Harley Benton TE-52 Telecaster Review (The Pros & Cons)
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- Опубликовано: 14 дек 2018
- Here is my review of the Harley Benton TE-52 Telecaster guitar. For those who don't know Harley Benton, they are an inexpensive guitar sold by Thomann in Germany. The Harley Benton TE-52 is a very similar guitar visually to a Fender or Squier Telecaster but has its own unique style on the headstock. Due to the price point, these guitars have some pros and cons but overall for the price, it's pretty great!
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Thanks for all the positive comments! If you are interested check them out here:
Buy it here at Thomann - bit.ly/2PcQ0CX
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Affiliate links support the channel 🙏🧡
Influenced by your video, and some research as well, ordered it and got it yesterday.
That thing is amazing! Heavy, 4,5 kg, nice wood, two pieces body, fine finish, amazing neck.
Tuners all good, electronics as well.
Minimal cosmetic and quality problems.
Sounds great!! Pure joy, perfect classic tele sound.
166 Euros delivered to my door, Greece, from Germany!!!
I’m happy.
Thanks man!
Just bought it. I'm going to tell Thomann about your page and that you were actually the RUclipsr that inspired me to get it. I already have a few Harley Benton's and was hesitating on this one until I heard your video. Damn this thing is a beast.
Shane, awesome playing in the opening intro. You sounded completely different, and your phrasings were spectacular!! Kick ASS!!!
Mine just arrived yesterday. Man, I can't believe what an awesome guitar this is! Took a risk and sold my Ibanez of 10 years before this arrived. The sound and the feel (and the look) are completely fantastic. My Ibanez had Satriani's Dimarzio pickups in it, and I'm actually getting better Satch tones out of this Tele, if you can imagine! My tuners are fine, so you may have just got a bad apple. What a comfy neck! Only thing I would change is to have the neck's wonderful satin finish across the entire body. But for $175 CAD, this totally beats any sub-$2000 tele I've ever tried.
Just bought one of these...mint condition..second hand. Needed a full set up...truss rod adjusted..frets levelled and string heights set..once done...absolutely awesome!!...fantastuc value for money...much better than my HB Strat...Thank you Harley Benton..😁😘
Brilliant Shane great review - you will only garner more viewers and more respect from manufacturers being so unbiased. Erring on the side of your audience will always pay big. Great work
I’ve watched all of your videos multiple times, but this is one of my favorites. Also love the Danelectro ‘84 review. Keep up the great work!
Love your playing. First one I’ve seen in a long time that doesn’t shred for no reason
I've been looking at these for a while now and they seem to be, by quite a substantial margin, the best of the cheaper " Telecaster " guitar options out there. Each reviewer comes up with the same or very similar conclusions. They look great, they play great and they sound great. At the price point, it's a " no brainer " for anyone looking for a Tele to add to their guitar collection. The pick ups sound fantastic. A few minor upgrades ( compensated brass saddles, higher quality tuners and perhaps replacing the nut ) and I could see this Harley Benton TE-52 becoming one of my favourite guitars. Great review Shane - thanks brother x
An update : I went ahead with purchasing a Harley Benton TE52 and I could not be happier. I did the upgrades : Gotoh vintage style locking tuners / Graph Tech Tusq Nut / Compensated Brass Saddles / Roller String Trees / Levelled, crowned and polished the frets / Set Up to my liking - and this guitar is, indeed, a favourite in my collection ( and I have some much more expensive guitars ) I love the neck, it plays like butter and the pickups are unbelievable ( just a slight tweak with the height adjustment and they sound as good as any Telecaster pickups I have played ) I also bought the TE90 QM ( a semi hollow body Tele with P90 pickups ) and a Fusion T HH EB OCT ( with twin Humbuckers / Ebony board / stainless steel frets / Graph Tech Tusq nut / locking tuners / Wilkinson Trem ... amazing spec at a ridiculously affordable price ) Each of these 3 Tele style guitars has its own unique charm and place in my sound palate. I am 60 years old and remember when " cheap " guitars were absolutely terrible and hardly playable. Harley Benton deserve huge credit for changing the game in this regard. I love my 3 Tele's - they are excellent gigging and recording instruments without breaking the bank.
Seems like your playing has gone up a level man with the chicken pickin incorporated into your style,I like it very much
Thanks a lot Adam :-)
Sounds good! I guess it’s true that 90% of the tone is in your fingers! I’ve reached the conclusion to stop buying guitars and practice the chops more. That’ll help your search for that tone, that you always think might be in your next guitar purchase. Great review Shane.
It's not true. What is true is that Shane uses good gear and knows how to set it up, and what people tend to find surprising is that a lot of cheap gear is actually good.
Great review, clear and thorough. Well done buddy.
I really love your videos, Shane. Every time I'm looking for a new guitar (which is Teles og Gibson Juniors right now), your videos just nail the tone perfect and gives a great impression on which sound to expect from the guitar. Just keep up the good work 😄
It's a ripper Shane! Does WHAT a Tele should!
Just came back from Kerstfeest @ the GT! You were talked about!
I got tapped on the shoulder, so it looks like I am going to be a committee member, so I hope might make your way back there soon. You will HAVE a muso on the committee!
Cheers dude!
That peavey bandit, that tele, and a digitech rp multi effects plugged into the loop to use the delay is all youd need to gig anywhere. Were so lucky these days.
Fantastic review. It really gave me the information I was looking for on this HB Tele. Thanks for posting!
Oh wow, this looks way better than it does in the Thomann pics. Much deeper yellow, digging it!
Some tasty licks there on that opening tune Shane my man! Proof that an awesome rig can be had for well under $500 and that tone is in the fingers after all! Bang up job man!
Sounds awesome and I'm digging your guitar playing! I have the TE-30 Tele by Harley Benton and it runs super heavy as well.......it's like lifting a huge log......still I love the guitar and it's great value for the money.
Brilliant demo!! I recently got a Player Series Tele and I love it. Except for the pickups. I'll be doing a review on my channel soon, but the ones in the HB actually send better to me. Impressive! Excellent vid, brother!
Looks great on camera! I think at that price you probably can't beat the value. great video, sounded great for sure!
Just ordered mine! Thank you for this!
I ended up getting the cheapest Tele model for like 90€ or something, and I was blown away. It holds up well with my Fender
Man those are some hot chops! This thing sounds great. I think I'm sold on this guitar
I like it when you do a sick bend and the camera goes zoom.
Absolutely loved the one I reviewed, only didn't' buy it off them because I had just got a new Fender Tele for my 40th birthday lol. My only issues were the tuners and the pickup switch, which felt a bit flimsy. Did a side by side blind demo of this vs the fender and very few could tell the difference in sounds!
As I said in one of your previous videos, buy the Kluson locking tuners off Thomann if you're gonna buy this guitar, they're only $37 USD and slap right on, change the string trees to Graphtech self lubricating trees (12.68 on Prime), and the bridge with a Wilkinson ashtray style bridge with brass recessed saddles (20.99 shipped on Amazon), and I'd change the nut though you don't have to, setup/intonated with a fretboard leveling, and bam she plays as good or better than a Custom Shop. Never had the pleasure of playing an SX Tele, but I love my TE-52 and play it often, she just sings. Cheap thrills all day, thanks again for another kick ass video Shane, you've been killing it.
SX guitars are very good for the money. I have 4 different models and they are all great budget guitars
If you swap out the tuners, the bridge, the nut, and you level and dress the frets you're up for $300 at most tech shops....Not that I disagree with you (I do the same of all my guitars) but you're better off buying a better quality guitar which will get you better pickups and wood as well.
For the full on triggers broom, change the body and the neck :p
Habs247 Thank you for that info regrading tuners it is big help, so they are direct fit in no need to drill or anything? Probably the best would be to get staggering tuners there are Wilkinson one for like max 40 on net like that no need for string trees, only i don't know are they direct swap + that means less points for string friction, TUSQ graphtech nut is my fav and i have OK experience with it, goes on all guitars i have ☺
A Junk u forgot pickups
Absolutely love those profiles nice playing man! I’m wanting to get into a Tele style guitar I reckon that TE 52 is the 1 for me at this savage 😁
I’m waiting for mine… its on the way. Thank you for the Review 👍
Sounds great Shane. Awesome guitar playing.
Thanks for the video. I did a search for "best lawsuit Telecaster copy" and found yer video. Shopping a HB TE-52 now.
Ordered mine, can't wait.
Looks pretty nice Shane ,great demo too mate and looking forward to the shootout !
I’ve said before I’ve got one of the older ones with Wilkinson pickups. Really impressed with those Roswells, and yes I’d agree the tuners are a major weak point. If Thomann upgraded those it would be astounding
And the saddles, if they got compensated saddles for better intonation it’d be nice.
for mine i got wilkinson tuners and a compensated bridge, rubbed the scratchy frets down and that's it! it's amazing.
Damn, that was a fantastic, funky grove you started off with. Loved it! Guitar was great!
Shane i have owned a lefty te-52 for over two years all it has never let me down.all i have done is oiled the tuners and fitted a graphtech nut, if you want to try an amazing t-type you really need to try a schecter pt...awesone
Get the "Jazzmaster" JA60.
Ive got one and it is a fantastic guitar.
Arrived perfectly set up, stays in tune for ever, and plays and sounds superb.
Got it. And the SC550. TE-52 is next on my list!
I am torn between this Harley Benton and the Artist TC59 you reviewed. The Artist is listed for $159 with free shipping on the USA website (when it is actually in stock). I really like the sound of the Humbucker pickups in the Artist better. Thanks for both reviews.
Got one of these early 2022. Tuners on mine are fine. Finish is good. Neck is awesome. Pickups - neck great, bridge maybe too bright for me. Suspect the pots are its biggest weakness but I've been hammering it for 9 months and still satisfied. Over 10lbs weight tho' and I think that's its biggest drawback, it is a heavy tele but an absolute bargain.
Just picked one of these up, used but 'as new' condition for GBP £68! Couldn't be happier.
Sounds great! Good pickin, love the video!
Great to hear you got a good one !! Again looks like they improved it a lil vs the 2017 I have. Like I said .... even if the tuners & neck where garbage what you get everything else on the body is STILL worth it to seriously look at for buying!! :)
I've had my HB TE 52 since February,and it came perfectly setup,same tuners,but you probably had some off ones,mine have been working and turning flawlessly,have the same on my ST-62 vintage strat.
I see they've change the logo a bit
I tried a few other Teles in and around my hometown Malmö (guess you know that place right) I was going for a Affinity,but since it doesn't string through the body and the finish looks crap Vs this one I took a chance and bought this one.
And it's a killer mate,play country/blues/punk rock on it and it really does the job.
One of my better buys,for €120 it's a steal.
Really agree on the pickups,sounds ace,same Roswell pups in my Strat.
Plus,the neck on this one is so good.
Good video sir
Everybody knows Malmø, it´s Sweedens Hallalabad, you can buy hand granates on the flea market.
How does the tuning hold up on the HB ?
Sounds just like a telecaster i used to own one i just love the twangy sound of them idk why i just love that bright poppy sound of a tele
I've been looking into these guitars for quite some time now and nothing I've heard would discourage me from ordering one... The TE 40 Is the one I have my eye on
Love those closed captions ("tally" instead of 'tele', "Italian" instead of 'a tele'. Looks like we need a closed caption translator for the closed captions on this one. Don't worry, Shane. Most of us are smarter than the developers of close captioning software. Great review on one of the real steals in today's guitar marketplace. A few carefully chosen upgrades and this tele more than doubles in comparative value. Thanks for the review, mate!
I've had this for a couple years. Of all my guitars, I pick this one up the most. The only change you may want is to change the tuners, not the greatest.
no tuning problems there mate
sounds amazing great guitar
April 26 2021.
Mine just arrived. I am stunned.
Great review and playing man! Sounded really to me too! If you don’t live near a store that sells HBs, they’re a safe bet to buy any of them without playing one if your acceptable quality range is wider than it would be for domestic “name brands,” or if it’s one of your first guitars. I also agree with the other comments...if your expectations are higher and you are going to buy upgraded tuners, etc. after purchasing an HB, you might be better off looking for a used MIM Tele or Squier Classic Vibe that you can play before you buy. 🤙🏻😎🎸
Shane, I think the only mods I would do, are mounting the neck pickup INTO the body, and giving it a 5 screw pickguard. Other than that I MAY take the neck down to what is being called a modern C.
Shane,
How would you rate this guitar against a Squire Classic Vibe 50's Tele having played both. I've tried the C.V. and loved it.
Very hot sound, all tele, like the finish. Interesting product.
just got one!
not one single scratch/blemish on it, and it plays Really Well
LUV the neck!!
heavy - 10lbs
Wow 10 pounds
Frets polish, bullet brass saddles, neck shiming and it's play like a dream, stock roswell pups hight adjustment and fingers skills of course
This video took to long to get out, I couldn’t help myself and since someone had one for sale local for £75 with brass saddles, gigbag and strap I just bought one. As always great video
Man you really did that guitar some justice great job guy. See ya on the flip side mate!!!!
I had to replace the tuners on mine! couldn't get it to tune properly.i used vanson tuners which are great.i had to ream out the holes to 10mm which was pretty straightforward.also fitted new stringtrees.stays in tune well now.not a bad guitar for the price.
Sounds great mate!
Thats a lovely tone and sound off that tele, especially on the lead.
That's a beautiful guitar especially left handed
Cool guitar work man. That was worth everything.
Love it! Sounds great!
I just wanted to share my thoughts on this guitar that I have owned for about 6 month now: It pays of to change the bridge saddles to compensated brass saddles.
The tuners are ok, so there is not much need for changing those. My body was a one piece ash body, which you not even see often on high end guitars. The electrics
are fine too. And here comes the most important lesson I learnt: If you want to change PU´s, do it properly the first time. I think the bridge PU sounds quite good, but
not so much the neck PU, so people on a budget should maybe only change the neck PU. It is a medium high output PU, and too dark to my liking, it does not have
much attack and does not have that Tele spank. It didn´t help to remove the shield, and be very carefull if you try to do that.
I tried different low cost PU´s, for instance an Alnico Wilkinson. It almost sounded exactly the same as the stock PU. So stay away from overwound or slightly
overwound PU´s on this guitar, when you want the real Tele sound. Then I bought a Fender TEX-MEX set, it also sounded quite the same, and now I have cut the
experiments, I hope, and bought a set of Bare Knuckles Boot Camp Old Guards. I know those and should probably have done that the first time, to save a lot of time
and some money.
Bottomline is, it is a very nice guitar for the money, and I think when the had to change the shape on the headstock, they succeeded doing it. Hope this can help
som people out there.
Nice post Kim. Just ordered one to Australia, and I'm not too fussed about the bridge pick up as I won't use if often except in humbucker mode. Should be here within 10 days
I would have tried just changing the pot from 250k to 330k, and maybe added a treble bleed cap if necessary.
Pickups are pickups. Everything included in "their circuit" will affect their tone. Changing pickups to fit the circuit is $illy when you can change the circuit to better accommodate the pickups.
Just sayin' 😶
nice review man.
thanks for this.
Great Video as always! Which one would you recommend to a broke guy who has never played a Tele: this or the Squier CV?
I've been trying to find a good review of this guitar as I bought one from my local guitar center with the intention of keeping a "cheap" guitar at work so I can practice when time permits. I'm honestly blown away by the physical construction.... the body is gorgeous and the neck is everything I want in a guitar. I was assuming the electronics and hardware must be pretty low quality as this thing was $180 brand new and to be honest, I haven't actually played it plugged in since my only goal was to have a guitar to practice around with. Now I'm wondering if this thing is worth upgrading the tuners and the pickups, I can't get past the feel of the neck, I give it an easy 10/10. BTW all the guitars in my home studio are high end ESP/LTD's and older Japan-built guitars.
Great review Shane! Thanks a lot.
I have a question: it this a full size body? I mean the thickness of the body, is it the same as on original Fender Tele?
Thanks
Greetings fellow lefty! Really enjoy your videos. I started with a Squire Affinity and was not at all happy with the sound. Just didn't sound like a Tele to me. A new TE-52 became available locally (the unlucky guy ordered a left handed one when he intended to order a right handed version) at list price no shipping. I grabbed it up in a second, and I fell in love with it's twangy tele sound. I think it is very comprable to my buddies Classic Vibe 50's at less than half the cost.
11:39 caught my ear when you threw in some T Bone Walker style.
Cheap tuners don't bother me because I always tune up into the note. Tuning down towards the note can leave a little slack in the tuning gears, which will eventually be pulled back tight by the string tension but losing tune in the process. If in doubt about the slack, you can give the string you're tuning a bit of a pull upwards with your fingers, which will pull the tension down into the tuning zone. I hope to see you at Sky Music one day, Shane! Rob
Great guitar
great sound nice playin Shane
Wow that sounds great! How do you compare the neck with a standard tele?
That was some mega playing. Did this guitar inspire you?
Sounds great. I would just change the tuners and we're good. Thanks. Peace.
bought this guitar as good as any tele your right about the tuners but its not a big deal to replace them.
I see HB put the wrong tone pot in there. Happens to me too with my budget guitars. I have resorted to resoldering the tone pot right handed to be able to use the full range of the pot as left handed ones are hard to find.
The manufacturers thought us lefties wouldn't notice.
I hope I don't encounter the same problem with my Fusion Pro. Should be arriving by Christmas.
Yeah, I've been eyeing one of those off for a while. Just deciding which other one to get to make the shipping worthwhile ;)
thanx. good stuff. looks like a bit of edge fret feathering might what to expect.
Great vid Shane, and big fan of your no nonsense honest reviews. I've just ordered a TE52, largely based on your review. I'll probably need to change the tuners and was looking at the wj55 15:1 ratio Wilkinson Deluxe Kluson style tuners which have split posts that I really like. They are for 8mm headstock holes..do you happen to know the hole diameter on the TE52? Best, Rich
I am not much of a specs guy mate. The specs should be on their website. Either way, you'll dig this guitar, they are really great.
Excellente vidéo bravo a toi et merci pour ton avis et ton test! Bravo de france
Stunning I want one
Nice guitar! The amp is a masterpiece in the way it sound.
Excellent video, and very smooth work on the fretboard. The only thing holding me back on this (TE-52) is the C-neck. I'm a D-neck fella, so it looks like the Harley Benton TE-62CC SFG is the ticket. Also, do you know if these will accept standard 10mm tuners? The TE-62CC SFG will be a perfect companion to my 10x more expensive $1,500 Fender American Performer Stratocaster HSS - Satin Surf Green with Maple Fingerboard.
In the blues is for me the smartest tester..thanks I would love to see that you make a proper test of the sc Junior from Harley Benton... which I play daily after string changing, which more expensive guitar needs too.-), I made proper set up(fretboard lemon oil. neck bend,resoldered the Potis and secured them ,which more expensive guitar needs too.), changed to locking tuners, which more expensive guitar needs too,since then I have a Rock ń'roll machine..222 inclusive. shipment..
Please review the HB TE-90FLT SB Deluxe Series with the filtertron pickups.
Txs for the performance!
Hi Shane, hope you're keeping well. I need your help mate as I think I'm going quietly mad! Following my earlier post I've now received my HB TE-52 (on the strength of your excellent vid) & your video was right on the money. For a guitar at this price point (heck even three or 4 times times the price point) the build quality is terrific and those pickups are just pure vintage Telecaster. It's just a really good 'Tele' but as you rightly say, the tuners aren't great. So, in addition to adding Wilkinson compensated brass saddles I'm changing the tuners for Wilkinson 15:1 ratio deluxe vintage that should be a straight drop in (the headstock holes by the way are standard 8mm) - but here's my problem (as I'd like to keep the same look) - I'm really struggling to tell if the existing tuners are nickel or chrome. In some light they seem to be a little more 'yellow' (warmer) - other times they look to be more chrome - it's like these are a 'chameleon' !! I know you had a good look at these when you had the guitar - can you recall whether these were nickel or chrome?
Hey Shane, big fan of the channel! I'm a fellow Lefty and my main guitar is a prs custom 24 Lefty. I'm thinking of buying one of these Harley Benton tele style. I love the neck of my custom 24 , how would you say it compares to that? Thanks in advance for any input!
Dam..I been wanting a tele style guitar for awhile...without spending a lot...this price is amazing
Great video! What do you think of the harley benton sc custom?
Sounds great bro!
Have you made a direct comparison between this TE-52 and your more expensive Fender Tele (think you got something like a '52 re-issue?) It would make for a very interesting video to see how big the differences are!! From your video - could the TE-52 be a little TOO bright - even for a Tele? Thanks. Good video as always.
That intro solo gave me a serious case of secondhand stank face oof 🤪😍
What about the Harley Benton TE-70 made out of Bass wood with a skunk stripe Maple neck? I wonder would the bass wood make it sound any worse?
Hi Im big fan of yours, what do you think is better this one or Squier Affinity Tele?
Guitar looks and sounds sweet brother.
Just ordered one from Thomann. On it's way to Texas.
Hell yea brother