Harley Benton TE-69TL Hot Rod NT Roasted

This is my 30th guitar in 30+ years of playing. The cheapest of all yet still a great instrument. Constructed extremely well, neck is straight, fret edges are OK. Of course count with some fret levelling, crowning and polishing. This is a must to avoid buzz with lower action. I had to do the following to get the guitar playing great:

1. fret levelling, crowning and polishing
2. swap tuners for locking
3. swap original bridge saddles with brass compensated. This is a MUST on this guitar to get intonation about 99% correct. With original saddles this is totally impossible (inherent problem of barrel saddles on some TELEs)
4. do a full proper setup

The guitar was OK out of the box, but I want almost perfect intonation and tuning stability with low action that's why all the work was needed. To do this work with a luthier you will end up paying the purchase price of the guitar just because it takes at least 6 hours to do what I have done + proper expensive tools, tuners, saddles...It's not that all the luthiers overcharge, that's just because this guitar is so unbelievably affordable. If you can do all this work yourself and you have the tools than buying the guitar is a no-brainer. If not, consider the extra cost. But in all honesty the guitar is worth double what you pay.

Pickups are good, but not great. Still the typical TELE sound is there. The bridge pickup isn't you standard humbucker, but more of a boosted single coil. It sounds surprisingly good even in split mode. The tuners are kind of OK, but I always prefer locking tuners. The guitar's F-hole adds some airiness to the sound, but nothing remotely like a real hollow body. My guitar weighs 3,6 kg so that's OK with me. My TE-52 showed 5,2 kg on the scale...now that's heavy! Also the reason I sold that guitar. This one is staying...until something better comes along from Harley Benton!

This guitar is amazing! Just getting this out of the way.

Finish wise, the guitar i received is absolutely flawless. The roasted maple neck feels great, the frets were beautifully finished and slightly rounded and the freatboard edges were smooth. There is not a single fret buzz or dead note on the neck.

The body is heavy, but again, very well finished. The colour is dark and very beautiful, the neck joint is down to the milimiter, the pickguard is very well cut, everything just feels high quality.

Unplugged, the guitar jus ressonates like mad, and it has a great tone. The pickups are decent, not amazing, but they do the job well.

The nut is very well cut, and the action and intonation of the guitar were spot on right from the box. This guitar comes with 10's and plays like butter. The tuners work as intended and are pretty smooth.

What more can i say? What a great time to be a guitarrist! A few years ago, you'd pay hundreds if not thousands of euros for a guitar with this quality standards and specs. This is a great guitar, for any price, period. Thomann knocked it out of the park with this one!

The guitar arrived in perfect condition. It looks even better in person than in any picture i have seen. In addition to looking great, the guitar was ready to play after minimal setup and tuning.
You will read elsewhere that it is relatively heavy, that's true, but it's definitely not a problem.
The neck radius of 12' is a bit unusually large for me personally, and it says that the guitar is intended more as a solo guitar than as a rhythm guitar. I think I will get used to it very easily.
Its only minus is the worse sound of the bridge pickup when it is used as a single coil, but in humbucker mode it is excellent.
Although it is by far the cheapest, it is one of my favorite instruments.