Review of the Harley Benton CST-24T Ocean Flame Electric guitar. Where to buy it?

My main guitar when gigging is a £5000 20th Anniversary PRS but when I wanted a backup guitar of the same scale length I thought I was going to get a PRS SE as it seemed to be the cheapest option, bearing in mind it was just going to sit on the stage in case I broke a string on the PRS.

After receiving my BigTone Vintage Guitar which I was very pleased with I decided to have a look at the Harley Benton PRS style selection
before I placed an order.

After doing a bit of research and watching of many youtube videos I thought I would take a punt and decided to order the CST-24T Ocean Flame, after all, if it was really rubbish (as some of the reviews stated, although the majority of the review were in favour), I could always send it back.

The delivery was up to Thomann’s usual speed and 2.5 days after placing the order I was opening the box to my view my new toy.

After opening the box I was taken aback by the beauty of the guitar, I looked for the few blemishes (that were often mentioned in the reviews) in the finish, but could not find any, next, The neck felt really nice although the fretboard seemed a bit flatter than any other guitar I own. I put the tremolo bar into the socket (expecting it to be very loose and fall out, as per the reviews) and it was set up no differently from my PRS, loose enough to spin under tension but did not move on its own. The only visible issues I could find on the guitar were that the roseacre fretboard seemed very dry and the frets looked like they had a haze from polish on them. The frets ends were very smooth and seemed to be level.

Next I looked at the action which although okayish was higher than I prefer to have, so I wanted to test the electronics before making any physical adjustments to the guitar so that if it didn’t work correctly I was still able to send it back. Fortunately all worked well. The bridge is a Wilkinson Tremolo and very well made, The tuners all worked well, and although I would have preferred locking tuners on a guitar with a Tremolo these seemed to do the job okay (although I will replace these later for locking types).

Firstly, I removed all the strings and set about oiling the fretboard with Lemon Oil, it took three full applications before the fretboard seemed sated and I was able to wipe off the excess. I then checked the frets with a straight edge and all seemed well. Next I installed a fresh set of Fender Stainless Steel Flatwound strings 9-42 and adjusted the action to suit my normal playing style. After letting the guitar settle down for a day I started playing it for real.

So to playing it, the guitar looks, plays and sounds fantastic. Although the pickups have a different sound to those on my PRS, it is not a bad sound, just different.

In conclusion, how does it stand up to my PRS, to be honest how could a £192 guitar stand up against a £5000 guitar? Well to be frank, it doesn’t, but then is the £5000 guitar 25x better than the £192 guitar? Absolutely not, a set of new locking tuners, a change of electronics (pickups, pots, switch and output socket cost circa < £300) and the difference becomes very, very much closer.

28/04/18 I’ve just realised that my Ocean Flame CST-24T was made in Vietnam as opposed to China.

For the money, the one I have is incredible value, and I see another new CST-24T in Emerald Green Flame (I don’t have a green guitar) on the horizon.

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.