Harley Benton TE-62 CC LPB

This is my second Harley Benton guitar, the other being the CST-24.
No issues with this one as well.
For reference, I’m primarily a bass player and play guitar on the side. I’ve played and owned more expensive guitars and basses like Squier, Fender, Ibanez, Washburn and Yamaha.

No surprises in the sound department. It obviously sounds like a t-style guitar.

Technically, the guitar is well built. Neck and frets are properly finished. Neck alignment and setup is very decent. No issues with the electronics either.
Besides tuning it didn't need any additional setup before playing it out of the box. Decent action, no intonation problems or buzzes.

Visually, it’s a very appealing instrument.
The caramelized neck came out nicer than I expected and feels very smooth.
I would describe the Lake Placid blue finish as kinda ‘soft’ with a vintage-ish hue (not as bright and sparkly as on some LPB guitars). In my case the images on the Thomann website give a very good representation of the color. Together with the mint pickguard and caramelized neck it really adds to the vintage aesthetic. Very nice!

In my case, the only thing that gives away that you are dealing with a low-priced instrument, is the 3-way switch. The switch on mine feels a bit flimsy, but it functions without issues.
I've had no problems with tuning stability, even after some extensive bending, which means the tuners and the nut do a pretty good job.

All and all a solid and well-built guitar that delivers way more than the price tag might suggest. It feels and plays like a serious instrument.
So far, I really enjoy playing this guitar, which is the most important criteria for any guitar, I guess.

I have another Harley Benton (SC-450 Plus) which was great quality so I thought I'd treat myself to a tele. It's pretty perfect, plays and sounds great. The nut is well cut, the fret work is immaculate (I believe HB use PLEK to get perfect frets on their necks, and it shows). The frets are all polished and set perfectly, better than my Fender Strat which had a few poorly set frets. The neck and fingerboard finish with the roasted maple is lovely, really great grain character both front and back. The fingerboard is a separate piece from the neck, which isn't traditional Fender style, but it's not uncommon. It's a much nicer grain than my Fender's neck and maple fingerboard. Because it's roasted it's unfinished, or lightly oiled, rather than a thick lacquer (a la Fender) which is a huge bonus in terms of playability - nice and smooth. Roasted maple also is harder and drier so it won't go out of tune as easily with humidity changes. The LPB finish is flawless, slightly less saturated and bright blue perhaps than a Fender equivalent, but I like it. Comes with the updated brass compensated saddles which is a great touch. The pickups sound great, bridge sounds nice and twangy while neck is smooth and glassy. Tone and volume knobs rotate smoothly and the pickup selector has a nice sturdy feel to it. Only fault really is the volume knob is slightly higher than it should be. Intonation was spot on out the box and so is the action, which I measured as bang on Fender spec action height. My copy weighed in at just 3.4 kg which is 0.15kg lighter than my Fender Strat! I've instantly bonded with it and it feels great to play, especially as I prefer the flatter fingerboard. Once again HB have shown up the big boys for what can be achieved for a very reasonable price.

So just a bit of background. I mainly play acoustic guitar and have two Gibson J45s, a high end Takamine and a Yamaha 12 string. I recently sold my two Fender Telecasters as I didn't play them enough. One was the PowerTele with the Fishman electronics and the other was a Modern Player. Having sold these Teles, I needed another one, so opted for the TE-62CC LPB.

It is an absolutely gorgeous guitar, plays really well and I've been practising my string bends on it all day, straight out of the box. The roasted neck is silky fast, the frets are perfect. No fear of sharp edges here. The chrome knobs are not plastic, which I assumed would be the case. They are some kind of chrome or metal and feel really good.

The neck joint is very well cut and fitted. No noticeable gaps. Looks really solid. I know others have said that they don't like the tuners but to me, they're fine.

The paintwork is beautiful. No blemishes or uneveness, just very well executed. The LPB is a flat colour and if I had the choice I would have opted for the blue on the TE-28MN BM. That Tele look like it has a blue sparkle finish but difficult to tell in the photos. Anyway, I opted for the TE-62 as it is fitted with better parts.

If there's one thing I could report that was negative is that the markers on the fretboard are no centred. If you look closely you can see that some are offset left and others are offset to the right. The markers on the side of the neck, the ones which a guitarist uses, are set uniformly, so no big deal. As I said, you have to look closely to see it.

Overall, a very happy customer.

I purchased three of these TE 622CC guitars in three different colors. LPB, SP, and IS. They arrived to the US in only a few days. During UPS shipping a large hole was cut in the side of the box and the corner was torn open. The SP, LPB were fine but the IS was damaged and returned. UPS denied the damage claim but Thomann sent me another one which had a neck pocket crack as well but no shipping damage. Great customer service by Thomann!

The negative first:
The LPB is nowhere near the blue in the images nor Fender's LPB.
The mint green pickguard clashes with this blue and looks pretty bad.
***Big Negative*** pickguards that fit T-Style Fender/Squier/MIM/USA/Vintage Do NOT fit these guitars. They cannot be modified to fit. You have to have a custom cut guard made for ~$50 or more. That is really too much for a $139 guitar. Come on Thomann! Offer more choices (black or white) or offer them separately for $20 to ship with the guitar please!!!
The neck pickup is VERY lackluster compared to the very nice bridge pickup. I know it's a "bottom end guitar" but it really doesn't belong on an otherwise nice guitar.

The Positive:
The LPB guitar was right straight out of the box! I stretched out the strings which are supposed to be 10-46 but I believe they are 9-42 on this guitar and the SP. The tuning gears were smooth and far superior to others on ≤$150 guitars I have played. The bridge pickup really sings on this model even with some gain thrown at it, but not on the SP or IS which indicates your mileage may vary. Full sized unbranded pots, a solid output jack, a properly cut nut, a heavy bridge plate and decent saddles make this a big step up from many junker guitars. The selector switch is quiet but seems flimsy. However, the barrel knob did NOT immediately fall off so obviously they are not using Fender switches! The fretwork seems good. Smooth edges, no dead spots and the intonation was right without compensated saddles. The guitar was heavier than I prefer but not bad. The color, while not as advertised was nicely applied and was clean and free of spots.

I really feel that I could have taken this guitar to a rehearsal out of the box and kept up with my Fender guitars. Before I would consider playing a show with it, I would put in some CTS pots, a Mallory capacitor, a switchcraft output Jack, a quality 3 or 4 way switch, and a new neck pickup. If I keep this guitar I will probably put a set of pickups in, as well as Gotoh vintage style locking tuners that drop right in, and InTune saddles. The platform of body/neck is really nice. If you could guarantee that they would all come out of the box just like this needing no fret work or set up it would be a no brainer for a beginner or someone moving up from a junker beginner guitar. However, I can tell by ordering three of these at the same time that is not the case. For this price I think it's probably worth the the chance. You can always take it to a local shop and have some set up work done and have a brand new quality guitar that's been set up by a shop that plays and sounds good for less than $240.

Unless you want to tolerate an ugly mint green pickguard that clashes with your finish colors then go ahead and expect to pay $50 plus for a proper guard.

I ordered this Telecaster (in LakePlacidBlue color) a few days ago and it has now arrived in a very safe box. It looks super nice! Excellent wood materials and the color finish is very well done. The roasted maple neck is very smooth. I was also surprised because it came in tune and it sounds very good. I am delighted by the sound quality of these Harley Benton Roswell pickups. I will buy another telecaster in another color very soon.
Thank You
....
I just ordered another TE-62cc in "Dakota Red". It is as great as the other one !
I also ordered from Thomann a few items to upgrade and
mod these TE-62cc .......
- Gotoh In-Tune BS T-Style Saddles Set (perfect fit and better sound)
- Graph Tech PT-5000-00 guitar Nut (perfect fit and better sound)
- Gotoh RG15/RG30 String retainer N
- Harley Benton Security Locks BK (best guitar strap locks)
- Thomann E-Guitar Gigbag Premium BR (perfect for my Te-62cc)
.
Thank you Thomann and Harley Benton !

In brief, I owned the same guitar in surf green, foolishly sold it. Have also owned the TE70 RW, TE-52 and a TE-30.

The Roswell pickups sound good, neck is warmer and rounder, bridge has bite, but not brittle. Can't really say it sounds different than the TE-52, I don't have high end amps, or great ears, so maybe higher end gear might reveal them (or better ears)

Tuning stability is fine, tuners are ok.

Neck is comfortable and reasonably fast.

I had no tele style guitar having had to sell all my gear last year, decided to start playing again, and wanted an 'old friend'.

Lastly- I'm a home player only, but I've learnt over the years, that you either need some basic skills to set up a guitar, maybe new strings depending on your preference; or to take it to a guitar tech. I'll bring this to my technician and for an extra 40-50 euros will have a great playing guitar. Very few guitars at this price or more, arrive ready to play- and what makes a good playing/well set-up guitar is subjective anyway.

Highly recommended, buy one, get it set up, put on your string choice and you'll thoroughly enjoy it.

I ordered this as I wanted to have a telecaster guitar. Before that I had the chance to play both the te-52 and the te-70rw. They are all good but I prefer the 62, mostly due to the weight (the other two might be heavy depending on the item) and the neck that fits me better. The quality is great, out of the box playable, lowered the action a bit, no fret buzz, no fret sprout, frets better polished than expected. Overall a solidly built straightforward tele with a classy finish. Nut, bridge and tuners all fine.The sound is characteristic tele, however I may experiment in the future with tex-mex pickups

Harley Benton TE-62CC LPB, it arrived within eight days to the UK well packaged via DHL delivery.
The guitar is well made with only a few minor imperfections, I mention these first- 1. The paintwork a few blemishes (highlights) above the pickguard within the metallic paint surface. and 2. The nut is cut a little deep for the B string. ( I have owned guitars costing many times the cost of this with more imperfection)
This guitar has many plus points the neck is very good, it's maple, smooth with a quality finish and colour. The frets are polished and on this example well put together. Tuners/ machine heads are fine, the action is good for me but others may want it lower. The single coils work well with the volume and tone knobs and switch worked with no problems. The guitar has a good tone, on all settings. It can be versatile and can be used for many genre of music. It has amazing sustain.
The lake placid blue is a lovely colour and works well with the contrasting mint green pickguard and caramelised neck. This is a £125 guitar that punches well above it weight.
You could mod this guitar, but get to know it first it might surprise you.
This guitar will please anyone, not just for a starter.
Seasoned players will appreciate it too.
This is this good instrument, and I have enjoyed playing it.
'It's a 3.2 kilogramme bundle of joy.'

A 3.2 kilograms bundle of joy.

I can only speak for my copy, so here it goes:
- neck: great shape, my left hand doesn't get tired from chords in standing position when using this one (12-inch radius). On the 95.-inch radius I get tired more easily. The colour is also really nice. Thin satin finish, smooth, but not Fender smooth.
- pickups: the neck pickup is really warm and quite loud, I had to lower it significantly to match the volume of the bridge pickup. At one point the screws just turn, but you do not see it go down: just push it down slightly and it moves. Resistance on both is about 5.6kOhm.
- electronics: mini pots, but they do the job just fine. The tone pot has a .022uF capacitor and has a wide spread. No shielding, but I think it is worth investing in it.
- body: great colour, not exactly like in the picture. not heavy
- tuners: just fine, they hold tuning; tested with D'Addario and Pyramid strings.
- fret work: leaves a bit to be desired. There is some scratching and buzz in a few places, but overall good.
-how it plays: really good. you can get used to it and not touch other guitars for longer periods. It likes overdrive, distortion and loud amps. Good middle position on the pickups as well.

All in all, I absolutely do not regret buying it. It is a fun instrument with a lot to give.