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 was really looking forward to getting as it looks great & sounded great from the reviews I watched, but I'm not sure if I got unlucky with mine but out of the box it had loads of scratches on the back (the one I bought wasn't a B-stock product) & the neck was severely bowed.

I tried to amend it but to get it to stop buzzing like crazy it made the action really high above the 5th fret & due to the bridge design I was unable to level out the action.

The bridge is a bit of problem area as it only allows to raise all the strings rather than the individual saddles, which makes hard to get a consistent action.

I think this would make a great mod project if you have time to put into it but unfortunately I just don't at the moment!