Harley Benton TE-40 TBK Deluxe Series

Very nice. It has some imperfections in the finish/binding of the guitar, but for this price I think it is just amazing :)

Gold hardware seems shiny, I hope it hold wel, but it feels like quality... Stays in tune just fine... Nice chunky neck. Action was a little bit high, but could be lowered without any problems...


Do not fool yourself: this guitar does NOT sound like a telecaster of any kind... It's more a tele shaped les paul guitar to me (soundwise). Nothing wrong with that, but just so you know...

This is a very cheap guitar but it can compete with other guitars out there... It's my 7th harley benton, but this one is a keeper (actually I regret selling other HB's ) to me, there was only one harley benton guitar that dissapointed me... All the rest is just really up there as real professional guitars... It's more and more like the number 1 brand for me. You can't break the bank and you can give yourself tons of guitars in different sizes, shapes and sounds...

This is the 2nd model I got. The 1st model was broken on arrival and made my jaw hit the floor. The neck screw holes were drilled too big and were filled with cuts of guitar string (I'm serious). This obviously made the screw construction unstable and made the neck come lose.
I started the return process with Thomann, which was quite fast, but I feel the customer support could definately improve. The questions about the build process of filling screwholes with strings were not answered or even responded to. I just got a return document send.
Oh well.

Now for the 2nd model I received:
A beautiful looking guitar, nicely cut nut, action was set pretty darn close to my personal preference and it was close to being tuned out of the box. Wow!
The frets however, were corroded and very flat, creating a lot of friction and noise when bending strings. So I had to crown and polish the frets (they were quite level though).
Even though the nut was cut pretty damn nice, I replaced it with a graphite nut from tusq. I do this on all my guitars, the stock was fine.
Pickups sound good, bright humbuckers. Neck is smooth, not sticky at all.

Imho; buy if you have some guitar know-how or money for a luthier. It needs some work.
Overal a lot of value for the price (never seen this before and has to be said).
For me this is a gem to work on, cheap and solid base guitar to mod.

I want to rate it 5 stars, but I can't. It's 4 stars.
Pro's:
Really nice neck and fretwork! Chunky smooth neck, frets are level and no sharp edges. Playability is great.
Sound is great too, somewhat between a Tele and a LP. Great Rock Machine.Neck relief and intonation was pretty good. Electronics work well.


Cons:
It needed a lot of work out of the box.
The bushings that inserted the bridge were not inserted fully and stuck out 3 to 5 mm. I had to (gently) hammer them in place.
The bushings that guide the strings on the top of the guitar were not inserted fully. I had to (gently) hammer them into the guitar.
The bushings on the backside were all loose and all fell out when replacing the strings. I glued them in place.
I had to replace the strings because they weren't 'd Addario's. They were cheap strings and rusty too.
All the frets were oxidised. I had to polish them.
Some of the gold-plated hardware is oxidised too. That doesn't affect the the quality and doesn't bother me.

Conclusion:
Now it is a 5 star guitar. But it was'nt when I got it. I'm not sending it back because of the issues it had.
I love it now. Oh, and it looks good too!
Amazing guitar for the money.