Also the frets feel a bit rough while bending, but nothing some steel wool (or just playing the thing) wouldn't fix.Īlso, on mine, I noticed they've changed the walnut stripe to only one strip of walnut, not the 3 sandwiched strips it had before. You only notice it when fondling the guitar, not while playing.
(but no, I'm not mad)Ī couple other niggles are that there's a tiny rough patch in the finish on the back of the neck, near the heel, but I am 100% confident that just playing will wear it flat. They clearly ignored this, and that's what makes the "inspected by" card that comes with the guitar (signed by Illegible Squiggle Man) such a huge joke. What's ironic is that in the "special notes and instructions" section on the Thomann site, I specifically asked them to check it over carefully for defects, since I'm in the USA and can't send it back.
The bottom strap button wasn't centered on the walnut stripe, so I made the same mod there, again covering both holes with the button (I'm using a much longer screw than stock, so no worries with that).
I ended up drilling another hole right above it, and was able to install the strap lock button so it covers both holes perfectly. I tried drilling out the original hole, and the wood's so hard, it snapped the bit. It was so crooked, I couldn't back it out and rescrew it straight.
The guitar is great overall, especially considering the price, but there are some definite quality control issues.įor one, the upper strap button on mine was screwed in at a 45 degree angle, leaning toward the front of the guitar (with hard plastic washers, cos felt pads are sooo expensive). Most of the delay was on the US side, though it did take almost 5 days for DHL to hand it over to USPS in Germany. It took 3 weeks, and there's no way to track it (it's really just delivery confirmation, not tracking, so it only appears when it is outbound from customs, and when it's out for delivery). It needed steel wool as there were rough spots in the finish. The bridge twangs, but its very hot and kind of hollow sounding.ģ) The control knobs are pressed on plastic types.Ĥ) None of the pickguard screws are countersunk correctly nor are they installed with any care.ĥ) The jack cup area "flat spot" on the body contour is the most noticeable flatspot I've seen on a tele type body.Ħ) The neck felt "blah".
That being said it has a unusual tone from the neck pickup, very Strat like. Thus the body is routed for Strats and you could never install a Tele bridge & pickup if you desired, as the bridge route is too large. Did I mention it is heavy? Like heavier than any Les Paul I've ever held.Ģ) It uses Stratocaster type pickups, not Tele, true to the original MadCat design. Not just "heavy", but like (IMHO) insanely heavy. For the price it was generally a nice guitar, but in retrospect I feel the following were detractors:ġ) It is heavy. Some info to anyone who is thinking about buying the Harley Benton TE-80, I ordered one and quickly sold it.