come across so far are probably best described as routine maintenance. I put a quarter turn on the truss rod to address some unnecessary relief. The quarter turn did the trick so I know the truss rod is good. And, as with the TE-52, I set the intonation and lowered the strings to where I like them. Pretty routine stuff.

I find my TE-30 and the other two HB's I bought to be a truly excellent value. It will be interesting to see how well they endure over time. For anyone who may be wondering... Yes, if this guitar is ever stolen from me, I will absolutely buy another TE-30!

Delighted with my Harley Benton TE-20 SB, I chose to try my luck again and get myself another “beater”. Just as I had promised in my TE-20 SB review, I went with Harley Benton again! This has given me a unique opportunity to compare my older TE-20 with my brand-new TE-30. Build quality wise, they seem to be on the same level, so mainly, what your extra 20 Euros get you (pricing at the time of writing) is an ash (as opposed to poplar) body wood, a vintage-style bridge (as opposed to a more modern one), a pearloid pickguard (although it is made of PVC, so it will not offgas like the celluloid ones), and a cheap cable (my TE-20 did not come with one). Some more minor differences are as follows: the TE-30 is noticably heavier, and its knobs are easier to turn than on my trusty TE-20. Now, you might ask, “How heavy is ‘heavy’?” Unfortunately, I do not own a scale, but I would guess that it is probably in the average Gibson Les Paul weight class. I have not taken my TE-30 apart yet, so I cannot speak about the type or size of potentiometers, the wiring, or the pickups. If I do take it apart, I will try to remember to update this review. Here, the comparisons end, and in the following paragraphs, I will focus solely on the TE-30.

The first thing I noticed when I opened the box was that the color was not like pictured here (at the time of writing the review). And it is definitely not my monitor because I am judging the color in contrast with the pickguard. Here, the body of the guitar is quite noticably darker than the stark-white pearloid pickguard. It reminds me of the so-called Mary Kaye Strats, which were also made of ash, and whose finish was also called Blonde. My TE-30, on the other hand, is almost as white as the pickguard! To my fellow color nerds, the color of the guitar I received is not even like Olympic White (an ever so slightly aged white). It is closer to Arctic White (the whitest Fender color)! Yes, you can still see the wood grain through it, but it does not give off a “vintage” esthetic like these photographs do. It looks more modern.

As to the quality, the only components that let this otherwise great guitar down are the tuning machines. While they hold tuning just fine, I can feel that the machining of the gears inside is not the greatest, and because of the ratio, it takes some finesse to hone in on the pitch. I believe, if Harley Benton upgraded them, this guitar would rival instruments costing a few times more. Everything else is perfectly fine: the nut is cut better than on some Fenders and Gibsons I have owned; there are no fret ends sticking out; the neck pocket is, again, tighter than on some Fenders I have seen; the potentiometers turn without any “scratchy” noise; the pickup selector feels solid; the output jack spring grips the plug firmly; the pickups sound exactly like you expect a guitar that looks like this to sound, etc. There are only a few relatively minor cosmetic defects, such as tiny scratches in the finish (which, in most lighting conditions, are all but imperceptible thanks to the white color), a few tuning machines being fitted slightly askew, and some of the holes for the screws having been drilled at an angle (which is something I have also encountered on Fenders). Even the setup is superb! Usually, cheap guitars feel as if they had been set up for playing slide, but on this one, the action was even a little too low for me. I can only imagine that for “shredders”, it would probably feel like heaven. Understandably, the frets are not polished, but they do not feel “scratchy” either. The neck is highly subjective, of course. I have large hands, and I could play this TE-30 just fine. I wish it had a slightly thicker neck, but then it would not fit most people. Maybe it is just me, but it feels slightly fatter than the neck on my TE-20. But it may just be variation due to them being sanded by hand.

An interesting detail: even though the bridge on my TE-30 is, as it is usually referred to, top-loading (meaning that the string ends are anchored at the bridge instead of being threaded through the body), there are holes in the baseplate of the bridge, and they are drilled into the body as well, just not all the way through! I guess, it is to make the conversion to string-though-the-body design a little easier.

All things considered, it is a great guitar and an incredible value for money. I would especially like to commend Harley Benton for not skimping on the setup! Yes, the looks, and especially the sounds, are really important, and impressive specifications can win over many a guitarist, but Harley Benton understand that most of these budget guitars are purchased by beginners who do not yet possess the skills necessary for setting up a guitar, and not all of those beginners have the money to pay a professional luthier. This is why they do their best to make even their least expensive models ready to be played comfortably (and intonated) right out of the box. Because of this, whenever someone asks me what is the best budget guitar for a beginner, my response is always Harley Benton.

It's great.

Country, blues, jazz, soul, funk, RnB, rock. Great for slide too!

Sounds great and it sounds like a tele should. The pickups are great. I don't see a need to upgrade them. The finish is gorgeous. It is heavy. It may be ash, but it's not swamp ash.

It's a top loader too, for me that's a feature - the strings don't go through the body, but through the bridge. It feels slinkier. One of my favorite tele players, Jim Campilongo, plays a 59 tele that is a top loader.

After playing it for a month the frets' ends popped out of the fingerboard. Ouch. That means the neck has dried up and shrunk, thus exposing the frets out of the fretboard.
I imagine they are churning tons of these cheap guitars and don't care to properly wait to dry the wood. Fixing this here in Copenhagen will cost probably more than the guitar... Might be better to buy the files and do it myself...

The Pickguard Disaster.

I find the mother-of-pearl pickguard very time period inappropriate and kitsch. How did they overlooked this aesthetically is beyond me. A simple black or white pickguard would have been better for such a simple and classic guitar. To add insult to the injury, apparently the Harley Benton pick guards they sell don't fit Harley Benton guitars. I ordered some standard replacement for the actual brand tele and that didn't fit either. Don't waste money on that.

I painted mine with a black permanent non water soluble marker. It's absolutely gorgeous now. Since I play daily I've had to touch it up a couple of times, I don't mind at all, it takes me 10 seconds.


The Tuners

I also changed the tuners, thought the ones it came with were totally functional, even if not the greatest. I put the cheapest klusons with oval peg heads, just so it looks more like a classic tele. Honestly, other than the looks the cheap tuners weren't an essential upgrade - could have kept the original ones.

What I'd love to see on Harley Benton guitars in general (This is my 2nd one) is staggered tuners so they don't have to use these ridiculous looking string trees. I hope they are listening.

I don't use the string tree for the D and G strings - I bend behind the nut.


The Jack and The Nut

The jack is the worst. It's cheap and it comes off, you have to tighten it all the time. That and the nut will be my next upgrade. The nut is cut poorly, with the B string cut closer to the G string than it should be.

The jack on my fusion Hb is also pretty bad, I hope Thomann listens...

The guitar also will need to be shielded.

The neck is nice and chunky and very comfortable.
The neck joint is absolutely outstanding.

The electronics are totally fine - the pots feel smooth and I love the tapper on both the volume and tone - bravo Harley Benton!

Even with the frets popping out, this was a great purchase. I love playing this guitar, it sounds as good as any great tele I've ever played at a fraction of the price tag.

This tele is more real than a lot of the cheap F brand teles you can buy for 2/3 times the money. So if you care more about the tone than what the logo on the headstock says then this is a no brainer.

I've been a professional musician since the late 1990s

Although I?m about to say a few bad things about this guitar I?m awarding 5 stars simply because of the value for money factor. It?s unbeatable!!!

Having purchased a Chinese Les Paul on Ali Express a few years back I was expecting a similar instrument, visually stunning but with a somewhat questionable build quality. I found the TE-30 to be just the opposite, visually low budget but with a surprisingly good build quality. I?ve read the rave reviews on how good these guitars look and I just don?t get it. The color seems bland, the semi-opaque body finish looks like the factory missed the final coat of paint and the satin neck finish looks like it could use a few more lacquer coats. I guess beauty is in the eye of the beholder!

Although I found the build quality to be good I did find fret buzz on one string/fret. Not a high fret, just a high spot on a fret. It took all of fifteen minutes to fix but did need finishing off with a fret crowning file. The fret was surprisingly easy to file so I hope that?s not an indication of possible premature fret wear down the road.

Neck action, tuners and nut were good. I included a set of compensated brass saddles in my Thomann purchase expecting the original uncompensated saddles to negatively affect intonation. Surprisingly, the intonation was perfect right out the box indicating that not only were the original saddles ok but someone had gone to the trouble of setting up the guitar before shipping out. Not what I got when I purchased my Ali Express which proved to be almost impossible to intonate. I changed the saddles anyway which did result in a bit more telecaster snap and pop.

The ash body sounds amazing until plugged into an amp. The pickups are really bad. Listen to any YouTube TE-30 video to verify how bad. This is my ninth electric guitar purchase and worst pickups yet. Happily, I?ve swopped out with something better and now tone is greatly improved. Playability is really good. It?s as much fun to play as my Fender American Strat and ironically it feels like it?s the cheap looking satin neck finish that makes it so playable.

Finally, the TE-30 requires a bit of time and investment to release its full musical potential but is still truly amazing value for money!!!

Ok so for £77 you don't exactly have high expectations, so the fact that a guitar at this price range even stays in tune is worth the money alone. It does, and does it very well. The neck is thick like a baseball bat and you really feel like you're holding a considerable piece of kit in your hand. That is compounded by the weight of the body....All I will say is go get yourself a good comfortable strap because I have felt really heavy LP's that are lighter than this, it's heavvvvvvvy. However you get the feeling that the weight adds to the overall tone of the instrument, which is excellent. It's excellent not just for a £77 guitar...it's just excellent. The guitar was set up well enough from the factory, but every guitarist has their preferred set up and after I had given this mine it played well. The only criticism I have of this guitar (Well 2 criticisms really), the neck was a bit scratchy at first but after giving it a going over with some lemon oil it was fine. Also it's a pointless exercise Thomann putting these strings on their guitars as they are unplayable, and I don't see anyone, regardless of what type of customer they are, keeping them on. I'd rather have no strings on the guitar than these as it's just a waste of my time having to take them off. Maybe Thomann could give the customer an option of £77 with these strings, or £81 with set of Ernie Ball Slinky's, as I'm sure customers wouldn't mind paying the extra couple of quid for better quality strings. Anyway those are first world problems and not that important. Not when you consider the amount of guitar you're getting here for so little cash. I can't get a decent night out for £77 so this is just an awesome deal.
Also, the product aside...I ordered 2 guitars, this and an HB-35 on Sunday evening, and they arrived on Wednesday afternoon. From Germany to Glasgow in a couple of days is incredible service. It's so good that I've bought another 2 guitars and am eagerly awaiting them arriving :)
Can't say enough good things about this product, and if this is the benchmark for cheap guitars then I see no reason to buy expensive ones.

After significant amount of review reading I decided to order this TE30 and see what arrived....
Pros- Well packaged and free from any damage or defect and complete with a free lead. The finish really is more translucent than the picture let on and you can just see the grain through it which is pleasing but if you are expecting a completely white "paint on paint" finish then this is different to that.
Setup wise it will need strings at some point and the frets could benefit from a polish and a bit of a dress on the bottom of the fretboard (manicure file is the tool for this) but I'm playing it with the strings it came with and they are doing fine. People have said in previous reviews that they have upgraded the pickups but these (i suspect ceramic) pickups are great! really punchy and the traditional tele tone and twang is there!

Cons - Tuners are maybe the worst bit of the guitar, they aren't very precise and have a bit of a dead spot in them but they hold tune perfectly, you can pick this up again and again and she's still bang in tune.
One of the knobs was poorly finished and turned on the stalk of the pot past its "stop" Thomann are sending me out some new ones though free and couldn't have been more helpful about that.

Its neither a pro or a con but worth mentioning, this guitar has a thigh neck, not just vintage les paul thick but baseball bat thick! nicely finished in satin and i suspect the thickness is helping with the lovely tone and sustain I am getting but if you are used to playing a shred monster Ibanez or similar you will really notice it. Its comfortable and I have fat hand so I actually find it easier to hold and has a real solid hefty feel to it. The guitar isn't light but no Tele is really, the weight isn't an issue playing wither standing or sitting for practice so its always a personal thing.

Don't hesitate just order one if you are looking at this, the truth is if you order an epiphone or similar and its 300 pounds (like i have also done) you aren't getting any more guitar than this 88 quid beast!

I have read all of the ratings and this is why I decided to give it a shot!
The guitar was shipped quickly and with great care.
When I opened the box WOW what a surprise the guitar was in fantastic shape no issues with paint or anything.
The one thing I am replacing is the tuners. This is a small price for the quality of the guitar. I currently own Fender Jazzmaster Ultra, Gretsch Nashville, and Les Paul Custom.
I realize it is not one of these however it is a Fantastic Value for the incredible price of $98.00.
The neck is fat and smooth. (Love it) the pickups well it is darn near as Twangy as a Fender for my money sounds great, this guitar will be with me forever! Thank you, Harley Benton, for making such a pleasant purchase.

I am baffled at how good this guitar is for the price. I bought this and a Squier Classic Vibe Strat at the same time, and honestly? This is the one I'm keeping. While they are different models, the pickups had more "presence" and character to me, even though they are said to be cheap ceramic pickups. In fact, I bought a Dimarzio Twang King neck pickup (check the reviews - top tier clean pickup) and while it was superior, the difference wasn't enormous. I have no plans on replacing the bridge pickup.

Tuners had consistent turning tension, although they don't have a very high gear ratio.

Nut was well cut. Frets were almost perfectly level with the expection of a few frets. Unpolished, but easily polished with steel wool or high grit sandpaper. This neck feels amazing, it isn't as wide as some reviews make it seem.

My only gripe is the finish. Since the paint is semi-opaque, you can easily see the grain underneath. Depending on what you get, you might get a body where you can clearly see where parts are joined together.

So I took a trip in August with my sons to Thomann since one was looking for a classic guitar. Daddy??? He goes to the electric wall to check out the Benton's and see what they have to offer. After checking a couple of Pauls I see this on the wall and recognize it as the 89? guitar that I usually scoff at on the website. I pick it up and check it over and was very pleasantly surprised, solid wood, good finish, nice feel, a bit heavy so I knew it was real ash...... curiosity made me plug it in. What can I say? Sounded like a tele, plays like a tele, tuners work smooth and accurate, controls worked as they should. The neck pickup sounded a bit constrained but hell, at this price I can switch that out for another, or make it an Esquire.

Long story short I went home and couldn't stop thinking about the floor model as this one has a flamed maple fingerboard. 3 weeks later I find myself heading on out to Thomann to buy that very guitar. I couldn't stop myself, had to do it.

Since then, I have switched the pickups out to Tonerider hot classics and the bridge saddles to Kluson compensated brass saddles ( string spacing was a bit narrow on the original bridge but they work) and I can't put it down. To be fair, the original bridge pickup sounded okay, almost liked the Tonerider in output, just a bit less dynamic, so if you usually stay on the bridge you may not need to change anything. The body is routed for a P90 at the neck as well, so if you want you could install one with little problem.

All in all I'm very happy with this. Hell, you would pay over twice this amount for a finished body of this quality.