Harley Benton CST-24HB Tortoise Flame

Nice instrument with a few minor issues

Pros: - nice and solidly made instrument, - weight, - beautiful colour and outfit, - very good staying in tune, - perfect feeling while holding the instrument in the hands, - probably the best guitar neck of all Harley Benton electric guitars, - unbeatable price in this class of the instrument. Cons: - pickups, - 3-Way blade switch. Even with a cursory glance, it is clear that this instrument has more positive than negative characteristics. However, the sound of the pickup in this case is quite a problem, which especially comes to expression in the dirty mode, while the clean sound are O.K. - nothing spectacular, but also not bad. If you decide to replace the pickups, taking into consideration the average price of 80-150 € per piece, in that case the price of the guitar would rise to 449-589 €, which, even in the most expensive variant, is about 2.5 times lower than the PRS SE Hollowbody II ( without any modifications this guitar is almost 5 times cheaper than PRS, which is the world record). The guitar has an extremely pleasant feeling when playing, the neck is literally perfect, regardless of whether you have a smaller or larger hand, and it is so light that you can practically forget that you have it hanging around your shoulder. Conclusion: if you are a fan of hollowbody guitars and if you don't mind a slightly undefined and muddy tone during overdrive - don't hesitate, this is the guitar for you. Even if you decide that you want to upgrade the guitar with other pickups, you'll still be in a winning position because you'll have a guitar with a more comfortable neck than the PRS SE Custom, so the only possible conclusion is that Harley Benton literally pushes the boundaries when it comes to the availability of instruments to everyone. If there was no above mentioned pickup issue, the rating would be a pure five stars, which could not be compromised even by a very hard 3-Way Switch, which requires a smaller setup by yourself or your favorite luthier. Recommendation: After receiving this guitar, smear the neck with lemon oil - it will be softer, smoother and more pleasant to play.

4 oiut of 5 isn't bad

I must preface this to say I have 3 other HB guitars, and they're all fantastic playing. I ordered 2 of these (different finishes) with a buddy, his was Charcoal Black. Had to return this one due to a neck problem and the bridge was all the way down with the nut too high, couldn't lower the very high action at all. The one my friend ordered set up nicely for him he said. Both of us are competent at set ups, fret polishing, fret edging, etc. HB will no doubt take care of me, and I am ordering another guitar (different model) from them.

Needs setup, but...

Out of the box this guitar was unplayable. after adjusting the truss rod, action, and intonation. its really nice. i got this guitar for the neck and body. but if i had to, i could gig with it with existing hardware and electronics. frets are amazing. fret board needed oil. I would buy another.

Not quite a P*S but it'll do

If you're prepared to do a little setup work and perhaps change the pickups [T*yl*r do some nice ones] this works out a very nice guitar for not a lot of money. I've found they can vary a little [hence the setup work] but the one I got was a good player from the off, no rogue frets, nut cut properly.

With the pickup swap, this really sounds amazing. If you're not a headstock snob and are looking for a good playable guitar or a gigging spare, this could suit you right down to the ground.

Sweet tones !

Light weight - Woody tones - Howling humbuckers___ Beautiful Flame - Clean Binding___ Great Price ! What's not to Love !

Stunning Guitar

Very good guitar. Specifications are good, very easy neck to play..

Good options with pickup control.

Stunning to look at.

plays like a hollow body

I just bought one last week and received it in California from Germany in three days to my doorstep. Opening the box, I was apprehensive however the guitar was flawless in everyway cosmetically. The strings were a little high and the intonation was a little off, both of which are easily fixed. It plays better than my Gibson 335 unplugged and the pickups are fine. I'm going to have a luthier work on it that costs about $60 and it has become my favorite guitar around the house. I've been playing on stage for the last 15 years with a 1998 fender Lonestar Stratocaster which is much heavier so am thinking about switching. Moving from Texas special single coils to split humbuckers will take some practice, but that's what fun is all about. If you like this guitar don't hesitate. I am thrilled with it.

Not Bad With Proper Expectations

I ordered this hoping for more of a PRS look than what I actually got. Curves/carves were not as prominent as the pictures show, so the PRS aesthetic was lost to me. After putting those feelings aside and just looking at it from a quality perspective, it did look pretty nice, although there were quite a few glue drops inside the guitar, easily visible through the F holes. The F holes themselves looked okay if you don’t look at them from the side, as there was gunk visible on the underside of the top just inside the F holes.

As far as playability, it felt fairly nice. Nice thin neck, and the frets were in good shape. The tuners were pretty stiff, and there was a noticeable buzz on the G string that was not from the frets, so something in the saddle may have been loose. Pickups are not high output so they will need a bit of a boost if you want a heavy sound, but they sound decent clean.

All in all, it’s not a bad guitar. After tempering my expectations, I decided it was a nice guitar for the money, but not for me (though I ultimately couldn’t quite get over the difference between the pictures and what I got, subtle as it may have been, as I see that as false advertising).

My New Main Guitar

Disclaimer: I was sent this guitar to review

Holy cow is this guitar amazing! I've had it for over a year now and since receiving it, it has become my go-to guitar. It sounds absolutely incredible and plays amazing. The crazy thing is that it played amazing right out of the box and I haven't touched it for a setup yet after over a year of having it. That being said, I recently noticed that the intonation is a little off and have finally decided to do a proper setup and really make sure everything is good to go. The coil tap feature is fantastic!

I docked a star in the features section for three reasons. First, I wish the bridge had the ability to adjust the intonation for each string. Second, I wish that it used a push-push knob for the coil split instead of a push-pull. Third, I know that most semi-hollow body guitars don't do this, but I wish there was a back panel or something that could let you more easily access the electronics. Going through the f-hole is very daunting to me. Honestly, if I only had one of these nitpicks, I wouldn't remove a star, but with all three I think it's fair.

I almost removed a star for the sound because the neck pickup does sound a little muddy, but it sounds beautiful when coil split and I haven't taken the time to adjust the pickup height so I figured that would be unfair.

good guitar for the money

Good guitar and decent sound. The tuners are not of the best quality, they have an idle speed, but they do their job. Very beautiful guitar finish