Ri
Great Guitar Option for Leftys , Especially after precision setup
I'm fan of Harley Benton left handed Electrics. I have 5 and will definitely be buying another as soon as they release a CST-24T LH in Black Cherry Flame finish. ( even with having to do my own setup and tweeks )
This CST-24T LH was made in INDONESIA .
Out of the box inspection: Visual defects: Rasp file scrape over top edge of neck binding and lighter scrape on corner of fretboard at High E string, at the 1st fret, for the full width of the space between nut and fret . A 2nd visual defect was a small 1/8" brush stroke of yellow discoloration on the right side of the neck binding at the 5th fret.
Setup: Guitar was painful to play out of the box after tuning. Last fret action was 5mm on the high E and 6mm on the low E.
I lowered the last fret action to 1.2 on the high E and 1.5 on the low E.
String height at 1st fret- horrible
Measured with a digital string height gauge starting with Low E .028mm,39mm,68mm83mm95mm70mm. I got out my Chic-yu brand nut slot files and began filing the slots. In the end I had lowered the slots to: Starting with Low E: .28mm, .30mm,. 32mm,.20mm,.19mm,21mm
Neck Relief: Neck initially was dead flat, I adjusted the truss rod and added relief to .2mm
Fret ends: Nice and smooth, no fret sprouts
Fret Levelness: High spot and Low E at 10th and 22 fret ( getting buzz ) at 1.5 mm last fret action on this string.
All other frets sound clean .
Will eventually be doing a precision fret leveling as done by Sam Deeks on YOUTUBE ( Good info source ,check it out )
Note on nut filing- the nut feeling like hack sawing thru rubber, because of this, there is no controlling how deep you file ( I had to fill a few slots with CA glue and black rescue powder and let cure overnight then re-file the next day. I have a new Tusq PT6642LO going on when I figure out the best method to cut through the gloss clear coat the HB sprays up against 3 sides of Graphite nut.
Tremelo: I dont normally use one, and have not tested how much it affects staying in tune, but if I have noticed the bridge would benefit from a slight flat milled into the surface just below the bridge. An observation I noticed was the high E saddle had to sit right down onto the bridge surface in order to achieve 1.2mm High E last fret action.
Summary: Would I buy another Harley Benton-Yes
Is this CST-24T worth $230 US Yes
Bottom line: None of the defects I found were impossible to correct.
About me: I work as a Quality Technician , getting ready to retire soon and enjoy playing my collection of Harley Bentons and Epiphones
This CST-24T LH was made in INDONESIA .
Out of the box inspection: Visual defects: Rasp file scrape over top edge of neck binding and lighter scrape on corner of fretboard at High E string, at the 1st fret, for the full width of the space between nut and fret . A 2nd visual defect was a small 1/8" brush stroke of yellow discoloration on the right side of the neck binding at the 5th fret.
Setup: Guitar was painful to play out of the box after tuning. Last fret action was 5mm on the high E and 6mm on the low E.
I lowered the last fret action to 1.2 on the high E and 1.5 on the low E.
String height at 1st fret- horrible
Measured with a digital string height gauge starting with Low E .028mm,39mm,68mm83mm95mm70mm. I got out my Chic-yu brand nut slot files and began filing the slots. In the end I had lowered the slots to: Starting with Low E: .28mm, .30mm,. 32mm,.20mm,.19mm,21mm
Neck Relief: Neck initially was dead flat, I adjusted the truss rod and added relief to .2mm
Fret ends: Nice and smooth, no fret sprouts
Fret Levelness: High spot and Low E at 10th and 22 fret ( getting buzz ) at 1.5 mm last fret action on this string.
All other frets sound clean .
Will eventually be doing a precision fret leveling as done by Sam Deeks on YOUTUBE ( Good info source ,check it out )
Note on nut filing- the nut feeling like hack sawing thru rubber, because of this, there is no controlling how deep you file ( I had to fill a few slots with CA glue and black rescue powder and let cure overnight then re-file the next day. I have a new Tusq PT6642LO going on when I figure out the best method to cut through the gloss clear coat the HB sprays up against 3 sides of Graphite nut.
Tremelo: I dont normally use one, and have not tested how much it affects staying in tune, but if I have noticed the bridge would benefit from a slight flat milled into the surface just below the bridge. An observation I noticed was the high E saddle had to sit right down onto the bridge surface in order to achieve 1.2mm High E last fret action.
Summary: Would I buy another Harley Benton-Yes
Is this CST-24T worth $230 US Yes
Bottom line: None of the defects I found were impossible to correct.
About me: I work as a Quality Technician , getting ready to retire soon and enjoy playing my collection of Harley Bentons and Epiphones
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Z
PRS alternative
The alternative to PRS.
The overall impression is good. The guitar is well shielded, configured fine, she is beautiful, very comfortable neck, but the sound is not like the PRS (I have it), not enough low frequencies. The largest cause irritation and the tuning machines and nut.
Advantages:
price,
comfort,
exterior
Disadvantages:
terrible tuners and a nut,
drops the temolo arm,
not enough low frequencies
I do not regret the money spent
The overall impression is good. The guitar is well shielded, configured fine, she is beautiful, very comfortable neck, but the sound is not like the PRS (I have it), not enough low frequencies. The largest cause irritation and the tuning machines and nut.
Advantages:
price,
comfort,
exterior
Disadvantages:
terrible tuners and a nut,
drops the temolo arm,
not enough low frequencies
I do not regret the money spent
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M
finish is beautiful
absolutely beautiful looking finish on both the body and neck, i personally prefer a matt finish neck but its still nice and doesn't cause your hand to stick to it after awhile of playing.
the sound from the Roswell pickups are pretty good for the price and the coil split is pretty good from what ive seen, I don't occasionally use it tho.
the strings included originally aren't too bad but as with all my guitars I swap out the strings straight away.
all in all this guitar is great for the price and plays and feels amazing, would 100% recommend.
the sound from the Roswell pickups are pretty good for the price and the coil split is pretty good from what ive seen, I don't occasionally use it tho.
the strings included originally aren't too bad but as with all my guitars I swap out the strings straight away.
all in all this guitar is great for the price and plays and feels amazing, would 100% recommend.
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FS
Great, not perfect.
Great guitar, amazing clean bridge tone, stays well in tune.
Had some fret buzz and fret wire was not polished. Luther fixed both (~45 EUR in my city).
Binding is truly ugly (scratched too much around the first frets), also in my eyes it doesn't complement the blue color of the guitar, I think they should have done a different binding color for the Ocean Flame.
Had some fret buzz and fret wire was not polished. Luther fixed both (~45 EUR in my city).
Binding is truly ugly (scratched too much around the first frets), also in my eyes it doesn't complement the blue color of the guitar, I think they should have done a different binding color for the Ocean Flame.
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