Harley Benton CST-24HB Charcoal Flame

Wanted to post a review since I ordered this guitar form the USA, which is not terribly normal for these guitars. I will talk a little about my overall experience a little first and then the instrument. It took 15 days to get the guitar, which is fine. The only downside of this experience was when the guitar left the DHL system you no longer have tracking information, the DHL info stopped working. I emailed Thoman and they eventually, got me USPS tracking information. When the item was delivered, USPS up-charged me $22.20, I assume for additional customs fees. While this wasn't ideal, it was not a deal breaker for me considering that meant the guitar was going to cost around $275 US. The guitar has a few minor blemishes, one on the head stock and one in the binding of one of the f holes. Probably should have been a B stock, but not really a big deal.

My one suggestion in regards to Harley Benton would be keep your expectations in check. I expected an epiphone/MIM Fender level of quality and it certainly delivers and even some what exceeds that. Its got a great warm feel to the tone and is very versatile. If this guitar was in a store in the U.S. I think it would be a $450-$500 priced guitar. It came well set up, may need some intonation work, with no fret buzz or ragged frets for that matter.

The only reason I didn't rate this over all 5 stars is the minor blemishes in the finish. Considering it was a big selling point of the guitar, I felt like those shouldn't have slipped through. I will order from Thoman again, perhaps a 12 string since finding a reasonably priced one is not easy.

This is a big and bold sounding guitar. The flame finish is gorgeous. The Alpha pots and Graphtec nut are great additions. The pickups in this guitar sound far different than they do in the solid body. Open, airy, organic sounding. Had to polish the stainless steel frets and set up the action as it was somewhat high. As this this bridge is the traditional style PRS uses, you have to 'settle' for tuning it. I installed another wraparound bridge where I could tune all six strings individually. Problem solved. This guitar is a rock monster but will do a subtle Carlton or Ford no problem. Again Thomann delivers a winner!

I've always wanted a guitar in this style, but since I'm not making any money from music, I couldn't justify the cost. That made this guitar the perfect option.

It looks beautiful - the build quality is great, no issues that I can see other than some rough edges inside the f-holes but you can only see that if you really look from a few inches away. Guitar stays in tune extremely well.

The coil split feature is really nice and adds additional sound options.

One thing I have noticed is that the sustain seems to be really short when plugged in - the audio cuts off after a few seconds. I assume that's a pick-up issue but I've never seen that before on a guitar.

Besides that, this is a great guitar and well worth the cost.

Pros
.Finish is fantastic, the book match is dead center and there are no over sanding areas or bubbling in the clear coat.
.tuners are good quality and hold tune well.
.light weight (7 Lbs) and feels comfortable up against your body.


Cons
.No back panel makes it difficult to switch out pickups.
.slight buzz even after adjustment and setting the action and bow/ relief. Suspect uneven frets.
.The inlays are sloppy and don't look professional.

Used for music recording and performance
www.thepariahcomplex.com

No complaints about the service and delivery to the UK. Fast , efficient and great tracking information. The guitar is good. My main issue is that the frets are very gritty and the guitar just was not set up properly. The strings were rusty and dead so Thomman are sending me a new set of strings. I have set the intonation and action now and the guitar plays better. Once i polish the frets and restring i think this guitar will be fantastic for the money. The pickups are great, the coil split is great and very useful for interesting tones. Overall im happy but the state of the frets, setup and strings were rather poor on delivery. I may have received a poor example in this regard, i really dont know. These issues can be sorted though and im looking forward to playing the guitar once the niggles are rectified.