JC
As Beautiful As I Thought
You can look at all the pictures in the world of this guitar and see all sorts of YouTube videos, but you really don't get an impact of how beautiful and well made this guitar is until you hold one in your hands.
If you're looking for that twangy Telecaster sound, it's there, but you have to work with your equipment a little to get it. The tone qualities of this guitar are wonderful but that's why it was designed the way it was. It has some really strong qualities for blues, jazz or fusion and even some mild acoustic qualities. Will it work for rock or country? Absolutely, with a small amount of work. But lets get into the actual guitar for a minute.
Cons: I would have given this guitar 5 stars if it wasn't for one minor issue. The fret ends are very sharp and protruding. I have a suspicion that the fretboard is very dry and needs some attention. So it's time to do some minor work to get it and those frets back to where they belong. There's some discrepancy as to the wood they used on the fretboard. Because they can't use rosewood anymore, they've gone to an alternative wood. The information on this particular guitar is mixed. In one portion of the description they say they used an exotic wood called Amaranth, but in another portion of the same description they say they use Roseacer. It would be nice to know because Roseacer which is a roasted maple sometimes has tendency to develop small splits, even though it's very rare. Amaranth, which goes under a number of different names depending on what part of the world you live in is a very hard exotic wood that is very stable and would be an excellent choice for a fretboard replacing Rosewood. Those are my only negatives about this gutar.
Pros: I have a number of high end guitars from Gibson, Fender, Martin, Schecter and a half dozen others. This guitar visually is absolutely stunning. When I first took it out of the box I was shocked at the finish of this instrument. The workmanship on the body and the neck is superb. The quilted maple finish may be just a veneer, but it is absolutely beautiful and beyond what I expected. When I first ordered the guitar I wasn't sure about the finish on the neck. I don't like neck finishes that are heavy on lacquer. The neck has a really nice satin finish that you can tell will age beautifully and only get better with time. Out of all of my guitars, no matter what the cost, this guitar has the best neck I have ever played.
Intonation, string height, fret leveling (other than fret ends) were perfect out of the box. All controls seem of good quality and work as they should.
The workmanship (other than the dark paint used inside the "F" holes) I have to say is superb.
If you're on the fence and need a push, I hope this review helps with your decision. The service from Thomann was excellent and I can guarantee you that you will never find an instrument of this quality for the ridiculously low price they are selling it for. Have fun!
If you're looking for that twangy Telecaster sound, it's there, but you have to work with your equipment a little to get it. The tone qualities of this guitar are wonderful but that's why it was designed the way it was. It has some really strong qualities for blues, jazz or fusion and even some mild acoustic qualities. Will it work for rock or country? Absolutely, with a small amount of work. But lets get into the actual guitar for a minute.
Cons: I would have given this guitar 5 stars if it wasn't for one minor issue. The fret ends are very sharp and protruding. I have a suspicion that the fretboard is very dry and needs some attention. So it's time to do some minor work to get it and those frets back to where they belong. There's some discrepancy as to the wood they used on the fretboard. Because they can't use rosewood anymore, they've gone to an alternative wood. The information on this particular guitar is mixed. In one portion of the description they say they used an exotic wood called Amaranth, but in another portion of the same description they say they use Roseacer. It would be nice to know because Roseacer which is a roasted maple sometimes has tendency to develop small splits, even though it's very rare. Amaranth, which goes under a number of different names depending on what part of the world you live in is a very hard exotic wood that is very stable and would be an excellent choice for a fretboard replacing Rosewood. Those are my only negatives about this gutar.
Pros: I have a number of high end guitars from Gibson, Fender, Martin, Schecter and a half dozen others. This guitar visually is absolutely stunning. When I first took it out of the box I was shocked at the finish of this instrument. The workmanship on the body and the neck is superb. The quilted maple finish may be just a veneer, but it is absolutely beautiful and beyond what I expected. When I first ordered the guitar I wasn't sure about the finish on the neck. I don't like neck finishes that are heavy on lacquer. The neck has a really nice satin finish that you can tell will age beautifully and only get better with time. Out of all of my guitars, no matter what the cost, this guitar has the best neck I have ever played.
Intonation, string height, fret leveling (other than fret ends) were perfect out of the box. All controls seem of good quality and work as they should.
The workmanship (other than the dark paint used inside the "F" holes) I have to say is superb.
If you're on the fence and need a push, I hope this review helps with your decision. The service from Thomann was excellent and I can guarantee you that you will never find an instrument of this quality for the ridiculously low price they are selling it for. Have fun!
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C
Not quite a five star guitar but very close
It’s hard to believe that a guitar as good as this can be purchased for such a low price. Nevertheless, it wasn’t set up when it arrived even though I had paid to have a guitar tech ensure that it was. It didn’t take me long to correct these things at home and in fairness to Thomann, they offered to correct this error. I declined, as it was well within my skill set to sort it out myself. The only reason I had asked to have a tech check it out was because I wanted to improve my chances of getting a decent one, figuring that at the price it must be a bit of a lottery to get a playable guitar. I needn’t have worried. Thomann value for money and build quality being self evident in this case.
Why buy a hollow tele with P90’s? Well, I’ve always loved the sound and flexibility of P90’s and I was curious to hear what they would sound like in this format. At this price, with Thomann’s return policy? Why hesitate?
This is a gorgeous guitar to look at and the fit and finish is extremely good. No flaws evident. The woodwork being of a higher standard that many mainstream models I’ve played over the last sixty years! That’s the benefit of modern C&C manufacturing I guess! Now set up, it plays really well.
As one might expect, there are a few minor negatives. Probably just a one-off but try as I might I couldn’t adjust out pole balance problems on the neck pick-up. Adjusting the pole screw to bring up the gain on the first string just didn’t work! So I cheated and bought a set of Tonerider pickups! I’m sure Thomann would have replaced it if I had asked but I would have ‘specced’ Toneriders if I had been given the choice when I bought it. Problem sorted, it sounds as good as it looks and plays. The pots, switch and socket are predictably low rent but they work well enough for now. A future upgrade possibly but only if they become problematic.
The machine heads (or tuners if you prefer) are better than one might expect and have settled to provide quite stable tuning. A smidge of backlash perhaps but nothing requiring an upgrade at this stage.
Info for the ‘upgraders’ out there; The neck is nicely made, very well finished in a satin coating, no fret sprout on mine and reportedly comfortable if you have medium to large hands. Sadly I have small hands so it feels a little bit fat to me. The truss rod functions perfectly so setting the neck up was very easy. Unfortunately a standard Fender spec replacement neck doesn’t fit this neck socket. The socket is a bit too wide by about 1.5mm so will need shimming if you’re determined to change the neck. Sorry I didn’t get around to checking the socket depth once I noticed the width discrepancy.
So there you are, a great guitar for the money. Eminently playable as is but would probably benefit from slightly more ‘upmarket’ tuners and better electrics. The fitted pickups sound good. I doubt if the balance problem I had is usual so a pick-up upgrade is unlikely to be necessary. I was obviously influenced by personal preference in choosing to upgrade them. Maybe Thomann could consider offering an upgraded version with a standard neck socket, higher quality tuners and better electrics but this guitar is fantastic value for money as is.
Recommended as an alternative choice to the solid body variety of Telecaster in the less than £500 price range.
Why buy a hollow tele with P90’s? Well, I’ve always loved the sound and flexibility of P90’s and I was curious to hear what they would sound like in this format. At this price, with Thomann’s return policy? Why hesitate?
This is a gorgeous guitar to look at and the fit and finish is extremely good. No flaws evident. The woodwork being of a higher standard that many mainstream models I’ve played over the last sixty years! That’s the benefit of modern C&C manufacturing I guess! Now set up, it plays really well.
As one might expect, there are a few minor negatives. Probably just a one-off but try as I might I couldn’t adjust out pole balance problems on the neck pick-up. Adjusting the pole screw to bring up the gain on the first string just didn’t work! So I cheated and bought a set of Tonerider pickups! I’m sure Thomann would have replaced it if I had asked but I would have ‘specced’ Toneriders if I had been given the choice when I bought it. Problem sorted, it sounds as good as it looks and plays. The pots, switch and socket are predictably low rent but they work well enough for now. A future upgrade possibly but only if they become problematic.
The machine heads (or tuners if you prefer) are better than one might expect and have settled to provide quite stable tuning. A smidge of backlash perhaps but nothing requiring an upgrade at this stage.
Info for the ‘upgraders’ out there; The neck is nicely made, very well finished in a satin coating, no fret sprout on mine and reportedly comfortable if you have medium to large hands. Sadly I have small hands so it feels a little bit fat to me. The truss rod functions perfectly so setting the neck up was very easy. Unfortunately a standard Fender spec replacement neck doesn’t fit this neck socket. The socket is a bit too wide by about 1.5mm so will need shimming if you’re determined to change the neck. Sorry I didn’t get around to checking the socket depth once I noticed the width discrepancy.
So there you are, a great guitar for the money. Eminently playable as is but would probably benefit from slightly more ‘upmarket’ tuners and better electrics. The fitted pickups sound good. I doubt if the balance problem I had is usual so a pick-up upgrade is unlikely to be necessary. I was obviously influenced by personal preference in choosing to upgrade them. Maybe Thomann could consider offering an upgraded version with a standard neck socket, higher quality tuners and better electrics but this guitar is fantastic value for money as is.
Recommended as an alternative choice to the solid body variety of Telecaster in the less than £500 price range.
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Ut
Grande strumento
Grande strumento, ottimo rapporto qualità/prezzo
Pro
Estetica, è particolare, ricorda una tele ma ha la sua personalità, bellissima la resa dei colori
Comodità, bel manico, scorrevole, piccolina, si suona benissimo
Suono, i P90 fanno il loro lavoro
Contro:
Pesante. È una semiacustica, santo cielo, ma pesa come una Gibson lo
Materiali. Le viti dei pickup erano spanate, c'è voluta una sudata per sistemarli. Se non sei uno smanettone bene così.
Pro
Estetica, è particolare, ricorda una tele ma ha la sua personalità, bellissima la resa dei colori
Comodità, bel manico, scorrevole, piccolina, si suona benissimo
Suono, i P90 fanno il loro lavoro
Contro:
Pesante. È una semiacustica, santo cielo, ma pesa come una Gibson lo
Materiali. Le viti dei pickup erano spanate, c'è voluta una sudata per sistemarli. Se non sei uno smanettone bene così.
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JC
Almost perfect, but…
Beautiful guitar. Neck great. Frets a little gritty, but an easy fix. Electronics sloppily installed. Jack was loose, but worse was the fact there was no sound . Was able to find wiring shorted to the tone pot and repair it, but the average person would not be able to figure it out and fix it. Oversight that QC inspection should have found.
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r
Great guitar, but some shortcuts
First up, I really like this guitar. It's light, the neck feels great, and I love the color and vibe. I've gigged with it several times and gotten nothing but compliments.
That being said, there are a few issues with this guitar. The string ferrules on the back were installed by Mr. Magoo, as they're not in a straight line. Not a huge deal, but it's obvious it was done by eye (and not well). Also, the fretboard material has a rosewood color, but they stained the front of the fretboard black and left the sides natural. It's odd to see a black fingerboard but brown sides. Why not just leave the fingerboard natural? It would look better, in my opinion. But the black does make the MOP inlays pop, which I'm sure is the point.
Cosmetic issues aside, I replaced the tuners with locking Gotohs and leveled and dressed the frets. She plays awesome, so with some TLC this guitar is a winner overall.
That being said, there are a few issues with this guitar. The string ferrules on the back were installed by Mr. Magoo, as they're not in a straight line. Not a huge deal, but it's obvious it was done by eye (and not well). Also, the fretboard material has a rosewood color, but they stained the front of the fretboard black and left the sides natural. It's odd to see a black fingerboard but brown sides. Why not just leave the fingerboard natural? It would look better, in my opinion. But the black does make the MOP inlays pop, which I'm sure is the point.
Cosmetic issues aside, I replaced the tuners with locking Gotohs and leveled and dressed the frets. She plays awesome, so with some TLC this guitar is a winner overall.
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A
One big, mostly plesant surprise
Let me start with saying that the level of workmanship can vary from sample to sample, so my experiences aren't necessarily true for you if you decide to buy one. I waited a few weeks before publishing a review, because it takes some time to go over all the details.
This guitar costs 179 euros, but looks like a guitar that could easily cost 10 times as much. The finish is breathtaking. It's actually a pity that they didn't match the headstock ? that would have been absolutely awesome!
The body has a seamless binding which exactly matches the aged white of the Wilkinson P90 pickups. I don't know it it's a real binding or just paint, but I couldn't care less. Even the F-holes have the same binding!
I have another semi-hollow guitar, a Höfner, which is as light as a feather and quite loud when played acoustically. This guitar is not lightweight by any means. It actually feels rather heavy, and when you look into the F-holes it's clear why: there's a massive center block in the middle, and the sides of the body are solid wood too.
The lack of a scale prevented me to weigh the guitar. In any case, this is not a flimsy construction, which I appreciate very much.
When hitting the low E while holding the guitar body to my own body, everything resonates in a very pleasant way. Maybe the 'string-through' system has something to so with that, not sure. Yet it is acoustically just above average, the guitar doesn't 'push much air'. It's enough for practicing though.
The neck is typical for a Telecaster model. It's not as thin as your typical Ibanez shredder, nor as thick as the ones found on a Gibson Les Paul. I think it's just perfect. It's a one-piece neck, so there's no scarf joint. Instead Harley Benton opted for two string trees to get the necessary angle. The string trees are the cheapest you can buy, but they appear to work well.
The neck was too straight out of the box, which resulted in fret buzz here and there -- in spite of the relatively high position of the saddles. No biggy, the necessary tools are in the box. I like my necks ever-so-slightly concave.
The tuners were a bit stiff at first, but accurate. They loosen up quickly. The nut is well cut for strings up to 010-046. For anything beyond that all bets are off.
All frets on my sample were perfectly level, but needed polishing and were *really* uncomfortably sharp at both ends. I had to polish them all, which is a LOT of work. This is something I find annoying, but it is fixable.
The fret board can use some lemon oil or, even better, Dunlop 02 'Deep Conditioner', which will bring back the beautiful rosewood color. In the end I even used a generic 'dark wood conditioner' which made the fret board even darker. Just a matter of taste.
The (Wilkinson?) bridge on my copy is fine. Intonation was a breeze. On almost all guitars I own the action was too high for comfort 'out of the box' and this HB is no exception. Just take your time to adjust the saddles to your own taste and don't forget to keep the radius of the neck in mind.
The sound of the Wilkinson P90 pickups come amazingly close to those on my $$$$ Gibson Centennial Les Paul Special. While these are single coils, there's hardly any hum unless I plug my amp into an AC outlet without a ground pin. Interesting.
In short: apart from the obvious things (general setup), you might have some work cut out for you to fix some annoying flaws. Yet I kept the price tag in mind, price/performance is what counts here.
When all work is done, this is an amazing guitar which can face any competition.
This guitar costs 179 euros, but looks like a guitar that could easily cost 10 times as much. The finish is breathtaking. It's actually a pity that they didn't match the headstock ? that would have been absolutely awesome!
The body has a seamless binding which exactly matches the aged white of the Wilkinson P90 pickups. I don't know it it's a real binding or just paint, but I couldn't care less. Even the F-holes have the same binding!
I have another semi-hollow guitar, a Höfner, which is as light as a feather and quite loud when played acoustically. This guitar is not lightweight by any means. It actually feels rather heavy, and when you look into the F-holes it's clear why: there's a massive center block in the middle, and the sides of the body are solid wood too.
The lack of a scale prevented me to weigh the guitar. In any case, this is not a flimsy construction, which I appreciate very much.
When hitting the low E while holding the guitar body to my own body, everything resonates in a very pleasant way. Maybe the 'string-through' system has something to so with that, not sure. Yet it is acoustically just above average, the guitar doesn't 'push much air'. It's enough for practicing though.
The neck is typical for a Telecaster model. It's not as thin as your typical Ibanez shredder, nor as thick as the ones found on a Gibson Les Paul. I think it's just perfect. It's a one-piece neck, so there's no scarf joint. Instead Harley Benton opted for two string trees to get the necessary angle. The string trees are the cheapest you can buy, but they appear to work well.
The neck was too straight out of the box, which resulted in fret buzz here and there -- in spite of the relatively high position of the saddles. No biggy, the necessary tools are in the box. I like my necks ever-so-slightly concave.
The tuners were a bit stiff at first, but accurate. They loosen up quickly. The nut is well cut for strings up to 010-046. For anything beyond that all bets are off.
All frets on my sample were perfectly level, but needed polishing and were *really* uncomfortably sharp at both ends. I had to polish them all, which is a LOT of work. This is something I find annoying, but it is fixable.
The fret board can use some lemon oil or, even better, Dunlop 02 'Deep Conditioner', which will bring back the beautiful rosewood color. In the end I even used a generic 'dark wood conditioner' which made the fret board even darker. Just a matter of taste.
The (Wilkinson?) bridge on my copy is fine. Intonation was a breeze. On almost all guitars I own the action was too high for comfort 'out of the box' and this HB is no exception. Just take your time to adjust the saddles to your own taste and don't forget to keep the radius of the neck in mind.
The sound of the Wilkinson P90 pickups come amazingly close to those on my $$$$ Gibson Centennial Les Paul Special. While these are single coils, there's hardly any hum unless I plug my amp into an AC outlet without a ground pin. Interesting.
In short: apart from the obvious things (general setup), you might have some work cut out for you to fix some annoying flaws. Yet I kept the price tag in mind, price/performance is what counts here.
When all work is done, this is an amazing guitar which can face any competition.
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N
Hard to beat for the price
I own many guitars, from inexpensive to 4000€+ of value and top of the line series, and I must admit that for the price it is a really nice guitar.
I really wish I could have had such a nice guitar for that price when I started.
Pros:
- Slim satin finish neck
- Fret work is good, no cutting edges
- Decent nut
- Nice two piece top
- Decent wood
- Pearl inlays
- Large potentiometers
- Good strings
- Good stable tuners
- Setup was OK out of the box, but there was room to get the action lower and the intonation had to be perfected.
The bad:
- The "F" holes binding is really poorly done on the guitar I got
- The finish had small scratches here and there and fingerprints/grease
- While they sound nice, these P90 Pickups are microphonic...
They have to be replaced if you intend to play on stage or with a decent volume.
- The potentiometer shafts are too short for a hollow body!!!
This causes the inappropriate volume and tone knobs to mark and cut into the finish. Very bad. You will have to raise the knobs, change them, or change the pots to use them.
Some other thing to note, the guitar was sent without tension on the strings? Neck had to be adjusted
Conclusion, if you are a beginner, you cannot go wrong for the price.
Buy it, go to a luthier to do a basic setup, then learn to adjust according to your preferences.
I plan to use this guitar during shows and have no fear of breaking it or getting it stolen.
Would definitely buy again!
Harley Benton should make a more expensive model (400 to 500€) with better finish, roasted neck, better pickups, and other colors as well as bridge/tremolo options.
I really wish I could have had such a nice guitar for that price when I started.
Pros:
- Slim satin finish neck
- Fret work is good, no cutting edges
- Decent nut
- Nice two piece top
- Decent wood
- Pearl inlays
- Large potentiometers
- Good strings
- Good stable tuners
- Setup was OK out of the box, but there was room to get the action lower and the intonation had to be perfected.
The bad:
- The "F" holes binding is really poorly done on the guitar I got
- The finish had small scratches here and there and fingerprints/grease
- While they sound nice, these P90 Pickups are microphonic...
They have to be replaced if you intend to play on stage or with a decent volume.
- The potentiometer shafts are too short for a hollow body!!!
This causes the inappropriate volume and tone knobs to mark and cut into the finish. Very bad. You will have to raise the knobs, change them, or change the pots to use them.
Some other thing to note, the guitar was sent without tension on the strings? Neck had to be adjusted
Conclusion, if you are a beginner, you cannot go wrong for the price.
Buy it, go to a luthier to do a basic setup, then learn to adjust according to your preferences.
I plan to use this guitar during shows and have no fear of breaking it or getting it stolen.
Would definitely buy again!
Harley Benton should make a more expensive model (400 to 500€) with better finish, roasted neck, better pickups, and other colors as well as bridge/tremolo options.
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A
Great first impression, but a little dissapointed after that
I went to Thomann to try some guitars, and found this one. It's a beautiful guitar with light body, great neck, no sharp edges on frets, awsome feel when playing.
But, when I checked my guitar at home, which I pick up at the store, there are few small problems on it: tiny scratches, a dot looks like something peeled of from on the neckplate, and slightly wobbling 3 way switch. These may not affect a lot on sound, but it's a pain for someone who really cares about the quality.
And the pickups are quite low on output, but the sound is still great, at clean tone.
But, when I checked my guitar at home, which I pick up at the store, there are few small problems on it: tiny scratches, a dot looks like something peeled of from on the neckplate, and slightly wobbling 3 way switch. These may not affect a lot on sound, but it's a pain for someone who really cares about the quality.
And the pickups are quite low on output, but the sound is still great, at clean tone.
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A
Excellent Value
I'd been after a thinline tele for a while, but as I won't use it a huge amount I didn't want to spend a lot of money on one. I'd been looking at other brands for some time but had been put off by having to invest substantially more to get something half decent. When I saw this one, the price and the excellent reviews, I decided I must try it out. The pros: a very well made guitar for very little money, the fret finish on mine was superb and holds its own against guitars I own many times the price. The look and sound of the guitar is amazing too. The quilted maple is good, not as much depth as a couple of more expensive guitars I own, but nothing to complain about. The fret board is almost as dark as my ebony fretboard guitars, which sets off the abalone dot inlays beautifully. The p90 pickups give a slightly fuller sound than the single coils on my standard 1962 tele, but still have that characteristic twang. The guitar is relatively light and the arch top makes it very comfortable to play. The cons: mine had some finish flaws which needed sorting out. The finish was rough round one of the f holes and I needed to polish this out. In one place there was a slight mark in the finish of the top of the guitar, it looked like a slip with the finisher - again I have polished this out but it still shows slightly if you know where to look. The neck finish looked as if someone had picked the guitar up with hands covered in finishing compound or something and needed a good rub down after which there is no complaint. In setting up the guitar my main complaint is that the bridge (which is of very good quality) is set rather high, so in order to lower the action to where I like it the saddles are just about at their lowest position, so not a lot of wriggle room if you like the action really low. The truss rod works fine and the frets are good level and smooth, so it is very playable. All in all, I am very picky and my example needed some work to get it into a state where I was happy with it, but at this price I am delighted with the results and can't quite believe Thomann can produce these at this price point.
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R
A simple design that is very well put together. The finish was flawless, the neck although a chunky "C" is slick and fast. Good fretwork and a steal for the price. Also an excellent platform to build up with higher grade parts as I did.
UPDATE....after a string change I noticed the low E tuning machine was a bit off center, so I remove the screw to find a broken screw shaft in the wood. The factory tilted the tuner and put another screw beside the broken one. Poor quality control. Now I have to find a way to remove it without damaging the neck.
UPDATE....after a string change I noticed the low E tuning machine was a bit off center, so I remove the screw to find a broken screw shaft in the wood. The factory tilted the tuner and put another screw beside the broken one. Poor quality control. Now I have to find a way to remove it without damaging the neck.
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