Having worked on real Fenders and Gibsons and their cheap alter-egos (Squier and Epiphone), I can tell you that parts don't even drop-in between different Fender Strat models, let alone between Fender and Squier. I'm pretty sure they do that precisely to maintain the brand/price perception, and enforce it through patents and licensing. The only way to be sure that one genuine Fender bridge, for example, will fit another genuine Fender guitar is to take close note of all the measurements. It's tough, but it's the only way.
That’s interesting! But I’ve noticed third party aftermarket parts target a few models in terms of measurements, so I still reckon that drop in replacements are more feasible for said cheaper alter-egos than than HB’s, but like you said measuring first is key.
Sage advice. I've, to a lesser extent, worked on Fenders, Washburn, Yamaha and Hohners and as you say even Fender parts don't fit all Fender guitars even on a like for like basis.
@@maddnukes2919 Not really. For example, Squier bodies are usually thinner than Fender bodies, meaning that a Fender-proportioned bridge block will be too long to fit under the coverplate. Other examples include scratchplate dimensions and hole positions, string spacing on the bridge, etc.
Yeah me too bro 🤦 Picked up a TE-62 in the lake placid blue color. Would've been nice to discover your video before I started dumping money on upgrades. I figured it out pretty quick though. Leave the bridge, nut, and pegs alone 😉 Only adding Seymour Duncan hot chicken pickups, and having a custom pick guard fabricated in dark purple pearl cause I loathe that lame white plate 😖 also adding new high quality pots/switch/wiring kit, with an engraved chrome plate cover, but leaving the rest the hell alone. Should be a sexy solid little twang diddler once it's finished ✌️ And also, mine arrived with a dead TONE control pot brand new.
What about replacing only saddles to brass ones? No need to replace the whole bridge I think. When it comes to nut - just put a lot of pencil graphite into it slots, works with every guitar nut you'll ever use, helps with tuning stability.
Hey! The details you provide definitely make the video helpful. It's something to think about. Nicely done, simple and to the point. Photos from the mods and attempted mods would enhance the video, but it works without, too.
bridge is ok..u just bend slightly with a pair of plyers, like all fender telecaster players used to do for ages just upgrade the tuners, and maybe the electronics..all the rest is very good
All true here. LOVE my two HBs...one I returned to stock...the second, TE62DB has a used set of LSL TboneOne pups, CTS pots, USA switch, and Fralin cap. The switch plate also uses smaller pot holes...easy fix. The neck is also a totally different size. Pups are standard as I've swapped them out 3-4 times. Also have two Squier CV50's, great value...but HB necks/fretwork are superior... in fact, moddability issues notwithstanding....HB's are made better. The Roswell pups are decent but I prefer great sounding pups...go used.
@@maddnukes2919 yeah, everything lined up relative to the two mounting screws for the plate and the cavity was deep enough on both my HB's. These HB's are quite the amazing value.
Thaks for the info, that's conpletely true! But some considerations on my experience. Tuners have the vintage style Kluson standard size wich is 8,5 mm. Gotoh and other vintage stile wont feet in, as they should be 8,8 mm. Pickup size is stansdad and you can dron in any brand without any trouble. I put a G&L USA Asat bridge and it's not exactli in by less than a mm, so I didn't need to make majormodifications to fit it in, but it's not perfectli palced, bur anyway it's working great and have good intonation. 🕺
I’ve modified 4 Harley Benton teles, including the model you’re holding in your hands with aftermarket nut, locking tuners, brass slotted barrel saddles, pickups, CTS pots, Switchcraft switches and never experienced any of those issues
I have a couple of Fender Teles, but I also bought a Harley Benton TE-52 specifically to mod; I knew the HB TE-52 was a decent Tele copy, but I saw a video where someone took theirs apart and I noted that it was routed for a neck humbucker, which is what I wanted to add to the one I bought, so I thought it would be simply a case of cutting a humbucker sized hole in the pickguard, wiring it up and Bob's Yer Uncle, but when mine arrived, it only had a single-coil rout in the body, so I had to rout it myself. Not a terribly difficult thing to do - although I will say that the wood the TE-52 is made from is incredibly dense, so it's no five minute job. The very dense wood it is made from does give it a lot of sustain though. Thus it's worth bearing in mind if anyone thinks all HB Teles are routed for a humbucker (which would be a reasonable assumption given that they make a lot of variants, so you'd think it would be a sensible one-size-fits all thing to do at the factory), be aware that they aren't all routed that way. It's worth noting too, that even Fender guitars are not always easy drop in replacements where after market parts are concerned. For example, I decided to add a mint vintage pickguard to my late Nineties Fender Stratocaster, but doing so required me to trim a fair bit off the replacement pickguard where it meets the neck. Fortunately that's fairly easy to do and you wouldn't even need to do it that neatly if it proved necessary on many Strats, since the fretboard overhangs the pickguard on most of them, which would conceal a less than perfect bit of filing and cutting if one didn';t make a perfect job of trimming the pickguard down, but again it's something to note with even Fender guitars and after-market bits. Worth noting too that many cheaper Squiers (not all) have thinner bodies than standard Fender Strats and Teles, which can be an issue when changing vibrato parts on Strats or adding a tailpiece Bigsby Vibrato to a Tele. Similarly, some Strats have a fifty-two millimetre string spacing at the bridge, where others have a fifty millimetre spacing, so you have to be aware of that as well. I always assume any bits I change on a guitar may need some tweaking, because generally speaking, they do. None of it is especially tough to do if you have some tools and the inclination, and if you like messing about with guitars, it goes with the territory. The trickiest Tele mod I have done (which is just nearing completion) is converting a Thinline (which had standard pick ups), to one with twin wide range humbuckers and a Tele-specific bridge, swapping the neck for an after market Strat-style neck with abalone block inlays, and making it a string-through instead of a toploader since the humbucker bridge is of that type and needed the through body holes. It's required a fair bit of work, but it is now looking and sounding good and is a fairly unique guitar.
Too late. I tried to upgrade a HB les Paul with Epiphone pick ups and the pots. It was a huge hassle, The area where the pots are is small so in order to install 500 k pots you have to widen the area where the pots go. If I hqd to do it over I would have left it as is. You are better off getting a chibson because it is more easier to modify.
Honestly, I think the stock hardware is more than good enough for most use cases, while not premium it is great. But only get into modding it if that’s what you want to do, not to get a cheap Gibson/Fender equivalent by upgrading the parts because it most likely won’t be worth it.
I have a TE-20 and I was able to get Hipshot locking tuners to fit and finish well due to their included rails. The only apprehension I had at first after installing them was it took about a third of the tuning peg height. HOWEVER this was okay because the entire hole in each peg was well exposed so restringing is not an issue at all. A bonus was that it did cause a slight increase in the slope on the strings as they crossed the nut toward the tuning pegs. So it stays in tune actually a bit better. Plus I have locks so changing strings doesn’t take nearly as long.
One thing that Thomann actually pointed out to me was that the headstock on the 20 was slightly thicker than on a standard Fender Telecaster. And they were telling me in so many words that they didn’t want me to change them. To be fair, the standard tuners were okay. But I wanted to experiment. The holes in headstock are 10mm, which is great. However, if you want to install anything other than Hipshot rails you’ll most likely have to drill holes for other brands for their screw configs. I also upgraded the pots, the switch, the barrels, pickups and even the nut. That latter one was TOUGH. I sanded the nut by hand, which took a total of about six hours and a LOT of trial and error. But I learned a lot. Getting at least one of these to experiment on is worth it. And it was really inexpensive even with the shipping cost which was about $68 at the time. If you have the time and the will you can do it all.
Mods i do to these HB;s is to change the neck angle some are flat or pitched towards the body. then intonate it, i use the compensated brass saddles and the issue you describe happens when the there is not a good break angle for the strings and that is in part by the low angle/pitch of the neck. another good mod would be to slot the nut correctly then shave the top of nut so that part of the string is exposed, this prevents binding of the string to the nut.
Ive noticed my Les Paul has an angle pitched away from the body while the HV tele is basically flat, does pitching it away allow for lower action with less buzz or is it just when the saddles can’t be adjusted any lower?
@@maddnukes2919 yes, pitching the neck ever so slightly (1 business card thick), will allow more adjustability, your saddles will need to be raised because of this and your string break angle will increase causing a bit more tension, this will help with your compensated brass saddle issue. i did that to 4 of my HB TL styles. The Te 30 required me to convert it to a string through so it can use compensated brass saddles. Buzz issue is either a high fret or too straight of a neck. My HB setup is 1.50mm clearance on the 12thfret. for low E and high e.
Other than a faulty pickup selector, mine has an issue with the neck and bridge - the saddles can't go any lower (they're touching the bridgeplate) while string height is still relatively high (1,8 - 2mm at the 12th fret), despite all other necessary setup adjustments. In the process of sending it back
@@maddnukes2919 Sure, I agree it's not too bad. However, if you prefer lower action, the fact that you physically can't go any lower is IMHO a good enough reason to ask for a replacement. Mind you, I've ordered a DIY Tele kit from Thomann for like 100 bucks and it doesn't have that issue. My father in law has a cheapo Squier Tele - also no such issue. Anyway, thanks for you input :)
Having worked on real Fenders and Gibsons and their cheap alter-egos (Squier and Epiphone), I can tell you that parts don't even drop-in between different Fender Strat models, let alone between Fender and Squier. I'm pretty sure they do that precisely to maintain the brand/price perception, and enforce it through patents and licensing. The only way to be sure that one genuine Fender bridge, for example, will fit another genuine Fender guitar is to take close note of all the measurements. It's tough, but it's the only way.
That’s interesting! But I’ve noticed third party aftermarket parts target a few models in terms of measurements, so I still reckon that drop in replacements are more feasible for said cheaper alter-egos than than HB’s, but like you said measuring first is key.
Sage advice. I've, to a lesser extent, worked on Fenders, Washburn, Yamaha and Hohners and as you say even Fender parts don't fit all Fender guitars even on a like for like basis.
@@maddnukes2919 Not really. For example, Squier bodies are usually thinner than Fender bodies, meaning that a Fender-proportioned bridge block will be too long to fit under the coverplate. Other examples include scratchplate dimensions and hole positions, string spacing on the bridge, etc.
The nut can be cut from w blank. Titanium as well as other materials are available. The model you have is great for its premium roasted maple neck.
Yeah me too bro 🤦
Picked up a TE-62 in the lake placid blue color.
Would've been nice to discover your video before I started dumping money on upgrades. I figured it out pretty quick though. Leave the bridge, nut, and pegs alone 😉 Only adding Seymour Duncan hot chicken pickups, and having a custom pick guard fabricated in dark purple pearl cause I loathe that lame white plate 😖
also adding new high quality pots/switch/wiring kit, with an engraved chrome plate cover,
but leaving the rest the hell alone. Should be a sexy solid little twang diddler once it's finished ✌️
And also, mine arrived with a dead TONE control pot brand new.
You don't seem to know that there are 2 standards for guitar fittings! US and import, buy what fits your guitar, in this case import!
What about replacing only saddles to brass ones? No need to replace the whole bridge I think.
When it comes to nut - just put a lot of pencil graphite into it slots, works with every guitar nut you'll ever use, helps with tuning stability.
I think the screws that hold the saddles on the bridge are a different size, but I could be wrong
Hey! The details you provide definitely make the video helpful. It's something to think about. Nicely done, simple and to the point. Photos from the mods and attempted mods would enhance the video, but it works without, too.
bridge is ok..u just bend slightly with a pair of plyers, like all fender telecaster players used to do for ages
just upgrade the tuners, and maybe the electronics..all the rest is very good
I think Graphtek has nuts that will fit, as long as you get one to match the right specs. You'd need to know the width and radius, at least.
All true here. LOVE my two HBs...one I returned to stock...the second, TE62DB has a used set of LSL TboneOne pups, CTS pots, USA switch, and Fralin cap. The switch plate also uses smaller pot holes...easy fix. The neck is also a totally different size. Pups are standard as I've swapped them out 3-4 times. Also have two Squier CV50's, great value...but HB necks/fretwork are superior... in fact, moddability issues notwithstanding....HB's are made better. The Roswell pups are decent but I prefer great sounding pups...go used.
Great to hear! Was the control plate cavity big enough for the full size pots?
@@maddnukes2919 yeah, everything lined up relative to the two mounting screws for the plate and the cavity was deep enough on both my HB's. These HB's are quite the amazing value.
TLDR, the cost of parts,labour and research time of bringing a HB upto your desired spec is the same as buying the correct guitar in the first place.
Precisely!
Thaks for the info, that's conpletely true! But some considerations on my experience. Tuners have the vintage style Kluson standard size wich is 8,5 mm. Gotoh and other vintage stile wont feet in, as they should be 8,8 mm. Pickup size is stansdad and you can dron in any brand without any trouble. I put a G&L USA Asat bridge and it's not exactli in by less than a mm, so I didn't need to make majormodifications to fit it in, but it's not perfectli palced, bur anyway it's working great and have good intonation. 🕺
Glad it’s working well for you!
Save money, practice more.
I’ve modified 4 Harley Benton teles, including the model you’re holding in your hands with aftermarket nut, locking tuners, brass slotted barrel saddles, pickups, CTS pots, Switchcraft switches and never experienced any of those issues
Interesting, what tuners did you end up using? Glad it worked out for you!
i bought te52 for cheap, added brass saddles and grapch tech nut, its awesome, for me pups are ok and its stay in tune
That is awesome!
I have a couple of Fender Teles, but I also bought a Harley Benton TE-52 specifically to mod; I knew the HB TE-52 was a decent Tele copy, but I saw a video where someone took theirs apart and I noted that it was routed for a neck humbucker, which is what I wanted to add to the one I bought, so I thought it would be simply a case of cutting a humbucker sized hole in the pickguard, wiring it up and Bob's Yer Uncle, but when mine arrived, it only had a single-coil rout in the body, so I had to rout it myself. Not a terribly difficult thing to do - although I will say that the wood the TE-52 is made from is incredibly dense, so it's no five minute job. The very dense wood it is made from does give it a lot of sustain though. Thus it's worth bearing in mind if anyone thinks all HB Teles are routed for a humbucker (which would be a reasonable assumption given that they make a lot of variants, so you'd think it would be a sensible one-size-fits all thing to do at the factory), be aware that they aren't all routed that way.
It's worth noting too, that even Fender guitars are not always easy drop in replacements where after market parts are concerned. For example, I decided to add a mint vintage pickguard to my late Nineties Fender Stratocaster, but doing so required me to trim a fair bit off the replacement pickguard where it meets the neck. Fortunately that's fairly easy to do and you wouldn't even need to do it that neatly if it proved necessary on many Strats, since the fretboard overhangs the pickguard on most of them, which would conceal a less than perfect bit of filing and cutting if one didn';t make a perfect job of trimming the pickguard down, but again it's something to note with even Fender guitars and after-market bits. Worth noting too that many cheaper Squiers (not all) have thinner bodies than standard Fender Strats and Teles, which can be an issue when changing vibrato parts on Strats or adding a tailpiece Bigsby Vibrato to a Tele. Similarly, some Strats have a fifty-two millimetre string spacing at the bridge, where others have a fifty millimetre spacing, so you have to be aware of that as well.
I always assume any bits I change on a guitar may need some tweaking, because generally speaking, they do. None of it is especially tough to do if you have some tools and the inclination, and if you like messing about with guitars, it goes with the territory. The trickiest Tele mod I have done (which is just nearing completion) is converting a Thinline (which had standard pick ups), to one with twin wide range humbuckers and a Tele-specific bridge, swapping the neck for an after market Strat-style neck with abalone block inlays, and making it a string-through instead of a toploader since the humbucker bridge is of that type and needed the through body holes. It's required a fair bit of work, but it is now looking and sounding good and is a fairly unique guitar.
You will have to do a little bit of fitting with any brand when adding after market parts
Very helpful video. Thanks for taking the time to do it.
Well, when I upgraded the pickups on a Squier Affinity tele with Fender pickups they did not fit ,. Easy to fix with a Dremel,
I have a Harley Benton DC- jr. Had to do intonaion on it but I do intonation on all my guitars. Every thing else worked just fine.
Too late. I tried to upgrade a HB les Paul with Epiphone pick ups and the pots. It was a huge hassle, The area where the pots are is small so in order to install 500 k pots you have to widen the area where the pots go. If I hqd to do it over I would have left it as is. You are better off getting a chibson because it is more easier to modify.
Honestly, I think the stock hardware is more than good enough for most use cases, while not premium it is great. But only get into modding it if that’s what you want to do, not to get a cheap Gibson/Fender equivalent by upgrading the parts because it most likely won’t be worth it.
Nice guitars kick ass right out of the box I wouldn't change a thing on mine . If you want to pay hundreds of extra for a decal go for it .
Well said!
I have a TE-20 and I was able to get Hipshot locking tuners to fit and finish well due to their included rails. The only apprehension I had at first after installing them was it took about a third of the tuning peg height. HOWEVER this was okay because the entire hole in each peg was well exposed so restringing is not an issue at all. A bonus was that it did cause a slight increase in the slope on the strings as they crossed the nut toward the tuning pegs. So it stays in tune actually a bit better. Plus I have locks so changing strings doesn’t take nearly as long.
Happy to hear it worked out well for you!
One thing that Thomann actually pointed out to me was that the headstock on the 20 was slightly thicker than on a standard Fender Telecaster. And they were telling me in so many words that they didn’t want me to change them. To be fair, the standard tuners were okay. But I wanted to experiment. The holes in headstock are 10mm, which is great. However, if you want to install anything other than Hipshot rails you’ll most likely have to drill holes for other brands for their screw configs. I also upgraded the pots, the switch, the barrels, pickups and even the nut. That latter one was TOUGH. I sanded the nut by hand, which took a total of about six hours and a LOT of trial and error. But I learned a lot. Getting at least one of these to experiment on is worth it. And it was really inexpensive even with the shipping cost which was about $68 at the time. If you have the time and the will you can do it all.
Mods i do to these HB;s is to change the neck angle some are flat or pitched towards the body. then intonate it, i use the compensated brass saddles and the issue you describe happens when the there is not a good break angle for the strings and that is in part by the low angle/pitch of the neck. another good mod would be to slot the nut correctly then shave the top of nut so that part of the string is exposed, this prevents binding of the string to the nut.
Ive noticed my Les Paul has an angle pitched away from the body while the HV tele is basically flat, does pitching it away allow for lower action with less buzz or is it just when the saddles can’t be adjusted any lower?
@@maddnukes2919 yes, pitching the neck ever so slightly (1 business card thick), will allow more adjustability, your saddles will need to be raised because of this and your string break angle will increase causing a bit more tension, this will help with your compensated brass saddle issue. i did that to 4 of my HB TL styles. The Te 30 required me to convert it to a string through so it can use compensated brass saddles. Buzz issue is either a high fret or too straight of a neck. My HB setup is 1.50mm clearance on the 12thfret. for low E and high e.
Great video man I appreciate it.
Glad it helped
Great video mate 😀👍🏻
Glad you enjoyed
Other than a faulty pickup selector, mine has an issue with the neck and bridge - the saddles can't go any lower (they're touching the bridgeplate) while string height is still relatively high (1,8 - 2mm at the 12th fret), despite all other necessary setup adjustments. In the process of sending it back
Honestly that action is pretty normal for a guitar imo, Hope you get a decent replacement that fixes your issues
@@maddnukes2919 Sure, I agree it's not too bad. However, if you prefer lower action, the fact that you physically can't go any lower is IMHO a good enough reason to ask for a replacement. Mind you, I've ordered a DIY Tele kit from Thomann for like 100 bucks and it doesn't have that issue. My father in law has a cheapo Squier Tele - also no such issue. Anyway, thanks for you input :)