Harley Benton CST-24T Black Flame

169

Electric Guitar

  • Deluxe Series
  • Meranti body
  • Flamed maple arched top
  • Set-in Meranti neck
  • Roasted jatoba fretboard
  • "C" Neck profile
  • Fretboard radius: 350 mm
  • 24 Frets BlackSmith stainless steel
  • Pearloid dots fretboard inlays
  • Neck and body binding
  • Scale: 635 mm
  • Nut width: 42 mm
  • Graphite nut
  • 2 Roswell HAF AlNiCo-5 open coil humbucker pickups
  • 3-Way switch
  • 1 Volume- and 1 tone control with push/pull function for coil split
  • DLX chrome hardware
  • Wilkinson WVPC tremolo
  • DLX machine heads
  • Colour: Black Flame
Available since February 2018
Item number 424332
Sales Unit 1 piece(s)
Colour Black Flame
Body Meranti
Top Maple
Neck Meranti
Fretboard Roasted Jatoba
Frets 24
Scale 635 mm
Pickups HH
Tremolo Standard
incl. Bag No
incl. Case No
B-Stock from $214 available
$255
The shipping costs are calculated on the checkout page.
In stock
In stock

This product is in stock and can be shipped immediately.

Standard Delivery Times
1

A good first impression can work wonders

Harley Benton CST-24T electric guitar with arched maple top and Roasted Jatoba fretboard

It is hard to say for certain just how much a player has to spend in order to get their hands on a really good guitar - after all, it always depends on their personal expectations. One thing that is certain, however, is that the quality of the affordable instruments coming out of the Far East is now such that musicians now get significantly more for their money than in decades past. The price-performance ratio offered by the Harley Benton CST-24T (shown here in its Black Flame finish) is a prime example: Just 30 years ago, players would have had to spend much more and content themselves with a far inferior instrument, so those just starting out on the guitar today can look forward to doing so on a solid, high-quality instrument - all the more so since their budget can now stretch to a suitable practice amplifier and other accessories like a gig bag, spare strings, and more.

Electric guitar Harley Benton CST-24T with set-in Meranti neck

A modern classic

It is obvious where the Harley Benton CST-24T takes its stylistic cues from, but this guitar still exudes a character of its own. The CST-24T features a meranti body with an arched maple top and flamed maple veneer together with a meranti neck and a fingerboard made from roasted jatoba. The latter boasts a full 24 medium stainless steel frets and pearloid dot inlays, and both the fingerboard and the front edge of the body are adorned with cream-coloured binding that matches the matching pickup rings perfectly. Harley Benton has not cut any corners in terms of hardware and electronics either, which is reflected in the CST-24T's Wilkinson WVPC vibrato system and Roswell HAF AlNiCo-5 open-coil humbucking pickups, which are governed by a three-way toggle switch, master volume control, and master tone control (which also includes a push-pull function for coil splitting).

Beauty meets practicality

It has to be admitted that guitarists have two main things in mind when they look for a new instrument, and the first of these is definitely the way it looks. The Harley Benton CST-24T thoroughly delivers the goods here, and if instruments from Harley Benton were not already renowned for their incredible price-performance ratio, the wealth of features that this guitar brings with it despite the budget-friendly price could surely set a new record in terms of value for money. The second thing guitarists look for is a combination of playing comfort and a good amplified sound. Needless to say, the Harley Benton CST-24T does not fall short here in any way, and the guitar's excellent sound and impressive versatility make it an ideal instrument for starting out and playing those first concerts.

Harley Benton guitar CST-24T headstock

About Harley Benton

Since 1998, the Harley Benton brand has been catering for the needs of numerous guitarists and bassists. In addition to an extensive range of stringed instruments, Thomann's house brand also offers a wide choice of amplifiers, speakers, effect pedals, and other accessories. In total, the range includes over 1,500 products. Built by established names in the industry, all Harley Benton products combine quality and reliability at attractive and affordable prices. The continuous expansion of the range ensures that Harley Benton always provides new, exciting, and innovative products that keep players perfectly in tune with the musical world, day after day.

Harley Benton CST-24T with Roswell HAF AlNiCo-5 open coil humbuckers

For full-on Rock and much more besides

When looking at the Harley Benton CST-24T's specs, design, and features, one could easily be forgiven for thinking that this is a guitar built purely for Rock music. But the limits to what this guitar can do are really only defined by the player: While packing plenty of power and punch, the two humbucking pickups also possess excellent dynamics and, thanks to the coil split function and the highly effective volume and tone controls, will also deliver a diverse palette of different tones to suit a range of musical styles. Fans of more progressive genres will also appreciate the high-quality vibrato system which, together with the guitar's graphite nut and die-cast DLX machine heads, allows expressive vibrato effects while ensuring reliable tuning stability.

169 Customer ratings

4.6 / 5

You have to be logged in to rate products.

Note: To prevent ratings from being based on hearsay, smattering or surreptitious advertising we only allow ratings from real users on our website, who have bought the equipment from us.

After logging in you will also find all items you can rate under rate products in the customer centre.

features

sound

quality

131 Reviews

LL
Black Beauty
L Louis 30.12.2019
After doing my fair bit of research and coming to a personal conclusion that there isn't something exclusively as a 'perfect beginner guitar', but its all a matter of personal choice and most importantly the available budget to spend towards said guitar.

My initial options or favoured choices were more inclined towards the Fenders, and other bigger name brands, due to their quality, etc. But couldn't justify some of the prices keeping in mind I had to still keep aside enough money for a good amp, and other miscellaneous expenditure towards my first set up.

Until one of my friend mentioned Thomman, so I found my way here and was truly surprised and impressed. Went through all the offerings in ST and T style guitars, zeroed in on this model and then went back to the internet to check a variety of reviews and demos on YouTube, which only gave me far more confidence in taking a chance with Thomman's offerings.

Made the purchase, bid my time and it finally arrived.
Beautiful finish with no issues, dents, chips, etc, aesthetically the guitar is on point.

Functionality: no sharp frets, came with good quality D'Addario strings, and just overall well set up. The final check was done thoroughly. I will be changing the nut eventually, I'm sure it will only improve the instrument. The Roswell pickups are great, and oh the sound and tone from this guitar, does way more than what I expected it to.

Go to YouTube yourself check out videos from a bunch of reliable sources (there are quite a few) < my purchase surely confirmed that personally>, and read the reviews from other purchasers here as well.

Take a chance if you feel like going for a ""budget guitar"", and on receiving this well crafted instrument you'll soon realise it is and does what its supposed to as a guitar.

Best value for your money, by a country mile.

And then what, just plug in and surrender your offerings to the altar of music, whatever be the kind your into and enjoy playing.
features
sound
quality
14
0
Report

Report

M
Stunning!
Motherspot 24.06.2020
Before ordering this guitar i was a little bit worried that it might be too heavy for me. I watched reviews on YT and heard people say that it was a heavy instrument. 4 K plus. Thomann must really love me because my copy only weights 3.2 kilo's. It's a light guitar in my book. And it feels like it....It came very well & safely packed as always...it arrived absolutely flawless...no dents, stains, wrong binding areas No sharp fret ends. nothing. The glossy finish is spot on..the flame on top looks gorgeous.
The pics on the Thomann page shows that the side and back of the guitar look brownish...this is not the case on my copy. It's beautiful black gloss. The neck has the same color. Glossy black. it's a great feeling neck. Fits perfectly in my left hand and feel fabulous. The tuners feel sturdy and of good quality. The Wilkinson trem looks and feels good too. it's not 'stiff' feeling at all for my liking and it bends just right for me. When strapping the guitar and putting it round my neck it feels really well balanced. Lovely to hold...I could have it hanging there for hours without any pain. The pickups sound great...both give a good sound. Humbucker mode is my favorite...sounds fatter and the tones generated are top! When applying the push-pull mode one goes into single coil..the humbuckers split..this makes the sound a little thinner...but still good sounding. The CST is the 4th Harley Benton electric guitar i bought in one year. It's definitely the best. It is also one of the nicest guitars i have ever played on...among them guitars which have cost a lot more. I have been playing it for two days now...the only thing i did was lowering the saddles a bit and align them a little more to the neck 'curve'.....I am very, very happy. An absolutely stunning buy!

PS: 3 days later...i now have the pickup height set-up according too PRS's advice for a model like this guitar...this results in a much better sounding coil-split mode...the overall sound became better.
features
sound
quality
7
0
Report

Report

M
Bridge pickup issues, tremolo bar issues.
Mamory_Shin 14.12.2022
I have ordered this guitar in July 2022. I ordered it to Armenia with standard delivery method, so it took about a month for the shipment to arrive - to me it seemed like an impresive time frame. My only recommendation is to share more realistic approxinmate delivery dates, because it says 2-3 weeks basically, and though I was 100% sure that it can't be delivered within 14 days or even 19 days, it can be critical to someone. I have ordered another guitar recently with expedited delivery service (UPS Express) that promised my shipment to be delivered basically within 3 business days. And again, though I knew it was not possible (and I was right, a whole week passed already, and my shipment is still on its way), someone else can be really disapointed.
So, back to CST-24T Black Flame. All was good. Quality was impressive and I was really happy. The only issue was a tremolo bar - it looked like they accidentally put a wrong one to the bag: the bar easily falls out of the hole in the guitar and its position cannot be fixed in any way. It just hangs and dangles, risking to fall out at any moment, so it's simply impossible to use it at a concert or even at a rehearsal. Nonetheless, it was not a problem for me as I am not a tremolo user, but still spoils the overall impression.
Another problem is more significant. I own this guitar for less than 5 months (I received it in August and am writing this review in December), and my bridge pickup is not working. Actually, first signs of this issues appeared back in September and October already - the sound of the bridge pickup was intermittently disappearing or fading, but I was blaming my old cabel. So, about a month ago I bought a new cabel, but it didn't help. In the middle of November bridge pickup stopped working (well, it is working, but it sounds like gain and volume are at 0). I know that wire oxidation is probably to blame, and it can be easily fixed, but I just didn't have time to do it. But still it is very disapointing to face such issue with the guitar that is less than 5 months old.
So, though I really liked this guitar and was happy to own it, after all it seems like if you buy one for only 250 USD, be aware to fac some quality issues - probably not right away, but ater a few months very possible.
features
sound
quality
1
0
Report

Report

A
Brilliant Instrument
Airhostess 30.01.2020
After reading multiple reviews on many web sites and You tube,i was unsure weather to buy this or not .complaints about the quality of finish and the trem only dives and cannot be pulled blah blah...... I decided I would give it a try.
Having many guitars in my collection some of which are high end instruments this was a bit of a comedown ,as i wanted a PRS style guitar ,that sounded pretty much like a PRS but with out the price,as it would not be used very much ,only on special tunes.....
It arrived,
Pro's
not a scratch or blemish
no fret sprout
straight neck
no dead spots on fret board
tuners (un named) worked without dead spot and really smooth
CON's
fret board a little dry
trem only worked in dive mode
small screw that clamps the wiggle bar to the underside on the trem......missing

conclusion
Immediately removed the back plate,loosened the two screws that hold the trem claw, removed the middle return spring and threw it away,loosened the 6 screws on the top of the bridge so the trem floats and bingo fully working trem ala Stratocaster so please dont take any notice that this is an only dive trem .it isn't it will work both ways with a little fettering.
spent about 1-1/2 hours adjusting the intonation and string height as well as putting some small strips of felt on the trem springs to stop what sounded like a reverb unit when the wobble bar was used and obviously making minor adjustment to the trem springs and tension this thing plays absolutely perfect.If you do buy this guitar which I highly recommend .just spend a couple of hours on fine tweaking and you will love this.

I have been playing for many years and as a Female I get somewhat surprised looks or massages but being around guitars all this time I can do pretty much most things on my instruments so please dont be afraid, if a woman can do it,.... so can you good luck and enjoy

PS I have temporarily fixed the wiggle bar, as Thomann will be sending me the missing screw,made a phone call to them with follow up e-mails both ways . customer service so far excellent.
features
sound
quality
10
0
Report

Report

YouTube on this topic