Harley Benton TE-90QM Trans Red

I ordered this on a Friday and it arrived on the following Tuesday. Fantastic delivery time from Thomann.

I was not expecting much from this guitar, because lets face it, it is still cheaper than the equivalent model from Squier or Yamaha. Oh boy was I surprised.

First of all, I should add that this guitar was packaged properly. It came in a box with polystyrene supports for the neck and polystyrene blocks around the edges of the box to make it unmoveable during transit. Better than the Burns guitar I had ordered previously.
Then it was packed, along with a second guitar I had also ordered, into a larger Thomann branded outer box filled with loads of "air filled" plastic padding.

Out of the box, the intonation was a little bit sharp on the twelfth fret and the action was set to about medium height, which is just how I like it. The six adjustable saddles make it easier to set the intonation or drop the action when compared to the standard telecaster setup and the strings still go through the body. This means that you not only get get loads of sustain, but you also get a snazzy looking bridge that does not slice the hand.

The finish on this guitar is flawless, I really mean flawless too. I could not find a thing wrong with it and I was looking really hard. The ivory colored binding is even on both the edge of the body and the "f" holes. There were no dings or discoloration in the finish and the pickups and neck were aligned perfectly. The color is a deep red, and allows the wood of the body to show through very clearly. So clearly, that it initially appears that this body is made from a single piece of wood. Looking at the rear, you can quite clearly see that the grain flows perfectly across the body, with no obvious joins or loss in grain quality. However, looking closely I noticed that the back of the guitar is nearly 6mm of a nice laminate that looks like it is glued to the main body. I can't tell how many pieces make up the main body but the quilted maple top, probably also a laminate, seams to be made from one nice piece of wood.
There is a solid piece of wood running down the center of the guitar which adds weight to the whole setup.

This guitar is heavier than you might think. It weighs slightly more than a Squier Standard Telecaster and as I said before it has a lot of sustain. This may be in part due to the ivory colored set of P90 style Wilkinson pickups, combined with an excellent set of D'addario strings. They provide that true P90 sound, which is a little smoother and louder than single coils. Not quite as hiss free as humbuckers, but still bloody good just the same. Electrics also seem good, operating smoothly and without crackle.
This guitar has only a single volume, a single tone and a three way switch. Very simplified but very useable just the same. It is so nice to find a tone and a volume pot that actually graduate properly across the full range. So many budget guitars come with a volume that is either on or off or a tone that only has two settings. These two controls seem smooth and flawless in operation. The only thing I would change on this setup would be to add indentations, (sunken circles aka PRS), so that the two tone knobs come out at a straight angle.

Now we come to the neck. I haven't ever played a neck this comfortable and I have owned Fenders, Gibsons, Yamahas and Squier guitars over the years. It has a soft "D" profile, with nicely inlaid mother of pearl style dot markers that shine at all angles. It is one piece maple with a satin finish and a rosewood fretboard. The frets appear to be a fraction slimmer than medium jumbo and have no harsh edges or finish problems. The nut is well finished and inlaid and would appear to be made of synthetic bone. The rosewood fingerboard didn't even need oiling when it arrived, but I did that anyway. The tuners feel like quality units and are set on a headstock that is a fraction larger and more rounded than the other Harley Benton that I purchased, (a TE-40), at the same time. They keep tune well once the strings are stretched in.

This guitar would be good value at three hundred euros, but at only a hundred and seventy five it offers excellent value for money. It is a no nonsense instrument that I would have no problem using as my main guitar and out plays anything I have come across at twice the price. It looks good, has a nice classic tone to it and plays like a dream. Also, having a three year Thomann warranty and excellent customer support means that if you do have any problems with it, they will be dealt with smoothly and efficiently.

It matches my Marshall amplifier perfectly.

Grab one now before Thomann realises what they have and raise the price.

Why did I buy the guitar?
I was looking to get something with P90's. I liked the look of the guitar. The positive reviews and the cheap price sealed the deal.

Finish:
The back of the guitar looks really nice with the translucent red and the wood grain. Back of the neck has a nice smooth finish.
The binding has black scratches on multiple locations, both on the f-holes and the body. Binding chipped at the neck pocket. The "flame" top looks nothing like it does on the pictures. If I didn't know better I would say it is a sticker/painted pattern, it does not look like a veneer. It just makes the guitar look ugly.

Hardware:
The tuners are already slipping. Tuners loose. The bridge is pretty good for this price point.

Electronics:
The pickups are really noisy for some reason but not as high output as other P90's. Only usable in middle position even if playing with a clean sound. The pot's are crackling. Pots mounted tilted so the buttons have scratched the finish. Pickup selector switch is damaged, needs to be replaced. The 1/4" input socket is somehow not to spec, the lead will stick out about 4mm when fully inserted. The neck pickup and socket loose with screw holes stripped. one neck pickup screw hole not deep enough.

Setup and feel out of the box:
Firs impression out of the box was a lot of fret buzz but relatively high action. Nut needs filing. Intonation was off, but easy to fix. Back of the neck felt nice, fret ends sticking out a lot more then I would expect. Strings rusted.

How does it play after a setup?
Once I started setting up the guitar I quickly found the reason for the high action combined with fret buzz. I can't even describe how uneven the frets are. Checking with a fret rocker and feeler gauges I can find several that are >0.5mm higher/lower then the next fret. Also uneven height from Low string to high string. Some of the frets are loose, but others are seated properly and still messed up. My regular luthier suggested a full refret as the cheapest option. And this is where I put the whole project on hold to think about it.

Conclusion:
So I bought the guitar because of the P90's and the way it looks. The P90's lack the oomph of a traditional P90 and the guitar doesn't look anything like the pictures.
To make the guitar actually playable I would have to pay more then the price of the guitar to a luthier. To make it gig worthy I would also need to swap out the tuners and all of the electronics. And after all of that work it would still be an ugly guitar worth about 100€. Not worth the investment, I'm just gonna cut my losses and try and sell it to anyone willing to buy. But it does get 2 stars, because if you want a thinline T-type with P90's, there isn't anything else out there at this price point. Your next option is a Squier that costs more then double the price of this and has no binding and no flame top.
Maye I got a lemon, or maybe the quality has dropped in the last couple of years, I don't really know. As Ben Gibbard sang: "I hope you have more luck with this then me".

Delivery to the UK in 3 days from order being placed.

Arrived in good condition.

For use in home studio/music room.

Inspection: serial number silk screened on back of headstock, made in Indonesia. No immediate problems noted, everything in good order. No sharp fret ends. However, the edges of the nut were a little rough/sharp, but easily smoothed over.

The book matching of the quilt top is a little off, about 3-5mm misaligned, but that's being picky, only noted on close inspection.
The finishing inside looks good, no paint bald patches. The binding around the f-holes and the body is smooth, no rough edges.

Looking at the back of the body it appears to be a 2 piece, maybe more, but it is hard to tell, the matching is very good. and at a quick glance it looks like a one piece. The Mahogany grain shows through the finish nicely, very even.

Playability - very good. Action a little high but good enough. Intonation spot on. Both pickups function well, switch and pots all working, no looseness, no problems. The neck has a smooth satin finish, very comfortable for my hands.

I've lowered the action to ~3/64 ths / ~1.2 mm @ 17th fret. No fret buzz at all, no choking out. Very good indeed. The bridge has no protruding screws and is very smooth and comfortable when playing. The truss rod works exceptionally well and is very sensitive to adjustments, presumably this is a feature of a dual-action truss rod. The allen key supplied wasn't the correct size, far too small, not sure what the correct size is, but I have many allen keys and the same one I use on my squiers and epiphone seems to work.

Stays in tune well. Machine heads/tuning pegs are smooth in use, no backlash.

In circuit measurement of pickups gave DCR Bridge PU ~10.2K, Neck PU ~7K which tallies well with Roswell specs for these pickups.

The bridge PU has a lot of push, and growls, very mid focused, perfect for a te style guitar, can twang very nicely too. Backing off the pots allows it's more nuanced balanced tones to come through. They're quite bright at full tone rotation, but that's better than being too dull. I would guess that the pots are 500K. Looking into the F-holes the pots appear to be larger than 16mm, possibly 20mm.

The Neck PU is warm and lush, perfect for smooth jazz, but has some twang when needed. There's a good balance between the two, so no adjustments needed to the pickup heights.

Acoustically it is only a little louder than a solid body. Good enough for some quiet practice.

***** for the setup and quality of this guitar. Truly amazing.