Harley Benton CST-24T Ocean Flame 5-stars Reviews

Shocked!

I was not prepared to receive such a well put together guitar. It was in tune when I pulled it out of the box all the way from Germany. I only had to make minor adjustments to help it stay in tune even better. Great guitar. Thank you.

Didn't expect it to be that good!

The guitar is just awsome. Everything works perfectly, the sound differs a lot from my old Lead Star (which is exactly what I amed for), is sort of "oceanic", if it makes sense :)

The finnish and building quality are great.

I bought this guitar primarily for studio work, but pretty sure it would look and work great in live performance too.

Would highly recommend this instrument for advanced musicians, as well as for beginners.

Stunning guitar

This guitar is awesome. It plays great and sounds great and is absolutely beautiful. The pictures online don't come close to showing how nice several models look.

Beautiful look and sound

I just received my guitar and it's just gorgeus. Really nice colour and plenty of tones. Pickups sound to good to be true and the overall

experience does not match the price.The only flaw i found was a small hit behind the neck but i guess i was just unlucky. If you want a new budget guitar you should definitely have this piece of art in mind

A fine machine!

Will always now consider HB's as an option. Plays well sounds good and an excellent finish. The action which some players found a little high on some HB's ( usually easily adjusted) was not apparent on my CST 24T

One of the best guitars you can buy for this price

The guitar is beautifull and sound phenomenal the only bad thing I have to say it's that the nut wasn't properly cut and the 6th string has some buzzing and it feels like it's almost slipping out but that can be fixed.

This was my main guitar before i moved out of the country.

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!

Great instrument so far

I only use it to play at home and it is pretty unbeatable for the price. Kind of disappointed with the color though. It looks like some kind of navy blue in the pictures, but the one I got looks like a teal blue. Not ugly whatsoever, but really not as expected.

Amazing instrument

in short, amazing sound, playability and build quality for a guitar at this price point. It has become my main instrument from the day I got it while my previous guitar, a Gibson Les Paul Studio which was more than than 4 times pricier, has been sitting in its case ever since. The only issues I've had are related to the tremolo arm, the first one being the difficulty to mount it tightly in the bridge (I haven't managed to do it using the included small allen key) and the second concerning the guitar getting out of tune with heavy tremolo use. However, both of these problems can be solved with a good setup so I don't think they are that important. In the end, I consider it one of my best buys, just like the previous Harley Benton instruments that I have bought, and I would easily buy another one!

Nice guitar!

Sounds good (In its price range). The build is good. Looks great. The neck is nice, even and not scratched. Slightly tight tremolo. Playing this guitar is fun

It's a sound I have been looking for, for a long time, and finally found it.

This is my third Harley Benton guitar. After I bought the first one, I knew I had to have more. It makes it possible to fill out your collection with models that you normally couldn't afford, and now have.

First and foremost, review after review out on You Tube etc. the number one comment is that it plays and sounds better than any other guitar in my collection. This is met with several comments that they thought the pickups were a little dark, and wanted to swap them out. That's the irony of the situation. You can either get low output pickups which are very bright, but lack some extra depth, or you can get full humbuckers and then add the coil split option which gives you the best of both worlds.

I play this guitar through a Blues Deluxe 40-watt tube amp with a single twelve, and the tone is beautiful. I crank the treble back some and actually prefer the sound coming from the split coil option. It is like having an ultimate Strat but with just the right depth of tone. Then when I want to achieve that magic tone that I have long been looking for, I go full humbucker with just the right pedal settings.

What took me over the top was hearing this on You Tube by Jonathan Koh titled, "Harley Benton CST24T Black Flame with Helix LT" Listen to that. Turn it up. Notice he has the same setting, and only adjusts the volume level.

So now onto the guitar. This guitar was setup beautifully right out of the box. I think they take the extra 70 dollars or so and put every dime in the guitar.

The fit, the finish was all beautiful. If I had to get critical it would be that I wish the flame maple was done in such a way that it would shout from the rooftops, rather than being a transparent blue. I love the color, have been longing for a blue guitar, and I stared at the photos for a couple of weeks waiting for it to come back in stock.

This guitar has the HAF pickups which are high gain. If you want a guitar with the old PAF sound then the LAF pickup models are for you. I love them both. It's not yey this and boo that, but rather yey this and yey that. I’m staring at the LAF pickup models now ready to make a choice.

Now here is the crazy thing. This guitar not only stays in tune, it does so with a tremolo bar as long as it is setup correctly. In the past I skipped the tremolo feature on my other guitars because they would not stay in tune. When I saw so many reviews saying this one stayed in tune, I decided to dig in, and go for it.

It stays in tune even under the precision of a Peterson Stroboscopic tuner which is accurate to within a tenth of a cent, which is equivalent to a thousand segments between frets, and accurate to within one of those segments.

Okay so here is the key. You have to tweak the tremolo bar in the back of the guitar until it is just right. After getting the guitar in perfect tune, use the tremolo bar, and if it comes out a little sharp afterwards, the tremolo bar is tightened up too much, if it comes out a little flat it is not tight enough. So, go through the motions to get it just right. You know you are close when for example the first three strings are spot on, but the top three are a little flat or sharp; then snug up that sides adjusting screw accordingly, and get ready to experience a guitar you can do dive bombs with, and it comes out perfectly in tune. Nothing is more important than maintaining perfect tuning. It's like listening to a singer who sings off pitch. On the other hand, having something in pitch so well it sounds like an orchestra. Be sure to set the intonation perfectly as well.

I go up to beyond the 12th fret, and play a cowboy A chord leaving the 5th and 6th string open, fret the chord, and top it off with the high A fretted on the first string. Listen to it carefully, and experience an orchestra like experience as it fades out; this guitar is totally capable of that.

It's lighter than a Les Paul, and heavier than a Tele. The tuners work well, although they are not an 18-gear ratio. You may need to do a little tweaking when tuning with these, but no need for replacement, they hold tune impeccably, mostly due in part to the fact that the strings go straight through the nut, instead of veering off to the sides which causes binding. I don't even use Nut Sauce, which I used to use, and is a great product, I only now use a little dab of Vaseline on the nut, and bridge contact points using a toothpick.

I'm building my You Tube channel, have a studio with an RME Fireface UFX interface and Pro Tools, and plan on doing a You Tube presentation of this magnificent instrument. I really do love it. It's up there with the best in my collection. The mahogany grain on the back reminds me that this thing is built for tone, and performance. No messing around.

Blown away

This is my first electric guitar, though I have been playing borrowed electrics for a while. This completely blows away the competition in what is available in my country (India). The finish is flawless. The fret work is good although not very highly polished but I wasn't expecting it to be. It has some issues with tuning stability and it's because of the nut not being cut properly as I have already installed locking tuners. After doing a good setup, this guitar is as perfect as it can be. Shipping left something to be desired as the box was pretty dinged up when it arrived. Did not receive the Allen wrench or truss rod wrench in the box. Still on the whole a great instrument that is definitely recommended.

Would be good at twice the price

I honestly couldn't find anything wrong with it out of the box. Fret work is good. Heck, it was almost in-tune. Action is just a tad high, but well within the personal preference range and easily adjustable. Intonation was on. I really like the coil-split. The single coil clean tones sound awesome. The hardest part is picking a color. Is it on par with $2000+ guitars? I don't know, I don't own any. Is it on par with $500 guitars? Easily. If I had to pick a con I would say the ocean flame top is not as distinct as the photos, that's about it.

Very good guitar for the price.

I'm sorta guitar hobbyist so cannot say professionally, though playing for more than 10 years already so think my review can be of value to someone.

This guitar neither have a feeling nor sound of PRS SE Custom (which I played), but it works and sounds better than all cheap chinese guitars I played before. Split coil sounds not really well to my taste but humbuckers sounds great for the price.

Once I got it, I had to tweak tremolo system to remove fret buzz. Didn't have to do anything other to make it work as expected.

If you want PRS - my advice would be to go for it. If you want an all-round good budget guitar - this one is 100% fit.

Fantastic!

A custom 24 fret guitar with set neck for under £200...wow.

Sounds and looks great. Flattish fretboard, but suits the style of guitar.

Pros...Price, flametop and playabilty.

Cons...a couple of paint defects and oversprays, but I've had them with Gibsons costing 5 x the price of this guitar.

I'm really enjoying this guitar and my full fat original, Tele. Strat, Les Paul and PRS are back in their cases.

Surprised on quality for the price

Great looking guitar. With a couple mod updates, this guitar will rock

Harley Benton CST-24T Ocean Flame

I had not played a PRS style before; so had no expectations on feel or playability. I was surprised how much I enjoyed this guitar. It's certainly different to my Strats/S-Styles; but is easy to play and sounds very capable. The neck is a bit chunkier than I'm used to; but I like the feel, just wish the back had a less polished finish.

Amazing Guitar for the money.

I've played for 30+ years, and this is one of my favourite guitars. Initial set up 80% there ( trem springs need slackening, action lowering). Finish is beautiful. Neck (c shape) is a little unusual..but that's more a "taste" thing...I'm growing to really like it.

*after a week of playing* Still very happy, but the tuners are terrible. I ordered a replacement set of Kluson MS33C and the guitar is much more playable now

Amazing guitar

unboxed the Harley Benton CST-24T Ocean Flame tuned it .played a bit , stretched the string and re-tuned . Played well right out of the box , set up from factory great, went to a gig that night and played for a couple of hours . This guitar not only plays well but it looks fantastic ,. The finish is superb, the set up was great and the sound is terrific. My band mates were very impressed . I was blown away especially for the price i paid. the tremelo bar so so could use some design improvement . delivery was fast and customer service excellent. Over all very impressed so i bought another guitar being delivered today. march 11/2020 the Harley Benton DC-600 VI Vintage Series. . ill post a review once i get it . but as far as the Harley Benton CST-24T Ocean Flame i would say buy it now! Its worth it!!

For the money, this is the best product.