Harley Benton TE-53KR vs TE-52 sound no talk HD 720p

[@Ukedc259]

I have both these guitars. They happen to be exactly the same weight (9lb 3oz) and they are both an absolute delight to play. I think the extra £70 or so is worth it for the bone nut, humbucker and the Tesla tone. The necks on both are just outstanding for the price. But buy either and you can’t go wrong. This is a nice demo and catches the tone really well.

[@PegeCovers]

Bridge sounds identical to me. But massive difference with the neck pick-ups. I got a TE-52 and I definitely prefer its neck pick-up. But that humbucker might come in handy if you wanna go for an entirely different vibe.

[@39Thorns]

Finally a vid on this guitar. I bought the 53, if you roll off the tone and volume on the neck humbucker, the cleans are very nice. The middle position is interesting too. I'm pretty happy with the tones on mine, I don't own a TE-52 though, might like that better. I was going to get the 52, but the 53 came out just as I was ready to buy. Glad I did. If I posted vids, I'd demo the cleans, but I'm not a youtuber.....it would be interesting if you did though, you seem like a good player.

[@MatteMike2345]

Hi! Thanks for your advise. I'm really not a youtuber myself. This is just my second youtube clip I publish. Despite the weight of both these guitars I really like them. I might swap the 250k pots for 500k and see if that makes the humbucker a little brighter. Yeah I should have made a clean tone part also. I'll have that in mind next time. Cheers and a happy new year.

[@stevemehanmusic]

Glad I bought a TE-53 KR😊

[@antonakis79ohyes]

Nice comparison, they don't seem to be worlds apart, actually far closer than I thought, especially in the bridge... Can't say I am too impressed by the Tesla humbucker.. A pure clean sound demo would be welcome, anyway. Thanks 👍

[@MatteMike2345]

Yeah, Im with you. I find the Tesla humbucker a little to dark and muddy. I'm thinking of changing it for a p90 in humbucker format.

[@schaffelaer1902]

Bridge pickups are close, had the idea Tesla's were a bit more clear and defined. You might want to adjust the height of the humbucker a bit, that might improve the sound.

[@ThaiThom]

That TE-53KR humbucker does sound darker, heavier. I'm not sure if it's gonna provide a Stones sound, although maybe more of a punk or metal sound? Not sure.

[@MatteMike2345]

I don´t feel obliged to play Stones on any guitar ;-) but I think you are right about the neck humbucker. It is too dark and muddy. I like the bridge pickup though.

[@MiguelKrauseGuitar]

One thing about humbucker muddyness. The guitar comes equipped with 250k ohm pots. I changed them for 500k ohm ones and boom! Zero muddynes and neck pickup come to life. Just add a 500k ohm resistor so the treble pickup "sees" the pot as 250k and voila!

[@billyherrington217]

I am with most others, the bridge is almost identical while the neck humbucker is muddy. I would like to change the neck pick up and add a push pull. The comment on the actual neck builds bother me...I didn't want to shuck out the Fender cash but I don't want trash either.

[@DesertScorpionKSA]

The TE-53KR neck pickup is a lot hotter and is overdriving the amp more. In this scenerio, the TE-52 neck sounds better. The bridges sound almost the same but I prefer the TE-53KR.

[@frankperricone2065]

I am on the fence with this one. About a little more then a year ago for experiment I ordered the Goth Thunderbird bass from HB with a case. It was $177 for bass and with case and shipping it was roughly $265, was a little shocked that shipping was so much but when went to order I knew how much it was I still pulled the trigger, I was going to make it a strict C# turning. Came in 5 days to N.Y. U.S.A. Was mildly impressed, action was kinda high so had to do twe truss rod adjustments. Has not moved since, fret ends were better then I thought they would be, not great but very bare able. Cheap plastic nut was not glued in, no problem I was getting a graph tech one anyway. Tunners suck, I will change them when i change pups, pups aren't bad but going to put EMG'S In. Oh and forget they sent me the wrong gig bag, but one of my Squiers P basses fit so it won't go to waste. I want to get the cheapest Telecasters, I am really a bass player and I do have some very good Vintage basses but play guitar for own pleasure and don't care what it says on headstock, I just want a good Playing guitar. Just the other day I saw the Keith Richards style Telecaster and now I am torn, the KR is about $120 more then the cheap one. I am a big KR fan and it is made of better wood and it has the 6 saddle bridge but the first thing I was going to do to the cheaper Tele was change bridge,nut and tunners and maybe put a Humbucker in the neck. So if I do that that $120 more would get eaten up by my upgrades, if I get the KR it already has those upgrades, without the labor. I have to think this through, and the cheap Tele has the color I really want, surf green. I know someone who got the cheap Tele and he said it was totally impossible to play and sent it back for refund, he is a little picky. What do I do?

[@MatteMike2345]

I don't know anything about the TE-20 or TE-62 models. I can only speak about my TE-52 and TE-53KR. They are nice guitars but heavy. Maybe not a problem for a bass player? And cheap guitars are always a lottery. You might get a perfect one or a bad one. However quality has gone up the last couple of years IMHO. All hardware on both of my guitars are just fine. No need to change anything except maybe the humbucker that I find has a somewhat dark sound.

[@frankperricone2065]

​@@MatteMike2345 Thanks for the quick replies, I liked your video going to keep eye on your channel, I am subscribed to so many channels am going to pop in an maybe sub, thanks again.

[@giuseppeceruzzi4665]

Te-52 no doubts. Tx man

[@frankjurgensen9550]

I like the Richards telecaster but why that horrible Mix of Chrome and golden Hardware? No way.

[@MrCodyist]

😂😂😂

[@fivepiece]

Another guitar demo that actually turns out to be an overdrive demo.

[@Mr.56Goldtop]

The 52 sounds better, the 53 is much darker.

[@MatteMike2345]

I would say the bridge pickup of the 53 is a little hotter and the neck (humbucker) is a bit to dark for my taste. I will try a P90 instead.

[@Mr.56Goldtop]

@@MatteMike2345 Those are always a good option.

[@chrisfoster9080]

If the two are of equal build quality it comes down to pups. To me the 53 humbucker sounded dull and muddy but, many will buy either and change the pick ups anyway. My personal issue with all the Harley bentons i have bought. 4 so far. Is the neck. The necks feel thin, cheap and not very well fretted. The guitars do give value for money but really they are just a slab of wood with cheap electronics. They should put the most effort into the area that most people feel first, the neck.

[@MatteMike2345]

Don't forget that the bridges differ to. It's probably impossible to build a perfect guitar for this very low price. If you want a perfect guitar you simply must pay more because there are more man hours and maybe better wood and components. The Harley Benton guitars that are made in Indonesia are better but cost more. If you want to know what guitars are made in Indonesia you have to watch the closeup pictures at Thomann's website. The back of the headstock is the place to search. If there is NO label that says where it is made, that probably means it was made in China or Vietnam. The Chinese factory has improved over the years IMHO but the Indonesians has probably a newer factory with better precision CNC's. Just my guess though. The Fusion line are much better guitars but they cost the double. They are still very cheap for the price I think.

[@willlodge5386]

What’s your overall impression on the build quality of the 53KR? Worth the extra money over the 52?

[@MatteMike2345]

Hi Will! I would say they are at the same level considering my TE-52 is two years old, and I suppose the factory is getting better every year. The frets were polished on the TE-53KR and the neck was actually very nice with no fretsprout or high frets. My TE-52 weights 4.2kg and the TE-53KR weights in at 4.7kg so it's very heavy. However, I think the weight is a lottery on these guitars.

[@willlodge5386]

@@MatteMike2345 Thanks Mike 🤟🏼

[@andyguitar3805]

@@MatteMike2345 That is true. Mine is 4.4 kg

[@RumbleFish69]

I bought the 53kr and for me, build quatility is garbage. Tons of imperfections, misdrilling, and dings. I was very disappointed. I only kept it because they refunded a nice percentage of the cost so it was easier to take discount than send it back. First and last HB I buy.

[@MatteMike2345]

@Nandy Soto sorry to hear that Nandy. I guess production quality goes up and down like it did some years ago. I must say though, that it seems to be more up than down nowadays. Again, sorry to hear that you ended up with a bad one.

[@cirimaxg651]

I prefer TE-52.

[@tubularbill]

I have the TE-53. I don’t like the neck pickup at all. To muddy. Will be replaced. Bridge pickup is pretty good. Give the guitar a grade of B.

[@mikec6733]

Looks like the strings aren't directly over the pole pieces