Harley Benton TE-20 Review
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- Опубліковано 29 тра 2018
- A review on the Harley Benton Te-20 Telecaster style guitar.
These can be purchased from www.thomann.de/gb
Disclaimer - The views in this video are my own. I am not an employee of Thomann or Harley Benton, and do not get paid for these videos or my opinion on the guitars within them.
Mate, I feel the pain in your voice! What we felt lucky to have in the 70's, hey?
These guitars are so precision made and Thomann has the clout to demand only the best.
Thanks for the video Mark
Great review, very inspiring, great guitar playing, lots of good vibes, down-to-earth advice... What more can you ask for? Keep it up, Mark! Well done!
Thanks for the review, just ordered this guitar to be my first! Looking forward to the journey
Nice honest review, comprehensive and skilled demo. Thank you.
Hi Mark, just a quick note on this guitar. I bought it at first, purely from looks.but I was very surprised how good this guitar played and sounded.I even went to my local guitar store and tried a fender equivalent...no remarkable difference.On receiving it I adjusted the action via the truss rod and over time I replaced the 3 way switch with a fender switch- I also upgraded the pickups.
on the bridge I have a bareknuckle 11K output and on the neck position a tonerider classic hot. complete cost a little over 200 euros.Good video and good playing
Thank you for this video Mark. I just got a Harley Benton SC550 in Paradise City Amber Flame and it sounds so awesome. The frets are perfect and I mean that. Zero sharp fret ends. I didn’t even have to adjust the truss road. The action is probably as low as it could go and I love it. I probably will have to check intonation but it sounds pretty good so far. Doesn’t sound sharp on the higher frets. Clean sounds are what you’d expect out of a Les Paul with hot pickups. They’re usable. But this axe is made to rock. It does Led Zeppelin, KISS, Thin Lizzy and GN’R all day long 😊🎸
For $90 American dollars I may need to get this Tele. You can’t buy a dinner for 2 or a pair of shoes for that much!
I’ve ordered one because of this review. Thank you.
What a quackin' Tele style machine! And so affordable. I'm in love with the sound of this TE20. Now I'm torn between this model and the TE52. Maybe just get BOTH!
Just received mine today, super excited to finish work 😁
Very nice review. I use alnico no branded pickup on two of my tele & sound really good. This HB guitar sound stunning thanks for the review. Cheers.
Bought one for £50 couple years ago after hearing a mate’s. Now my go-to guitar. Faultless quality. Love the rosewood fretboard and matt neck. Loud of different sounds and plenty grunt when you need it. Good to hear you rate it. Loving your stuff to date.
Cheers Kev, thanks for watching...It's just a great guitar for sweetie money to be honest
Thank you for the video from here in Indianapolis! Very cool!
Good review, Mark!
Thanks mark ,very helpful towards my decision on the 20 v te 30 ,lockdown purchase ,cheers mate
Glad I could help Patrick, enjoy your new guitar.
I just bought the red one, its my 4th Harley Benton guitar, fantastic guitars for the money and i will be buying more!
Silly good value for money, sounds like it’s got that classic Tele twang thing straight out of the box. Absolutely agree beginners could do a lot worse than start here. Hell, I miss a great Squier Tele I part exed way back when and this could easily replace it. I’ll add one to my wish list when I can get my wife to understand the need to own more than 4 guitars (and a bass ... loving my recent first bass acquisition, makes me slow down).
Gracias por tus videos,fantastico trabajo una vez mas.
Hello Mark it is amazing how these HB Tele sounds👌I got a few HB Gits and also a Te 30 (also ordered a Te 20 this month) I had so many telecasters in my life but i never been realy satiesfield with them since i had an old 70ties Fender Tele in my Hand (25 years ago,to bad i didn"t had the money around that time to buy(400 dmark)🙄😭...Anyway this git hat a special sound and believe it or not,these harley benton te 30 or 20 is very very close to that sound.I also have a squier affinity tele which normally has a good and quality,but this HB 30 that i have sounds 10 times better..
I play a lot of blues and R and B stuff and it has exactly that vintage sound ...I play guitar for over 38 years by now and i had a lot of guitars in my hand and i must say that these HB guitars are the best bang for the buck.
However nice review.
👍🏽
I had a dream a week ago that I found a beat-to-hell telecaster in a pile at a junk shop. It was a metallic plum color. How to respond? It's obvious- Order the Harley Benton TE-20 and mod it to match the one in my dream. I ordered it last night. Guitar + shipping $116. Fingers crossed.
paxonearth yea same here, except I got the cable too
What I did once I got mine was flip the control plate upside down, swapped the neck out for a Squier (Strat neck, actually. Nut on the stock neck was over filed), took a bit of the shine off the finish and hardware, n swapped the steel saddles for brass (gave more mids/body to the tone).
Wanted it to look like I got it in the 90s/early 00s. Came out great!
I have this guitar, had it about 4 years and I swear its the best tele style guitar I've played. I put a maple neck/fretboard on it just, still rockin away with it lol.
Did a standard telecaster style neck replacement fit right in, or did you have to shape it at all?
It's a squier neck, fit perfectly no issues. Had no problems with the HB neck, just preferred the look of a maple fretboard on black guitar.
Thank you so much for this video!
Great. I’m buying one at the end of the month.
Compared the clean sounds by playing along on my Squire Affinity Tele and the Harley Benton sounded better ! Good job the Squire only cost me £30 S/H ! Great review Mark.
Thats true.I got Squier Affinity Tele Butter Scotch and a Harley Benton Te 30 and the Harley Benton sounds better then the Squier.
AWESOME🎸🎵👌👌👌
Decent sound, I love Tele style guitars
Fantastic Review !!!! Thank you !!!!
You're most welcome Peter, thanks for watching
ordered mine, thanks you good lad
Great Review! Keep up the good Content! :)
Cheers Luke thanks for watching
Lovely video pal.
Great review, buying one for my son!
He'll love it, great choice for a kid. Thanks for watching
Nice review sir! :)
thanx man i am buying it cheers
Love the no nonsense style.
Great video, seeing this has made my mind up to get one! I have a Harley Benton TE 52 which is a great guitar, but so heavy, that's probably why it sustains so well, but not good when you're on a long Gig. That TE 20 being lighter looks just the job, also it sounds great.
You won't regret it Ron it's a great guitar honestly. I wish you well with it :)
Thanks Mark, yes I will after seeing your video, it made my mind up. By the way a note to anybody reading this Mark and I are not related, but we are 'brothers in arms', or 'brothers in guitars'. Also a word to anyone thinking of buying the Harley Benton TE52 which I have, great guitar! so well made and great materials, but weighs in about the same as a Gibson Les Paul!!
nice one mark i play the tele all the time brill guitar
Hello Mark love your reviews you have a nice manner coming across as a down to earth and honest guy. I still keep watching even though i'm an Rangers fan exiled in England football tribalism guys. I have a Vintage brand V75 telecaster which is a very good guitar. I'm now looking to get a second tele as a knockabout practicing modding project. I'm looking at the Harley Benton TE52 and the TE20 you seem very impressed with the TE20 in this review. I'm not disbelieving you but how can this guitar be that amazing for such a small amount of money really tempted to get one or two at that price. No offence up the Gers
Hi Dean. We can't all be perfect my friend, my best mates are mostly Rangers fans too...I'm taking great pleasure in singing 'Hearts Hearts Glorious Hearts' to them as we speak. I can play it on my TE-20 for you if you don't know the chords :-D
I like the TE-20 because of the neck mate. It's a lovely modern C and so easy to play, and the value for money is just incredible. It's cheap because it's made of some wood-like substance probably, but at that price who can argue. Thanks for watching .
Interesting to hear it is the best of the bunch out of the 10 you have. That is saying a lot and at a price of basically free, what else needs to be said.
This was really nice to read!
Thx for the video
I wish there was a North American distributor for Harely Benton. You really make it shine for what it is. I be subbed now for the brilliant playing though my friend!
Thomann sends all over the globe. Regarding the price and quality you get, and the sending coast to America or even Canada, it's still a no brainer. It's around 30 dollar shipping coast, and i believe they also cover import coast.Sending time between a week and 10 days.They also have a very good customer service. If somethings wrong, they cover everything. Harley Benton gains popularity in the USA, more and more. For instance, take a look at the channel of " Nick in the States", to give an example. If i may be so free to point you at a few of the best Harley Bentons, take a look at the CST 24 - TE 52 - SC 450 and SC 550. There acoustics are also very good. If you're intrested in buying one.. take a look at the channel of CORY MURA and EtschPi42. Good luck, greetz from Belgium.
Bruno Condor I know but 50 bucks is 50 bucks bud. I am a frugal old got fiddler if ya know what I mean. Still sounds great in this mans hands!
Thanks so much Pete that's very kind of you. I hope you enjoy the videos, and thanks for watching
You can buy as many as three guitars shipped in one box and it's only around $35 shipping.
There IS a Thomamm site for America. www.thomannmusic.com/
Nice little collection going on there in the corner. Should give us guitar nerds a demo of your babies !
I'll work my way through them Malcolm have no fear :-)
An excellent review and demo. I've just ordered a black one from Thomann and intended to use some Tonerider pups i've got lying around as an upgrade. Not sure I'll need to, having heard that!
Cheers Paul. Like I said in the video, this is a late Chinese model so the pickups will probably be different. However, I haven't heard many complaints about them, but at the end of the day it's £77 !!! For a guitar!!! It's just bizarre...my son can spend that in 2 minutes for an XBox game that he gets bored with after a week. Personally I would fill every music department in every school in the country with these...I guarantee it would solve a lot of our social issues.
@@stookiebhoy Great response. Cheers, Mark
Relative to the TE-52, would you say these pickups are a bit more mellow/not as bright? I love the feel of telecasters, but I often get worried that they will sound too bright/spanky even in the neck position.
Brilliant honest review of, from what I can tell, is a great guitar, regardless of value. What was the set up like out the box please?
Thanks. 🎸✌️
Setup was perfect my friend. I've bought around 20 of these since filming this video for students and friends just starting guitar and they've all been equally as good.
@@stookiebhoy brilliant value! Thanks for replying. 🎸✌️
Well I think I'll pull the trigger on one of these.
I just picked up the cheapest Harley Benton Strat version with HSS pups, few weeks old, owner shielded and slapped some earnies on it, gave £45 sheets for it.....it is simply incredible with an action lower than a snakes belly in a rut and flawless finish n fit, better than my MIM wtf? . The ST20 has a really sweet neck too, quite thin with smooooooth frets. Rear humbucker gives a great country good ole boy twang too so, what's not to like.🤔
I'm stunned to be honest....lets hope the TE20 will match it😎
Before the ST20 I bought a new Squier Bullet Stratocaster hardtail, funnily enough bought from Thomann.
I've had lots of Squier bass guitars from cheap to dearer ones, always been great consistent quality...this Squier Hardtail guitar was a proper wrong ern...dreadful high frets at the dusty end, loose trussrod, bit missing from skunk stripe, blue marks on rear of neck and amazingly blue marker tinge on one of the high frets, hmm a story there!
Even with a high action it buzzed like I'd stuck a stick in a hornets nest. It also had the same crap bridge and pot metal saddles as my Squier Mustang (crap again) which means the intonation screws hit the string, thereby causing the whole saddle to lift and make the saddle screws rattle on the bridge like a skeleton having a tug in a tin dustbin, when the string is played anything over the gentle strum. I know the Squier CV bass series ain't what it used to be, seems the lower quality is creeping elsewhere. I didn't expect perfection, just a playable strat, the Bullet wasn't. 😣
Anyway, great review as always👌👍
PS any experience of the Harley Delta Blues acoustics per chance?
Leave it with me...I've just bought a new Les Paul and a new strat Ultra so the wife might not be too happy if I bring any more guitars into the house right now lol...but I'll see what I can sneak in when she's not looking ;)
@@stookiebhoy tell her it's a new Hoover👍
@@richardrichard5409 She'll knock me out if I tell her that
Enjoyed it... I Subscribed
Cheers mate, glad you enjoyed the video
I'm just learning to play classical guitar as a hobby and keep thinking about getting an electric too - this one. Great review, thank you! Love its bluesy sound, but I'm gonna wait till I can actually play something before I buy a second guitar.
The TE20's on HB site today look like Tobacco Burst, not SB like Mark's in the video. Anyone buy the SB lately? Was it MIV? Did the colors look like Mark's? Cheers!
Hi Mark, this guitar indeed sounds very good; , it beats easily a squier Tele. I hear you saw also something strange about the paint job on this guitar. Coincidental, i found out what it was. A friend of mine has exactly the same as this one. Since i've painted cars , machineparts ,guitars + airbrush for living over 20 years, i've noticed also the sunburst was too consistent. There was no any overspray nor flow in of the paint. So had some suspicion if i looked closer and what was going on , and i was right. I took the bridge plate off and scratched a tiny bit away next to a screw hole, and guess what.. it is Basswood, with a thin photofinish on it and then sprayed with clear laquer. This does nothing of off the quality and sound of this guitar of course , certainly on this price range. The whole tone debate that was going on here some months ago, was all a big joke in my humble opinion. It sounds good to you, or it don"t. End of debate. This is the only guitar from Thomann HB probably that has this finish. Maybee also some of the cheapest, like this is actually the cheapest TELE style. But don't think so, as far as i see on pictures now. BTW.. thanks for the kind words you said about me regarding the Helix and the IR's and CABS i've send you. I"ve heard it on both last video's , but prefered not to answer to on the channel here. So you know now, i've hearded it. Thanks again. In fact, i've send you another addition pack this morning. What i'm actually am very curious about is, is a tone comparison between the TE20 - TE30 and the TE52. That would be dope.Same settings and edited and played right after each other, but that would be a lot of work and video editing. But if you could find the time for doing that, even is was a short review, that would be killer. Don't think someone did that before. It's just a question, not an obligation. Greetz, Bruno.
I'll do that Bruno no problem, just as soon as I get time I'll pick a song and record it with the 3 guitars
Just picked up a Sguier Affinity FSR Tele with matching headcap & HH config from Musicians Friend, made n Indonesia and its hands down best sounding axe I've owned
They are also very good. I own a few myself. Also bullet strats at 140 dollar. They play and sound very good for that price. But your talking about a FSR telecaster with humbuckers, and you can't really compare that sound to a single coil tele. Also an FSR can mean a lot of things. An FSR is actually a "custom made" guitar designed by the retailers store wishes, in this case probably only for Musician's Friend if you bought it new. Are the humbuckers stock Squiers ? FSR can also mean another kind of wood or color of the guitar. Did you knew that many Squiers are more desired by public instead of Fenders ? Let's take the Japanese Squiers from the late '80 ties up to around '95. They are very sought after, because soundwise and qualitywise they were far better than the American Fenders and go secondhand for the price of an American secondhand and more. If you ever see one of those for a low price..don't hesitate, buy. It's a good investment. Greetz.
If I may ask, how is its weight? Very interested in getting one as my first electric guitar 👍
I got one as a holiday travel guitar, but it is so nice that I get scared to take it where it could get stolen ;)
For that sort of money..... If it does get stolen just buy another one.... The beauty of HB
Hahahaha
Great review mate. Are the neck profiles really different between this, the 30 and the 52?
Massively different mate. The 30 and 52 are really chunky, like an old U shape, and this is a modern C shape. It's much more comfortable especially for beginners. That being said I know a lot of players who like a bigger neck so it's really about what suits you best.
@@stookiebhoy cheers man,that's really helpful. I love fat necks so my mind if made up!
Hi Mark. Recent Subscriber. Just got mine today on the strength of your review. Kinda nice metallic blue white pickgaurd. £80 and it doesn't feel cheap when you pick it up. Feels no way as inexpensive as a Squire guitar
That's great Rick I'm really pleased you like it, great value for money, and a cracking wee guitar.
Total Value for money. Happy days
Bought a Wilkinson bridge an some through body string ferrules. Keep you posted on the mods. Also starting work on whiskey barrell telecasters Inspired by Justin Johnson signature models. Will you review my first guitar?
@@rickohara1721 Of course I will Rick it will be a pleasure. Where are you based?
I'm in Bellshil. Should have the first one knocked out soon. Tooling up at the moment. Amateur guitar builder getting above my station 😁
I just received one today Mark. (Took three days from Germany!) It's everything you say, I cannot fault it. When I replace the strings I'll give the frets a bit of a polish, but that's it, no sharp frets, action is spot on and the intonation is perfect. Easy to tune. Thanks mate, it was you that convinced me. How do they do it?
need to buy a new amp, should stop looking at guitars.... but this one surprised me!
ARG! Just bought the te-70 and now read this...
And us Ryan's knowing the value of a pooond! ;-)
SlowPursuit My wee granny was from Lenadoon. Still have lots of Ryan’s round that area 🙂 Let us know how you get on with your te70.
It really sounds great but does it sound that much better than your te30 at the same price point? And is it possible they put the wrong pick up as in a better pickup then they should have. Either way it's definitely a keeper.
I don't know if it's a better sound than the TE-30, I mean, 'better' is a very subjective word...but it sounds different. I will say this though, I enjoy playing it more than the TE-30, simply because it's lighter and the neck is a nicer profile for my hands. I haven't opened it up to check the pups, my motto is always if it doesn't need operated on then leave it as it is :-), but I agree it's definitely a keeper and amazing value for money on both this and the TE-30. Cheers for watching
Hi Mark, Thank you for all your input. Is there much difference in the weight of the HB Te 20, compared to the HB Te 30. I also have small hands but wondered how much more difficult it would be to navigate the neck of the TE 30. Thank you for your Channel. Regards, Denis.
Hi Denis. The TE-30 is made of ash and it's very heavy. It also has an enormous neck on it, whereas the TE-20 has a nice modern C shape. I also have small hands, and while the TE-30 is playable, it does get very tiring very quickly, whereas you can play the TE-20 all day without any problem. I also think the TE-20 sounds better. Hope this helps, thanks for watching.
@@stookiebhoy It does help Mark, and I have now made my mind up, thank you so much for all your advice. May I contact you again with any other questions, sorry if it's a pain. Keep well, safe and everything else. Best wishes to you and your family, always.
@@denisshadbolt Of course Denis any time.Take care
@@stookiebhoy Got to be the Sunburst, wonder if Thomann could manage a black pick guard for a bit extra.....will ask anyway
As you say, the goalposts may have changed. If the factory has changed from China to Vietnam, then mine must be from Vietnam as my pickups don't sound as good as yours, the tuners were shocking and the nut was, well, broken.
And even with all THAT, I can recommend this guitar, so *that's* not changed!!!
Do you know how to tell where the guitar is made?
Nice playing by the way! Was that a Fender Hot Rod you were going through?
All of the new HB's are being produced in Vietnam Leif, so if it's a new one it would most likely be from there. If it's a Chinese made guitar then you may have just got a bad one. Is the logo the new font or the old one?
I think I'm just playing through the Line 6 Helix straight into Logic Pro X on this video, so I don't think the amp is in use here
mine was bought in Feb 2018. I guess the guitar is how it is. Either way, they are WELL worth the money.
i like the sound of those roswell pickups... I have texas specials i ripped out of my USA highway 1 tele. I couldnt stand the sound of em.
This isn't the Roswell pickups Mike, this is just the cheap Chinese ceramics in this. Sound great for what they are.
@@stookiebhoy For what they are they are keepers. Nice n punchy
Hello Mark! im sorry i cant not really understand what you say...can you pls tell me, are you good/satisfied with this guitar or is there any work to do? btw: im not sure by buying the squire tele or this one.. greetz from northern europe:-)
Hi Luka...This is a fabulous guitar. Do yourself a favour and save some money by not buying the Squire...this is a better guitar for much less money. Thanks for watching
thanks Mark for answering that quick! :-)
You're most welcome Luka, enjoy your new guitar :)
Does it compare to a squier? (bullet and affinity)
Kills them dead
Sometimes I buy packs of mere STRINGS for the price of that guitar!
What does the wood look like on the inside? I saw another video with this guitar and it had a photo grain finish over a thin layer of what could only be described as cardboard. There was some type of solid wood underneath all that, but...…..
I'm no wood expert but I know cardboard when I see it...this isn't made of cardboard. It's a basswood body. To be quite frank, I'll never understand anyone who would take a £70 guitar apart to see what it's made of...I mean, who cares? It costs £70 and it sounds and plays incredibly well. If it was made of plasticine and sounded and played like this it's still worth £70 in anyone's book.
I don't mean the entire body. It looked like a backer for the photo grain top over a wood body. They probably do it to hide blemishes or imperfections in the stock wood. Personally I'd rather pay a little more for a Xaviere or a Slick. I paid $189 US for a solid ash body with a grain pattern as good as my USA Strat which cost 6X that.
But you've missed my point...Why would anyone in their right mind even bother taking a guitar at this price point apart to see what it's made of? If it was made of paper mache and sticky tape it wouldn't matter....what matters is what it sounds like and what it plays like, and for £70 it's a no brainer.
I take it, you don't modify or repair guitars. My point is that its a little dishonest of HB to not disclose that their tops are "photo finishes". It's one thing for a Chibson to have a Photo Flame top and it not disclosed, but....
Firstly I most certainly modify and repair guitars and have been doing so all my life, however, buying a £70 guitar and then spending money on it to make it better is probably the most pointless thing I can ever think of...why not just buy a different guitar? But the point I was making (which once again you seem to have missed) is that anyone who opens up their £70 guitar solely for the purposes of seeing what kind of woods it's made from, really need to find a hobby because that kind of thing is just bizarre.
And it's not dishonest at all, for goodness sake man it's a £70 guitar are you hearing what you're saying here. I've stated this 3 times now that it doesn't matter what this guitar is made from, because for £70 you get a guitar which sounds and plays as good as this thing does. What does it matter what it's made from? I couldn't care less it was made in a 3D printer and covered in soap...it sounds great and plays great, and for ANY guitarist that should be plenty at this price point. I can't think of another guitar you can buy for £70 which has all these attributes and sound and play as good as this. In fact I'll guarantee you there isn't one. So what difference does it make that it's a photo flame? NONE
I'd like to know what amplifier are you using in the video?
I use Fender Deluxe Reverb and Fender Hotrod Deluxe amps. What you are hearing is the Deluxe Reverb
@@stookiebhoy Thanks and cheers.
You can barely have a good night out for 70 pounds !
Material of guitar?
I tell you in the video it's made of basswood. But does it matter at this price when it sounds as good as this does?
Mark Ryan doesn’t matter to me, as long as it doesn’t break my back.
Yip...people get too hung up on material, and it's just nonsense. Criteria for buying a guitar...1. How does it play. 2. How does it sound. 3. Does it make me want to pick it up. 4. Go back to number 1...Simple as t hat
I wish the guitar was tuned , that would give a better and more trustworthy test / review
all respects....but it IS out of tune....can't you hear that?....but the over-all general sound is super