CST-24T Ocean Flame : Punches well above its weight

I ordered this guitar in Ocean Flame last Thursday night (Chicago time), and it arrived in just four days (Monday afternoon). After unboxing it, I took a little time to adjust the action (simple enough) and remove the center vibrato spring (simple enough). A couple of little tweaks, and it was ready to play.

This thing roars! The humbuckers are full and warm without being muddy, and it has that Telecaster "quack" when you engage the coil taps without managing to sound shrill. The one I ended up with is actually pretty lightweight (about nine pounds), which is a pleasant surprise.

It's also absolutely stunning to look at. The translucent blue paint shows off the flame maple top, belying the fact that it's a veneer, and the mahogany wood grain is clearly visible throughout the rest of the guitar.

My only real gripes are with the vibrato system. It simply does not want to stay in tune. I attribute it more to the tuners than the vibrato itself, and with the tweaks I made, it may yet settle down and stay in tune okay (I can get it to work well enough if I divebomb it a few times to knock it out of tune, then retune), but for now, it isn't very useful. This is a minor gripe, however, and is ultimately fixable with a few little tweaks. I may also put locking tuners on it eventually, but it isn't a priority right now.

For what I paid ($330 shipped), it's an insane value. I've played a few PRS SEs, and this easily holds its own with those in my opinion. All in all, I really couldn't be more happy with this!