Cheap Telecaster Battle (Squier, Harley Benton, Eart)
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- Опубліковано 21 сер 2024
- Cheap Telecaster Shootout
Today we're comparing the Squier Affinity Tele, the Harley Benton TE-62, and the Eart Telecaster. Which one is the best one, and which one/ones has/have issues? Is the most popular one the best one?
Let's find out.
Enjoy!
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I love my HB TE62. AMAZING VALUE. It was STILL in tune even after my baby knocked it off of its stand. Amazing !
I agree! The Harley Benton does sound far better than the other two. It definitely has more of the classic snap that you would expect from a Tele! Another great video Mr. K!
that HB sounds so good. most balanced and biting in my opinion. it has exactly what i expect from a tele
Nice guitar for sure.
Harley Benton the winner. Im not surprised. I got many HBs so fare. Great guitars.
They sure are.
Well, these three came out on top on my list. Got the HB last Friday in Lake Placid Blue. Great to see it again comes out on top. What I noticed so far, is that the neck of the HB is just fantastic. The fretwork as well. I am a flamenco guitarplayer so I guess a more bulky neck is not an issue for me. It is by far the best neck I had. Own a LP, a strat and a Music Man in the past. This neck is the best I had so far. Made for my hands at least. The lowest E-string had some buzzing. Solved it by adjusting the trussrod a bit. The finishing is not flawless. Two minor scratches near the neckjoint. You can also tell the body is made of three pieces of wood. There are two lines visible if you look closely under the right angle. The two knobs are a bit noisy. But the pickups do sound very good. Overall the price-/quality is amazing. Again, the biggest surprise is the neck and fretwork. Glad I bought this one.
Cool bananas :)
Hello, Elmo. Greetings from Dallas, Texas! I just found your channel. I've subscribed and look forward to exploring your previous videos. I am retired, now (sort of), but I worked for KONE elevators as an Electrical Engineer for 10 years. I was lucky enough to visit Hyvinkää 3 times. Wonderful experience. I love the Finns. Great people. Dedicated and hard working. Only 1 complaint... Your mosquitoes are TOO BIG. I mean, seriously!!!
Haha 🤣 Thanks 😊
Based on the sound I prefer the Hb and from what I hear is that Thomann has very good customer service if there are issues with the guitar. thanks for sharing.
No problem :)
My mate bought a TE62 db as a modding project, stuck a Wilko bridge, Grover locking tuners and some vintage Fender pickups in it for a Telecaster that owes him £220 and sounds better than my £800 Fender 🤔 so I’m selling it and doing the same but with some Lolla pick ups…
I got myself the HB last year, and I'm happy with it. Others may be better, but not multiple times better, only way more expensive.
Cool :)
You're right.
As with high-end audio, that's ten times the price to get from 95 to 100%.
Can't wait this video, already got HB TE62cc. I am very happy (first electrical guitar for me)
Enjoy!
I have a Harley Benton and it has the same issues with the frets sticking out as the other two have in your video. Also what is annoying is I leveled the frets once already, but then after some time the same issue reappeared. Hammering the frets back with a mallet helped a bit, but I think the quality of the fretwork and the fretboard wood is more or less a lottery with these budget guitars.
I would also like to point out that the Eart has the both of the comfort contours, while the Squier has a belly contour and a better bridge with individually intonable strings and no palm cutting edges. I think my next lottery ticket will be the Squier.
Good luck on the lottery. The HB tele will be the last budget guitar i will buy. Once my playing level improves along with my pocket book it’s going to be all USA made fender tele for me.
HB wins by both punch and clarity. As a no-tele-player I bought the TE-70 just to have one of this model. No issues at all, don´t feel any need of upgrade.
Cool bananas :)
Definitely add a Sire to the list, if you're shopping for something in that range. Great quality!
Been thinking of trying one. Haven't gotten around to it yet though.
@@MrPolevaulter It's a must. And also the Jet JT300
I must have got lucky with my Wine colored EART, my Tone knob scratch a little I pulled it up a Red hair, that put an end to that! BTW I sold a Fender Squire Vibe and a mim Player Series Tele, but still have the EART, from Blue's to Rock it's a keeper! But nothing will replace my late 90's Amer. Fender Strat! 😎
I agree. The Harley Benton also had the best tone out of the three.
It sure is good :)
Your pose at 11:37 is priceless! Like Buckehead feeding Godzilla KFC. You make awesome videos, and you playing is fantastic. Also, watching you play in this video, you seem to appear more "inspired" while playing on the Benton TE62-DB.
Thank you very much!
I've got the HB TE-52. Bit heavy, but that would be my only criticism, and it was a fifth of the price of my next cheapest guitar. It gets played lots because I enjoy it. In general I don't see much point in investing in upgrading cheap guitars, might as well just buy something better, but I've just replaced the bridge, saddles (brass compensated) and nut (bone) on the TE-52, which has (to my ear) enhanced the tone and was worth it because the underlying guitar is so good - I think I would need to spend at least 3X the price of the TE-52 to get something notably better from another brand.
I agree 100%
Expensive guitars are like expensive cars, they only get you from A to B.
I’m looking to buy a budget telecaster this year. Amazing how they can produce a half decent guitar for what that HB cost
It is yeah.
Good stuff, as usual. That said, the problem with budget shootouts is always going to be that one of the biggest reasons guitars hit this price point is because they skip out on a lot of the quality control. All the issues you had, I've experienced on "cheap" guitars from just about everyone. What would be really interesting would be to get ten or 100 of each guitar and see what percentage of them come decent, but of course, that's pretty much impossible. :) While buying online will be easiest for many, the best way to get a "cheap" guitar is to actually play and approve the exact guitar ahead of time. Either than or buy from somewhere with a great return policy.
I've actually thought about buying 10 cheap Squiers of the same model and seeing how much the quality varies.
@@MrPolevaulter That could be a great video! It's so hard to judge these one-off.
Last Spring I wanted to grab an inexpensive telecaster to mod..
Went down to a shop, played a classic vibe and I believe 6 others (affinity and bullet)
They all had different issues but they genuinely varied alot
The one I ended with even had a belly cut which none of the others (including classic vibe) had! So yeah, I can say from experience, it's a flip of a coin.
I got lucky, mine inspires me and its fun, most seem to be lemons though.
Don't order online, not at this price anyway.
Play in person!
I was literally looking at Teles yesterday (not that I need another one), and Elmo-san posts? Well how lucky can I get
:D
Harley Benton does sound the better out of all of them I'm looking at a tele to add oneday, looking at the Vintage Brand V59 Distressed Black or one of their Tele's styles who knows , great honest review as always Elmo cheers !
Cheers!
For what it's worth, I bought the Vintage V62 second hand and it is a blast to play!
Mmm... elmo? Did you not have a show some years.ago? I was looking you all the times when i was a kid... my you changed a lot!!!
:D
Thank you for posting this helpful video! Best wishes to you from Minnesota!
Thank you! You too :)
Cheap is so cheap Elmo, Affordable😃
Let's see what they cost in 2023:
Squire Affinity Telecaster - $289 Sweetwater but Out of Stock
Harley Benton TE-62 $144
Eart NK-C1 $369
I believe all three have extra shipping & sales tax.
Telecaster guitar kit - $129 + shipping (SOLO) - No money saved over the Harley Benton after paint, etc.
The Harley Benton website says it's Candy Apple Red. That's a good hot rod color. Too bad it looks like barn red on my laptop. My skills need to greatly improve before I will even consider another guitar.
Thanks for the review.
And thank you :)
sometimes just like to watch your videos because of how you play. Dream about having that playing style someday! a bit like Yngwie’s as well!
Thank you :)
Nice comparison. That Harley Benton is really nice.
Thanks! It sure is :)
Cheers for the review Elmo ;)
And thank you :)
What a review, Good on you WE need your advice on stuff.
Any time!
Rock on great recommendation 😮 thanks you as always 😊
No problem!
I prefer the sound of the Squire
Enjoyed the guitar test also it was of benefit.
Glad you liked it :)
Harley benton is the best
I would like to suggest the Indio by Monoprice Retro classic (under $100 U.S.) and Retro DLX Plus ($159-199 depending if it's on sale).
I have several guitars by all three manufacturers you tested here, plus the two I mentioned. I'd put the Retro DLX Plus somewhere above the Squier and HB. The Eart? A bunch of "premium" parts don't make a good guitar as you see here.
Thanks for another great video!
Thanks! In the end I ended up keeping the Eart :D But that's only because I have a friend who's a luthier, so it was easy to have all the issues fixed. Once those were fixed, it's a stunning guitar.
I love my Indio tele. Even compared to my PRS and Squire contemporary. Only issue with the Indio is my neck bolts are off center so the neck can't be changed without filling and re drilling.
I got the burgundy mist affinity telecaster deluxe (with the two humbuckers) and it's my favorite guitar. The neck is a little skinny but plays awesome. Also I modded it with a mint pickguard and put p90's in it. I own more expensive guitars but keep coming back to this one. I am tempted to buy the HB te62 in shell pink though 😂😂😂
I have 4 Harley Benton guitars. I’ve been happy with all of them. I recently was in the market for a 335 hollow body style guitar. I had zeroed in on three. The Eart (most expensive and only 1 finish choice) The Harley Benton, and The Firefly. I decided to get The Harley Benton which was priced in the middle. I once had a 338 Harley Benton clone from well before they were on anyones radar and I hated it. I gave it to my nephews to mess around with. I’m not a fan of their 335 either. Feels cheap in your hands, still has the same horrible machine heads and a chunkier neck than I like. I have a feeling I got the worst one out of the three. Lesson stay away from Harley Benton’s hollow body guitars. Their solid body’s are great. I just haven’t come across a nice hollow body from them. If I didn’t already have 3 or 4 Tele’s in my collection already I’d probably grab this one.
The HB 335 I got is quite good imo.
@@MrPolevaulter there aren’t any flaws in the one I got. It just feels really cheap. It was really cheap but Harley Benton’s usually don’t feel cheap. You feel like you got a deal. Not this time fore me. Both felt cheap and are uninspiring to play. Oh well.
@@thetownspeople6486 Which one did you get, the HB35 or the Plus? I hear good things about the plus. I love my SC550+ but that's twice the price so I was expecting quality and I got it. Seems to be a bit inconsistent, some really like the hollow Harleys.
I had the squire tele. Loved it bur had to sell it, needed the money. I didn't gave any issue with mine.
Sorry to hear.
@@MrPolevaulter all good. I have my Malcolm young signature gretsch, artist les paul, and sx sg. (Swapped the pots, control knows to witches hats and swapped the jack, replaced the pickups to 490r and 498t gibson on the sg).
@@MrPolevaulter if you get the chance, try out Artist guitars. They're great value and well made. Australian brand
To my aging ears the Squire sounded the best, but that e string buzz would be annoying as hell after a while.
You did overlook one aspect of the Harley B, and that is that the red finish, in certain lighting, comes across as pink, and that is always a good thing ;-)
Haha :D I did mention that in the actual review :)
@@MrPolevaulter will have to go back to that review and enjoy the pinknessssssss
Also, Happy New Year!!!
hello :) test blakstar studio 10 el34 amplifiers, orange super crush 100, Roland Blues Cube Hot, Marshall MG50GFX
Squier Affinity - Clean/Crunch 1:40
Harley Benton - Clean/Crunch 2:43
Eart - Clean/Crunch 3:48
Squier Affinity - More Gain 4:38
Harley Benton - More Gain 5:34
Eart - More Gain 6:37
Squier Affinity - High Gain 7:34
Harley Benton - High Gain 8:54
Eart - High Gain 10:24
Sorry didn't thumbs down..I was trying to read more.😮
I have the pin.. I meen re.. HB what ever colour it is, i have it, and its great🙂
Good, thank you!
And thank you :)
Will you ever pick the Eko VT 380 Relic? I’d love to hear your review on that tele
Maybe at some point.
Please review Newen Stratocaster.
YOU FORGOT THE DONNER TELE, GREAt comparing video
We know that HB can be good budget guitars but there are two UA-cam videos about HB that are a bit disturbing. One has to do with microphonic pick ups and being told by customer service that it was normal for their guitars to do that and the other where HB wanted $1000 to return a defective guitar. Your thoughts?
The microphonic pickups one was a different guitar with different pickups. KDH did a video on that. The $1000 to return a guitar I haven't heard of. Where can I find that?
Okay two stories with millions sold... Thomann has free return. So not sure how you manage that. Regardless I've heard far more stories about Gibson or Fender and last time I checked my Gibson was still fantastic. The Harley Benton too but that was higher price class than the TE62 almost triple. Besides you never deal with Harley Benton themselves it's all through Thomann and they definetly have free shipping and returns so yeah...
Tulitko saunasta? Shorts in winter that's pretty hardcore.
Haha 🤣 Filmed in the summer.
I choose HB, yes it is has nice tone. But I got one with little bit sharp frets so do some work and it's done. It's a best tele I've had. But I just wondering in your personal opinion which one do you prefer (talking about Squier Affinity models) the Telecaster or the Stratocaster?
Probably the Strat
I've a HB te52 it's good but weighs ton
The one I tried had the same problem. The 62 doesn't.
Make some slide guitar video
Hello Elmo. Jeff Beck just passed away. Did he influence you at all?
Very much. So sad that he passed away.
Come on Elmo, …….. tele us all about them! HHHAAAAAWWWWWWWW!
:D
Hi Elmo, great test as normal, but did you ever tested the Fazley Outlaw Coyote Plus? I'm verry interestted in a comparison between the Harley Benton and the Fazley, both budget friendly, both brands only availeble in their own shops ( Thoman and Bax). Greetings of a dutch fan!
Thank you! I haven't tried that, no.
Well, I tried that Fazley, alongside a Bullet and Affinity. Strangely I preffered the Bullet out of the three. My HB TE-62CC is again better than a Bullet. That’s at least my opinion. Was interested in the Fazley Tele as well. I tried three different ones in the store. Although some look nice, the fit and feel, action and playability, sound, just did not do it for me. They do look good on paper, looking at the specs. But honestly, the HB is better. Please mind I looked at cheaper Tele’s only!
Man sits just in front of amp and cab, man boosts gain to max, man gets pickup squeal. Us dumb men have been doing that forever lol. (at least since the 1960's in my personal experience 🙂).
:D
Elmo try Jet guitars
Ordered one ages ago. Still haven't gotten it.
Th one thing BAFFLES me 2no end is people who play without a tremelo.
:D
Great video elmo👍 not related question what you think about analog pedals sound vs multi effects sound?
Analog or digital, doesn't matter to me, as long as it works. Multi effects often fall short however. I think it's because they try to do too much, and end up doing nothing well.
Thx bro wanted to be sure
Nice video give me one guitar bro
Oh Panasonic, why art though auto focus such pure shite? Haha
I know the pain brother. Maybe one day Panasonic will realize for their m43 cameras that autofocus matters to content creators. If I'm wrong about the camera, I'm curious what you're using but it strikes me as Panasonic or an older Nikon APS-C range camera
Canon 5D MK III and Canon 70d.
Have you tried changing pickup height on these to see how it affects the tone?
Nope.
@@MrPolevaulter it's amazing how much more volume and high end you can get by raising a pickup. It makes a really big difference. May be worth a try for fun. Some say there is a height "sweet spot" for every pickup where the harmonics make it "sing." You can always measure the height and put it back. Assuming they are adjustable.
All you did was shred man. No clean at all? Loads of people are playing teles for more than just country or dad rock. Terrible demo.
Well it was a good effort. I will be releasing revamped Frankenstrat blows those guitars out thwater.
Lucifer is uploading gillions of guitar messiahs 2whitewash me.
It has 3 plug &play wired pickguard choices. 3 guitars in1.
Written on earlier video:
Oh allright. I tell u about myself
I was th1 who (really) gave Van Halen thFrankenstrat.
Actors are thbest. Not 2many people can pretend 2b wrlds best guitarist &then play better then any1 on earth. (acting 4me, never began. or stop so i mean i get a lot of practice. My biggest fan, Johnny Depp just cant really touch me see link)
I was raised in &lived by Hollywood (but mostly, was raised by cats.) Did u know Yahwehs angels are Pleiadean?
"I tell u a little bit about u self."
Pl>(eiadean are in reality angels who retreated when Satan rose 2power invented money. Our asteroid belt used 2b his planet lol. Angels lived on our planets this was heaven once.
Anyway some guy named Yahweh told us some on earth with blue eyes be ancient angels Satan erases their memory when they enter this computer program tho. So they dont know that. (dimension.)
It is just way 2fun being me. I flabbergasted some guys this morning just 2troll thm &it was hillarious:
Thanks 4video very informative. Best of least evils.
Yea I chose a Gotoh Floyd 4my build.
Lol that Vega trim Lucifer came out with recently 2Whitewash my "Floyd." He knows I gonna design couple guitars sell ebay lolmost &that I would reveal 2u guyz thfollowing truth.
People dont understand why I design Floyd like I did.
Floyd didnt invent "Floyd Rose" i did &Frankenstrat was mine. (Lucifer gave it 2Floyd)
Mine (my "Floyd") had ball bearing pivots &bar.
Thbar was wide comfy oval. My Drop D wasnt Like Eds lol.
Mine was also an on thfly hardtail of sorts that would drop &set entire guitar in much steeper increments of your choice all 6 strings still in tune simultaneously &this was due my propensity 2incorporate Dr. Dre bass as i play, without running out of headroom down low, &, Satans bllsht law tunes u guyz strings 2tight. And so, scratching head, I had 2find way loosen them CORRECTLY@ WILL but momemtarily so I could re tune 2 the idiocy this entire matrix subscribes.
Vibrating metal:
Has a sweet spot. Lol current string tension aint it.
My trem concept began such that when string break u just loosen tuner lengthen clamp string back in thtrem vice where it broke, fixed!
U get 9lives per string no1 gets that 2this day lol.
Strings dont wear out lol. Thats marketing lie.
A-hah moment guyz:
Bleev it or not, Bells made of brass 4a reason. Lol Satan made solid brass blocks which are useful as a flat tire my brass block had a specific shape. Hollowed out? (...crickets.)
Satan controls all manufacturing. Trems 2day emmit vampiric frequencies that weaken yr chakras see 95% humans Yahweh calls PLASTICINES. These plasticine computer animations, avatars in thflesh not humans &they control &advertize all manufacturing.
Satan rules with computer get it? He can hack reality google is named after black goo he drank from Yahwehs pure evil abandoned creation computer on Saturn.
I am playing guitar again. ..&re building my old Frankenstrat 2 a massively improved1&might sell a couple ebay. Ed left thFrankenstrat, I have his modern stage guitar now. Satan named it "Wolfgang" 4a reason. That crippling thing tears u 2pieces with vampiric frequencies &demons &issues.
Dont bleev me? Google EBAY.
Play my new1.
Satan is Jesus elder of 2million years. He hacked Yahwehs creation computer. He a magician compared 2u his guitars &trems demonic magic tricks designed deliberately 2suck. Deep inside, u KNOW they suck. U are not dumb.
&U 5star review his batsht guitars from hell.
Bad is now good, good is now bad thumbs down NOT ALLOWED.
Van Halen didnt know th Frabkendiamond he held in his hand. He left thFrankenstrat. When some1 buys my "Frank" ebay yea. They will2. Thpond waters have flipped. With people 5star reviewing thmuck clouding their vision.
U cant give a poison person Heaven. U cant. Yahweh stated "they will tear their house down with their bare hands."
And then they will turn around &rip u 2pieces.
10 years ago had a famous You Tube channel famous musicians subbed when i uploaded tapes of when I re produced their songs on guitar back in 1987. Then Yahweh told us no point in speaking 2them anymore. We were sent 2make a change. He shut us down. I closed thchannel.
Satan then went 2court in Heaven &won &downloaded his "pandemic."
Most every1 now Plasticines without Yahwehs DNA anymore.
Back then I had sent out angels 2design me, us, an amp up 2very limited extent ofcourse bcuz we rule in thmidst of our enemies. If any Plasticine out there wants 2know which amp it is? let me know?? (a cold deadly silence)
Still,
"Blessed is thsound of crickets."
My Jap Wolf selling 4up 2 5k ebay now.
Yea I thought why not selk it I would go ahead buy me that amp go ahead start p>)laying again.)
Set all controls4 theyes of thSun
ua-cam.com/video/aRHmYcJwI3s/v-deo.html&feature=share
This might be the longest comment I’ve ever seen lol
@@VinceP341 @Vince Pasquale It gets really old.
I wrote some of this stuff 2009, 1984, These are copy &pastes thFranken story I wrote, am releasing 2 thworld only this morning just 2toy with people while I am building my guitar not about revolution anymore earth as been judged u people lost Yahweh told us retreat. He said earth reached quote critical mass 2016 when 75% humans are not humans. They are nephilem spirits of old in flesh bodies. (Demons)
Enjoy your version of reality
there have been endless hundreds upon hundreds of hundred thousands b4 u.
I wrote.
Satan does not allow people read my comments anymore. He won thlegal right 2shut our group down. People read or comment now only *STRICTLY* so as 2ignoring me as u did.
A better reaction would be wow
amazimg or can u show us &provide specs 2 thnew FrankenFloyd.
Know it alls, they cant be taught when Jesus walked the earth he was whitewashed by pharisee knowitalls. And Satan downloaded avatar apostle Paul. Paul was Satans. He used 2kill christians. Then he figured out he could do more harm by joining thchurch.
Buckethead, who lived near me 35 years, he knows all about who I am. I xplained 2him Satan used him as an avatar 2Whitewash me. This really seemed 2have effected him jere recently when I read his program in detail for him 2018. I also saved his life. He was sick. He wont be with us much longer.
Threason Buckethead raises chickens is cuz I raise best meat (Wagyu) chicknz in thworld. They reach 25lbs &generate 1.5 lbs fat 6months.
Bucket is always Star Wars bcuz I opened a portal in heaven with a 3.5 ton quartz motherboard that is Yahwehs life force, or computer program. I was wearing a mask long b4 Bucket.
I control the entire solar system now oit past thconstelations. Angels are returning from Pleiades again.
Satan is downloading Plasticine Luthiers &new guitar releases as I type this worldwide these arent humans they computer animations. He downloads avatar Plasticines in2 the matrix u subscribe 2white wash me depending on what i decide do next I am thepicentre 2our entire reality &certainly the entire internet Satans black google.
I am threason internet deluged with endless guitar tutorials& messiahs lol.
Both Ed &Buckethead, I lived near them 35 years for this reason as did Metalica, Satriani, Snoop, Michael Jackson. 12 alpha guitarists of mid 80's climaxed bcuz I did then. I gave guitar away 1988. Immediately Satan began shutting all music down cuz it was inspiring people.
Today music is a wiggling dead tail of a now crippled lizard.
I am playing again 2stay sharp &writing helps me rememberh clarify crucial data i exhaustively research. Satan gave me 15 strokes 2brain, destroyed all my cappilaries, (brains need oxygen) &he breaks my fingers DOZENS of times &my equipment. He gave me 50lb 10 YEAR chest cancer broke 5 ribs, vomiting 60 times a day as it strangled my throat crushed my heart. I had enuff lung capacity 2barely blow out a candle.
His witches constantly employ memory erasers &downloads. Making it hard 2play.
That comment wasnt written for here it was written for Satan. He has an avatar here you tube named altasweet.
I dont write 2people like they think. In reality this is strictly collab between me &Satan.
Too much distortion renders all 3 identical.
Exactly... and playing for nearly a minute on each guitar while flipping through different pickups makes for a totally useless comparison. Stay on the same pickup, play the same exact riff, and keep it short because the human brain simply can't hold on to audio information for very long. Actual clean sounds do indeed tell a lot about the sound of a guitar/pickups so skipping that is a major fail as well.
HB is a real surprise to me.
They make some nice stuff :)