Harley Benton Fusion-T HH EB BK

Harley Benton Telecaster Review

I am thrilled with this guitar

After owning the model with and without the tremolo, for several months I can say without reservation that this is one of the best guitars I have ever owned without the low price even factoring into the level of quality and I have owned many, many guitars.

Since Thomann customer service is unresponsive and I as a result of the fraud protection on my card, I was forced to place my order 3 times and accidentally ordered the hard tail version. I fell in love with the guitar right out of the box and decided not to return it for an exchange because I was worried that I would receive an inferior guitar, so I decided to keep it because it was such a superior instrument.

I decided to give the hard tail to my brother and ordered the tremolo model, which is the same top of the world-class quality

After watching the Guitar Max review and several others on YouTube, as well as reading many posts, I went to the Thomann site to check out the HB Les-Paul and ended up buying the Harley Benton Black Proline Telecaster which cost about $400.00 delivered with a Gator hardshell case which is a bargain.
While I love the tone of Humbuckers, I always found Les Pauls heavy and clumsy and was never that crazy about the shape of the body. I figured that the Roswell pick-ups on the Tele were probably the same as the Les Paul, and despite the myth, the wood body shape and weight makes absolutely no difference for tone or sustain on a solid body guitar.

While I cannot recommend Thomann for their customer service which is possibly the worst in the world, they sell superior musical instruments and equipment at reasonable prices. The instruments I received from Thomann are plainly and simply 2 of the most gorgeous guitars I have ever seen that play as good asthey look.
Although I have built guitars from parts and buy and modify inexpensive guitars to make them perform as well as top of the line custom instruments, there is nothing that needs to be changed on the Harley Benton.

My favorite solid body guitar, of which the Benton Tele is fully equal and possibly better
is a Squier Jazzmaster I modified to the point it is as good or better than any other Jazzmaster ever made. The first order of the day was removing the J Mascis name because I did not want the worst guitarist who ever lived associated with my instrument.

However the difference is that I spent somewhere in the neighborhood of $400.00 in parts on top of the $350.00 purchase price for the JazzMaster, not to mention a considerable amount of work, while the Harley Benton played beautifully right out of the box and needs no work.
While the packaging was idiotic with the guitar shipped sided by side with the case because Thomann refused to ship the guitar in the case, claiming insurance issues which is idiotic and likely a lie. Luckily there was no damage and the guitar played like a dream out of the box.
The set-up at the factory was superb. No intonation adjustments were necessary, the frets were finished perfectly, rounded to the fretboard with no sharp edges and the guitar came with D'Addario 10's which are one of my go to brands and gauges. The worst criticism one could make was the guitar was slightly out of tune.
The list of features, fit and finish of the Harley-Benton Tele is impressive and reals like the appointments on a high end instrument. The finish is flawless, the Roswell Humbuckers are warm and high output which are as good as name brand Humbuckers, just a little warmer and darker tone which I like very much. However the push-pull pt splits the coil, making the guitar extremely versatile.
The guitar is aesthetically elegant and refined. The body is Sapele, an African hard wood comparable to mahogany with a slightly nicer grain that is a deep, rich red-brown. There is a lighter brown wood binding and a contour on the cutaway which creates a beautiful contrast between the gloss black face the lighter brown of the binding and red- brown of the body. The contours of the back of the body on the back make the guitar comfortable to play sitting and standing.

The neck is Canadian Maple with a perfect c-shaped profile, ebony fretboard and medium-jumbo stainless steel frets. The locking tuners seem to be comparable quality to the Fender locking tuners I use for all my builds and mods, the bridge is high quality chrome, well machined, the nut is tusq and the fret markers are ivory colored.

I accidentally ordered the hard tail when I wanted the tremolo, but I don't want to return it because it is just too good a guitar so I decided to give the guitar as a gift to my brother as a birthday present and ordered another Tele with a tremolo. I had no way to be sure that the quality of the replacement instrument would be as good, but the new guitar arrived and all I can say is wow, it is flawless as the hard tail and I may like it even better because the tone of the pickups is a shade lighter.

The tremolo is superb and the tuning stability fantastic.

All I can say is the Harley Benton Fusion-T HH EB BK may be the best solid body 6 string electric guitar on earth for the money. At 1/10th the price of a vintage Telecaster, Les Paul or Paul Reed Smith, there is little if any qualitative difference to speak of except for the fact that the brand fetishists paid so much more, so they are obliged to defend their delusional beliefs in the superiority of their instruments.