Harley Benton TE-62CC CF

Under normal (or other) circumstances, I shouldn't have bought a TE-62, because I only got my TE-52 earlier this year. But the TE-52 is rather heavy to be the most versatile of my guitars, and when the TE-62 appeared, I was so tempted, I had to give in. Life is short, anyway, we might as well enjoy it.

Thanks to Thomann and UPS, the guitar arrived two days earlier than expected, amid the holiday season. No damages to the package or the guitar whatsoever.

As far as the appearance of the guitar is concerned, it is very well finished and I love the colour a lot, a very nice contrast between the dark metallic grey of the body, the mint green pickguard and the caramelised neck. Earlier on the day I took delivery, I visited my local big F dealer, to try out an amp and check out whatever T-style guitars they had. The TE 62 looks and feels much more expensive than some of the F models I saw that day, and I saw many of them.

The only thing that felt a little cheap was the tip of the tuners, somehow felt very plasticky, compared to other Harley Benton guitars I have tried (or indeed my TE-52). Tuners work well though (well, at least for as long as I have played the guitar). Nut is plastic but seems well cut. I replaced the strings immediately because they were corroded but I would do that anyway to any new guitar. Neck relief was spot on, so I just had to lower the saddles a bit to get my desired low action, I had the TE-52 as a benchmark for my measurements, so it was a piece of cake.

As for playability, the neck feels great, not too thin, not to chunky, slightly slimmer than the TE-52 - I have gotten used to both so no concerns, even for my not so big hands.

Pickups sound slightly different from those on the TE-52 (they are supposed to be different models). I am happy with them (nothing very exciting but they are good, no plans on changing them anytime soon) and the blend in the middle position is one of the best I have heard from a T style guitar. Perhaps I need to do some fiddling with the pickup height or my amp to get the best out of them. They are good though, no worries, and they sound better than any ceramic out there (my personal taste, of course).

So, in summary, for me this is the best HB traditional T-style guitar on offer, because it is addressing those very few drawbacks of the TE-52 (mostly the weight). And with the choice in available colours, I wouldn't be surprised if it becomes one of Thomann's best selling models. It is certainly on the same level as the classic vibe series of another manufacturer, as well as some F T-style models.

Do get this as a gift to yourself, you deserve it.

I have been scouring the Harley Bentons on Thomann for the last few months and I had the biggest itch to grab a new guitar. I have had a Yamaha Pacifica since 1999 ish (my first guitar) and it still works lovely but I have always desired to own a Telecaster style guitar - I did have a Mexican Strat and Epiphone SG in the past too, but did not get on with those sorts of guitars.

I was eyeing up the HB-35Plus and the SC550-IIs but then I had an advert pop up on Facebook for a Harley Benton sale and so I clicked it and saw this Guitar in the list. Seeing as I have always loved the Tele look and I was already considering to buy the North American style one, I decided to do some youtube research on this guitar and I watched a bunch of videos of people being pretty honest about Harley Benton and this guitar.

For £98 I finally bit and decided to order it. It arrived this morning and was really well packed. Guitar wrapped in bubble wrap, then in its guitar box with polystyrene to hold it in place and then inside a huge box filled with other packing.

The first thing that has struck is how lovely the fretboard is. Really nice caramel color and you can see the grain all in the headstock - mine is darker than the photo appears on the site, and I really like the font they have used for the HB logo. Some people have mentioned sharp frets and dodgy tuners in their reviews but my Guitar was almost in tune straight out of the box and there isn't a single sharp fret anywhere and I can't find any dead notes. Intonation was perfect too straight away. Body of guitar is a nice grey colour, pretty much spot on to the sites photo - I cannot see any chips or defects on the paintwork.

I would have preferred a white pickguard, as the lime almost appears slightly luminous on mine which is strange to look at, but might just be my dodgy eyes, but it definitely seemed much lighter on the sites photo.

Weight is nice and comfortable, definitely on par with my Yamaha so no issues there. Electronics all working fine with noticeable differences between the pickup changes, the switch feels sturdy and not cheap and the volume/tone knobs look cool and work well.

I haven't mucked about with the pickup height yet but I might have a tweak, it does sound nice though and definitely has the twang that I saw mentioned on youtube and was hoping for.

I also cannot see any corrosion or anything on my strings which is nice, so I put on some fast fret and it is a lovely comfortable guitar to play. Really impressed overall! Great service from Thomanns, highly recommend them and this guitar.

Have never tried Bentons before. On a bipolar impulse bought 3 different models

TE-62CC
DC-DLX Gotoh
SC-Custom Plus EMG FR

I have no words to describe.. I stay in Malaysia.. Had requested someone from the team to sign said guitars.

The guitars are made in Indonesia.. But were sent from Germany.. They came all signed as requested.. The tele and sg came IN TUNE!! (can you imagine that?) they were setup to perfection.. The floyd I preferred a little lower action (but that's just personal taste)

Finish were all tasteful.. No feet buzz.. I mean seriously.. How do you guys do it?

I own about 20 guitars in total..from fenders to gibsons to ibanez to Tokai and of a few corts.. Some of which are 3 times the price of the most expensive Benton I bought..

I'll go as far to say that the only thing you may need to change (in the future) are the pick ups (you need to do that with all guitars anyway) ..

Everything else is solid as an ox. The Bentons are as good.. And in some cases even better then the guitars they are trying to (copy sounds like a bad word.. Maybe the guitars that were inspired by).

I think anyone who is thinking of buying a cort or squire or epiphone or whatever brand that's sub of the original American counterpart should try a benton.. Trust me.. They will shock you.

Don't even get me started on the price.. Like seriously man.. How do you guys do it.

Nothing else to add.. Continue with the great job, production and admin team. You guys rock!

I got really stunned by the quality of this (let's remember) 149 € guitar. The roasted neck looks and feels like those on 1000 € instruments (and I had several), and is really beautiful. No fret sprout, no buzz ... and the action is more than acceptable once the guitar is set up.

The hardware is actually adequate, let's see how it ages though. Tuning machines feel solid, so far no dead ranges and it stays in tune properly. I have no experience with vintage tele bridges, but this one does not feel like is going to fall apart soon.

O the downside, the pickups are a bit muddy, especially the neck one, and lack bite and definition, and with the bridge one you won't get a lot of twang. But again, for the price, it is really not a defect.

In summary, I do not know how Thoman can sell such an instrument for that price, but I am glad to have bought one.

All my bad expectations have been illuminated once I played the very first note on this guitar..
I bought it in Dec 2021 and sice this time it has been playing as cool as I would never expect a guitar for this money to play.
Pros:
~ Stays in tune for relatively long time - check (not mentioning it was tuned(inc. octaves and the rode) out of the box)
~ Classic telecaster-like sound - check
~ Electronic components don't give any troubles/noises - check
(possible)Cons:
~ The highest/higher notes played on the 1st string using neck pickup are missing some frequencies you'd expect to be there(or I can simply say they sound flat, bodyless). Maybe it's me using wrong: (you name it) strings/playing techniques/amp settings/pickup height and so on.