Harley Benton CST-24HB Tortoise Flame 5-stars Reviews

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.

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.

Stunning guitar

Plays like a dream. Absolutely n complaints

Absolutely Gorgeous

Beautiful guitar that sounds awesome. With all things, there is a value for money equation that needs to be made. This Harley Benton CST-24 HB offers incredible value. And did I mention that it sounds awesome? Out of the box, the setup is perfect. I did slightly adjust the intonation to my preference but not a big deal as this has to be considered normal for any new guitar. I also changed the strings to my preference (9's) and oiled the fretboard. Again, normal for any new guitar whether it costs 150 or 1500.

I love the weight. Very light, yet does not feel cheap. Great tuners. The knobs and switch feel good to me. Overall a wonderful guitar. Highly recommend.

A great guitar

I waited a long time to get this guitar and it finally arrived...well worth the wait.

The fretwork on this instrument is unbelievable at this price range, the pickups could use a bit more punch but are good sounding right from the start. The gorgeous flame top and overall fit & finish are superb.

Beautiful guitar

I love this guitar. The veneer is fantastic, the fit and finish when I got it was really freaking solid for the price. I bought this with the intent of modding, so I had very few problems cleaning up the few visible details.

Pros: sounds great, plays great. It's a great guitar at a great price. Also, it sounds good acoustic.

Cons: when it arrived, I did clean up the binding of the f-holes, as well as the paint inside them. Beyond that there wasn't really any visible cons. That said, I bought this with the intent to mod it, so when I removed the tuners, and the jack plate, I found that the insides hadn't been properly cleaned out as there was a ton of sawdust hiding in places that usually would be clean. Finally the output jack often comes a little loose. I may add a locking washer to try to fix that.

Meh: I've kind of gone off of the gloss neck, but that's personal taste. Also, like all hollow body guitars, modding the pickups is a hassle- so much so that I've yet to bother.

Impressive instrument

I am a beginner player. I ordered this becasue I wanted a semi-hollow guitar at a affordable price. I expected less than what I received. The instrument is certainly beautiful no objectioable imperfections. I certainly would recomment this to anyone since it is very playable and a beauty of a guitar. The pickups work fine, being coil split makes it generate a variety of tones. No regrets whatsoever.

Great guitar!

My CST-24HB tortoise flame came well packed. No shipping damage. Opened it up and was pleasently surprized at the quality of the finish. Plays like a dream. Thought I might have to change the pickups, but they are great as is. Got my eye on a HB-35Plus LD when they get back into stock.

floored by the quality

This was my first Harley Benton guitar and I was not sure what I would get.

I was shocked at the quality I was expecting much less. It has a beautiful finish and the overall quality is very good . I have since purchased a cst24 solid body black cherry and I wish this had the same neck as the solid body . It is not bad but not as playable . It sounded very good right out of the box but I changed the pickups to seymour duncan and it really sound great now. I have a vintage jackson custom shop,, a vintage strat and a new tele american made and a ibenez gb-10 , since I am no longer touring I could not justify paying $4 to $5 k for the PRS that I wanted this guitar is not a PRS by any means , but for the money it is fantastic PRS type of guitar to experiment with pickups and electronics on ,sort of a PRS project guitar . I could not be more pleased

Great Instrument, Great Value

Incredible value for money with this guitar.

Set up was good, could not detect any issues or blemishes on the finish.

Tone is great. Pickups are decent

Again, for the price, very very good quality for what you are getting.

Amazed!

This is my third HB guitar and again I am so impressed with what those guys in Vietnam have built.

Like anyone who buys guitars over the internet there is a bit of caution when the delivery van draws up at your door. With the current virus scare I was especially nervous. Quick spray of the external box opening to kill any bugs was my first step. Careful shift into the garage where I unboxed my treasures and returned to the house to wash my hands ! On unwrapping the guitar I was so so delighted to see a beautifully finished guitar that matches the web site photos and description.

Cons? Hahaha. If I have to nitpick ..... When I next change strings I will "finish off" the end of the fretboard where it almost touches the neck PUP as I can see where a dab of my model paint will tone it to match the fretboard playing surface. That same paint will be used to coves a couple of very small areas inside the guitar where (I suspect) the dark paint was eased off when installing the wiring.

I need do nothing else as it was delivered almost in tune - I was impressed with the tuners and after an afternoon of trying it out it has stayed very close to being in tune.

Did I say it is gorgeous??????????????

Love it!

In reality looks really great! Like an expensive guitar. Fretjob is good - no sharp ends. Was able to play without any adjustment (just tuned and thats it). I recorded two songs with it with (IMHO) great result! (Check links below). So, I love the sound, no complaints here! Good sustain and lot of warmth.

But now things I did not like:

At close look there is a place on the fretboard (from fret 20 and above) that looks like repairment job. Looks like narrow piece of wood was glued to the fretboard later.

Bridge is wrapover and has stupid construction, namely - You cannot adjust the intonation of each string separately, you must move the whole bridge and rely on the factory adjacent for each string. In my case I could not get satisfactory D-string intonation. You probably cannot hear it from the records because I dont go to high positions, but after 12th fret, it becomes increasingly sharp. I ordered another bridge with adjustable saddles.

Tuners are ok, but not smooth.

Bottom line - this was for sure a very good investment I made. One of the best spent money in my life. However - don't expect the same quality as in PRS. Just a great workhorse for any guitarist on a budget (not only a beginner) and as a backup instrument.

Here are two songs recorded with this guitar - first is mine, second is jazz-standard I found in a book.

Great Semi-hollow guitar

Great sounding guitar with a lot of features, it sound great through my 65 Princeton Reverb.

Pros: Great value for the money. Finish is excellant

Cons: I am a fan of bigger frets, it would be nice to see medium jumbo fret, versus medium frets

Wow! Unbelievable guitar!

Get one of these now! I own 16 Harley Benton guitars and basses that I have bought in the past 6 months for my musician wife and myself (I'm a beginning bassist). This one I bought for me but my wife has commandeered it from me and nicknamed it "Badass", and it truly is. She loves it's size, appearance, sound....everything about it. The first time she took it to an open mic, the guitarist who was playing and singing at the time saw her uncasing it and forgot the words to the song he was singing he was so distracted by it! It looks that good! Great tone versatility with the coil splitting push-pull function. This might be the best $205 US I've ever spent! We love all our HB guitars but this is probably the favorite. Just buy it!

In Love

Played great out of the box! Very Pretty Guitar!!

Great Craftsmanship

Looked over for hours just admiring the style and finish. Can't find any imperfections. Only thing was the fretboard was dry. Fixed.

Don't hesitate!

My CST 24 HM TF arrived within 7 workdays!

Well packaged. It was much more beautiful than expected. The fretboard was dyed black and presented well. However, the were some small areas that were not and which will be easily remedied with a felt tip pen. The guitar was immediately tested. Everything was spot-on!

Better than expected.

About me:

Been playing for over 35 years, average at best. Mostly a 70s rockhead, Stones, CCR... I can play anything if you don’t mind it sounding like Chuck Berry….Ha Ha…

I have about 20 guitars (only 1 acoustic..) Some good - USA 72 Deluxe Tele, PRS SE Custom 24 Exotic Top, Ibanez S series, some not so good – the wife has a Hanna Montana Washburn… crazy woman…

I recently brought the HB CST24HB and TE-70 Paisley.

Review of the HB CST24HB:

Pros:

This guitar looks amazing.

It has a slim neck that plays fast. The action is low, <1.5mm@ 6th.

The coil split is very usable and the tones are excellent – full to grit.

Very versatile guitar that handles cleans through to JCM800 very well.

Cons:

Probably not for hi gain (metal, thrash…), but we knew that.

When comparing this guitar against the PRS SE Custom 24 Exotic Top:

I love the PRS, the quality and feel.

I love the HB, the quality and feel. Lighter than the PRS.

The HB has a slimmer neck (think almost Wizard II) than the PRS but both feel excellent.

I think the HB has a better tone range, the coil split on the PRS is something I do not use (just does not work for me). The PRS handles Hi-Gain quite well.

The PRS tremolo works very well; the HB is a solid bridge. I’m not really a trem guy.

Both stay in tune very well.

Conclusion:

100% recommended.

If I knew how good this guitar is, I would never have bought the PRS.

Is it a better guitar than the PRS SE? Hard to say, they are both excellent instruments. The price makes it an easy decision though.

Two friends have just bought HBs after playing on mine. I am about to buy 2 more – HB CST24 and HB TE-90QM.

No regrets, she's a keeper

It's true, you will need to do a little set-up on your new Harley Benton. Guitar is beautiful and is overall very good quality. Very pleased with the value. She plays good, neck feels good, PUs sound pretty good. She is my #3 guitar now (out of 8) which is great considering #1 and #2 cost well over $1k.