Harley Benton TE-20 SB Standard Series

Just received this guitar in the mail. Unboxed, in perfect condition, almost in tune even!
I will preface this review with my over 20 years of guitar playing and having previously owned a Fender American Telecaster. Given the price on these guitars I picked up a couple out of sheer curiosity after hearing good things. So. Plugged in, tuned up and played for about 20 minutes. Setup out of the box is pretty good! I?ll let it settle in a bit before I decide to make any adjustments.

So first, the bad: the frets are incredibly scratchy. Bending is like dragging the string across sandpaper. Fortunately I?m capable and ready to give this a fret polish in the near future. The pickups are also pretty weak. Lifeless and shockingly dark for a tele. I think I?ve decided to make this a project guitar. New pickups are a must.

Onto the good. This guitar is extremely cheap and you get a hell of a lot of guitar for what you pay. It works. It makes sounds. You can fret the strings with ease. This would be an excellent guitar for a beginner. I can?t think of a better value. You can?t pick up a beat up Squier for cheaper than this! The tuners are ok. It seems to stay in tune. Pots and switch work fine.

Obviously this isn?t as nice as a real Fender Telecaster, but for its price you can buy what, seven of these Harley Bentons for the price of even a Mexican made! Truly I must commend Thomann. They?ve done really well with these budget starter guitars,
Actually providing a product that someone new at guitar can feel good about. Or even a fun little project for a seasoned tinkerer like me.

For this price, this is a great guitar! You need to understand why you are buying it - study, local concerts, garage recording - it is good for all this.
In my case, there were minor flaws: a pair of machine heads had backlash, the neck pickup did not work (I had to do some soldering), everything else was done at a good level, and this level is clearly higher than the price for this instrument.
The pickups are not loud, sometimes there is not enough power, but this is my fault - I often use an instrument with distortion, and it is not designed for such overloads.
For almost two years of use, the frets under the 6th and 5th strings have worn out a little - I am a rather aggressive guitarist and the guitar does not stand idle in the corner.
Yes, this is not a Fender Telecaster USA, this is an excellent tool for its tasks, you just need to understand what you are buying and why, and if everything is in order with this, then you will not be disappointed!

These days, a low price doesn't necessarily mean low quality. The Harley Benton TE 20, has the famous "T" type look, and comes with a pretty fair tribute to the "T" sound. When I try out a guitar that has a "budget" or "entry level" price tag, I have a bit if a ritual - maybe not very scientific, but it works for me:
First, I hold the guitar, and if it's a reasonable weight, not too heavy, but heavy enough, it gives me confidence that here is a solid, robust body. It suggests (again, not scientific) a nice density of wood in the body, unlike some cheaper guitars I've played, that are so light, if you attached some string to them you could use them as a kite! I'm not obsessive about tone woods, but I have found, from my experience, that a nice, heavy but comfortable body, usually bodes well for the overall quality of the instrument. The TE 20 passes this test!
Second, I run my hand up and down the neck. If, after this my hands are raw and bleeding, I know the frets are badly fitted, sharp, or sticking out at the sides. Again, the TE 20, no problem - smooth all the way - not a hint of discomfort, let alone a laceration!
Third, machine heads-obviously I don't expect Grovers, but it's another good sign of a quality budget guitar if the tuners turn smoothly and there is not too much "play" or "wobbliness" in them. Another tick for the TE 20.
Fourth: I actually play the guitar. With a budget price I won't complain at tone that doesn't exactly replicate the more well known expensive version, but I do like to hear variation in tone. I've tried lower priced guitars that sound the same, whichever pickup position is selected. The TE 20 sounds bright at the bridge, warmer at the neck pickup, and sort of "strummy" in the middle position. That's all I ask for and again the TE 20 does the trick.
The finish, in this case sunburst, is excellent, and I can find nothing to complain about as far as workmanship and construction.
Nice work, Harley Benton, I look forward to writing about the "S" shape model!

This turned up in surprisingly playable condition. Not too heavy, hardware is acceptable, frets are ok...sounds like a telecaster. For €89 this is very, very good, although there will inevitably be a few less than perfect details in any guitar at this price.
I do guitar repairs and setups and I had a few spare bits around so I spent some time tidying this up. I put on a 3ply pickguard, which instantly made it look less cheap, and put in some Wilkinson Vintage tele pickups I had handy. Did some work on the nut, oiled the board and polished the frets, replaced a couple saddle height screws with shorter ones to save my hand from being scratched, etc.
Now it looks, feels, plays and sounds like a fairly decent guitar. I just wanted to have a basic telecaster in my collection to noodle on occasionally and this is fine for that.
A very good guitar for beginners or as a modding platform for tinkerers.

Needed a tele for home studio use, looked at budget range opted for Harley Benton over a Squire and wasn't disappointed. Great finish and so glad I took the plunge.
I planned to mod the guitar so really just needed something that had a good foundation to work on and this was perfect. Plan to upgrade pickups and machine heads in near future but it plays fine as is.
One thing as always with budget guitars is dressing of sharp edge frets and need a good polish too to improve playability and that is why only 4 stars given. If that little bit more effort was spent dressing/polishing frets even if it added extra to the price it would be a far superior product. Great little Tele and delighted with it.

I have a Harley Benton HB-35 VB and it's a very good guitar so I decided to get the TE-20 SB since I didn't have a telecaster in my collection. I went with this model not because it was one of the cheaper T-Series guitars but because I liked the finish on it. I wanted a classic looking Telecaster.

The Good:

Impressive pickups, they're thick sounding for single coils, the neck pickup is my favorite, smooth with very good clarity.

Great neck, the neck is actually pretty beefy with a oil finish on the back. If you're looking for a really thin neck this is not it.

Good fretwork, there's a few frets that are slightly high but it's not even worth my time working on them. I adjusted the action to about 4/64ths across all the strings and there's no buzzing.

The Bad:

Three noticeable blemishes on the body finish.

High A and G string slots on the nut. I already fixed that.

Dry fretboard, I already fixed that.

Cheap pickup selector.

Verdict:

I recommend the guitar.

Update: The pickups squeal badly with any type of gain and volume, I don't think they're wax potted.