Harley Benton TE-90FLT VW Deluxe Series

A good quality guitar for the price. I bought it for the ringing sound of these pickups, and they really ring. Tuners are OK but I will probably replace them at some point. Mine has some beauty stains on the top, actually the back looks nicer :-) However, Thomann sells a LOT of these, so the really nice ones might have been gone. So in conclusion: nothing fantastic, but a good guitar with a unique sound and great to have in your collection if you are a Telecaster fan. With these prices, almost anyone can afford to try out even the odd Tele-type models :-)

The tone and sustain are awesome. The sustain is really unbelievable. The neck is thick and feels great, though reversed headstocks are not for me so I changed it for a proper one. The body has a flawless glossy finish and is just very comfortable to hold.

The flaws are all easily fixable, but will take you a little time. The pickguard was laughable - cut very badly and with a bad half depth drill hole beside the proper one. The edges are unbevelled and very uneven. Had to sand them to make them smooth, but I'm also in the process of making an entirely new custom pickguard. The pot knobs don't fit - they go so far down that the finish would be scratched as soon as you turned one of them. I immediately removed them and had them replaced by some tiny knobs (the shafts are very short). The tuners are barely acceptable.

So, to sum it up: put in a little bit of work and spend a small amount of money and you have a dream guitar!

This guitar far exceeded my expectations as a guitar in sound, affordability, it's unique look, feel and balance, and playability. I am still amazed by the finish, the pickup sound, and high quality craftsmanship of this guitar. At first, I was trying to figure out how to play this guitar, because the action was low and soft, which I like and love but I was used to really working a guitar to get sounds out of it. This guitar simply sounds like one of the $1,000 plus (I'm from the USA) guitars from a USA company (made in Mexico/China/USA), just in regards to the material let alone the sound in that it almost sounds equal, like a 9.5 to 10 on a 1 to 10 scale. I mean I've played other expensive guitars and the TE-90 FLT VW is amazingly light action, so it's hard to get adjusted to the feel and playability. But it's great for jazz, chords. I know it's not expensive, but it feels expensive and I really want another one just so I can play this one hard. I baby this one as if it was a $1,000 guitar, because it just sounds, plays, looks, and plays like one. It's very unique sound, since it's chambered under the pickguard like other another USA guitar style from California with FLT humbucker but this TE-90 sounds equal if not better. It has a jazzy kind of vibe and sound or a little blues or rock too. Really it plays everything, but I love it for chords. The neck just feels right (I like thin/slender necks) since my fingers are not long. Also, the headstock is really unique and you may not like it but I do for it's uniqueness. The weight is perfect, not too light or too heavy. The fretboard is a good flatter radius but not too flat. When you play this you will be able to feel and hear the high quality right away. I'm glad I have this one guitar in my arsenal/toolbox because it has a really warm sound with the two humbuckers and chambered pickguard area. The look is very unique/cool. The fretboard is so playable, once you get used to low action and soft touch, that you can play for hours and forget about the time. The maple fretboard and frets are a bright sound. It really begs you to play it. You can also really shred on it too or go slow and jazzy. I love the belly cut. The only con I have about this guitar is the pickguard does get scratched easily (but it's a pickguard after all); I think it might just be the plastic is not glossy enough, but that's a good thing too, it gives it a different softer look. I'm getting the Three Tone Sunburst, when I have the change because it's a really excellent guitar overall. --Marco, USA