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Punches above its weight
I have been intrigued by the reviews of HB guitars in recent times, they seem to get overwhelmingly positive reviews, so as I was looking for a guitar to throw in the car, use in the garden, take on holiday, etc. I didn't want to be spending a whole load of money or using one of my premium Gibson or Fenders for this purpose. I'm also a bit of a guitar snob, and usually a bit suspicious of cheap guitars, read on and see how my opinion has now changed about this.
I really like the look of the heavy aged tele, and decided that if I bought this guitar and it was playable, I might just end up having to swap out the pickups and maybe the tuners just to bring it up to a better spec, plus it would be a good project to do.
I put a 9 gauge set of strings on, adjusted the action down a tiny amount then set out to find the issues this guitar might have. First up, the neck was adjusted perfectly with a small amount of relief on it. No fret buzzing or flat spots, and intonation was spot on. The fret edges whilst not super smooth were very acceptable without any sprout or sharp edges. The nut was cut correctly, and string placing and separation is pretty much perfect. The bridge hardware likewise, as good as any Fender tele including the US made one I have. The controls feel good, nothing felt cheap and the taper on the controls is well graduated. No sudden changes on volume or tone, no scratchiness or crackles. The pick up selector is absolutely fine, in fact it clicks with quite a reassuring and positive action, dare I say it more positive than my US F Tele. The socket is equally reassuring, no danger of your cable falling out. I did think the tuners might be an issue but they are also quite precise, tight and stable. I'm not seeing any tuning stability issues or slippage from those.
I plugged it into my Roland Blues Cube Stage and was pleasantly surprised by how well the guitar played and the sound it produced. The bridge pickup is the star of the show, has the nice bright tele twang without sounding thin or a bit lifeless, and it sounded really good when I dialled the amps clean channel to the point of break up, this thing will deliver a very pleasant clean sound and then rock out nicely with a bit of EQ adjustment.
I had read that the neck pickup was a bit of a let down, and it sounded woolly, but this has not been my experience, it seemed clear and with a nice almost jazzy mid range sound to it, it responded way better than my expectations. It did mean that the centre position was also better than expected, with its own distinctive sound that is totally useable. OK I will admit this, that Roland amp is absolutely top drawer and can make any guitar sound good, but I don't think you can deduct any points from the HB tele down to this.
After a week and playing the guitar every day, when the honeymoon period is over, I note that this guitar is as good as I thought on day 1. So now you have to consider that this guitar for the money is punching way way way above its weight, it really does not deserve to, but it really is, and yes whilst my Fender US tele is 6 times the price and is overall the better guita,r it absolutely is not 6 times better.
I'm not quite sure how Thomann are managing to deliver this level of guitar at the price, one thing is obvious here as well, if your buying a guitar for a beginner and do not want to be heavily invested in case they do not continue the journey, then I could not recommend this enough. We are talking about a guitar that came out of the box with a really nice set up, a low enough action, intonated well, and a guitar that does not feel like it will fall apart in a few months, even though this aged tele looks like it already did, or had a tough life on the road!
This is worth a mention as well, and I know the aged look isn't for everyone, but who really cares at this price level and quality? HB have done great job on the ageing, from a distance to my eyes it looks authentic enough, and you certainly don't need to be precious about this guitar as far as dings and scratches go.
So in summary, I am quite taken aback with this guitar that was delivered to me in the UK for £215, it plays brilliantly well, the hardware and electronics should be not so great at this price but they are very decent and defy the price tag. Ultimately the question remains...would I gig this guitar? The answer is definitely yes, and I think I might take it to the next one, and give it a go, I see no reason why it could not be used in a live situation, its coming to the studio next week for sure.
Without a doubt Thomann have likely nailed this corner of the guitar market, and kudos to them for doing it. I highly recommend the aged tele if this is your thing, and have really struggled to find a fault with it. At this price and this level of service from Thomann, what's not to like?
I really like the look of the heavy aged tele, and decided that if I bought this guitar and it was playable, I might just end up having to swap out the pickups and maybe the tuners just to bring it up to a better spec, plus it would be a good project to do.
I put a 9 gauge set of strings on, adjusted the action down a tiny amount then set out to find the issues this guitar might have. First up, the neck was adjusted perfectly with a small amount of relief on it. No fret buzzing or flat spots, and intonation was spot on. The fret edges whilst not super smooth were very acceptable without any sprout or sharp edges. The nut was cut correctly, and string placing and separation is pretty much perfect. The bridge hardware likewise, as good as any Fender tele including the US made one I have. The controls feel good, nothing felt cheap and the taper on the controls is well graduated. No sudden changes on volume or tone, no scratchiness or crackles. The pick up selector is absolutely fine, in fact it clicks with quite a reassuring and positive action, dare I say it more positive than my US F Tele. The socket is equally reassuring, no danger of your cable falling out. I did think the tuners might be an issue but they are also quite precise, tight and stable. I'm not seeing any tuning stability issues or slippage from those.
I plugged it into my Roland Blues Cube Stage and was pleasantly surprised by how well the guitar played and the sound it produced. The bridge pickup is the star of the show, has the nice bright tele twang without sounding thin or a bit lifeless, and it sounded really good when I dialled the amps clean channel to the point of break up, this thing will deliver a very pleasant clean sound and then rock out nicely with a bit of EQ adjustment.
I had read that the neck pickup was a bit of a let down, and it sounded woolly, but this has not been my experience, it seemed clear and with a nice almost jazzy mid range sound to it, it responded way better than my expectations. It did mean that the centre position was also better than expected, with its own distinctive sound that is totally useable. OK I will admit this, that Roland amp is absolutely top drawer and can make any guitar sound good, but I don't think you can deduct any points from the HB tele down to this.
After a week and playing the guitar every day, when the honeymoon period is over, I note that this guitar is as good as I thought on day 1. So now you have to consider that this guitar for the money is punching way way way above its weight, it really does not deserve to, but it really is, and yes whilst my Fender US tele is 6 times the price and is overall the better guita,r it absolutely is not 6 times better.
I'm not quite sure how Thomann are managing to deliver this level of guitar at the price, one thing is obvious here as well, if your buying a guitar for a beginner and do not want to be heavily invested in case they do not continue the journey, then I could not recommend this enough. We are talking about a guitar that came out of the box with a really nice set up, a low enough action, intonated well, and a guitar that does not feel like it will fall apart in a few months, even though this aged tele looks like it already did, or had a tough life on the road!
This is worth a mention as well, and I know the aged look isn't for everyone, but who really cares at this price level and quality? HB have done great job on the ageing, from a distance to my eyes it looks authentic enough, and you certainly don't need to be precious about this guitar as far as dings and scratches go.
So in summary, I am quite taken aback with this guitar that was delivered to me in the UK for £215, it plays brilliantly well, the hardware and electronics should be not so great at this price but they are very decent and defy the price tag. Ultimately the question remains...would I gig this guitar? The answer is definitely yes, and I think I might take it to the next one, and give it a go, I see no reason why it could not be used in a live situation, its coming to the studio next week for sure.
Without a doubt Thomann have likely nailed this corner of the guitar market, and kudos to them for doing it. I highly recommend the aged tele if this is your thing, and have really struggled to find a fault with it. At this price and this level of service from Thomann, what's not to like?
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