Harley Benton CST-24T Black Flame

Stunning Guitar, better than PRS SE

I always fancied the PRS look and liked the idea of 2 splittable humbuckers and a useable tremolo. I tested 2 PRS SEs, a Santana and a Custom 22. Was disappointed by sound and quality control. Bought this guitar. Well, what a stunner. Much better QC than the PRS, fuller sound particularly the single coil, good tremolo. To be fair the PRS tremolo was better. Fab sounds, great playablility (I did a couple of tweaks as the action was too high for my taste and the neck was too straight). Tremolo worked itself out after a couple weeks. All told an absolutely fantastic guitar for the price. I am currently using itmore than my Gibson R9, but that´s more about taste than quality. The R9 is of course way better. I can recommend a CST to anyone; great qc, great workmanship and wood finish, great sounds and playability. For EUR 279 an absolute steal!

Best in Quality-Price

Will be perfect if tremolo could keep in tune.

Really enjoyable guitar

Harley Benton CST-24T Black Flame, man!

The Harley Benton CST-24T Black Flame electric guitar is a true gem that combines outstanding craftsmanship, eye-catching aesthetics, and impressive performance at an incredibly affordable price point.

First and foremost, the build quality of the CST-24T is exceptional. The sleek black flame finish on the quilted maple top is simply stunning and exudes a sense of elegance. The guitar feels solid and well-balanced, with a comfortably contoured body that allows for extended playing sessions without fatigue.

In terms of playability, the CST-24T truly shines. The medium jumbo frets provide excellent intonation and facilitate precise and accurate playing. Whether you're shredding through fast-paced solos or laying down soulful chords, this guitar handles it all with ease.

Considering its affordable price, the Harley Benton CST-24T Black Flame electric guitar offers incredible value for money. It exceeds expectations in terms of both aesthetics and performance, making it an excellent choice for beginners and experienced players on a budget.

Mais guitarra do que alguma vez precisarei

Após mais de um ano com a guitarra posso confirmar que foi uma excelente compra. Tem um bom som mantém afinada e passado este tempo todo não apresenta problemas. Mais que satisfeito.

Best and more than PRS

I found this guitar because i find my new music style which required tremolo. I bought this guitar somewhere in august 2022 and used it 100% on rehearsals and live performances. But still i needed to set up the guitar for my own style. The 2 way tremolo (like PRS), locking tunners, new strings and other small changes. I really love this guitar, this guitar is better than PRS in 97%, the 3% is tremolo. Tremolo is useble in 2 way but it not what it meant to be, it's custom made, so i hope Harley Benton will made a PRS style tremolo which is useble in 2 ways from factory.

The CST 24 line

I find this guitar to be excellent in every configuration. For those of you who prefer special pickups, this is a easy guitar to mod.

Bridge pickup issues, tremolo bar issues.

I have ordered this guitar in July 2022. I ordered it to Armenia with standard delivery method, so it took about a month for the shipment to arrive - to me it seemed like an impresive time frame. My only recommendation is to share more realistic approxinmate delivery dates, because it says 2-3 weeks basically, and though I was 100% sure that it can't be delivered within 14 days or even 19 days, it can be critical to someone. I have ordered another guitar recently with expedited delivery service (UPS Express) that promised my shipment to be delivered basically within 3 business days. And again, though I knew it was not possible (and I was right, a whole week passed already, and my shipment is still on its way), someone else can be really disapointed.

So, back to CST-24T Black Flame. All was good. Quality was impressive and I was really happy. The only issue was a tremolo bar - it looked like they accidentally put a wrong one to the bag: the bar easily falls out of the hole in the guitar and its position cannot be fixed in any way. It just hangs and dangles, risking to fall out at any moment, so it's simply impossible to use it at a concert or even at a rehearsal. Nonetheless, it was not a problem for me as I am not a tremolo user, but still spoils the overall impression.

Another problem is more significant. I own this guitar for less than 5 months (I received it in August and am writing this review in December), and my bridge pickup is not working. Actually, first signs of this issues appeared back in September and October already - the sound of the bridge pickup was intermittently disappearing or fading, but I was blaming my old cabel. So, about a month ago I bought a new cabel, but it didn't help. In the middle of November bridge pickup stopped working (well, it is working, but it sounds like gain and volume are at 0). I know that wire oxidation is probably to blame, and it can be easily fixed, but I just didn't have time to do it. But still it is very disapointing to face such issue with the guitar that is less than 5 months old.

So, though I really liked this guitar and was happy to own it, after all it seems like if you buy one for only 250 USD, be aware to fac some quality issues - probably not right away, but ater a few months very possible.

A great bargain

The day I deceived this, I recorded with it. It needed very little setting up. The extended range and the deep cutaway made this a joy to play.

BUYER BEWARE!!!

So I bought this guitar because I couldn't afford a PRS SE and I heard great reviews. So I took the plunge and bought it thinking that with the new factory and the offer of stainless steel frets that it would be a great deal.

On delivery it was in one piece and was remotely functional. But the more I went through it, the more issues I saw.

- Fretboard broken at the truss rod underneath the nut.

- What looks like a piece of bare wood underneath the clear coat.

- Frets not level. ( which will cost more to level since they are stainless steel ).

- The nut is too small so the strings aren't spaced right and they're not even sitting in the nut properly so it never stays in tune.

- Poor wiring to where I had to replace wires on the selector switch because the wires were way too thin and not soldered right.

- Tremolo screws are leaning forward so I'm assuming that they weren't drilled right.

- Pickup ring wholes aren't aligned properly

- Jack whole is butchered with multiple screw holes from the factory messing up.

- Tremolo has a good scratch and a small dent.

I should have just held out for the PRS because for how much I am gonna have to pay to fix issues I could have bought the SE instead.

Seriously good guitar - Brutal or clean.

This is my first Harley Benton, but it will not be my last. Already have another on the way.

The sound plus build quality of this guitar surpasses anything else at this price--I know because I own many others right in this range. No problems out of the box. Finish is beautiful, plays well and fast. The pickups are great, with versatile tones that handle crispy cleans and disgusting brutal crunch extremely well. Shipping to US was quite fast especially considering I live in the middle of nowhere.

If you're trying to decide to get this or not, go for it. I have no regrets, only an amazing guitar...