Nice review, Rich. The black guitar looks really nice with the natural binding. And it had my favorite Roswell pickups… the LAF ones 🤘 Sounds like that guitar have improved since the one I had in 2018. It had really bad fret sprouts.
I've got this one but with P90s. They're somewhat muddy. No comparison to Seymour Duncan or Lollar which are amazing.The radius is 13.75 instead of 10" PRS. I find this neck thinner than the similar PRS.
@@adrian_V99 that’s interesting. I thought the neck on this seemed wider and a bit thicker than the SE Standard 24 I had. Pickups also not bad on this one to my ear. I don’t think the pau ferro fretboard suits this guitar though, too light
I've got a CTS 24. I spent an extra £50 on a new bridge and set of tuners both Wilkinson. It did make the acoustic sound more resonate and its a lot more smoother and more precise to tune up. Nice review. What pickups are on yours?
Sounds like a well worth while upgrade Johnny 👍🏻. Thank you for the nice words too. I had dozens more reviews on a playlist including lots of HBs in case you’re interested. This has the stock Rosewell pickups and I think they’re pretty good
Bought a PRS SE 24 recently. Handles fairly well. Sound is just ok. Has 85/15 pickups. I’ve adjusted the neck and bridge to try to get the feel I’m looking for. It’s a nice guitar for the price. This Harley Benton is less expensive, and still acceptable. That’s great to know. Thank you.
I put GFS Mean 90s in mine, and I really love it. It came alive. You might not like it if you love that creamy tone. Now it has total bite, very articulate and responsive. It has the best tone of any guitar I own, including the PRS Custom 24 SE with Seymour Duncan Hot Rodded Humbuckers, Gibson Les Paul, Fender Stratocaster. It is not as high quality as those, but it rocks and I keep picking it up
Hi Rich, I was looking at a PRS and also a Pacifica but this looks great for the price especially with SS frets. I know cort in Indonesia make PRS SE range and HB used to be made in Indo but saw yours is made in Vietnam so I am not sure where they are in relation to Indonesia quality but I assume the Korean owners will have all the same equipment
I loved everything about this, I’ve had the prs se version too and this is a fair second to it. There’s usually a few on marketplace and eBay for not too much, not crazy money new either. I had the P90 model as well and that was very nice
Beginning your guitar journey is perfect for this guitar. What you get for £200 is impressive. At some point you might wanna upgrade the tuners or the pickups, but wow, I have £1000+ guitars, and this one still gets a look in.
So sorry I missed this, didn’t show in my notifications. High praise for the guitar indeed. I think it’s pretty good for the money too. What guitars have you got snd which is your favourite?
@@thenovicenoisemaker Gibson Les Paul Traditional 2011, 2010 American Strat, 2012 American Tele, 2013 Mexican Tele. My advice... buy Mexican and upgrade the pickups. The Tuners are solid 🍺
@@danfango1333 nice! I’ve had 4 Mexican teles and 4 Mexican strats, great guitars. Currently have a classic vibe strat which out shines the Mexican ones for me (apart from a Lonestar I had). Going to a tech soon for some TLC and some new tuners
Thanks for the honest review, Rich. We need more reviewers such as yourself on TH-cam. The truth is usually found in Forums though.....You've opened a Pandora's box re the fretboard width. I checked my CST-24 P90 and it's nowhere near a PRS SE fretboard. I proceeded to compare the Harley Benton Tele with a Fender Tele and same thing. If one can live with it fine, but for those who demand the feel and playability of a Squier Classic Vibe, PRS SE, or Epiphone Les Paul then Harley Benton is not their cup of tea. Harley's cost less but I can assure you that after my Tele-style upgrades I could have bought a Classic Vibe and left it stock. BTW, a brand new PRS SE is only $1000 USD. Their resale value is far less than expected. A lot of great used deals out there on PRS SE (Indonesia). No upgrades required.
I love an SE, Squier guitars, some of the best I’ve owned. HB have started to make smaller radius on some guitars now, a backlash I think but yeah, profiles are often different. Thanks for the kind words and for tuning in again 🤗
I like the sounds from this guitar and the headstock actually looks good on this body style, on their stratlike units not so much imo. Did you say you have 5 PR's lol!
Thanks for the review! How would you rate this model against the TE-62 and TE-90 FLT models? Which one would you get as a beginner and which one would you keep?
Hi Adrian I’ve had several TE20, TE30, TE52 and the TE-90FLT but not 62. As a beginner of those you mentioned I would say TE-90FLT. It’s lightweight, the neck is smooth and not too chunky, it has really nice tone to it as well. I’m sure the TE-62 would be good too. This CST is not very beginner friendly so I’d avoid it
Just got my cst24t ocean flame. ... got a good factory one actions a little high but will get tweeter out soon right out of the box verry happy with it so far. For the money big score also have sc custom fr had it set up ....off the the hook for the money very. ..very happy both are well worth the price just hope u get a good factory one .... now I have two hb... been playing for 50 years of so... man time goes by so fast... have had many guitars throughout the decade. ... again would recommend these axis to everyone. .. can't spend big money.... go hb. A little set up verry happy... throughout the years many high end guitars have come and gone... for the money can't beet it. ... any good player can make any dicent ax sound pretty good. .. good review bro just keep picking it up. ..so one told me that a long long time ago just keep picking it up. ... rock on bro. Beat wishes from across the pond..... peace
So pleased you got a good one too. Such good value for money, can’t beat them! 50 years playing is awesome too, hope I’m still going in 50 more years 😊. Thank you for the kind words and for tuning in. Take care
Evening Rich! It seems you speed up with the guitar change aren't you :) I am glad to hear your quick comparison to PRS, appreciated. That black is really nice and classy looking. Enjoy NGD!
Hey Robert! Great to hear from you. I do get overly attached but that said, I have Harley Benton threepeat arriving tomorrow lol. Glad you enjoyed the video, take care 👍🏻
Hi Rich, great review, the guitar looks better than I imagined. I have two questions regarding this particular model....how much do you want? and when? hehe I think you should have affiliate links....thomann need to pay you some comms.
Haha 😂 Yours for £130 if you’re interested. It’s a beaut. ! Not sure when I’m next up your way but will check if you’re interested or can post it. I’ve set the action nicely too
the ss frets will make any guitar that is well set up play as good as any PRS with standard frets, i have 2 HB fusion 3s and after a bit of tweaking they both play as good if not better than my core PRS custom 24, i outright refuse to buy a guitar unless it has ss frets anymore, they are as smooth as glass and will not be like lumpy porridge after a few months of hard gigging, that guitar looks cool as hell by the way
SS frets really are nice. I’ve got a couple of Chapman Pro’s with them snd they’re fab. That said, I also have a standard Chapman with nickel frets that have been well polished and are surprisingly good. I did like this guitar, my one and only complaint for my taste, the neck was too light for the rest of the guitar being all black. Thanks for watching and commenting 👍🏻👍🏻
@@thenovicenoisemaker for me ss frets become essential if you are gigging, you will wear out frets way faster than if you are playing at home, i have a core PRS custom 24 and i literally could see fret wear after 3 months of gigging it regularly, this is simply unacceptable, my ibanez AZ on the other hand has been on the road 4 years and it has nothing, so the 2 fusion 3s i bought were to back up the ibanez and they do it amazingly well
@@darkestfugue 3 months 😱, that’s terrible and with such an expensive guitar. Totally get why you would want ss frets. I love AZ’s, not owned one but tinkered in the shop many times, such great features and lovely to play
@@thenovicenoisemaker yeah they are a real no nonsense players guitar that give versatility and playability over everything else, but for a fraction of the price, so does the HB fusion 3, in some areas i even prefer them over the AZ, which is shocking, frets will wear much faster if you gig a guitar because you are constantly playing certain songs where your hands are always in the same place, when you are at home noodling your hands seem to wander everywhere so the frets get nowhere near the same kind of punishment
Few upgrades and this thing might become something veeeery good: bridge, electronics and pick ups...and you'll end up spending the same amount of money you'd spend for a standard SE without any upgrades. And I DO have an SE standard with upgrades.
@@thenovicenoisemaker well my SE standard 24 has been completely upgraded with 2 Dimarzio's (Tone Zone/Air Norton), a 3 way blade switch, no split, orange capacitor. Then I upgraded the nut and bridge saddles with Graphtech's. The bridge also features a FU Tone brass sustain block. Authentic PRS core volume and tone knobs (just to get the look of PRS body) and Vanson Locking tuners at the end which are pretty similar to Schaller's. Now it plays absolutely Petrucci-ish, which I love. But if you think about how much it cost, summing the price of the guitar and the upgrades, I almost spent 1k €. I'm thinking about buying this Harley Benton CST: it has a better locking body carve, newer models have stainless steel. And it costs NEW, 3 times less than a newer PRS se. No way. I'll put some EMGs or Fishman, new Bridge (Gotoh), tuners and you can go with a gutar that can really shines. I love PRS but today nobody makes bad guitars anymore. NOBODY.
@@mattiagaleone7726 wow that’s quite the investment there. I guess always a trade off of buying a guitar that gets upgraded vs buying one with everything already done. My former HB SC Custom II was a great guitar too
@@thenovicenoisemaker I get it. I'm practically obsessed with modding and upgrading so I always buy a guitar as a platform to start upgrading from. So I do not have to build from scratches. Buying a new one with everything already set up for you is something I've never found interesting: there's always something to put your effort in, IMHO. Of course you can buy a CORE PRS, but that's almost 4k € and is that REALLY worth it? Or you can buy a Majesty, or a Suhr...yeah, tons of great guitars but it all comes down to how you feel when playing your guitar. If I upgrade one, that makes that mine.
I never had tuners that didn't keep strings in tune. I guess this can exist and is possibly found on plastic toy guitars for children but the reasons guitars go out of tune after strings were stretched is mostly binding in the nut or under string trees. I suppose it can also happen on a 6-screw Strat bridge that has been nailed down at the factory and left this way (front screws need loosening so the plate can pivot). The quality of tuners is mostly in the gear ratio and smoothness of operation.
Looks great Rich. Just received my TE-62 CC IS today (finally). Wow! I’m blown away. When I’ve dressed the frets, rolled the fretboard and given it a setup it’ll play great! 5x less than my Player Series Fender price-wise, definitely not 5x less of a guitar! I won’t be buying Fender for a long time mate.
Hi Tiago Not really I’m afraid. You can think the tone out and use your amp settings but still not really very stratty. Thank you for watching and commenting, much appreciated 👍🏻
This isn't a comparison!! Where is the PRS?? All we get is opinions about a different guitar - with no physical evidence of that other guitar. Pointless!!!
I’ve owned several PRS SE’s. I didn’t say this was a comparison video, I asked (rhetorically) what is like compared to a PRS because I’ve owned one and this is giving my opinion based on that.
Nice review, Rich.
The black guitar looks really nice with the natural binding. And it had my favorite Roswell pickups… the LAF ones 🤘
Sounds like that guitar have improved since the one I had in 2018. It had really bad fret sprouts.
Yes this one is really good and I too like the pickups 🎸
I've got this one but with P90s. They're somewhat muddy. No comparison to Seymour Duncan or Lollar which are amazing.The radius is 13.75 instead of 10" PRS. I find this neck thinner than the similar PRS.
@@adrian_V99 that’s interesting. I thought the neck on this seemed wider and a bit thicker than the SE Standard 24 I had. Pickups also not bad on this one to my ear. I don’t think the pau ferro fretboard suits this guitar though, too light
I've got a CTS 24. I spent an extra £50 on a new bridge and set of tuners both Wilkinson. It did make the acoustic sound more resonate and its a lot more smoother and more precise to tune up. Nice review. What pickups are on yours?
Sounds like a well worth while upgrade Johnny 👍🏻. Thank you for the nice words too. I had dozens more reviews on a playlist including lots of HBs in case you’re interested.
This has the stock Rosewell pickups and I think they’re pretty good
Yeah mine are roswells
Bought a PRS SE 24 recently. Handles fairly well. Sound is just ok. Has 85/15 pickups. I’ve adjusted the neck and bridge to try to get the feel I’m looking for.
It’s a nice guitar for the price. This Harley Benton is less expensive, and still acceptable. That’s great to know. Thank you.
Thanks the comments Richard. Having had both, I agree. I preferred the sound coming out of my former PRS SE 245, somewhat more rich and smooth.
I put GFS Mean 90s in mine, and I really love it. It came alive. You might not like it if you love that creamy tone. Now it has total bite, very articulate and responsive. It has the best tone of any guitar I own, including the PRS Custom 24 SE with Seymour Duncan Hot Rodded Humbuckers, Gibson Les Paul, Fender Stratocaster. It is not as high quality as those, but it rocks and I keep picking it up
Wow, that sounds amazing James! Still a fraction of the cost of your PRS too.
Thank you for sharing 👍🏻
Hi Rich,
I was looking at a PRS and also a Pacifica but this looks great for the price especially with SS frets. I know cort in Indonesia make PRS SE range and HB used to be made in Indo but saw yours is made in Vietnam so I am not sure where they are in relation to Indonesia quality but I assume the Korean owners will have all the same equipment
I loved everything about this, I’ve had the prs se version too and this is a fair second to it. There’s usually a few on marketplace and eBay for not too much, not crazy money new either. I had the P90 model as well and that was very nice
Beginning your guitar journey is perfect for this guitar. What you get for £200 is impressive. At some point you might wanna upgrade the tuners or the pickups, but wow, I have £1000+ guitars, and this one still gets a look in.
So sorry I missed this, didn’t show in my notifications.
High praise for the guitar indeed. I think it’s pretty good for the money too. What guitars have you got snd which is your favourite?
@@thenovicenoisemaker Gibson Les Paul Traditional 2011, 2010 American Strat, 2012 American Tele, 2013 Mexican Tele. My advice... buy Mexican and upgrade the pickups. The Tuners are solid 🍺
@@danfango1333 nice!
I’ve had 4 Mexican teles and 4 Mexican strats, great guitars. Currently have a classic vibe strat which out shines the Mexican ones for me (apart from a Lonestar I had). Going to a tech soon for some TLC and some new tuners
Thanks for the honest review, Rich. We need more reviewers such as yourself on TH-cam. The truth is usually found in Forums though.....You've opened a Pandora's box re the fretboard width. I checked my CST-24 P90 and it's nowhere near a PRS SE fretboard. I proceeded to compare the Harley Benton Tele with a Fender Tele and same thing. If one can live with it fine, but for those who demand the feel and playability of a Squier Classic Vibe, PRS SE, or Epiphone Les Paul then Harley Benton is not their cup of tea. Harley's cost less but I can assure you that after my Tele-style upgrades I could have bought a Classic Vibe and left it stock. BTW, a brand new PRS SE is only $1000 USD. Their resale value is far less than expected. A lot of great used deals out there on PRS SE (Indonesia). No upgrades required.
I love an SE, Squier guitars, some of the best I’ve owned.
HB have started to make smaller radius on some guitars now, a backlash I think but yeah, profiles are often different.
Thanks for the kind words and for tuning in again 🤗
I like the sounds from this guitar and the headstock actually looks good on this body style, on their stratlike units not so much imo. Did you say you have 5 PR's lol!
This was a decent guitar, very little to fault it by really.
Yes 5 PRS’s 🤦🏻😂
Thanks for the review! How would you rate this model against the TE-62 and TE-90 FLT models? Which one would you get as a beginner and which one would you keep?
Hi Adrian
I’ve had several TE20, TE30, TE52 and the TE-90FLT but not 62.
As a beginner of those you mentioned I would say TE-90FLT. It’s lightweight, the neck is smooth and not too chunky, it has really nice tone to it as well. I’m sure the TE-62 would be good too. This CST is not very beginner friendly so I’d avoid it
Just got my cst24t ocean flame. ... got a good factory one actions a little high but will get tweeter out soon right out of the box verry happy with it so far. For the money big score also have sc custom fr had it set up ....off the the hook for the money very. ..very happy both are well worth the price just hope u get a good factory one .... now I have two hb... been playing for 50 years of so... man time goes by so fast... have had many guitars throughout the decade. ... again would recommend these axis to everyone. .. can't spend big money.... go hb. A little set up verry happy... throughout the years many high end guitars have come and gone... for the money can't beet it. ... any good player can make any dicent ax sound pretty good. .. good review bro just keep picking it up. ..so one told me that a long long time ago just keep picking it up. ... rock on bro. Beat wishes from across the pond..... peace
So pleased you got a good one too. Such good value for money, can’t beat them!
50 years playing is awesome too, hope I’m still going in 50 more years 😊.
Thank you for the kind words and for tuning in. Take care
Evening Rich! It seems you speed up with the guitar change aren't you :) I am glad to hear your quick comparison to PRS, appreciated. That black is really nice and classy looking. Enjoy NGD!
Lol yes 🙈
Thank you too, it’s s lovely guitar!
I miss my SA120. I miss every one I sold. Hahah. So yah I know the sa neck. Great review man. I truly appreciate this. I needed to know this!!!
Hey Robert! Great to hear from you. I do get overly attached but that said, I have Harley Benton threepeat arriving tomorrow lol.
Glad you enjoyed the video, take care 👍🏻
Hi Rich, great review, the guitar looks better than I imagined.
I have two questions regarding this particular model....how much do you want? and when? hehe
I think you should have affiliate links....thomann need to pay you some comms.
Haha 😂
Yours for £130 if you’re interested. It’s a beaut. ! Not sure when I’m next up your way but will check if you’re interested or can post it. I’ve set the action nicely too
@@thenovicenoisemaker sold ...to the northern addict
@@thenovicenoisemaker I'll give you a bell tomorrow
@@johnsmith-nd9yo haha I’ll text you
The volume knob was in the way if you play with downstrokes I dril a new hole and put it 3a4 cm near the Tone knob its plays much better now
Great idea!
Very nice Rich good comparison between the 2
Thank you buddy
the ss frets will make any guitar that is well set up play as good as any PRS with standard frets, i have 2 HB fusion 3s and after a bit of tweaking they both play as good if not better than my core PRS custom 24, i outright refuse to buy a guitar unless it has ss frets anymore, they are as smooth as glass and will not be like lumpy porridge after a few months of hard gigging, that guitar looks cool as hell by the way
SS frets really are nice. I’ve got a couple of Chapman Pro’s with them snd they’re fab. That said, I also have a standard Chapman with nickel frets that have been well polished and are surprisingly good.
I did like this guitar, my one and only complaint for my taste, the neck was too light for the rest of the guitar being all black.
Thanks for watching and commenting 👍🏻👍🏻
@@thenovicenoisemaker for me ss frets become essential if you are gigging, you will wear out frets way faster than if you are playing at home, i have a core PRS custom 24 and i literally could see fret wear after 3 months of gigging it regularly, this is simply unacceptable, my ibanez AZ on the other hand has been on the road 4 years and it has nothing, so the 2 fusion 3s i bought were to back up the ibanez and they do it amazingly well
@@darkestfugue 3 months 😱, that’s terrible and with such an expensive guitar. Totally get why you would want ss frets. I love AZ’s, not owned one but tinkered in the shop many times, such great features and lovely to play
@@thenovicenoisemaker yeah they are a real no nonsense players guitar that give versatility and playability over everything else, but for a fraction of the price, so does the HB fusion 3, in some areas i even prefer them over the AZ, which is shocking, frets will wear much faster if you gig a guitar because you are constantly playing certain songs where your hands are always in the same place, when you are at home noodling your hands seem to wander everywhere so the frets get nowhere near the same kind of punishment
@@darkestfugue appreciate the insight not being (nor ever will I be) a gigging guy. Thanks bud 👍🏻
Few upgrades and this thing might become something veeeery good: bridge, electronics and pick ups...and you'll end up spending the same amount of money you'd spend for a standard SE without any upgrades. And I DO have an SE standard with upgrades.
Hi Mattia,
I had an SE that was stock which I thought was pretty good. What upgrades have you done to yours?
@@thenovicenoisemaker well my SE standard 24 has been completely upgraded with 2 Dimarzio's (Tone Zone/Air Norton), a 3 way blade switch, no split, orange capacitor. Then I upgraded the nut and bridge saddles with Graphtech's. The bridge also features a FU Tone brass sustain block. Authentic PRS core volume and tone knobs (just to get the look of PRS body) and Vanson Locking tuners at the end which are pretty similar to Schaller's.
Now it plays absolutely Petrucci-ish, which I love. But if you think about how much it cost, summing the price of the guitar and the upgrades, I almost spent 1k €.
I'm thinking about buying this Harley Benton CST: it has a better locking body carve, newer models have stainless steel. And it costs NEW, 3 times less than a newer PRS se. No way. I'll put some EMGs or Fishman, new Bridge (Gotoh), tuners and you can go with a gutar that can really shines.
I love PRS but today nobody makes bad guitars anymore. NOBODY.
@@mattiagaleone7726 wow that’s quite the investment there. I guess always a trade off of buying a guitar that gets upgraded vs buying one with everything already done.
My former HB SC Custom II was a great guitar too
@@thenovicenoisemaker I get it. I'm practically obsessed with modding and upgrading so I always buy a guitar as a platform to start upgrading from. So I do not have to build from scratches.
Buying a new one with everything already set up for you is something I've never found interesting: there's always something to put your effort in, IMHO. Of course you can buy a CORE PRS, but that's almost 4k € and is that REALLY worth it? Or you can buy a Majesty, or a Suhr...yeah, tons of great guitars but it all comes down to how you feel when playing your guitar. If I upgrade one, that makes that mine.
@@mattiagaleone7726 Wish I had the skills for the modding, that would be great to have a one off that you really like.
So just replace the cheap stuff on the HB and you have a bang for the buck killer !
Absolutely 👍🏻
I never had tuners that didn't keep strings in tune. I guess this can exist and is possibly found on plastic toy guitars for children but the reasons guitars go out of tune after strings were stretched is mostly binding in the nut or under string trees. I suppose it can also happen on a 6-screw Strat bridge that has been nailed down at the factory and left this way (front screws need loosening so the plate can pivot).
The quality of tuners is mostly in the gear ratio and smoothness of operation.
The nut is certainly the biggest culprit!
Do you think this guitar would hold up tuned down to drop B?
Hmm that’s a fine question and I’m not sure to be honest Marc
Looks great Rich. Just received my TE-62 CC IS today (finally). Wow! I’m blown away. When I’ve dressed the frets, rolled the fretboard and given it a setup it’ll play great!
5x less than my Player Series Fender price-wise, definitely not 5x less of a guitar! I won’t be buying Fender for a long time mate.
Thank you Lee.
Tele sounds ace! I’m totally with you about the value for money vs Fender, they’re simply too expensive for what they are in my opinion
@@thenovicenoisemaker Yep I agree, the Fender is great but owning a HB has put things into perspective for me.
@@leeharris5135 for sure 👍🏻
Can you get straty sounds on the hb?
Hi Tiago
Not really I’m afraid. You can think the tone out and use your amp settings but still not really very stratty.
Thank you for watching and commenting, much appreciated 👍🏻
That's gorgeous looking mate!!!!!
Thank you buddy, it’s lovely!
Nice review rich
Thank you kindly Kevin 😊
Does the harley benton come with bigger frets than the se standard?
Hi, no it has medium frets the same
@@thenovicenoisemaker Thanks for the info and the review.
@@targa44wt you are most welcome 🤗
Try the PRS copies by DillionGuitars.
Hi Joe
Not heard of those guys, I’ll check them out, thank you 😊
This isn't a comparison!!
Where is the PRS??
All we get is opinions about a different guitar - with no physical evidence of that other guitar.
Pointless!!!
I’ve owned several PRS SE’s. I didn’t say this was a comparison video, I asked (rhetorically) what is like compared to a PRS because I’ve owned one and this is giving my opinion based on that.
try the new AMP CATALYST 60 from line6
Just saw that review from Andertons, looks good!
@@thenovicenoisemaker nice functions and line6 is noe Yamaha. and it cheaper than the thr10
@@catmini1 I just bought a Vox AV15 😊
@@thenovicenoisemaker I'm curious to witness the sound!
I just bought a second Bass a 5 string the cheap one from HB, I have the 4 string already.
@@catmini1 ah cool 👍🏻
Sound demo soon too
that one its from vietnam, it dosent have stainless frets.
Hi Nico, according to the Thomann website it does 🤔
@@thenovicenoisemaker I have the same guitar and level the frets myself. The ones made in Indonesia have stainless steel fret.
@@nicopoppe4838 ah right ok 👍
Just learning ehh chap?
Aye