# Harley Benton (Thomann)



## Geert van der Veen

Hi,
Has anyone here in Canada (and more specifically, Toronto) bought a Harley Benton guitar from Thomann, their dealer, which has its headquarters in Germany?

There are a couple of 4 year-old threads here about this, but I am wondering if anyone has had more recent experience, and if so, what that experience has been?

Thanks.


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## Budda

Just a guess, but probably not.

With the pricing of import guitars here, theres not really a reason to order one.


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## Doug B

Why don't you email Thomman and find out?


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## Dan Caldwell

I bought two last year (I’m closer to Ottawa). Arrived in a few months after ordering. Paid 75 shipping and another 75 to the post office for duty and taxes (I think that’s what it was for). As for the guitars I sold both (Harley Benton teles) as they weren’t as good, in my opinion, as the reviews suggest. 

Pm me if you have any specific questions and I’ll try to help. 

Dan


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## Geert van der Veen

Hi Budda, Doug B and Dan,
Many thanks for your replies.

Dan thanks for being willing to talk more about this. I will PM you.

Doug, my question was about people's experience of the guitars and the process of dealing with Thomann/acquiring a guitar from them - obviously not questions that Thomann could answer.


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## torndownunit

Dan Caldwell said:


> I bought two last year (I’m closer to Ottawa). Arrived in a few months after ordering. Paid 75 shipping and another 75 to the post office for duty and taxes (I think that’s what it was for). As for the guitars I sold both (Harley Benton teles) as they weren’t as good, in my opinion, as the reviews suggest.
> 
> Pm me if you have any specific questions and I’ll try to help.
> 
> Dan


Crappy to hear. They are probably the only company I have seen offering a nice looking La Cabronita type guitar at good price. Chambered ash at that. I was thinking of getting one and sticking a Squier neck and some TV Jones I have on it. This thread popped up as I was looking at them hah.

I've also really heard nothing but good reviews on the model.


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## sillyak

Give it a try, why not?

My experience with ordering stuff from Europe (different hobby) is the sometimes you get dinged with duties and taxes and sometimes you don't. CBSA does not assess all packages, so sometimes you pay nothing at the post office. Sometimes you pay: tax, duty, $10 CBSA fee (they charge you a fee for charging you fees) and brokerage if you used UPS (don't use UPS.)


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## Geert van der Veen

Thanks torndownunit and sillyak.

I think that I may actually go the - shock, horrow - Aliexpress route, and hope that I do not live to regret those words.


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## EchoWD40

torndownunit said:


> Crappy to hear. They are probably the only company I have seen offering a nice looking La Cabronita type guitar at good price. Chambered ash at that. I was thinking of getting one and sticking a Squier neck and some TV Jones I have on it. This thread popped up as I was looking at them hah.
> 
> I've also really heard nothing but good reviews on the model.


Are you able to build a guitar at all? There are some fine cabronita style bodies on eBay from a Quebec seller and if you can piece parts together you can get yourself a great guitar at a decent price point


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## cheezyridr

how about barbi benton instead? i'd rather play one of those


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## Geert van der Veen

Thanks cheezyridr,
Ha!

Actually, I have been considering a Harley Benton TE70 RW, and have been in touch with Thomann about this, as well as talking at length with our own Dan here on CGF, who bought several guitars from Thomann at one time a few years ago.

The HB TE70 RW looks pretty good (although I would definitely upgrade the pick ups), but for some reason I have been leaning more toward one of the Chinese models.

Here is an URL to several photos of the TE70 RW
https://www.thomann.de/intl/ca/harley_benton_te_70_rosewood_deluxe_series.htm


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## cboutilier

I've heard good things about the HB guitars on international guitar forums. I'd say go for it.


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## Todd MacCulloch

I got one last year.
I ordered the ash butterscotch tele (~ $155 CA) + some joyo pedals + speaker cabinet with 12" celestion.
Shipping for everything was around $75.
I can't remember what the customs were, probably around $50.
The guitar is ok. It came with pretty high action and super rough frets.
I did a lot of polishing and some minor fret leveling.
The nut is crappy.
The tuners are ok (I am torn -- I like the vintage style peg slots but the tuners themselves are slippy)
It is solid (and heavy). 
I like the neck finish (satin) and profile (thick-ish)
The electronics are ok.
The speaker cabinet is fine.
Would I do it again? Probably not, I see a lot of nicer stuff on Kijiji and second stores and I can at least try it first. Also after shipping and customs you aren't far from a squire tele from a local store.

A friend of mine got a group of people together to order several guitars to reduce the shipping overhead ...


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## Re_e_ve_s

Geert van der Veen said:


> Hi,
> Has anyone here in Canada (and more specifically, Toronto) bought a Harley Benton guitar from Thomann, their dealer, which has its headquarters in Germany?
> 
> There are a couple of 4 year-old threads here about this, but I am wondering if anyone has had more recent experience, and if so, what that experience has been?
> 
> Thanks.


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## tomee2

cheezyridr said:


> how about barbi benton instead? i'd rather play one of those


Zombie thread but no complaints here!


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## Geert van der Veen

Re_e_ve_s said:


>


Thanks for this.


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## Geert van der Veen

Todd MacCulloch said:


> I got one last year.
> I ordered the ash butterscotch tele (~ $155 CA) + some joyo pedals + speaker cabinet with 12" celestion.
> Shipping for everything was around $75.
> I can't remember what the customs were, probably around $50.
> The guitar is ok. It came with pretty high action and super rough frets.
> I did a lot of polishing and some minor fret leveling.
> The nut is crappy.
> The tuners are ok (I am torn -- I like the vintage style peg slots but the tuners themselves are slippy)
> It is solid (and heavy).
> I like the neck finish (satin) and profile (thick-ish)
> The electronics are ok.
> The speaker cabinet is fine.
> Would I do it again? Probably not, I see a lot of nicer stuff on Kijiji and second stores and I can at least try it first. Also after shipping and customs you aren't far from a squire tele from a local store.
> 
> A friend of mine got a group of people together to order several guitars to reduce the shipping overhead ...


Hey Todd,
That was a very comprehensive and useful answer.

Many thanks, I appreciate it.


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## Geert van der Veen

cboutilier said:


> I've heard good things about the HB guitars on international guitar forums. I'd say go for it.


Thanks cboutilier.

Todd's post in this thread is really informative, and based on that, I have decided to not go the HB route at the moment.


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## tomee2

Well then...


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## Todd MacCulloch

Geert van der Veen said:


> Thanks cboutilier.
> 
> Todd's post in this thread is really informative, and based on that, I have decided to not go the HB route at the moment.


I do like the speaker cabinet though -- Phil McKnight likes them too : 




This is the guitar:
https://www.thomann.de/intl/ca/harley_benton_hbt1952.htm

This is the cabinet:
https://www.thomann.de/intl/ca/harley_benton_g112_vintage.htm


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## Distortion

seen a nice looking Tele in the Toronto area for $200 on Kijiji the other day. Might save you a whole lot of bother.


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## Smvox

Geert van der Veen said:


> Hi,
> Has anyone here in Canada (and more specifically, Toronto) bought a Harley Benton guitar from Thomann, their dealer, which has its headquarters in Germany?
> 
> There are a couple of 4 year-old threads here about this, but I am wondering if anyone has had more recent experience, and if so, what that experience has been?
> 
> Thanks.


 hello, I bought the DC Junior bundle on May 8th it was a Friday it was delivered on Monday the 11th only to the wrong address. I live in Montreal and the problem was Purolator, where I live there's lots of construction and they sent it to the right number just the wrong Street so for about a week I was going nuts. Then one week later to the day on the 15th Friday, a good samaritan at the place where it was delivered called me to let me know my package has been sitting in there mail room for a week. The moral of the story is to make sure that you put on the message on the box your phone number because you never know it might just save your day. That being said it only took a week for me to get my guitar and one business day to get it from Germany to Montreal.

as for the quality of the guitar I truly believe that you can't wait to pay for with Harley Benton so if you take your time and read this backs look for the best quality you can get. If you're on a budget get the best quality you can get for your budget. It's my honest belief that you can get much better quality spending an extra $50 to $100 on a Harley Benton then you would spending an extra 50 to $100 trying to upgrade it yourself. My next purchase will be a fusion t h h f n t, the specs are ridiculous attack XL nuts staggered locking tuners stainless steel Frets roasted maple neck string through body belly cut, sculpted heel.

My DC junior is just as comfortable as any Squier or Epiphone I've ever played, and that includes my Epiphone Sheraton II pro a Squier classic Vibe Telecaster 50s. As an added advantage, it comes with a flatter radius at 11.75 in not quite 12 and that uses tens to 46 gauge strings.

Unlike Baker names in the business Harley Benton actually pays attention to its consumers remarks. Ever since Eddie Van Halen premiered his first signature bottle with music man I have always liked that design. But when the axe is switched from a toggle 25 way selector I never liked the way it was horizontal. Bass guitar that I'm going to get used to have a horizontal switch but you chew a lot of feedback they slanted it. It gave me that much more reason to want to buy it. It's the next one on my list. Truth be said I'm getting a lot more bang for my buck than I ever could with square or Epiphone. They are providing everything that I would want to do manually after purchase pre-installed. It's easy for plenty of people to say what a Harley Benton is not, but it's not so easy for them to admit that they are top quality instruments for the dollar you're spending. I'm not calling them Custom Shop competitor's they are not. what they are however, are guitars that won't make you feel like you wasted your money and they are still traffic mod platforms for the future. So if ever you want to change your pickups or if you want to try a different Bridge or tuners there is still plenty left over to do that.

Getting back to the question about fees, 50cc Junior bundle had a special for something like $40 shipping however I did spend almost $100 on Purolator zenport charges. And the $40 shipping seems to have been a promotion they had for that particular guitar and bundle. That being said it would expect to pay $100 for shipping to Canada and probably another hundred dollars and import charges. I only bought one guitar so far so I can tell you if the import charges get higher with a heavier box. But, have the extra money just in case. But all the information I can give you a, if you're not convinced, don't buy Harley Benton. As for me I'm not convinced Squier or Epiphone I better choices.


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## TV Traders

I just seen one of them today. It was in a Valus Village but thought the price on it was high for what it was. It still needs parts to be assembled to it. They wanted $99. for it.


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## MarkM

I’d buy that, I can however put together guitars from parts.


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## TV Traders

MarkM said:


> I’d buy that, I can however put together guitars from parts.


Yeah I did buy it and sold it to a guy from the states


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## player99

There are a number of HB for sale on Kijiji.


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