Harley Benton TE-90FLT Orange Blast

While I did contemplate buying one of Harley Benton guitars at some point in time, there are few models I like, it wasn't suppose to happen just now. Neither was I looking to buy another T-style guitar. But when I saw this one, I just could not resist. I just had to have it.
So, it came today and it didn't disappoint me. That wood is absolutely beautiful, together with that dark orange colour satin finish. It is to note that colour in product images are more yellow, while actual finish is more orange, at least the one I got. Grain is different from images above, but it is expected that different pieces of wood will have different grain. It is a three piece body. You can see that if you look for it, but grain is matched well enough not to be obvious. In addition to looks, I really like the sound of the pickups and see no reason to change them any time soon. If you want to hear how it sounds, there are enough demonstrations on YT for this model (other finishes).
Is it perfect? Not at all. Tuners are somewhat stiff, but they still do the job. Action is relatively high, but playable anyway. Frets are uneven and thicker strings tend to buzz, but fret ends are done well enough. Good setup and bit of a fret work is required, which I will do myself, but once done it will be a fantastic instrument. Keep in mind that both fretwork and action will very probably differ between units so YMMV.
There is a dent in the edge of the fretboard between the nut and first fret on the bass side. I believe it is something that accidentally happened during production or packaging. Very probably just one-off and is not to be expected normally, but at this price range such things can happen. I don't mind because it is just a visual blemish that isn't obvious. Because of this and few other light unobtrusive imperfections I give one less star for quality.
I like the neck shape, too, but, as many other things (action, tone, ...), it is matter of preference.
The only thing I plan to change in a foreseeable future is a black plastic pickguard for black anodized brushed aluminum one.

This telecaster is my second after the purchase of the Te-52, so I can already draw certain conclusions.
1. My particular copy of the Te-90 is made worse. I am a little surprised, because it seemed to me that the Deluxe series offers, on the contrary, higher quality. The neck was dry, smeared it with lemon oil, it became much better. The frets stick out slightly. In general, the sensations from the Te-52 surface are much more pleasant.
On top of that, after a few weeks the neck pickup has lost contact and will have to be repaired or taken to a specialist. (update: Thomann sent me another one)
2. But the weight of the Te-90 is much less and it's nice. Mine weighs about 3.5 kg, and the Te-52 weighs about 4+ kg. Yes, we usually play sitting and everyone is young and strong, but in general, this weight is much more familiar.
Also, the neck of the Te-90 is thinner, which is still more convenient for me. The cutout on the back side is also a very convenient detail.
3. The pickups are excellent overall, but they are weaker than the Te-52 singles (yes!), Perhaps because on the filtertrons is Alnico-II, and on the Te-52's singles is Alnico-V. However, these are still humbuckers and on distortion/fuzz sound the difference is obvious.
The appearance is beautiful. Orange blast is exactly the same as in the photos and videos. Beautiful, aesthetic. Despite all the disadvantages, this guitar is still a great thing for the money and will give odds to the same Squires.
Update: I've been playing it for several months now. Still, the convenience of the neck, sound, resonance, weight played a role and I play this guitar much more often than the TE-52. Something like this.

This is a fine guitar. Nice feeling when you play. I dont have any problem. It plays perfect out of the box, no set up needed. Very low action. I have three dots that hand can feel one on the back of the neck, two on the body, if it is a problem. The neck is almost polished, not satin at all but feels good. Body is light. Body rings like a acoustic guitar. If you dont like hollow body that is only problem. Pick ups are very interesting and fun. But not ideal for metal (of course you can metal but you need more eq work). High frequencies can be heard very loud, low frequencies stands down a little more. Frets arent polıshed. I had two days playing for smooth fret feeling. First and last couple frets tops are sanded flat, other frets are round enough, but cause no problem. Everybody complaining about tuners i dont understand why? They hold the tune enough. What do you need more from a tuner? Some stiff, ok. Arent your fingers strong enough to turn a tuner. So you cant play guitar already. Dont worry about tuners. The bridge is perfect, you dont feel any pointy things under your hand. So, i am very happy with this guitar.

My first HB guitar. Totaly suprised how good look, feel and play is. So glad i decided to give HB a chance.
Body: Nice, smooth, silky feel. Too bad I get version with less orange but still it's a great looking guitar.
Bridge: Great. Works ok and looks ok. Nice spot to palm rest.
Pickups: Great. I do love that sparkly sound of these Roswell Filtertronic pickups. They have nice bite and clarity and fit my setup perfectly. (Marshall JVM with 4x12 Greenbacks 25)
Elektronics: Great. I measured pots with instrument...no complaints. They do job fine and even have less tolerance than a spare CTS i have on stock. Nice feel when rotating. Perfect middle i would say.
Neck & fretboard: Wow wow...and wow. Fantastic silky and smooth finish. Beautifull natural finish. Shape is a bit slimmer than a standard Fender C profile. Really comfortable to play. I like it. Only 3 frets needed partial sanding. No sharp edges - perfect fret ends. Fretboard was dirty and all frets needed polishing but i am not counting that as a bad thing. Mine, much more expensive guitars had same issues.
Nut: Perfectly cut.
Tuning machines: This is the only part of guitar that is not good. Hard to rotate tuners and set intonation but once set they keep tuning great. This is the only thing I will change in near future, not because they don't work but because I want smoother feel when setting intonation.

Why I gave 4 stars on quality?......Because of tuning machines and because one screw hole on neck pickup were drilled on an angle and I couldn't move pickup in both directions. I drilled new hole nearby and now pickup screw works as it should.

Would I buy HB again?.....Already did :) HB SC Special.

Rock on!