The Best Value Guitar Ever - Harley Benton TE-62

[@jeffroq]

I bought a TE62 double bound lefty a few months back. I put some SD 1/4 pounders in it an lefty wiring harness because I had them available. I normally gig with a custom shop tele and have a back up guitar. When I took the HB out as a back up I was tuning it up and we got rushed to start. I played the full 1st set on the HB before I even realised. So I played it all night £3.5k custom shop was my back up. I got some great comments on my sound and great look the blue sparkle double bound TE62. No one asked about the Fender on the stand lol. 😅 Cheers for the great review.

[@hollywoodactress]

Great story. I will be googling to see what the TE62 double bound looks like 😊

[@JibbarJabbar]

Their guitars are better value than their motorcycles.

[@chrispfeifer7628]

Considering that Harley Benton doesn't produce motorcycles, I'd say you are correct.

[@bryanh3057]

I truly love when a good joke is completely missed by people. 😂

[@robinnunn5821]

see how much you know about bikes

[@PedroDVC]

😂😂

[@gabrielthornmusic]

@@chrispfeifer7628oh dear...

[@floatinganarchychannel3204]

got this one almost 1 year ago in sea foam green and I'm absolutely love to play and look at this guitar!

[@wlkalong]

I have this guitar in Lake Placid Blue, with the double binding/laurel fingerboard. Did two mods. Brass Gotoh saddles and upgraded wiring harness to obsidian. It's great. Looks good, plays good, stays in tune. With wiring harnass upgrade, no need to upgrade the pickups, at least to my ear. This is my second TE-62. The first one I got was a disaster, but I decided to give Thomann a second shot, which worked out great for me.

[@KozmykJ]

I bought four Harley Bentons during 2017 ... one thing led to another. 😉 I still have them and use them regularly. Two I have modified - HB35+ and SC-450+ tuners and pickups; the other two are still stock. My cheapest electric SC-450 P90 GT @€129 (about £108 back then) is also one of my favourites, completely stock and needied no fettling at all out of the box. Brilliant value guitars. 👍

[@GuitarIv69]

I have a TE-20 by Harley Benton at my grandparents house. Paid 88€ for it and everytime I'm there I know I have a guitar I enjoy playing on and I don't have to bring any other axe :)

[@thenovicenoisemaker]

I’ve owned 39 Harley Benton’s, including one of these in that colour (ironically one of the few that had QC issues) and they’ve mostly been good. Can’t beat their value

[@MJG817]

I have this exact one. I bought it B STOCK back in April... the hype is real as far as I'm concerned. A top instrument.

[@BenjaminKanarek]

Your playing and voicing is absolutely gorgeous! Bravo! I agree! I just added some brass saddles, an original telecaster pickup switch and a mint green pick guard to my Inca Silver TE-62CC. I love the neck, it is perfect!

[@Releasethebats123]

I have a TE62 in the same finish. Great guitar but I installed Fender 1964 tele pickup set, tusq nut, Wilkinson bridge plate with brass saddles and fender vintage style roadworn tuners. It’s my cheapest guitar even with the upgrades but plays as good as my fenders and squiers 😊 Edit: I’ve owned 7 other Harley Bentons and all were amazing for the price.

[@aminahmed2220]

What a fantastic video Paul have a wonderful weekend ❤😊

[@TheStudioRats]

Thank you! You too!

[@MAX96MENDES]

I also bought a TE-62cc and liked it so much, I ordered another! Best buy !

[@johnoakleymusic]

Superb video as always by the way Thankyou 👍🏻🙏🏻

[@Taylor-kd6lr]

You can make any guitar sound glorious Paul. And yes HB and Jett are making incredible guitars for the money. Great review!!!

[@TheStudioRats]

Cheers Taylor.

[@compucorder64]

I got one of these, to have as a second knock-around beater Telecaster. Was maybe not expecting _that_ much. I was really surprised when it arrived and was much better than a Squier Classic Vibe Tele I had to return because of wiring/control issues. And that Squier was quite good, especially the neck. The TE-62 does rival Sire T7's and even Fender Player Telecasters I've played too. But it's definitely below a good Fender Vintera II Telecaster, which cost almost 10x more. So, I do think it punches 5x it's weight but maybe not 10x. I liked it so much I spend another £250 modding it and having it setup. And now it's really quite a good guitar. The neck is a little narrow, and maybe I'll quietly remove the Harley Benton logo. Otherwise, it's great, even looks really nice in that mustang-style competition slightly metallic blue with the mint pickguard.

[@stevesteve1965.]

I've said before I have a couple of their CST24T (PRS) Guitars which I bought purely as a 'modding exercise' and I can't fault the build quality and even after the modding it still comes in well under what a PRS SE would cost and it's certainly as good and I might say now better.

[@DanielDavis730]

Be good to here what it sounds like next to one of your high end guitars. Good video

[@TheStudioRats]

I’m going to do that with the Les paul style one, but yes I’ll do it with the tele’s as well.

[@jeplho]

Above all, it is proof that with very good equipment and a very good guitarist, you can create an illusion.

[@GearSafari]

I honestly don’t know how they do it, between H-B and Jet Guitars they are knocking them out the park. Great video Paul. 👍🏻🎸🔥

[@SisGuitarGAS]

I’ve been agonising over which two guitars to take to a gig this weekend. The Harley Benton SC550 ii and Jet JS300 (admittedly much modified) are coming with me and the vintage and custom shop gibsons and a USA strat are staying at home simply because I have more confidence in the new cheapy ones. They are staggering value

[@stephenwade2069]

I have exactly the same guitar, I put a dimarzio twang king in the neck position and changed the saddles to brass. fantastic guitar.

[@HeyWiseGuy]

If ever I were to buy my first electric guitar, a Tele or Tele-style guitar is what I would get. I love the sound it produces. What might have been...

[@a.j.garrett9639]

I seriously love the colour of that guitar.

[@TheStudioRats]

Yeah me too

[@tattoofred]

Que suerte tienen los guitarristas de hoy en día de tener por este precio guitarras decentes que no están mal por ese precio

[@JuddLofthouse]

Great post Paul the guitar looks and sounds great👍 nice playing as ever 👍👌

[@TheStudioRats]

Thanks for listening

[@Melody_lane]

Their guitar are fab

[@utube321piotr]

Roasted neck completes the TE-62 as top notch instrument.

[@GoodfaYou]

They are not roasted they are “vintage caramelized” whatever that means

[@a.j.garrett9639]

What I know is that whatever you're playing through really matters. A good amp will make an average guitar sound awesome. These days the average guitars in comparison to the guitars that I would have had access to when I was first beginning, are in fact awesome guitars! You definitely have playing skillstoo, so the guitar is going to sound great as well. Somebody who can't really play yet and it's just starting out we should start a KZbin channel The beginner should test these value brand guitars plugged them into a value brand amp. Because then new players will get an actual idea of what to expect.

[@eoinc_Ire]

My first guitar was an Aria Pro II Heritage. Cost £IRL250 in 1985, that’s about €750 today! Was a good guitar, but when you think what you can get today!

[@michaelsargent9669]

Cheaper than refretting my Fender, sounds close enough, looks better. Satin wore to nice gloss in weeks, frets might just do a year, will probably buy another. Anniversary model had st.steel frets but was gold. Should have bought both and made a keeper.

[@steveroberts]

Tele looks good and sounds very good

[@marcohermans3207]

Very nice review. I like it when someone is not showing off. Maybe also doing some cleaner tones of all the pickup combinations but this is a no brainer as far as I can tell. Think I'm gonna buy this and make a nashville tele out of it. I don't like the MIM Nashville Teles at all. Thanks again !

[@heinrichpeffenkoffer4894]

If the neck would be roasted they sure would use the official term. But roasted or not, I also have a te52 and a hb35 and like both of them.

[@paulanderson9453]

Looks like they are all sold out apart from a couple of left handers. Great demo, top man.

[@Melody_lane]

Got a HB 12 string, very nice

[@petergedd9330]

My mouth is watering Paul, looking good OMG!! with the price, my next is deffo a Tele, so I've heard good things about these, I think I'll be getting one. Thanks for the Demo's. (That LP looks edible!!)

[@TheStudioRats]

@@petergedd9330 cracking guitars, I was shocked how good they are.

[@John-hi2yi]

I have 2 wonderful us teles, I gig my HB tele every weekend.

[@Old_Geezer]

I own the TE-62 DB in red. It's a brilliantly made great sounding Tele style guitar and an absolute bargain (£135 delivered when I purchased mine). I prefer the aesthetics of the double bound body and the laurel fretboard but both versions are great instruments. Alnico pickups on a guitar at this price are unusual as are the D'Addario strings that it comes from the factory with. I play it more than any of my other guitars, and although I'm only a hobbyist and at home player for my own entertainment/satisfaction I'd say that most would be more than happy with one. My house is also home to a few other HB guitars - 2 SC-450 Plus Vintage (LP copies), an HB35 Plus and a JB-75 MN Vintage bass. Never had any issues with any of them or the company - good value for money, quality and excellent service if you are in the UK or Europe - maybe not so much for North America where a lot of the complaints seem to originate but it puzzles me that you would want to buy a budget instrument in a situation where the shipping costs approach or exceed the cost of the product itself.

[@AnnoyingCritic-is7rp]

It's $169 + 80 shipping in the US, which is $249. And what happens if the frets are not level? Will they take it back? Will they pay for shipping? That's what is not to like. So, on any Amazon guitar you can return it 30 days no problem. I wish you were one of the handful of guitar reviewers who got out the fret rocker and took some measurements. I haven't seen anyone do this - although maybe Philip McKnight years ago. I think the people who get free guitars from Thomann make some deal where there is only a superficial review.

[@Old_Geezer]

They won't pay for return shipping from the US as far as I'm aware. I believe they will refund the purchase price for faulty items but you will have to foot the return shipping bill yourself beforehand. This could have changed but that was the situation I last heard an American KZbinr describing and complaining about. Thomann and HB are great if you are in the UK/Europe but buying a budget guitar from across the Atlantic seems a bit of an odd decision to my mind. As you say, you have far more budget options over there than we do here and the cost of shipping and the potential hassle/cost of returns involved in buying from Europe will always make it a riskier and costlier proposition. Yes they are great guitars for the money and for the most part they are extremely well made and all mine have arrived with no QC issues or manufacturing faults. Had they done so, I know that Thomann's policies on returns and refunds are solid over here so I can always buy from them with confidence. Even with the additional shipping costs, they still represent good value, assuming you have no post sale issues to try and resolve. It's fair to say that the level of complaints about them from North American customers far outstrip those from this side of the Pond and those complaints frequently involve precisely what you are concerned about. If that doesn't put you off and are willing to take the slight risk that you might be unlucky and get a lemon I guess it could be worth it. Personally, if it were my money, I'd be looking for companies much closer to home, especially if the main attraction/consideration was budget/price.

[@TheStudioRats]

A fret rocker is a good idea

[@gothampops]

Harley Benton has a reverb shop. Ships from their US warehouse.

[@Old_Geezer]

@@gothampops Good information for US customers - perhaps it's not widely known? I wasn't aware of it but then I'm not in the States so not surprising. Out of curiosity, I just went and had a look and sure enough there is a shop but it has zero listings.

[@gothampops]

@@Old_Geezer That’s interesting, maybe due to region? Right now I have it open and it’s showing 177 listings.

[@SidBonkers51]

Neck radius 305mm = 12inch radius, the one thing I dont like about Harley Benton guitars, if they had a 9.5" radius Id buy one in a heartbeat for the prices they are, great value for money.

[@TheStudioRats]

The one I’ve got is definitely not a 12inch radius. 12 is like a Les paul this is definitely more rounded. Maybe there just changed it

[@SidBonkers51]

@@TheStudioRats They may have changed their tele/strat necks but theyre all listed as 305mm which is 12",

[@iangeddes3438]

Got sc550 2 les paul .. ex76 explorer ... bm70 brian may copy ... cst24 prs ... and an acoustic all from harley benton .. all great bang gor buck and beats the hell outvofvwhat i could afford in the 70s lol 😆 also got gibson les pauls snd fender strats.. too many guitars .. might get a telly ftom them .. why not lol 😅😅

[@emcg.9655]

I'm hoping i come to my senses soon and sell my high end stuff. It's great, it is better, but this frankly says it all.

[@philhudge]

Thanks Paul - they've even got your name endorsing the Tele on Thomanns link! And , by the way, your fingers are important- be a bit more careful with that knife opening boxes! ( hope that doesn't qualify as stupid comment of the week !)

[@TheStudioRats]

Cheers Phil

[@jorgesxbass7606]

Hi Hello friend, in my humble opinion I would exchange this pickup for a Fender, and change the electrical part ok. On the Stratocaster model 62, like you, I also replaced the bridge with a Wilkinson and replaced the pickup with the Texas Special EUR 40.00 PROMO PRICE model from WAAAH sold on Aliexpress, Waaah was the company that made the pickups in China for the guitars Squier. A friend told me, I don't know if it's true, ok. Nice Job.. Great guitars 🎉🎉🎉 OPS, HB te70 black paisley top New different Bridge & Nut. Greetings from Portugal /Rio BR.... etc...

[@MattZildjian]

cant seem to find this colour on the thomann website

[@onefatstratcat]

If it wasn't for the shipping, I'd buy some of these

[@joelsmith4816]

I bought the pro series tele HH wwith flame maple top. roasted everything, locking tuners(awesome) SS frets. Replaced the pickups with dirty torque set from irongear. Id put it up against any guitar.

[@GaryBertolo]

Use a guitar pick to cut the tape on the box open ... easy go

[@michaelsargent9669]

Your amp is superb.

[@TheStudioRats]

Glad you like it!

[@zeppo20]

This is the time of cheap guitar revolution.

[@Adventuresingearland]

Astonishing for the cash.

[@TheStudioRats]

Ain’t no lie.

[@lazvt8469]

MIND boggling....truly. My TE-62DB is flawless. I fully upgraded the fantastic bones and now have a guitar that looks, sounds, feels, plays like an ax 5-10X its price. Still love my LSL and CustomShop...but my mod'd HB holds a special place in my Tele arsenal and heart.

[@jamiebriggs8277]

I've been debating for quite a while between the TE-52 natural tele from Harley Benton, or a second-hand mexican fender. Given the relative reviews of each that I've seen, I think Harley Benton is going to be the winner. The only thing now is I need to figure out a second guitar to order to help justify the shipping cost 😄 I have a gold top les paul style with P90s from HB already...maybe the SC500 with humbuckers will have to be next

[@Old_Geezer]

The TE-52 is very, very heavy for a T-Style, several pounds greater than this model. Just a heads up in case that might be an issue although if you've seen enough reviews you probably know that already.

[@Terrysoddy]

Wow, that thing sounds amazing. Almost sounds like it has humbuckers in it. But it looks grey in this video, not blue, idk

[@TheStudioRats]

I was shocked how great it is.

[@TheSloppyGuitarist]

Always wanted to try a HB, but sadly their shipping fees to Australia are prohibitive. For example, the TE-62 shipping fee is almost the same cost as the guitar. Simply not going to happen :(

[@TheStudioRats]

Even so and I imagine it gruelling, for double the cost it’s still a bargain.

[@mikeblue385]

i bought one of those in fiesta red. a gigable guitar for less than the price of a pedal. how cool is that? $139.00

[@TheStudioRats]

Yep, I can’t believe how good they are for the price

[@worthmoremusic]

It's always a risk with HB guitars as they have a tendency to be quite heavy ! How much does that Tele weigh ? Another issue is the shipping charges to the U.S....they DO have an East Coast( Connecticut.) REVERB distributor...limited inventory but shipping is FREE. Ha ! John Cordy uses a HUGE weapon to open boxes....always makes me nervous in the event his little daughter is near.

[@LX19M]

Hi, how would you judge the guitar without looking at the prize, how good a tele is that guitar in your opinion generally? I'm looking forward to your answer. Have a nice day :-)

[@TheStudioRats]

It’s good.

[@johnoakleymusic]

Paul were you using the same presets you normally use on your custom shop tele in videos? If so sounded quite different. Obviously big price difference and it still sounded good but not as bright and open sounding. Is that fair to say? So if this was the same price as a Mexican tele player series which would you buy?

[@TheStudioRats]

I’d have to try both but Mexican teles are normally heavier.

[@johnoakleymusic]

@@TheStudioRats cheers buddy

[@johnoakleymusic]

Does a fender/Squier pickguard fit these?

[@s.charles7521]

Hello Paul, What is the first guitar (Lespaul style) ?

[@TheStudioRats]

It was an SC250 vid coming in a week

[@lostinpa-dadenduro7555]

I’m trying to remember the specific model but my first guitar was a white Kramer in 1985. It had a Floyd Rose. My memories of it was that it was a horrible POS. But more likely it was because I had no idea about Floyd Rose, or anything about guitars. It’s probably worth a few thousand dollars today but it’s been long gone for decades. I hope it found its way to more capable hands. 😂

[@BlugubriousMusic]

Looks like $138 U.S.D. Not sure how much shipping is.

[@what1864]

if you get the chance try an sx vintage series guitar , same price range with a killer neck ..

[@jeffallen3382]

What about the Les Paul style one?

[@TheStudioRats]

Coming next week

[@philchapman1463]

Do they have tall thick frets? Many cheap guitars have thin low frets, guitar reviewers never seem to mention fret wire. What is the fret wire gauge, height ect?

[@TheStudioRats]

Jumbo frets

[@jorgesxbass7606]

Change Fender PU's and enjoy !!! 🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉

[@michaeltory9100]

What is the colour? I can't find it on the Thomann web site.

[@gunter5483]

TE-62CC CF Charcoal Frost, it seems they discontinued this model (color).

[@jorgesxbass7606]

The same price of Stratocaster 62 I have 2 St HB🎉🎉

[@nhmike6890]

Are knives even allowed on that side of the pond? Lol

[@svitlanaostapchenko5642]

Playing it against Fender player 2….just out of curiosity

[@user-abcxyz-xr2eg]

Cheap things are often underrated and expensive ones mostly overrated. Why shouldn't that also be the case with guitars?

[@michaelforde4373]

I've a TE52 just too heavy

[@guitarplayer5932]

why do guys lightly play these guitars , always really slow, really light strumming or distortion on 11, , its a tele, i want to hear some picking, some double stops, played clean, playing it drowning in reverb and distortion tells me nothing

[@guitarplayer5932]

fine if you live in Europe

[@jordanchippendale679]

🇬🇧

[@DBroce]

My first guitar was a Japanese Tele custom, the neck was a baseball bat and it weighed 11lbs. That was in 1982 and it cost $400. Pure crap.

[@TheStudioRats]

11lbs damn!

[@DanielDavis730]

Another good cheep guitar is the sire s7 Larry calton. And not made in china

[@TheStudioRats]

Yep they are great, I’ve never played a light one, they are always 8+lbs

[@TheFilleneuve]

Only downside are the tuners, especialy the stringholes

[@TheStudioRats]

Just how I like it. It’s the same as all my fender custom shops

[@TheFilleneuve]

@@TheStudioRats I am also a big fan of vintage style tuners. But on mine the problem was the inside holes of the tuners. changed them with gotoh 🙂

[@GoodfaYou]

I had one , sold it ..The frets kept sprouting ..3x in a year ..none of my other guitars had this happen

[@TheStudioRats]

This is roasted maple, it shouldn’t shrink.

[@GoodfaYou]

@@TheStudioRatsit’s not roasted , it’s “vintage caramelized” whatever that means

[@stockholm1752]

Has the guitar in hand for 15 seconds… “absolutely flawless”. Stopped watching.

[@TheStudioRats]

Do you ever consider you might be a person that finds fault in everything?

[@stockholm1752]

@@TheStudioRats Not at all. I’m considered by most to be an optimistic and generous person. But also, a pragmatist.

[@rautapieru]

First?

[@TheStudioRats]

@@rautapieru boom!

[@HooksBill]

I'm not trying to sound like a dick, but there's simply no way a guitar can be built of high quality and using quality materials, paying skilled trades people and delivering it into the hands of the customer for that kind of money. No matter what anyone says. I could put pickups on a turd and hook it up to a good amp and make it sound great, but as for longevity and stability under heavy playing, it's not going to hold up. Still I'm sure it's a decent starter guitar for a kid.

[@gearViewmirror]

I have been heavily playing my HB's for years now and they are holding up just fine! Sold or am selling all my 'highend' guitars, no need for overpriced stuff that doesn't get played anymore....Some seem to think that there is magic in guitars that cost thousands and cheaper stuff is rubbish.....well, you're all wrong😳🤣🤫

[@TheStudioRats]

Yeah I think you need to try one, for the money they are exceptional.