2026

I recently bought the TE-69 ‘Hot Rod’, Harley Benton’s version of the Thinline Telecaster, and it has not disappointed…

When is a Telecaster not a Telecaster? Is it when a company other than Fender (or Squier) makes one?

That might be true in a legal sense, but the soul of Leo’s original solidbody design lives on in countless iterations and imitations, with a version made by almost electric guitar manufacturer you could think of.

Naturally, German super-giant of musical instruments Thomann have – via their Harley Benton range – their own take on the classic Tele. However, in 2022, they announced a new variation on the theme; a recreation of the Thinline Telecaster.

The TE-69 thinline (courtesy of Harley Benton)

The Thinline was brought in towards the end of the 1960s in order to accommodate customer feedback about the weight of the guitar (the Tele is well-known as one of the heavier guitars available, even now) by carving cavities into the body, adorned with a violin-style F-hole. The scratchplate was altered to accommodate these changes and while it didn’t catch on hugely the first time around (it was discontinued after a decade), the Thinline has become something of a classic Tele variant. Harley Benton’s version is more affordable than even the Squier Classic Vibe models (Fender’s own in-house and high quality budget range), but is it as good?

What’s in a name?

The full name TE-69TL Hot Rod NT Roasted, while quite the mouthful (I’ll be referring to it as the TE-69 from here on in), indicates the key characteristics of this guitar. TE-69 denotes that it is a 1969-inspired Telecaster model (’69 being the year Fender originally introduced the original Thinline Tele); TL stands for ‘thinline’; Hot Rod refers to the sneaky humbucker in the bridge position (more on this later); finally, NT means it has a natural finish and Roasted refers to the neck and fingerboard being made of roasted Canadian Maple.

Clear? (like the finish)
Good.

Full specifications from Harley Benton:

  • Ash body with F-hole
  • Bolt-on vintage ‘caramelized’ Canadian maple C-neck with roseacer skunk stripe
  • Fretboard: Vintage ‘caramelized’ Canadian maple
  • Fretboard radius: 305mm
  • Frets: 21
  • Scale: 648mm
  • 42mm graphite nut
  • Double-action trussrod
  • Neck pickup: Roswell THE Alnico-5 vintage TE -style singlecoil
  • Bridge Pickup: Roswell TEK-B Alnico-5 Stacked Humbucker TE pickup
  • 1-volume, 1-tone & 3-way switch
  • ‘Deluxe’ chrome hardware
  • Kluson-style tuners
  • Hi-gloss Natural finish

This guitar has received rave reviews since its release, for the great build quality (shared with the rest of their guitars) as well as the sound and feel of the neck. Having previously said I was looking to buy a Telecaster-style guitar, I noticed a friend selling his own TE-69 at the end of last year, so took the plunge.

What’s driving the Hot Rod pickups?

The secret weapon in this particular model is the Bridge Pickup (a TEK-B by Harley Benton’s regular pickup partner, Roswell). While this pup looks like a regular Tele single coil, it is in fact two alnico V single coils stacked on top of each other, giving it a beefier sound and an output of around 10.9k. This output is reduced somewhat in single coil mode (activated by pulling up the tone knob), leaving the sound a little weedy and not like a true single-coil.

The good news is that the humbucking mode isn’t overwhelming and matches well with the neck pickup (a regular single-coil with an output of around 5k). I found the neck to be beautifully clear and the bridge (in the beefier humbucking mode) to sound like an ever-so-slightly hotter version of a great Tele bridge pickup. The only real negative is the bridge being underwhelming in coil-split/single mode. Yet this is often the case with split humbuckers – you almost never get the sound of a regular single-coil. I guess a trade-off has to be made somewhere.

In use

I aim to be clear and honest when writing reviews, and I will mention the few negative aspects of the TE-69 shortly, but frankly, it’s a lovely instrument. This is a solid guitar that sounds exactly like what you hope and expect a Telecaster to sound like, and feels incredibly well put-together. The C-profile neck feels chunky but far from unwieldy in my hands and the 12″ radius still feels very comfortable for chord work.

I have played this axe at a few recent gigs, covering a wide range of styles, from funk & soul to punk, indie and classic rock. It handled everything I threw at it brilliantly. Clean sounds are bright and twangy, and the middle position (both pickups on at the same time) remain one of my favourite guitar tones. Meanwhile, the dirtier, just-breaking-up sounds had a lovely growl to them which cut through the mix onstage without being too sharp. Going heavier still (rare for me) didn’t cause any problems and it handled sounded great playing wild, fuzzed-out psychedelic solos.

Tele’s are famously versatile guitars, and this Tele copy is no exception. I have previously written about the best all-rounder guitar, but that was before I owned a Telecaster. I might need to go back and revise that article now…

Also, like all good Telecasters, it was almost impossible to knock out of tune, even during my more heavy-handed moments. For a guitar that costs less than £200, it’s really hard to find a fault that would make this bad value.

Downsides

I have already mentioned how the bridge pickup feels a tad thin in single-coil mode. Judicious use of your amp’s EQ can easily fix this and it still retains the classic Tele twang, with a wiriness some might prefer. Overall, I gravitated towards the pickup’s full humbucking mode, which manages to sound full and full of that classic Tele bite without being overpowering.

I have heard that fret ends can be a little rough on Harley Benton guitars which have come direct from the factory. I can’t comment on the TE-69 specifically, because I purchased mine second hand. I know it had been set up previously, which will have likely included some form of fret-dressing. This isn’t a huge issue, just something to bear in mind when buyung any budget guitar.

The only other real criticism I have of this guitar is that it isn’t really much of a semi-hollow guitar. The original Fender Thinline Tele was built with two large cavities cut into the wings on both sides of the pickup (not unlike a semi-hollow with the pups mounted onto a centre block), making it significantly lighter. However, only a very small part of the body in the TE-69 has been removed; the small section immediately under the F-hole. Apart from this relatively small section, this remains a solid guitar.

As a result, the TE-69 doesn’t really have the sense of ‘airiness’ that I get from my Elderwood (which is effectively a semi-hollow), and it’s a lot heavier (in sound as well as weight) than my Harley Benton HB-35 Plus. But this doesn’t stop the TE-69 from being a great guitar. I’d still recommend it, but be mindful that it’s not really any lighter than an average Telecaster.

What else? Cosmetic preferences mainly. I’m not a fan of the black pickguard, but then I don’t like the original ’69 pearloid either. If I keep this guitar, I’ll almost certainly swap the pickguard for an aged white / mild cream instead, but that’s a decoration issue and doesn’t affect how the guitar plays or sounds in the slightest.

One final, unfortunate thing to consider is that at the time of writing, this guitar no longer appears to be in stock on the Thomann website. Given the quality of this instrument, second hand prices may be higher than the original RRP. The upside to that is the one you buy may already have had a decent set up, as mine had, meaning the usual brand-new-budget guitar issues (such as fret ends) will have already been ironed out.

In Summary

It sounds lowdown and dirty. It weighs a tonne. And I couldn’t put it down. In fact, it has already earned a place as my preferred backup guitar for gigs with more than one band – a testament to its versatility.

The TE-69 pays homage to a classic Fender guitar, sounds like a Telecaster, plays like a dream and cost far less than a fancy meal out for two. If you see one come up in the usual second hand places, snap it up and enjoy having a versatile and reliable guitar in your armory.

Budget Thinline Telecaster review: Harley Benton TE-69TL Hot Rod NT Roasted

Gear

Hello and Happy New Year! How’s the New Year’s resolutions going?

I’m starting 2026 the way I mean to go on, with lots of fun gigs and NEW MUSIC!

As well as various wedding gigs, both as a solo guitarist and with my function band, I also have a few shows and releases with my original music project, Solcade.

I’ve been involved in a few original projects over the last decade, but mainly as an arranger and band leader. My songwriting contributions have been minimal. As a result, I’d been storing up a small collection of ideas that didn’t really suit any of the acts I was working with. These sketches mixed funk and jazz with the afro and latin-fused rhythms I’d developed a deep love for through past work with older ‘world’ music acts, and mixed with a heavy dose of psychedelia and garage rock.

After we began to emerge from the pandemic and start performing live again, I decided to put together a group of musicians with a shared interest in less common styles of music (at least within the UK), including afrobeat. Initial jamming and writing sessions yielded some interesting results, and almost saw the project reshape into something closer to free jazz. However, the lineup didn’t remain stable and I had to rethink what I was trying to achieve.

By 2023, I had assembled a slightly altered lineup that shared the same vision: to write interesting and genre-blending music; and to credit all compositions to all members equally (in this case, as a five-way split). This can sometimes cause issues such as resentment of one member is not perceived to be adequately pulling their weight in terms of writing. However, I was fortunate enough to be working with enthusiastic creatives who stepped up to the challenge, and we soon had enough songs to get onstage and perform live.

Best of all, this collective approach applies to more than just the songwriting process. I may have kicked this whole thing off, but we now work as a team, with no singular leader, making this a true band; a collaborative experience. You can find regular updates on the band on our Instagram page.

Our first single, ONE MORE DOMINO, is out now, available everywhere. This song focuses on the feelings that come with the build-up to revolutions throughout history. Listen to the new track here and let me know what you think.

Stay tuned for news about future releases…

New single ‘ONE MORE DOMINO’ out now

Music

Take Five: The importance of rest in music & musicianship

Advice & Tips, Music

As the end of the year draws nearer, I find myself in a brief period without any gigs.

After quite a busy run recently, I’m now enjoying a few days of voice rest (a result of several shows in a row combined with a minor cold) before the shows ramp up again from New Year’s Eve.

This much-needed rest has reminded me of the importance of self care and taking time to recover.

Many working musicians find it hard to stop. The fear of losing a regular gig means we can often push ourselves too hard far too often. For us, the word ‘rest’ can be a purely musical term:

Courtesy of Classical Guitar Corner.

…but rests can mean so much more than gaps between the notes we play or hear.

Musically, rests are more than mere pauses; they’re essential to shaping how the music sounds. Away from music, rests can similarly help us make sense of everything else.

Help Musicians, a UK-based charity providing support to musicians unable to perform for health reasons, have a really useful article all about the importance of rest. They outline several different types of rest:

  • Physical rest
  • Mental rest
  • Emotional rest
  • Social rest
  • Sensory rest
  • Creative rest
  • Spiritual rest

All of these different definitions of what rest can mean will vary depending not only on individual perspective, but on what’s most important to someone at any given moment that rest takes place. I’ve written about Subjectivity, interpretation and their effect on creativity before, and the concept of silence and rest are no different. I encourage you to read the article and consider which elements resonate most strongly with you (whether it’s something you already do, or something you recognise that you need to work on more).

Personally, I find rests in music similar to rests in life. They are not just a moment in which we calm the noise and remain still, but a time to reflect on the quality of the silence itself.

Every rest, in music or life in general, is informed by the sounds which precede the silence. In a way, rests are shaped as much by the activity on either side of it as much as it is by the length of inactivity within.

Miles Davis famously referred to rests in music as ‘Hot Space’, maintaining that the notes you don’t play were the secret to great improvisation. I believe he too was referring to the timbre and feeling of a rest in the context it’s setting. This is equally true in our lives outside of musical performance.

Think about everything that surrounds your work. The preparation before a show, the admin, chasing invoices, making time for loved ones. Now think about where the time for you resides amongst all of that. Is it enough?

Sometimes we best serve others by getting our own house in order first. This is as true musically as it is on a more humanistic level.

So for now, if you can, take time. If you can’t, try to make time.

Breathe in. Breathe out.

Listen to the silence. Reflect on everything that led up to this pause. Think about what follows after this rest comes to an end.

And as always, take care of yourselves and each other.

I’ll see you all on the other side, in 2026…

Original image courtesy of G4guitarmethod.com

Important postscript:

If you are a musician based in the United Kingdom and looking for mental health support, you can contact Help Musicians via the their website here.