Harley Benton CST-24T P90 Black Flame

Due to circumstances over Covid-19, last year I had to sell my beloved Ibanez JS1 (one of the first 500 made). It was a beautiful instrument and probably the finest axe I will ever own. Someone got a bargain and I wish them well with it. With finances a little better this year, and missing not having an electric, I wanted an inexpensive instrument to futz around with some ideas and get playing again. Having always gone for Strats in years gone by the JS1 Floy Rose wasn't my favourite personally. I also always liked single-coil clean tones but didn't want a Strat neck after having the Ibanez for so long and thought I'd take a gamble on the CST24T P90. I reasoned that as long as the neck is okay I can always upgrade hardware as finances allow.

Well. The CST24T P90 has come as a complete surprise. It arrived detuned by a semitone or so, brought it up to pitch and the intonation is pretty much bang on! It most certainly doesn't look like a ~£200 instrument and played fine straight out of the box. The pickups sound good to me, pots are nice and firm. The nut wasn't cut very neatly but fitted correctly with no snagging. The vibrato seems fine and am confident it will float okay when I get around to it. The tuners do their job and are the only thing I am considering upgrading at this point but will do for now. There were a few 'imperfections' on the binding but no big deal. The JS1 had its 'flaws' as well. In fact, every instrument I have ever owned has no matter the price!

The frets could do with a dressing but nothing major and I wouldn't have been disappointed if the tuners/trem needed replacing immediately but this will more than do its job for a good while which is a result. An absolute bargain. Pleased as punch!

I wanted another P90, and than this model came about. No need to buy the black one and change the pickups :) When I had scratched together the money I ordered one. Reviews are good, as this one will be also.
But first:
A nasty little scratch on the back of the headstock and dirty and damaged looking fretboard startled me when unpacking. After just playing for a few hour the fretboard looks ok, even nice. Two things are important:
1 it’s so nice I played for three hours. Tuning keeps ok-ish for now, better tuners as on my old 2016 cts. Wood is more lively, like it responses more. Necks is nice for me and frets have no sharp edges. Sound is warm but present at the neck, bridge is a bit more nasal, bitey, but not too thin. Middle is more open. Good with chorus. Wilkinson trem is good as always. Looks nice ;)
2 Always play and perhaps clean first..... first view is not always the best way to judge.

Conclusion: such a nice guitar, weight and resonance of the wood will always be different, so I was lucky.
Might sell my other cst..... ** yep, sold it.
Sound is good, p90 is thicker as my singlecoil Teles and strat, bit warmer and less raunchy as my jazzmaster. Also more to my liking as the humbuckers a have and had. To me those pickups were all to “smooth”.
I will try 47 or 22 capacitors, to see what it does. It’s a bit woolly now with tone turned down. ** It became 22's. Strong lows, not woolly anymore. and us made pots. 500V and 250 T.
This CTS24-P90 looks as good as on the pictures. Even better in my house ;) Very very good.
Update 22 aug 2019: Installed nickel locking tuners a while back. Easy tuning and better looks ;). Gave nut some attention for smooth string action. Such a beautiful and nice guitar! Dynamics AND fast player ;) .
Update may 2020: put a tonerider vintage p90 in the bridge. Because I really balanced the Roswell’s 6 screws I didn’t think the sound would be better, but man... thight! Just like I remembered the expensive les paul I once borrowed a few weeks. The neck Roswell suddenly sounds more like a semi hollow guitar, compared. Still nice and balanced. When I get my hb35-plus, I guess I’ll have to buy the neck tonerider. So when that happens I’ve upgraded the cst for €150,- and it will be (is already) so worth it.

I can be very succinct about this guitar: how on earth can a company produce such an incredible guitar at such a ridiculously low price (retorically speaking) Also, how are companies such as Fender, Gibson and PRS still in business?

The flame top isn't book matched, the tuners aren't locking and the neck has a few very minor imperfections, but that's all I can whine about. Not like I would expect all of that at this price.

Right out of the box, the instrument plays fantastic, it looks really groovy and those P90's are my newfound Gods. These are so good. Really well balanced EQ, nice in-between in terms of output, with the neck pickup having just slightly lower output. They respond really well to picking dynamics and with both pickups selected, you can actually get a really nice uhmmmm.... Satch-like tone? I have no idea what to call it, but it reminds me of Joe. Also, sustain for centuries.

To summarize: I look through Thomann's site for extra guitars to add to the growing arsenal, but every time I play this guitar, I can't help but think... why would I? This is the closest I've ever gotten to getting a cure for my Guitar Acquisition Syndrome (G.A.S.).

Edit: I've switched out the stock pickups for Seymour Duncan's Antiquities, and now I can say that the stock pickups are OK, but proper pickups like these Antiquities sound infinitely better. Still, those prices added together is still a low price for something that sounds this fantastic!