Harley Benton CST-24T Black Flame Reviews

Overall very good

Changed the tuners for sperzal locking tuners. This was my preference, nothing wrong with the standard tuners. The guitar is very good, setup was almost perfect for my playing requirements.

Would recommend.

Smooth with a Groove

[Pro ] all the way

Uses ... my go to G-tar

in recording [ very clean ] playing at my church , has a great appearance ..

no problem with hums or crackle sounds.. when changing pickups or using toggle switch...

all good [craftsmanship , electronics , attention to detail ]

Cons ...

**after a few weeks of playing**

had to adjust neck bow midway in neck 8th to 12th fret.

intonation was sharp made adjust

all good now.

CST-24T BLACK FLAME

''WOW'' what a great guitar, i have 6 guitars and none of them come close to this for a flawless finish, beautiful tone and the setup was perfect, all i had to do was keep it shining and play it. thank you burt

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 bought the HB CST24HB and TE-70 Paisley and loved them so much that I followed up by buying the CST-24T Black Flame and the TE-90QM Trans Red.

Review of the CST-24T Black Flame:

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:

The trem bridge only dives.

Finger board was a bit dry... no big deal.

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.

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).

Both handle Hi-Gain quite well and clean up nicely.

The PRS is a touch quieter on Hi-gain... maybe...

The PRS tremolo works very well; the HB only dives. 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.

As described

I am very happy with the quality of this guitar. Recomeneded to anyone on a Budget. Fast shipping and as described.

Wow! Just Wow!

My Harley Benton CST 24 Black Flame arrived today and the sound and quality went well beyond expectations. It played great right out of the box and the finish is fantastic. I could not locate any defects in the workmanship. It really holds tune great.

As an older guy, who is not gong turn pro anytime soon, this is the way to go! If you are looking for a great guitar at a great price, I would highly recommend this guitar.

Wow just sums it up.

Got my guitar today. It was very well packaged. Played it right out of the box without even having to tune the strings.

I had been looking to buy a PRS SE Custom which costs $780 plus taxes. Then I came across Harley Benton guitars. At first I was skeptical but boy o boy I am glad I took the chance.

Pros: This guitar plays better than the PRS SE Custom. The finish is flawless. The coil tap feature is very useful. Finally the neck is fast and the action is just right, not too low or not to high.

Finally the price is unbeatable. I will be ordering two more.

Cons: I cannot think of any, just that once you receive the guitar, tape the frets and polish them with mothers metal polish and you will have a guitar that plays as good if not better than guitars five times the cost.

I would suggest if you are in the market for a guitar, then buy this one as you will not regret it.

Don't listen to any negative comments people have left as I can tell you I played several guitars in Guitar Center here in USA all from $200 to $2000 and can guarantee you that this was as good if not better than all of them.

Now i have a PRS :)))

This guitar looks great, plays great, feels awesome. It came in great conditions with small finishing blemishes, nothing to worry about. It plays great straight out the box. Would recommend it 10/10.

Close to being Perfect But needs some work.

After Youtube Videos I got the Harley Benton CST-24T Black Flame.

The Tremolo dose not come setup to Float which Similar Body Style Guitars usually have theirs floating.

The Rosewell Pickups are OK but not doing it justice.

These need Locking Tuners I replaced mine with locking tuners which was a 100% improvement which should be on this kind of Guitar.

Finish Flaw; while its a Beautiful Looking Guitar the Top Maple 2 Piece top is not Centered its off Center towards the Control Side of the Guitar by about 5mm or 1/8th inch. So quickly looking it gives the illusion the Pickups and Tremolo are off center.

The Fretboard on mine is not nearly as dark as shown. I don't mind this but some may.

Over all I love the Guitar but before I get another Id like to see changes Locking Tuners and the Wilkinson Tremolo to Float. Med Jumbo Frets because it would make playing it much easier and faster.

With those fixed it would be worth paying more and be a perfect Guitar that would rival a lot more expensive Similar Guitars. Hope to see an updated one soon Thanks.

Poor QC

I have read this many times on the internet before buying this guitar: HB have a serious QC issue. I received this guitar with dented frets, which was audible on bends. It wasn't a fun experience.

Great Guitar for any Price Point

Forget the price point. This is a great guitar by any standard. The frets were not perfect and needed some minor leveling but besides that I solid guitar that looks, plays, and sounds great. Highly recommend these fantastic guitars.

Stunning Very Affordable Guitar

Got my guitar very well packed, in less than a week after ordering it and I am nothing but amazed with the attention to detail given to an instrument in this price range.

Looks and finishing:

Absolutely stunning! Book matched flame top burst from black to gray (in my case). The one advertised had a brown transparent wood back and neck, mine is painted black. High gloss finish with no flaws. This guitar has a plus top, not plain. The binding color is pretty and well done. No blemishes whatsoever. The fret job is very well done, with no sharp frets. After adjusting, the arm is perfectly straight and the frets perfectly leveled.

Hardware:

The hardware is fine, the bridge was very easy to intonate correctly, the neck was very easy to adjust and leave perfectly straight. The string action is very low (if you like it setup like that) and without any fret buzz. The tremolo arm has a very clever thread free fixation, it does not leave its place despite what some might say. When swinging the arm in a very wide movement the guitar does get out of tune, what I would say it is expectable. The tuners are OK although one is more difficult to turn than the other 5. The guitar came with a .010 .046 D'Addario string set. No rust at all.

Electronics

The Roswell LAF pickups are OK, not the sharpest tools in the shed, but they do their job. The neck pickup lacks a bit of definition, but nothing too serious. The pots work well and splitting the coils really changes sound, especially if you do it with clean tones.

The guitar weights around 3,5kg, I consider it light. There is definitely room for improvement if you intend to use the guitar as a base for modifications. If you don't, you won't be disappointed! In fact, I thing you'll be in love! Guess I was lucky with this one! I totally recommend it! Have fun!!!!

Great sound, great looks, not so great build

This is my favorite guitar. It plays great, it feels great and it looks great, but the jack is messed up and after two weeks of playing everyday, when I plugged the guitar it just broke and went inside the body. So, keep in mind that you may have to deal with that.

Great PRS style guita

great looking guitar and the pickups are decent, I have already the same pickups in 3 HB, so I know them very well. The only minus was a little imperfection on the finish close to the neck join with the body. I personally think that this guitar can easily compete with an SE PRS.

Exellent Guitar

Beautiful guitar finish and build quality are excellent. Played surprisingly well out of the box. But will need a set up. Overall

I could not be happier.

So close to being great

Bought this as a back up for my main guitar. Looked amazing for the money, and when it arrived - I was blown away by how it looked. The issues started when I plugged it in.

The Roswell pickups are hot... and a bit mushy. But overall not bad. The coil tap is cool, but the trem system is one way to out-oftunesville.

Fret board felt... sticky? Not sure how best to describe it.

My main gripe, and why I had to send it back is the fret buzz. Too many uneven frets/ dead notes. The Action was super high upon receipt, which hid the problem somewhat - but was still very noticable.

Overall, the guitar (provided it hasn't got issues) is amazing for the money. Feels more like a Fender than a Gibson. Would be a great first guitar/ back up guitar. Not sure i'd use it for a main...

Unbelievable, especially at this price

This is my third Harley Benton instrument (I own a great Paisley TE and an amazing BZ5000NT bass), and I have to say it's the best out of the three. Now I understand the hype around this model, and it's worth every little bit of it.

Sure, there are weak points: the nut isn't well cut, especially on the higher E string, the tuners feel cheap, and it might need replacing the pots sooner rather than later. The Wilkinson trem struggles to stay in tune under heavy use (nut issues...), and the trem block could be thicker, but these are all to be expected on a guitar of this price range, and easily fixable if you're willing to spend a bit of money on some upgrades.

What isn't expected at this price point is the sheer versatility and playability: you can go from warm jazzy tones to jangly single coil stuff with the flick and pull of a pot, or add some distortion and pull some seriously chunky rhythm tones or singing leads. The mahogany body adds some bark to the sound, and overall the guitar feels solid and resonant.

As for how it looks: on close inspection it's easy to find a few minor flaws, and the flame top doesn't show a lot of depth. But take a step back and it looks simply stunning.

Overall, I'm so satisfied with it that I'm going to get another one for my daughter so she doesn't feel tempted to steal mine!

Great guitar

I?m a home user only but I have played a number of years.

Good build quality but did a little bit of work with the setup. I should have had the pickups upgraded as I think they sound a little weak.

Overall I would rate this budget guitar a 10/10, punching well above its weight

Love this AXE!

Arrived in top condition here in sunny Singapore. Had to setup the bride as the saddles were all inline with one another, I prefer it to curve in conjunction with the slightly curve fret board. The neck is a morden C..very playable. I'm totally happy with this purchase.

Highly recommended!

My detailed review is @ >

Had some fun playing this beautiful guitar @ https://youtu.be/FUDVa1aKAOU

Pretty Good Value

I took the plunge on this a few weeks ago after reading reviews & watching YouTube vids on it

I am not disappointed !! Delivered in 3 days from ordering

The flame top is stunning, the workmanship is good & all of the parts are of a decent quality - My only issue is that there is a black mark on the binding of the lower horn, but I'm not fussy on that

The pickups are bass heavy (which I like a lot), & very powerful

The guitar itself is a lot heavier than I anticipated, borderline Les Paul weight, but I'm used to that

The action was too high for me when I got it, so I lowered it straight away - Intonation spot on - There was too much tension in the neck which caused the first fret on G B & E strings to not play at all

Truss rod adjusted & all is good

Finally, I did not want the tremolo but wanted the Black Flame finish - WHY OH WHY do Harley Benton not do the Black Flame in the wrap over bridge model ??

Anyhoo, if you have the money, & are not sure whether to buy this........Do it - You wont be disappointed