Harley Benton RB-414BK Classic Series

It?s a nice looking and nice sounding bass but there was also some annoying issues with the instrument.

Bad things:

First of all, this is not a semi-hollow bass even though it says so on the product page. I figured this out, because the bass weights a lot (+ 4 kg i think) and it doesn't sound hollow when you knock the body slightly with your fingers.

Secondly, there was a grounding issue with the electronics of the bass. There was this annoying buzzing sound when you didn't touch the strings or other metal parts of the bass.

Thirdly, saddle seems to be pretty poorly cut and there was some fret buzz. I don't know if proper setup would have solved the problem.

Good things:

Finish, woodwork and fretwork seems to be pretty decent, no sharp fret ends or anything like that and this bass doesn't feel like a toy. Steel parts, pots and tuners seems to be decent quality. I think this bass looks even better live than in pictures!

Sound is also very unique and nice. This is not your traditional P or J bass but something completely different in a good way.

Etsin ns. kakkosbassoa ja internetin syövereistä hyppäsi kyseinen basso verkkokalvoille. Muotoilu miellytti ja rupesin kaivamaan tietoa bassosta, onneksi YouTube tarjoaa melkoisen määrän arvosteluja ja unboksaus videoita. Näiden perusteella tilaus sisään, kuitenkin hieman varautuneesti.

Kun basso saapui, oli se suoraan laatikosta ok soitto kunnossa. Parin viikon soittamisen jälkeen kielten vaihto ja pienet hienosäädöt, niin tuli maukas soittopeli. Työnjälki yleisesti mielestäni hintaa vastaavalla tasolla, nauhat ok ja liima tms tahroja ei omaan yksilööni ole jäänyt.

Ylimääräisiä huminoita tai hurinoita ei basso pidä. Tosin kun molemmat mikit on käytössä ei niiden keskinäisiä voluumeita pysty säätämään vaan molemmat volumet mykistävät molemmat mikit. Myöskään tone säädöllä ei tunnu olevan merkitystä tässä asennossa. Erikseen valittuna toivat molemmat. Täytynee jossain kohtaa avata ja tehdä kytkennät uusiksi.

Muuten hintaansa nähden hyvä aihio, mistä pienellä rakentelulla voi tehdä itselleen kelpo pelin!

Use – mostly for personal pleasure, but will be used for an occasional gig. My usual amp is an Ampeg Portaflex 500 through 2 4x10 Kustom cabs. Also sounds good with a Behringer 300w head.
Summary – Good value for money for this style of bass. I like this, already playing it a lot. Looks the part and sounds good. It is very reminiscent of a certain US manufacturer’s classic basses, one of which I used to own.
General - I have not had happy experiences with HB basses, which unlike HB guitars have often in the past been poorly made and sound terrible. This though is somewhat different, looks great, seems well made enough, but still far short of being beyond criticism. It does have that RB like growl – the neck pickup is a thing of beauty. It also has a very nice thin neck profile with a more traditional wide fretboard – a very different playing experience compared to more modern neck profiles and widths. The polar opposite of a jazz bass.
Pros – plays very well. Intonation and neck relief were perfect out of the box, and action height suited me too, so nothing to adjust. As it has acclimatised to my house I have had to make a small adjustment to the neck. The tuners seem fine. The growl and mids from the neck pickup are IMO what I am looking for in a bass of this style. The neck and body binding are really nice to have, and on the neck helps with the slick playing experience. The bridge pickup saddle makes a perfect wrist rest for a bit of slap bass.
Cons – a few minor finishing issues, some chrome missing from one of the bridge saddles, the odd bit of not quite tidy finishing, a few sharp fret edges at the dusty end. No fret buzz, but a lot of buzzing from somewhere around the pickups from any G (+/- one or two frets) played anywhere; this is a sympathetic mechanical buzz and you can’t hear it through an amp. The bridge pickup is set far too far from the strings, and the height adjuster screws are also what hold the chrome cover on. As these are screwed with springs over them into a plastic plate underneath the pickup the whole assembly is prone to moving. I re-engineered the setup to get the pickup higher and the saddle solidly mounted, which unsurprisingly has also eliminated the buzz I mentioned earlier. I’d rather have a higher output, but that’s what the gain control on the amplifier is for. It did arrive with the bridge pickup saddle badly bent – I am not a fan of Thomann’s new paper packaging, it definitely does not work as well as the blown plastic packaging did.

I ordered this bass back in March after having had my eyes on it for quite some time and initially I was quite excited. It looks great, is fun to play.. until you try to do a basic setup on it.

There are several issues with this instrument:

First of all - the awful bridge. WHY on earth would anyone design something with pieces of it readily falling off is beyond me. The strings rest on these tiny metal pieces that are held in place by the strings themselves and nothing else. Also, the individual string height CANNOT be adjusted, only the height of the bridge itself. This can obviously be upgraded, but it is NOT an excuse for an instrument targeting the beginner market.

Second - the bridge pickup mount from hell. Who in their right mind would ever think this was acceptable?? It's the most ridiculous mounting "solution" I have ever seen by far:
The metal piece over the pickup is held together by screws that are NOT properly held in place! They go through the top pickup cover, then the plate around the pickup (which is the only thing screwed into the body and keeping the pickup from completely falling out), then a wide plastic platform under the cover on which the pickup itself sits and then.. NOTHING! Not a single nut or anything to be found! The only other thing found under the cover are a these couple of ridiculous springs around each screw, which are supposedly meant to keep the pickup in place? Needless to say - it does NOT work, the pickup sags down and cannot be raised up properly and the metal pickup cover that goes over the strings is slightly loose and rattly.
I suspect THIS is the main reason why so many people complain about the pickup being too quiet - it's IMPOSSIBLE to adjust the height! When it sits at a proper height the volume is perfectly fine.
WORKAROUND:
Take off the covers, take out the pickup, get rid of the pointless screws and add a few nuts of appropriate size to space the pickup a bit lower from the metal cover (otherwise it touches the strings) and then another pair of nuts to secure it in place. This should not have to be necessary, but it is and easy enough to do. You still cannot adjust the pickup, but at least it is properly secured in place now.

Those are the 2 major issues I have with this bass, which, when solved, leave you with a pretty decent bass that's actually quite fun to play and sounds pretty good.

The only other thing worth noting is not so much an issue with the instrument itself, but with the Thomann listing, which is a pretty big oversight on their part:
The scale listed on the product page is "Long Scale", when it should be "Super Long Scale".
"Why is this an issue?" one might ask - because when you buy a replacement string set, maybe even with your initial order of the bass, you may end up in my position and waste your money on a set that is just too short. I picked up a Harley Benton HQS Bass-5 45-130 (yes a 5-string set, it seemed very cost-effective, being just 13eu) which also states "Long scale", but does not give any actual measurements of the strings themselves, which is also the case with a lot of other string sets. You need to look for "Super Long Scale" strings for this bass, which narrows down your options A LOT. So keep that in mind.

What's frustrating is that it could have easily been GREAT value with a bit more quality control. I cannot recommend this for a beginner, but as a mod platform - it's still worth a consideration, especially for those looking for a Ricky style bass on the cheap.