Harley Benton Electric Guitar Kit T-Style

It's hard not to get value for money at this price point.
However, I sincerely don't understand why so many things don't fit properly. The pickguard doesn't fit at all around the heel of the neck and around the control plate, the screw holes in the body don't align with the pickguard. The jack plate is curved, while the body is straight. The neck pocket is 1mm too wide...

The simplest tools and templates (which have to be used to get this result in the first place) can also solve these problems. So I really don't understand why these issues are necessary.

The quality of the wood seems to be pretty good, as well as the fret job on the neck. I'm partly using other components, so I can't really say anything about the sound (I had to rate it to be able to post).

Hopefully the feedback helps to make the product better in the future, because I like to make customized guitars.

It would be even better if Thomann would start selling these necks and bodies separately, since I'm throwing out a large part of the hardware this way, which is a real waste.

The truth is, that you cannot expect much, when you buy a guitar kit, that is unbelievably cheap. This review will be based on that fact.
First of all, the body was okay, but the neck pocket and cavities were poorly routed, and i had a hard time trying to fit the neck to the body tightly. There were small dent in the back of the body, but it´s easily fixed.
Usually these kits come with quality necks, though sometimes the fret job is mediocre. The neck with this kit was a disappointment. Fret job was a utter disaster, all frets were clearly uneven and different sized, some were medium,and some narrow. The action was ridiculously high, because of the nut slots. The neck was not straight, it was a bit warped.
The hardware was okay. The tuners are terrible, and i replaced them immediately. The pickups sounded okay, a bit feedback here and there, but they´re good for their price. The pick guard was rounded with router, apparently, but whoever routed it, made a sloppy job, because the pick guards corners are full of shreds of plastic.
Everything else was okay.
I had high expectations for this kit, due to the fact it was praised to no end.
Despite of all these flaws,
it´s good for it´s price, and is a perfect present for someone who want´s to build his/her own guitar. But yeah, these guitar kits will need a high amount of work, mostly set-up.

Had great fun assembling this after spending some time applying nitro and lacquer. My only gripe is the the balance of the guitar is very neck heavy (possibly because of the very chunky neck or a lightweight body wood?) the neck is very nicely finished with no rough fret ends but the chunky profile bight be better suited to players used to vintage Gibson type neck profiles. the electrics all work ok and do what they're supposed to. Over all very good as long as you don't mind the balance issue caused by the neck. I weighted the body to compensate but even with that its still a neck diver!

Cons. None of the pre drilled holes for the pick guard, bridge and control unit lined up very accurately. more importantly, the cut out for the neck, when fitted, made the strings run of the side of the neck as the neck angle was cut wrong.However, with some gentle work with a wood chisel I was able to correct this.
Pros. The neck is very good, smooth and very playable, and okay, as others have pointed out, the pick ups and machine heads could be improved, but for the price they are okay and could very easily be improved.
I have quite a few guitars, including several Harley Bentons, which are all excellent. However, I find myself picking up and playing this kit guitar more than the others ever since I finished it.

The woodwork on my T-style kit was very rough, and there was a tear where the jack plate connects.

As with all the kits, the pre-drilled holes are out of alignment.

The neck pickup sounds okay, but the bridge pickup sounds terrible it's so muddled that you can't really use it for anything, even with effects it's very difficult to get a decent sound out of it.

These kits are really meant for people who like the idea of building a guitar, they are VERY rough out-of-the-box.
I love building these kits, but I would warn anyone who doesn't like or isn't good at sanding and painting.