Harley Benton TE-62CC SP

Overall, this is a great guitar and a phenomenal value for money. The fit and finish is good, caramelized maple neck feels good (although slightly chunky) and sounds good. The guitar is super light and I can play it for hours. However, mine did arrive with various issues (small neck pocket crack, very loose and slightly bent switch as well as a crooked tone pot. Thomann customer service is great as always and sent me replacement pots and switch for free.

Overall, the guitar is great but I was unluckly to receive a lemon. For the price, you can't go wrong and I highly recommend this to anyone looking for a Tele style.

I have had this guitar for two months now, and I'll be fast to say, this guitar is EXACTLY how it was advertised.

Everything on this guitar was perfect, firstly, sound: that twangy Tele sound is perfect, the pickups are extremely high quality, not an issue to be had here, each pickup selection sounds exactly as you'd want, which is surprising for this price point, this guitar is an absolute all-star, you can play anything on it easily, and it shines in most genres.

On top of this: no fret buzz on the default configuration for this guitar, I actually haven't done anything in terms of adjusting action, etc because the standard is fairly perfect for me (though the action was slightly high on arrival, I haven't adjusted it because it doesn't cause me issue nor bother me). I'd also like to add that the strings that came on the guitar are likely just as good quality as whatever you use, I have not had to change mine yet (at about 2-4 hours daily usage, for two months, including alt. tunings, both tuning up and down) they still sound as good as new.

And of course, Looks: This guitar looks as good as advertised, if not better, the soft, pastel pink, is even better looking in person, it's just deep enough to impact the looks of the guitar, but doesn't distract from the typical "mean" look of Tele style guitars; The fretboard is absolutely identical to the pictures, and so is just about everything else, including the tuning heads and all.

Overall: This guitar will turn heads in all categories, looks, sound, feel, and arguably most importantly, price point.

I am not going to play the price vs quality game. Either a guitar is good or not and I dont care if it costs 5 or 2 thousands euros. And this guitar is absolutely OK. Straight out of the box it was set up perfectly, even the strings were fine. Only the switch is a little bit loose, but it works and thats all I need. I like the pickups very much and I m not going to change them. The tuners are perfect as well. I tuned the guitar the first day and after a week they still hold in tune. Soundwise it depends what amp or software are you using. I can make it sounds like heaven as well as a crap. Amp is almost always more important than a guitar. I own Squier Classic Vibe (400,-), Fender Mexican (1000,-), USA (1500,-) and Gibson Custom (4500,-). This Benton is in the same league as Squier and both Fenders - quality and sound. Gibson is another league. Put this guitar into John Mayers hands or some of the youtube guys (Chriss Buck) and your jaws will drop. I also own HB TE 20. I bought it just for fun. And guess what? I really do have fun with that guitar. Although this 62 is twice as good (as the price). Dont be worried about buying it. It is not a beginner guitar.

Looks - it's amazing. The work on this is very well done and it looks stunning. No corners cut there and the craftsmanship is of what you would expect from a more expensive guitar. The only thing is the pick guard - it will not be white but lime green (you can always replace it so it's a minor thing). I ordered it for the color alone for my collection and I am happy with it.

Feel - there's some fret sprouting, action needs adjustment so while it's playable out of the box, needs some additional work to make it better.

Pickups - I would change them, although they do their work, it's not something I personally would drive as there's some quality loss in middle/neck pickups for sure. Bridge is quite okay.

Tuners hold up fine, stays in tune quite well and no issues here. Same is with the neck and bridge, look to be decent. But I will be looking down the line to replace them too (not a priority, pickups and fretwork are more important here).

Overall I would say it's worth the price (and even more so), I will be modifying and doing proper setup with luthier, as I see that this could be one of my main guitars given the good feel of the neck. It's just the pickups and minor fretwork that needs to be done. Oh, and for sure, please change the strings, oil the fret board as well and make necessary adjustments - this guitar is worth the additional investment to make it as good as 4-5 times more expensive guitars. No brainer, ideal guitar for backup or why not for even one of the mains if you are willing to adjust it to your specifics a bit!

I'm an advanced guitarist but I don't believe in spending thousands on big-name brands as the marginal benefit is so low the higher up you go (I am also an economist). That being said I was looking at an affordable T-style guitar that gave me the most value that I could upgrade down the line and learn advanced luthier skills such as fret levelling, etc (And to play math rock) and this guitar intrigued me. I had really low expectations because of the price tag but was very impressed with what I received in comparison to similarly priced instruments from Squier.

Positives
- The fit and finish are amazing, I love the mint pickguard and pink finish! But the pickguard is a lot more mint than in the images. 0 defects that I can see. My only complaint is one of the screws for the control plate was a bit too close to the cavity but no functional issues there. If I was being really picky, the pickguard edges and the bottom of the vol/tone knobs are slightly rough.
- The neck looks and feels amazing, and the fretboard edges also feel slightly rolled which was a surprise.
- No sharp fret ends and scratchy frets! I was surprised that they were polished pretty decently, it's not perfect but it's way better than Squier's for sure.
- Great tone, obviously not identical to Fender tele pickups but I'd say they are 90% there, I don't think they are ceramic either so I probably won't be replacing these soon!
- Very lightweight, the body is poplar and seems to be a few millimetres thinner than an actual tele body which I'm all for if it decreases the weight!
- The nut is perfectly cut
- Tuners honestly are decent, I really liked them
- Switch is decent as well, a little flimsy but not too bad.
- No crackling with turning pots, no microphonic pickups, awesome!

Negatives
- It came terribly setup out of the box, the action was a mile high but the neck relief was ok, just gave it a quarter turn and lowered the saddles so it was playable
- The strings on it were old and sounded terrible, I immediately replaced them.
- There are a few high frets so there is some buzz with my preferred action setting, but no dead spots no choking on bends.
- Intonation isn't great on the low e but that's a tele problem
- It has mini pots, GuitarGeek did a review for it and the model he got had full-size pots, not a deal breaker but I do feel a bit misled.
- Tuning stability was poor initially, but I used a pencil to add graphite to the nut slots and it's alright now.
- I can't lower the high e-string saddle height anymore as I reached the limit, it's fine but I would like it slightly lower, maybe I'll shim the guitar.
- Saddle adjustment screws protrude after setup, I don't mind it as it doesn't hurt but yet another tele design problem.
- It was 21 frets, I prefer 22 but it is what it is.

Overall a great guitar and for the price you can't go wrong but it NEEDS a setup, IMO all guitarists should know how to do a basic setup and if you're scared of doing it with your expensive axe, practice on a cheaper one! I'm pretty happy with it now but I'm planning to change the saddles to compensated brass saddles, get a tusq nut and level the frets. Maybe down the line, I'll replace the electronics. Giving 4 stars as I might've gotten lucky and your mileage may vary with cheap guitars so keep your expectations low!

I've played guitar for over 50 yrs and when I look for a guitar I look for a "Good Instrument"! What that means to me is, after a setup is done, does the guitar stay in tune well. Are the frets level so I can achieve a nice low, enjoyable, playing action. Are there sounds in the guitar that I can enjoy and use.
I recently decided to order 2 Harley Bentons and give them a try. To be honest I am shocked. I ordered this te62 and a sc500. Both are excellent instruments and so easy and fun to play! Thank you Thomann and thank you also to the people who make these guitars! I am more then pleased with these two axes!