Harley Benton te20-bk model review

This is the Harley Benton te20-bk telecaster-copy guitar.
It's available at Thomann.de for around 80Euros new (!):

https://www.thomann.de/gb/harley_benton_hbt16bk_egitarre.htm?partner_id=73786



So, is it any good?
The short answer is Yes! But, it needs a little bit of work to get 100% of its full potential. That's also true for MOST fender Squier guitars that cost 2 or 3 times the money...
So, once you get it, replace the strings with your favorite gauge, adjust the guitar and tighten up the tuner screws. Don't forget to lubricate the nut and string trees with some nut sauce or a simple pencil!

TE-20 Cons:
Apart from the initial setup of the guitar, if the frets are a bit sharp on the edges, it's because wood and metal expand at different rates. There are many USA-made instruments that leave the factory with perfect fret edges and then become a little sharp due to temperature/humidity changes during transportation. That's also true for many low price instruments as you would expect. The solution is to get a small file (even a nail file) with one of its sides completely smooth/flat and treat the fret edges. Here's a video on that:

The following tools are very handy and every DIY guitarist should own at least one of these:
www.thomann.de/gr/gewa_bundfeile_150mm_hieb_3.htm?partner_id=73786
www.thomann.de/gr/goeldo_ws045_fretboard_guard.htm?partner_id=73786


TE-20 Pros:
It's a really good guitar, not just for the money. The price is actually a steal. The body is made out of thick and solid basswood and the neck is made out of hard maple. This is no plywood or fake copy. It's a Thomann house-brand model with 3 years of warranty(!). What that means is that you can return the guitar for free should you encounter any problems with it once you receive it.

It's available in sunburst as well:

https://www.thomann.de/gb/harley_benton_hbt16sb.htm?partner_id=73786



TE-20 Specs:
Bolt-on neck
Body: Basswood
Neck: Maple
Neck profile: Modern C
Fretboard: Rosewood
Fretboard radius: 350 mm
Dot fretboard inlays
22 Frets
Scale: 648 mm
Nut width: 42 mm
Dual action truss rod (Wow!)
Pickups: 2 TE-style single coils (probably made by Wilkinson)
1 Volume control, 1 tone control
3-Way toggle switch
Hardware: Chrome (probably made by Wilkinson as well)
Die-cast machine heads
Ex-factory stringing: .009 - .042
Color: High gloss black

Is this worth modifying?
Well, of course! That's exactly what I am going to do next. I want to spend a little to get a fancier bridge with individual saddles, a 4 or 5 way switch for extra tonal options and maybe a new pickguard. It's good in its stock form but it can become much better or simply closer to my taste.

Here's quick demo of the TE20bk on the clean channel of an old line6 spider II amp:

Cheers,
Guitar Dreamer
https://guitar-dreamer.blogspot.com