173 posts
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Post by EvolatoR on Sept 16, 2015 16:04:56 GMT
Hello all,
I don´t have a webcam yet, so I have to do the Review in written form.
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First of all, the CST-24 BK is a very beautiful guitar, if you like the style. It looks and feels like a much more expensive guitar (300 - 400€). It´s very well crafted, with a few minor flaws, which are ok for the price! It has some scratches at the side of the fretboard where the sidedots are. The top has some slight scratches, but maybe the guy from the guitar shop, where the guitar will be modified, can polish them away.
The Body is made of Mahogany, I can´t tell how many pieces but I guess it´s the same as the other CST solid body models. It has a thick arched Maple top, with a nice wooden binding around the body. The guitar is pretty heavy, but since it´s a Mahogany guitar I wouldn´t expect something else. The set-in neck feels smooth and isn´t that thick (about 2cm at 1st fret and 2.2cm at 12th fret). It´s good for rhythm and leads, and you can get to all frets easily. The rosewood fretboard looks and feels good.
The hardware is chrome and the tuners are of a surprisingly good quality. If they were golden I wouldn´t change them! They keep the tuning and have a nice gear ratio. The bridge is a Wilkinson Wraparound which does a good job and I like the feel of it when playing palm muted. The 2 knobs run smoothly and the 3-way-toggle is also solid.
The 2 Wilkinson Pickups really amaze me, they are a little hotter then the PAFs, and make a warm (bridge) and bell-like (neck) sound. The neck PU is quieter so you might need to get it a little higher and closer to the strings to have an even level. BUT they are going to be changed because I need more distortion and more output, I´m just not sure which PUs I will get...
I played some songs from the new Paradise Lost album, which are in D-standard tuning, and it sounds great! I even tried some Static-X songs in C-standard and I wasn´t disappointed! Ok, the strings could be a bit thicker for that tuning, but it worked anyway. In standard tuning there is nearly no buzz at all, in d-standard it´s a little buzzy and in c-standard the "buzz" is coming regularly! (012 - 060 strings ftw! )
Bottom line: I am so happy with this guitar, and will be even more when all the mods are done! I´ve already played many hours and there are way more to come. If you want a guitar with the same specs as the P _ _ SE, but don´t have the 600€ lying around, get this one! (I even think about buying a second one, so one can be modified with golden and the other one with black hardware and PUs!)
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Now I just don´t know which PUs I will take and which tuning I will use in the end, I still need a guitar for B-standard tuning. We will see how it ends up, what I do know is that it will definitely get golden hardware and PUs, which will make it look so precious...
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40 posts
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Post by jhscofield on Sept 21, 2015 3:58:39 GMT
How thick is that neck, say in comparison to the "vintage" 450 LP copy line, which i find very thick and chunky compared to the 60's type profile? Thanks!
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703 posts
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Post by gullum on Sept 21, 2015 11:22:42 GMT
I don't have anything to measure the thickness but they feel the same maybe the cst24 has a tiny bit thiner, Just going by feel I would say they are the same
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173 posts
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Post by EvolatoR on Sept 22, 2015 19:21:04 GMT
How thick is that neck, say in comparison to the "vintage" 450 LP copy line, which i find very thick and chunky compared to the 60's type profile? Thanks! Since this is my first Harley Benton I can´t compare the neck to another, sorry.
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3 posts
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Post by bdstarrtx on Jan 20, 2016 8:35:24 GMT
Can you tell me the stud spacing on the wraparound bridge? I really want this guitar but won't get it unless I can replace the bridge with one that is intonatable.
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173 posts
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Post by EvolatoR on Jan 23, 2016 1:19:11 GMT
Can you tell me the stud spacing on the wraparound bridge? I really want this guitar but won't get it unless I can replace the bridge with one that is intonatable. Welcome to the Club bdstarrtx, and btw, nice choice of the guitar! The bridge is a Wilkinson GTB Wrapover Bridge, the stud spacing is 82mm. BUT these bridges won´t be 100% intonatable (except in e-standard tuning, well that´s what a dude said about it on yt, but I can´t find the link) , and that´s why I will get this bridge as replacement: TonePros AVT2MHere is another video about replacing the Wilkinson-Style bridge with the Tonepros (he mainly changed it for another reason): It´s nearly as expensive as the HB CST-24 itself, but I want it to be "perfect" intonated in B-standard tuning! I hope this will help you with your decision.
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3 posts
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Post by bdstarrtx on Jan 23, 2016 11:20:17 GMT
Thanks for the feedback. You may be interested in this bridge from guitarfetish.com: www.guitarfetish.com/Black-Badass-Style-Intonatable-wraparound-bridge_p_106.html Im not sure if you're in the US, so this may or may not be a good alternative to the Tone Pros. This would be my choice if I end up getting this guitar. As our friend Henning would say, it would look super "METAAAAAAL". I ended up ordering the CST-24T in Paradise Flame, but if my order and experience is good I may get the black as well.
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538 posts
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Post by freekingprawn on Jan 23, 2016 14:19:14 GMT
Hello bdstarrtx and welcome to the HB CLUB. EvolatoR I'll take those pups from you mate
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173 posts
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Post by EvolatoR on Jan 23, 2016 18:08:59 GMT
Thanks for the feedback. You may be interested in this bridge from guitarfetish.com: www.guitarfetish.com/Black-Badass-Style-Intonatable-wraparound-bridge_p_106.html Im not sure if you're in the US, so this may or may not be a good alternative to the Tone Pros. This would be my choice if I end up getting this guitar. As our friend Henning would say, it would look super "METAAAAAAL". I ended up ordering the CST-24T in Paradise Flame, but if my order and experience is good I may get the black as well. Tbh I don´t really trust this Badass-Style bridge to be of good quality. Do you have any experience with this kind of bridge? I´m from germany and don´t mind buying stuff in the US, if it´s not a whole guitar, which would make the price of it too high because of german taxes. If HB would do a CST-24 PAF with matching headstock I would have bought it, I just don´t like non-matching headstock guitars.
freekingprawn Are you talking about the Wilkinsons of my CST-24? But that might take a while until they will be replaced, hopefully in march but I´m not sure yet which I´ll take to replace them. EMG or duncans, it´s soo hard do decide!
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3 posts
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Post by bdstarrtx on Jan 23, 2016 19:09:30 GMT
EvolatoR, no i have never had a guitar with a wraparound bridge so I cant really attest to the quality of that bridge I referred to earlier. You may be right though questioning the quality, my black locking tuners from guitarfetish work properly but the black finish chips off very easily. I know what you mean about the matching headstock. I think on most guitars a matching headstock makes the guitar look twice as nice.
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538 posts
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Post by freekingprawn on Jan 23, 2016 19:11:20 GMT
freekingprawn Are you talking about the Wilkinsons of my CST-24? But that might take a while until they will be replaced, hopefully in march but I´m not sure yet which I´ll take to replace them. EMG or duncans, it´s soo hard do decide! Yes the WIlkinsons. Love them. As for EMG or Duncans.... do you like active pickups? EMG. You prefer passive? Duncans.
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173 posts
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Post by EvolatoR on Jan 23, 2016 19:41:27 GMT
Yes the WIlkinsons. Love them. As for EMG or Duncans.... do you like active pickups? EMG. You prefer passive? Duncans. Ok, then I will reserve the Wilkinsons for you and don´t sell them on the bay! My last guitar I had was a LTD VB-400 Baritone guitar with active EMGs (81/85). And tbh it had the most badass sound I ever heard, even just through the amp simulations of my old Digitech GNX 4! But I had a Washburn guitar once with Seymour Duncans, it was made of swamp-ash, which also sounded badass. (I also found out for me that guitars made of basswood, sound best with DiMarzios. Like my LTD F-10.) So you see, it´s kinda hard to choose. If I would buy SDs I would love to get the Nazgul & Sentient set, but it´s not available in gold. So I would have to get the SD SH-6 & Jazz Set. Or if the guitar tech at my music store wouldn´t have to mill the pickup cavities I would defenitely go with the EMGs in gold. But he hasn´t seen the guitar yet, so I can just hope there will be enough space for the EMGs. If not I will get the Duncans.
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538 posts
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Post by freekingprawn on Jan 23, 2016 20:42:24 GMT
Yes the WIlkinsons. Love them. As for EMG or Duncans.... do you like active pickups? EMG. You prefer passive? Duncans. Ok, then I will reserve the Wilkinsons for you and don´t sell them on the bay! My last guitar I had was a LTD VB-400 Baritone guitar with active EMGs (81/85). And tbh it had the most badass sound I ever heard, even just through the amp simulations of my old Digitech GNX 4! But I had a Washburn guitar once with Seymour Duncans, it was made of swamp-ash, which also sounded badass. (I also found out for me that guitars made of basswood, sound best with DiMarzios. Like my LTD F-10.) So you see, it´s kinda hard to choose. If I would buy SDs I would love to get the Nazgul & Sentient set, but it´s not available in gold. So I would have to get the SD SH-6 & Jazz Set. Or if the guitar tech at my music store wouldn´t have to mill the pickup cavities I would defenitely go with the EMGs in gold. But he hasn´t seen the guitar yet, so I can just hope there will be enough space for the EMGs. If not I will get the Duncans. To be honest I don't think there's any correlation between pups and solid body guitars [tonewood as is called], so I'll not comment on that department. I will say that I prefer Dimarzios pups to both the EMG and Duncans. I'm not that keen on Active Pups on guitars. They are good for somethings, but not so good for others. Passives are still the most versatile of the two. It will depend on what you want to do with them my friend. As for the Wilkinsons, you can sell them mate, I haven't a guitar to put them in yet. Was thinking buying the HB sg copy and put some wilkinsons there, but I don't know when that's gonna happen. But thank you for the possibility thou.
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173 posts
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Post by EvolatoR on Jan 23, 2016 20:59:06 GMT
To be honest I don't think there's any correlation between pups and solid body guitars [tonewood as is called], so I'll not comment on that department. I will say that I prefer Dimarzios pups to both the EMG and Duncans. I'm not that keen on Active Pups on guitars. They are good for somethings, but not so good for others. Passives are still the most versatile of the two. It will depend on what you want to do with them my friend. As for the Wilkinsons, you can sell them mate, I haven't a guitar to put them in yet. Was thinking buying the HB sg copy and put some wilkinsons there, but I don't know when that's gonna happen. But thank you for the possibility thou. I will ask you first before I sell them if it´s ok, maybe then you have the HB SG.
Yeah I know, there are many discussions about which tonewood sounds better or best. Some people say there is nearly no difference and it´s depending more on hardware and pickups. To me personally the basswood guitars like my LTD or the Ibanez(es) I had in the past, worked always fine with DiMarzios. And I remembered I had the Ibanez SZ-520 with SD Invaders and it was a beautiful metal monster! So in the end I guess it´s what sound YOU prefer.
I want to do "Melodic Nu-Metal" (like I call it), and with the LTD VB-400 and the built in EMGs I had the best results while recording my demos. I would share it with you, but the quality is soo bad that I don´t want to bother anyone with it. When my CST-24 is modded I will record the tracks again in an acceptable quality!
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703 posts
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Post by gullum on Jan 23, 2016 21:47:37 GMT
I put a pair of EMG 81/85 in my Harley Benton SC-500 WH and I totally hated them now I have SD pegasus/sentient and love them only now I have a battery box in it that is empty. I guess I just don't like active pickups. I have the SD Blackout modular preamp so I could try the mage them active and see if it was only the EMG's I did not like
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