Harley Benton TE-30 BE Standard Series

I always wanted a telecaster, but somehow never got one. Since I couldn't spend a whole heap of money on one, I kept trying out guitars that went somewhere around 250 euro, but I never found them likable, they never sounded like a tele should. So, after reading lots of good reviews, and having purchased a Harley Benton strat before, I thought I'd give it a shot, thinking that if it turned out to be lousy, it'd be a good modding base, but how wrong was I. This guitar is simply unbelievable, especially for a mere 89EU. Upon inspection, I could find no flaws in the overall finish of the guitar - the color looks great, lighter than in the pictures, creamy, very sweet, the neck is of a satin finish and is extremely comfortable, the tuners are alright, the spin ratio seems good enough, though I see why some would want to upgrade, though I would rather suggest trying rolling string trees first. But as of now, it stays in tune. The pickup switch feels cheapish, but it does it's job fine and it's not something that would bother me since an "upgrade" is very very cheap. Now, these things that I mentioned are absolute nitpicks, as the guitar looks and plays amazing.

Firstly, the neck - many that reviewed this commented on how fat or wide the neck is, ala the baseball bat neck. While it is surely subjective, I find the neck to be very comfortable as I dislike very thin, flat ones. It's similar to the HB ST-62 strat, but a tad slinkier, and feels much much faster. The satin finish is very nice and helps with slides. As this is my first guitar with a satin neck, I am absolutely loving it! The fret job is great, no sharp ends, everything is rounded off and such, really extremely impressive for this price! The only bit that was wonky was that the frets themselves weren't fully polished, but that went away after playing for a couple of hours. The leveling is astonishing, considering the price, no buzz, nothing. Also, the action was great right out of the box. I must be lucky or something.

Electronics - I have no quarrel with them. I quite enjoy the pickups, the middle position is very chimy and full, the bridge is biting, snaps right back at You, just as a proper tele should, and the neck is heavenly. I also should mention that it must be properly shielded because it doesn't buzz anywhere nearly as much as I expected, considering it's single coils.

Body - it's a two piece, and let me tell You, it's damn heavy. I don't mind it since I'm used to an LP that weighs a ton, but even so I was surprised since it weighs exactly as much as the full blown LP! I'm used to the weight and have a good back, but I can see how this could be an issue for some, so beware - it is darn heavy!

Playability - honestly, it's one of the best playing guitars I've ever played and I've been playing for over 15 years and played a whole lot of guitars. I bought this on the basis that my HB ST-62 strat was surprisingly okay, since I wanted something that would lay around the house, but Jesus is this nicer that the strat! The neck is miles away and overall it just feels good.

You may choose not to believe me, it might sound like a bought review but I absolutely swear that it is not so, it's just a very very good guitar. Maybe I lucked out and got the best one, I don't know, but once I've picked it up and plugged in I couldn't stop playing for a couple of hours! Very comfy, and startlingly versatile.

Overall - I honestly can't believe that I payed only 89 euro for this, it's comfortable, sound great, looks great too!
Would I recommend?

YES.

You'd be a fool not to get one of these.

After watching many reviews, I purchased my TE-30 as one of a batch of three guitars. (shipping to Canada is expensive but is one price for up to three guitars, so...) a SC 450 Gold Top; a TE-52 and this TE-30. The latter two are telecaster style guitars both with Ash body and Maple neck. Of interest to me was that, while the TE-30 is significantly less expensive than the TE-52, the basic construction and materials are the same. These are both quite heavy coming in at just shy of nine pounds each but I like the weight (for the balance) and the tele style, and so took a chance on the two. I was not disappointed. The TE-30 is a beautiful guitar. I checked first for shipping rash or other damage and there was none. (well done Thomann, CBSA, and shippers!) After a careful visual inspection and a quick tune, I verified the switching, volume, and tone pots. I found all functions on the TE 30 respond exactly like those on the TE-52. The electronics on both are smooth, predictable, and effective. The pickups are the same on both guitars and sound very good even against a traditional telecaster. I also found the volume level between the bridge and neck pickups to be well balanced with neither louder than the other at the same setting. So, the pickup resistances must be close which suggests to me a reasonable level of quality control at the manufacturer (which is a good thing). So, what are the differences that cause the TE-30 to be significantly less expensive than the TE-52? I have not yet had the pick guards off and so cannot speak to some possible difference in the switches or pots used but I can say both guitars respond in very much the same way and so probably have the same guts. There is, however, a very significant difference in the tuning keys. The TE-52 has very nice Kluson style tuners while those on the TE-30 are less interesting. While neither are top of the line tuners, (they cannot be at this price point) those on the TE-30 are just not as precise. They have a small but noticeable dead spot between tightening and loosening. Oddly, on mine at least, this is the almost exactly the same across all six tuners which suggests to me it is a design issue and not some random thing. To the positive, once tuned they do hold well. (I will probably change them out at some point though) The only other 'issues' I've come across so far are probably best described as routine maintenance. I put a quarter turn on the truss rod to address some unnecessary relief. The quarter turn did the trick so I know the truss rod is good. And, as with the TE-52, I set the intonation and lowered the strings to where I like them. Pretty routine stuff.

I find my TE-30 and the other two HB's I bought to be a truly excellent value. It will be interesting to see how well they endure over time. For anyone who may be wondering... Yes, if this guitar is ever stolen from me, I will absolutely buy another TE-30!