Harley Benton TE-52 - On the Bench and Upgrades
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- Опубликовано: 24 окт 2023
- I love to find inexpensive, but quality made guitars and use them as a modding platform. Some would say the Harley Benton guitars are quality. Some would argue that they are not. I have seen it in the comments. I would say - do not just assume they are junk or crap and pick one up for yourself and try it. You will be really surprised.
I ordered the TE-52 which is the Harley Benton equivalent to the Squier ‘50s Classic Vibe Telecaster.
Here is where my doubt came in. The Harley Benton TE-52 lists retain on the Thomann website for $139 and add on a gig bag for another $12.50. Yes, you do have to pay about $80 for shipping and handling but I have paid that a lot of times buying used guitars from private parties on eBay and Reverb.
I had my doubts as to the quality of the TE-52 and was excited to put it on the bench and go over the guitar. I also wanted to see if the guitar’s specifications allowed for the guitar to be a good modding platform. Some of the questions I had were did it have a proprietary bridge and other parts where I would not be able to swap out the readily available Telecaster parts that are on the market.
I figured for a guitar at this price point I would want to replace the bridge, saddles, pickups, and electronics.
After ordering the guitar showed up around a week later. There is nothing you need to do with importation or anything out of the ordinary. You order your guitar and pay for it and it shows up a week later.
A little about the guitar -
The body is made of American ash and the neck and fretboard are made of Canadian maple.
The neck has 21 frets and a truss rod accessible at the headstock.
The fret board radius is 12 inches, and the scale length is 25 ½ inches.
The neck profile is a C.
It comes with Kluson style tuning machines.
The pickups are 2 Roswell TEA Alnico 5 single coil pickups.
It has a three-saddle bridge with string through body loading or top loading.
The guitar came with 10 gauge strings installed.
The pickguard, control panel and bridge all came off easily.
I was really happy to find that a traditional vintage style Telecaster Fender bridge was a direct drop in replacement for the TE-52. I had a loaded bridge with brass Gotoh compensated saddles. The bridge I was replacing although looked like a Fender bridge it was much thinner and lighter.
I recorded the TE-52 prior to making the modifications and will include at the end of the video compared to the upgraded version of the TE-52 recordings as well.
The pickups and control panel I installed were both from Tone-Rider Pickups. The Pickups are their Hot Classics and the wiring harness is a modern telecaster wiring harness with a .22 uf cap instead of a .047 uf cap and is made up of:
(2) CTS 250k Potentiometers
(1) Oak/Grigsby 3-way switch
(1) Switchcraft mono input jack
(1) Sprague/Orange Drop capacitor .22 uf Cap
Here is my view of the TE-52
The tuners are fine and functional. My one complaint is the hole in the slot is not deep enough as the typical Kluson is and it sometimes makes it difficult to insert a string into it and keep it inserted while winding, especially with the high e string.
The neck is straight and has a satin finish. I like the look of the neck. They describe the finish as caramelized. The frets are typical for a guitar in the $200 to $500 range meaning there is fret rock at least three to five locations on the fretboard. The edges of the frets are not terrible but not great. It could use some filing up and down the fret board. All-in-all the neck is very playable out of the box without buzz.
The body has great grain and I like the finish although it is kind of on the tan or brownish yellow instead of aged blonde. I cannot see the seams in the wood showing where the wood has been joined.
The pickup and control panel cavities are routed well and are clean.
Out of the box the guitar had correct string height and intonation and the truss rod did not need to be adjusted. The guitar came with the same gauge strings as I already use so the nut did not need to be filed.
The electronics work and are adequate. I am surprised to see Alnico 5 pickups at this price point. Usually, you get ceramic magnet pickups. When you plug the guitar into an amp there is no hum or buzz as it is adequately grounded.
The bridge is the same dimensionally as the fender branded unit but much thinner and less substantial.
When plugged into an amp the guitar has clean sounds in all three positions and takes to a distortion pedal well.
After the modifications there is more umph in the pickups and I think they have more rage and clarity. 
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Ha! So true about the tuners on these Benton Teles! Ive had this guitar and the TE-62CC and TE-62 DB and all have same tuners. What I do is push the thin strings into the tuner hole and then plug the hole with the string in it with a match stick or two! These hold the string until I wind them and then take the match sticks out.
I found this video because I recently bought my first HB and it was the TE 52. I am more than happy with it. I will probably upgrade everything for fun, but I'm in no hurry as it plays pretty good. I normally play 'super strat' type guitars and thought I should have a tele in the house. I like this so much, I will likely get one of their single cuts and probably a 335 style. The most shocking thing about the TE 52 for me was the weight. It is heavy.
Te-62's are lighter guitars 👍.
Iv same guitar..I had to level the frets several were too high/low but once I did this and crowned & polished them…it played perfect. It’s actually a savage guitar for the money..slightly heavy but I use a wide strap… plays better than several fender teles iv tried.. defo recommend it
I just got a set of Hipshot locking tuners for mine. I'm considering doing a bridge, pickup, and electronics change as well.
Very interesting video ! Thanks for sharing !
Thank you
I just received my HB te-52. Talk about value overload. Fantastic guitar.
It really is a great guitar and great value.
I just got one. I really like it I think it's fine just like it is. I may do some mods down the road but not necessary.
The stock PUs are quite good, no need to change them. I have a Fender Tele I paid about $800 and I prefer the HB.
True...I have 6 other Teles from USA, Jap, CV50, and a MIM all with various pups from Fralin, Lollar, MFD, Fender Jim Shaw, and SDuncans...and the Roswell's hold their own well. Got a set of Bootstraps on the way to see what' the hub-bub is about them at only $50.
Thanks for the review! Could You have the chance to compare it with a JET JT-300? (I'm in a hesitation now in between three guitars, almost in the same price range: Harley Benton TE-52, JET JT-300, Squier Affinity Telecaster). Thanks in advance! Greetz, Viktor
I really didn’t enjoy the original pickups in mine. Just too anemic. Switched them out with some Tonerider hot classics, and that did the trick.
Other than that, the neck was great, and the body is a boat anchor. Pretty good stuff.
by comparing with my fender player pickups, I found the roswell neck pickup indeed, lifeless, dull..... however the bridge pu is impressive although there is definitely a lack of presence and dynamic in the bass, did you noticed the same?
I bought one. Had to sell it on account of the weight. Somewhere north of 5kgs
I had this guitar, I loved it. I gave it a good setup and swapped out a neck pickup from a Mexican fender....I was super pissed when it was stolen from my car trunk when I ran into a store......it was quite heavy tho
That sucks. I am sorry it was stolen. I hope this is taken in the humor it is intended. It was probably stolen by two people because I could not see just one carrying it off. :)
I wish they would reduce the weight on this model. For me it is the only draw back. Mine is my couch guitar. I do not notice the weight then.
@@guitarcollectorguy I suppose the swamp ash could be chambered but doubtful they would invest in that and keep the prices so low, as a replacement I just got a Harley Benton TE 62, it’s even better. Binding and nice Indian laurel fretboard, roasted maple…I keep a squire strat by my sofa, along with numerous others stationed around the house to annoy my wife and kids lol
@@guitarcollectorguy btw, subscribed, great channel
Thank you! @@NoNameNo.5
i have same electronic from aliexpress , i change the plastic nut whit a tusq and the saddles like yours always from aliexpress ;)
thanks you,just need shielding coper
I'm struggling to find the pickup/control panel set you installed for sale anywhere. I've found the .47 cap version though. Are you able to share where you got them?
a.co/d/03IRdi92
I think this is it.
Are that solid shaft pot ? Orange drop 047uf?
Solid shaft and .022 uf
Hello mate, which Bridge plate with the brass saddles did you put on? Did it fit to the pre-drilled holes?
I just grabbed this: I was really happy to find that a traditional vintage style Telecaster Fender bridge was a direct drop in replacement for the TE-52. I had a loaded bridge with brass Gotoh compensated saddles. The bridge I was replacing although looked like a Fender bridge it was much thinner and lighter.
@@guitarcollectorguythankyou very much sir! Could you link that bridge for me? I received some brass saddles yesterday and they don‘t fit to the bloody plate. The holes of the Harley Benton plate are too small fir the screws 🤬
@@schwobamichl www.amazon.com/Fender-American-Vintage-3-Saddle-Telecaster/dp/B00LJY3ND2/ref=asc_df_B00LJY3ND2/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=692875362841&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=6261097646975304729&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9032322&hvtargid=pla-2281435179258&psc=1&mcid=ff5e67a7824d32fc926022514cb8906d&hvocijid=6261097646975304729-B00LJY3ND2-&hvexpln=73&gad_source=1
Thanks a lot very much and have a nice afternoon. 👍 👏🏼
I haven't bought a Harley Benton but i have bought some other Chinese made guitars. I have recently bought a Korean made IYV. I have to say the quality of the IYV surpasses the quality of my Chinese made guitars.
I've had more bad experience with Squiers than I've had with HBs. I think HB is a similar kind of deal as Epiphone or Ibanez GIO. Good, but not devoid of issues.
I think that is a description of most of the "affordable" guitar companies.
👍👍👍👍
I'm an HB fan, but are these Teles as heavy as many people say they are?
Yes. It is heavy.
I finally just weighed it and it comes in at 9 lbs. That and the tuners are the only things I found that I did not like.
TE 70 at around 8 lbs here
Mine was close to 11lbs. Heavier than any Les Paul I've picked up. I believe their TE62 is lighter
@@stephanguitar9778 holy crap! That is heavy. I have one of the LPs and it is most definitely lighter.
hi, the original fender bridge matches perfectly with the holes in the bridge HB!? Did you have to make any changes? Thanks
Matched perfectly. No changes at all.
A thousand thanks !! Even for the original Fender pickups there is no problem?! I saw that the HB pickguard has two screws near the bridge pickup and the original Fender one doesn't...
No problem. The pickups fit also. I did have to drill a few holes to make the pick guard fit.
did you change the pickguard? I wanted to leave the HB one, I would only change the bridge, strings, pickups and tuners
You can put any standard telecaster neck pickup in the HB pick guard
Why change capacitor? Is there any difference?
I changed out the entire wiring harness.
@@guitarcollectorguy and what?
I changed out everything. The pickups, electronics, and other components. And in the end it did sound better.
The TE-52 is known to be an overly heavy guitar in weight.
Very true
I finally just weighed it and it comes in at 9 lbs.
Get a wide strap 3 to 4 inches. You can stand all night.
I sorry but I don't get upgrading just to do it. Nitpicking at best.😂😂😂😂
Being a grey guy myself I can understand. In my case it was out of curiosity and for the sake of entertainment on the video.