Harley Benton CST-24 Black Cherry Flame DLX

The Harley Benton CST24 in Black Cherry Flame ... Where should I start? Let's start with the Pros because they outweigh the cons definitely. It's a great guitar for the price. Finishing awesome, playability good. That was the short version.

Pros: Beautiful instrument that feels way more in value than you pay for it. It was properly packed and just minor tuning needed (although making the way from Germany to the UK). The sound out of the box is way better than any other instrument in that price range I have played so far and can hold up with Fender Mexico versions or Epiphone Custom Shops. The intonation was almost spot on. No string buzzing or anything like that. Action was really low and the neck itself is really fast. Great.
Get one! Especially this finish is very beautiful.

Cons:
There are, as expected, a few issues that need to be addressed in an honest review. The tuners are not good. You can turn them and turn them and maybe at some point something happens. But replace them aftermarket with some Graphtech locking tuners and you are fine and it doesn't break the bank. The nut was in a weird angle and the cutouts for the strings haven't been done properly, so the high E-string almost popped off when bending a full step. the B-string ... similar. The fretboard is dry, but nothing that a bit of lemon oil couldn't fix.

Summary:
I wish that sort of quality would have existed when I started playing guitar 25 years ago. I had to deal with a Strat copy from our local dealer, that was more expensive, had the weight of a Jazz Bass and never stayed in tune.
What Harley Benton offers here is great value for money and specially as a beginner or someone that likes modding guitars - this instrument is a fantastic starting point.

Great Instrument for the money! I have sent this one back, although I prefer the look of it. I have a Amber Flame as well, that did not have the above issues and I will give the CST 24 HB a try as well. Let's see which one makes the cut.

The customer service of Thomann is outstanding and quick and the HB Team answers every question about the instrument before you buy and within 14 days (in the UK) you can send it back at no cost (if the guitar is not damaged by you) if you don't like it.

In general, it is a very well-built guitar for 1/5 of a price of an original custom SE 24 model - that was the main reason for me to try this instrument.
Out-of-the-box it wasn't absolutely flawless. Frets were not polished, several frets had relatevely deep notches, obstructing from bending the high E-string, seemed like someone on the factory in Vietnam levelled the frets by a hammer after the strings had been attached;-) Lacquer on the back side of the neck also was't perfectly polished with some hand prints on it. Fretboard was absolutely dry with spots of glue here and there... So before plugging the guitar into my amp I had to spend a several hours polishing frets, sanding and lemonoilng the fretbord.
Anyway, overall build quality of the guitar body and neck is really good, its nice to hold it in your hands. The body is just beautiful, the guitar is considerably lighter than a full-body LPs, all frets access is easy, neck is quite slim and narrow compared to mentioned above prs SE, very playable, I should say. Tuners are OK, they do the job.
If you decide to buy this guitar pay attention to a very 'specific' prs-type bridge setup: before you try to adjust string action by large coin-slot bolts be sure you fully unscrew small black mensuration-setup screws! And by the way you can't properly setup the action before you complete your scale length setup - when you move the bridge the string action changes. So the whole procedure of of setting up this guitar can take an hour of your precious time.
Pickups are not an absolute junk, they are quite decent, but sound a bit weak compared to traditional Dimarzio or SD humbackers, and for sure, being coil-splitted do not sound like real single-coils. The guitar gives you a lot of different intonations, a lot of room for experiments, but you can't substitute a LP and a Strat by this one guitar.
To wrap it up, its a great value-for-money guitar, reasonably priced - not only for beginners, with no real competition in its price rage. Just keep in mind its price and your expectations will be met when you receive it :-)

***UPDATE***

Thomann sent me a new wraparound bridge. This new one works way better than the first one. The adjustable saddle for the B and G string stays in place and I no longer have notes choking out. I LOVE this guitar now. Thanks Thomann!

I fell in love with this guitar the moment i saw it. I wanted a relatively inexpensive backup guitar to have on hand. I will start with the "pros" but please continue reading, because there were some major "cons"

PROS
- Beautiful guitar. The second I unpacked it, I knew it was something special. There is no way this guitar only cost $240 (with an additional $80 shipping....WOOF)

- Decent sounding pickups (for the price). A little boxy and flubby, but definitely usable.

- It played real smooth right out the box. Had to do a couple minor adjustments, but who cares? It came from Germany in the middle of winter. You have to expect it to move a little.

- Tuners aren't locking, but they do a decent job.

- The single-coil tap is a cool feature. Many options.

CONS
- The wrap-around bridge...Good concept. Poorly executed. There is a saddle for the G and B string that can be adjusted more to correct the intonation. If that saddle is slightly out of place in a clockwise manner, my B string notes choke out when I bend. I have to carefully line up this saddle, tighten it WITHOUT knocking it out of alignment, in order to keep my B string from choking out. It took A LOT of time and money to figure out this problem. Also, I've tried FIVE different replacement wrap-around bridges from Amazon. NONE of them work for various reasons. So, you are at the mercy of the bridge they give you. (I've been trying to buy extra bridges from Thomann to have as spares, but I'm having no luck)

- There must have been something funky going on with the press that was stamping out my frets because several of them had a slight gouge running down the middle. I had to have my guitar completely releveled before I could really play it (another $75 added to my cost)

- Not only was the bridge intonation saddle wonky, but the bridge itself feels cheap and lightweight.

- Difficult to find a hardshell case for this guitar. Had to buy one from Thomann. $65 case (nice) with a $60 shipping fee (BOO).

So, in closing...

This guitar is FINALLY in working conditional after a LOT of headache, confusion, and sacrifices. I thought I was getting away with a steal ($240 guitar).

But, shipping fee ($80), case shipping fee ($60), fret relevel ($75), frequent trips to my guitar tech to fix the bridge ($75), with the additional time and energy put into finding a replacement bridge...I'm not sure I would buy this guitar again. Every time I've ever purchased a guitar online without playing it, I've been burned. And it kinda happened again.

Just get ready to bury a LOT of time, money, and energy into this guitar if you buy one.

P.S. Now that I have the bridge situation figured out (even though I'd still like a replacement bridge) , I dropping in some locking tuners and some Seymour Duncan JB and Jazz pickups. It's a tone monster now. A $240 guitar is closer to $700 at this point (gulp)

First time I've ever bought a guitar without trying it out first. For the money I don't think anything can compare. I've owned dozens of guitars including a lot of high end vintage instruments. Right out of the box this thing was ready to play. Action, intonation, neck, frets were all fine, didn't have to adjust anything which is rare. I managed a music store for several years and almost all the guitars we got in had to to be professionally set up. Pickups and electronics are also great for the price. If your the guy that is gonna be picky about finish imperfections such as a few places on the binding where you can see some bleeding of the color from the wood stain, which was just a couple on my instrument, then maybe you gotta complaint. The tuners are a little stiff but work fine, no slipping. I've played many guitars at a much higher price bracket that didn't compare. My first Harley Benton, but definitely not my last. UPDATE: So i've had the guitar for around three months or so and I have decided that I will upgrade the tuners. They seemed to work fine at first but now I'm starting to notice like dead spots or jumping up or down all of a sudden when I'm trying to tune. Haven't had any other issues thus far and I play almost every day. UPDATE... Started have a little problem with keeping in tune when doing a lot of bends. Switched the nut for a bone one, problem solved. Not a big issue for me but if your gonna have to pay someone to do this for you it's something you should consider. It still remains one of my regular players and one of my favorites.

I've owned this model for quite a while now. The neck is a really nice slim c that feels great.
The intonation and wrap around bridge are spot on. So nice for palm muting.
I enjoy it so much I've upgraded with locking tuners and a seymour duncan invader in the bridge for higher gain play.
The stock pickups are OK. I left the neck in place for warmer tones. However if you want a high gain monster I wouldn't say it's the right fit. Some people say they're a bit too muddy.
Quality has been perfect. I have no issues at all with any of the wiring or pots. Rolling back volume feels resonsive.
Pickup change was a breeze.
The top is so nice I often catch myself staring at it across the room while watching TV.
I love this guitar and it has fueled me to sell the PRS I owned that was almost the same guitar.
I now have another Harley Benton on the way thanks to the very good quality and enjoyable experience I've had with this one.
A great budget beginner with so much modding potential.
I'm in Canada and after everything was said and done the price was about $375
So much better than a squire bullet or infinity to me. Just buy one

I have received the guitar yesterday. The packaging was impeccable, both thomann and UPS did their job flawlessly when it comes to packaging and handling. Little to no scratches or flaws in the finish.
The fretboard binding is a bit dirty and it seems it doesn't want to come off. Also, the metal part of the tone knob comes off the plastic part if you pull too hard, but that's an easy fix, nothing to really complain about.
The two major flaws are the bridge and the fretboard.
DITCH THE ROSACER. It flakes, pieces come off it, it feels really like burnt wood. It even left charcoal-like residue on my fingers. I have wiped and polished it with a scotchbrite pad and hydrated it with some oil and it got a bit better, but it is still quite unpleasant. Also, I had to polish the fret wires, since they felt like sandpaper while doing bends and vibrato.
Now the bridge.... I can't seem to set the intonation on the E and A strings. The intonation screw is screwed in all the way, the bridge almost comes off the post screw, but the note still goes sharp on the 12th fret. Maybe I am unlucky with this guitar in particular, I hope not everyone gets this. The action is really nice tho.
That's pretty much all I had to comment about it. All in all, it's a great guitar for this price