Harley Benton CST-24T Black Flame

Bardzo długi czas myślałem nad zakupem PRS 24 Custom. Ale jednocześnie nie chciałem wydawać tyle kasy, tym bardziej że moim celem nie jest zakup instrumentu muzycznego dla produkcji/występów. Chcę sobie pograć w domu od czasu do czasu, dla zadowolenia. Harley Benton CST-24T - to jest najlepsza alternatywa dla PRSa w tej sytuacji. To jest bardzo wysokiej jakości gitara. Bardzo funkcjonalna, posiada split coil przełącznik, co robi tę gitarę bardzo uniwersalną dla domowego pasjonata gry na gitarze. Strój jest bardzo dobry, ale w moim przypadku musiałem dostroić mensurę. Jestem bardzo zadowolony. Dźwięk jest dobry, trochę brakuję dołu, w porównaniu do PRSa, ale myślę że w przyszłości można było by zrobić upgrade na nowe przetworniki. Dodam jeszcze, że to może też być bardzo dobrym instrumentem dla początkujących, którzy nie chcą wydawać fortuny, ale jednocześnie uczyć się grać na bardzo jakościowym instrumencie.

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.

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.