Review of the Harley Benton TE-90FLT SB Deluxe Series Electric guitar. Where to buy it?

This was my 4th Harley Benton purchase (I previously purchased an HB mandolin, as well as the Harley Benton TE-52 NA Vintage Series tele and the Harley Benton JB-75MN NA Vintage Series bass) and I have to say my luck finally ran out (somewhat) on this purchase.

With all the previous HB instruments I was blown away by the perfect quality and sound. None of the instruments needed much work out of the box – but I can’t say the same for this guitar. Yes, as other reviews have mentioned, the tone of the pickups is stellar and exactly what I had hoped for. But, the build quality on this one was not the same as the others.

Also, the nut is strange because it is a much taller nut, but the grooves are cut so deeply (poorly) that the middle two strings buzz a bit. There was some residue on the frets (maybe rust) as well as on the back of the tuners. I simply wiped off the tuners, but the frets needed to be sanded, so that was quite a process of removing strings, taping neck, sanding, and hoping the frets are level.

The screws for adjusting the pickups were stripped, so barely useable, even though the pickup height needed to be adjusted. I eventually gave up and just left them where they are even though it’s not where I want them.

The volume knob makes a strange scratching sound when adjusted, and it’s not the cap, which I removed to check. Doesn’t matter a lot to me because I basically just keep it at full volume anyway.

There is a strange almost tremolo sound (volume dipping randomly) when sustaining a chord and I’m not sure if that is a wiring issue or a bad volume pot… at this point I will live with it but it’s disappointing when compared to other HB guitars.

Not a huge fan of the reverse headstock, but it’s "cool" I guess. At least the neck looks and feels great and the tuners work really well.

The body chambers have shielding paint and foil so the guitar is absolutely silent which is a huge plus for me.

Even though there was an inspection sticker, I feel like this one slipped through any quality control. Maybe I just got unlucky this time and got the bottom of the barrel. Still a great guitar for the price, but not as impressive as other (cheaper) HB’s I own.

This guitar is awesome!
It’s an absolute pleasure to play.
With a little bit of tweaking it turns out great, much better than anything else you can find for the price, and sometimes even double the price. That by itself should tell you a lot!

Here are the pros:
* The frets were levelled, dressed and crowned very well. They needed polishing, but that’s to be expected and is easy work that you can do for 15 minutes in home when you change your strings.
* The neck joint is really tight, the neck itself is well centered
* The guitar resonates as every guitar should.
* The tuners are better than I expected, they are somewhat smooth (for the price). You certainly won’t find a guitar with better tuning keys for the same amount of money.
* The FLT (we all know what that stands for lol) pickups are probably the best feature of the guitar, it just sounds amazing! As someone who hates single coils but needed clarity I couldn’t be more satisfied. The guitar is suitable for everything from super clean stuff to stoner/sludge. Don’t expect to play death metal on it though.
* The guitar looks gorgeous altogether.

There are a few cons, that are easiliy fixable though:
* The tone and volume pots are very.. "sudden". The changes in volume and tone are somewhat abrupt. But you can easily change the pots or if you are like me – not really use them except for muting the guitar.
* The tuning keys, albeit smoother than expected, still can be changed for better performance.
* The string trees MUST be changed for higher quality ones or at least roller ones. I replaced mine with Goldo Roller string trees and the difference is big.
* Two of the pickup screws were screwed aslant. They work, but it looks a bit ugly when you happen to notice it.

Still, I’d buy that guitar 10/10 times.
Unless you are completely ignorant or an absolute cork sniffer, you know every guitar has it’s flaws, and some work will be done in order to make the best out of it. With this guitar – certainly not a lot.