Harley Benton RB-612CS Classic Series

Very good finishing, like a jewel. Nice playable guitar, little heavy (of course depends of the strings.) There is room to lower little down the strings. The back saddle screws are quite stiff, hard to make fine tuning and intonation without removing the saddle completely. The tuning keeps well. It sounds great even in acoustic and with Vox AC30 TB just like the original Rickenbacker!

I like very much that little good sounding jingle.jangle guitar, waiting to get on the road, for the kick... and to play "Mr. Tambourine Man, "Ticket To Ride" and so on... :)

Arvostelustani poiketen, työnjälki on hyvää, mutta harmittavasti muutamat pikkuseikat pudottavat pisteitä. Tallan alapuolella on käytetty pyöreäpäisiä ruuveja, joiden takia tallaa ei saa laskettua tarpeeksi alas. Oudosti kitaralla kesti "asettua" pitkän aikaa ja ylimääräistä säätöä tuli fretbuzzin minimoimiseksi. Kitara ei ollut missään säädöissä paketista otettua, vaan tallaa ja kaularautaa sai säätää paljon. Suosittelen irroittamaan tallan päältä koristekromin pois. Aikeissa on myös kääntää tailpiece jolloin kieltenvaihto on helpompaa.

I purchased this guitar based on the positive reviews on YouTube and on this site. I have been a loyal Thomann customer since 2006 and have been really impressed by the quality of their service and products. I own three other Harley Benton guitars. When I received the guitar it looked great, felt great and sounded ok. Now here is the catch and it is a big one, for me at least. It took me 4, yes I said 4 hours to change the strings. I finally gave up and removed the Casino tailpiece to gain access to how the string nuts actually fit in. Prior to removing it, you are partially blinded by the view by the Casino tailpiece. Every time you try to mount the string, it just falls out. I was out of my head trying to do so. When I did unmount the tail to reveal how it actually works it seemed apparent. However, I am not sure I will be able to change the strings without disassembling parts of the guitar you should NOT have to. I wrote Thomann asking for a solution and they said they are aware of this problem (not issue....but problem!)

I really want to like this guitar and do, except for this glaring problem. Other things like lowering the action, etc, I can deal with but this...

Here is what I wrote to Thomann:

Thank you! However, and I am not exaggerating, I spent 4 hours trying to figure out the best way to attach the strings. I finally had to remove the Casino tailpiece to gain access to the string ball end mounts. When it is attached you cannot see into where the string is entering, it often enters the wrong opening because you are blind in most cases as to where it is going. In viewing the Casino tailpiece I could finally see how it actually functions. That worked (FINALLY). I do NOT want to have to remove the tailpiece every time I change strings. I have been a loyal Thomann customer since 2006 and this is the first time I wanted to return a product and the only reason I am not doing so is I threw out the box. I cannot believe there isn’t an instruction sheet on how best to change the stings.

Is their a third party solution to change the string mount to 12 separate string holes or just a way to SEE where you are putting the strings. I have been stringing guitars for years, but 4 Hours???? I am so angry!!! This was my birthday gift and what a birthday it turned out to be!!!

Anyways, sorry for this rant, but it is what it is! Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

I am old. 67 to be precise. I played in a band in high school. Had an electric guitar and a 12 string jumbo acoustic. I love the 12 string sound. Byrds, Crosby Stills Nash and Young, Tom Petty…. So I wanted to pickup a guitar again after many years and the 12 string desire was strong. I read a couple of articles about Harley Benton and was impressed with the value they provide. So I started looking at their website and found the RB-612 guitars. It pushed all the right buttons. Semi hollow body, Rickenbacker styling, dual hum buckets, nothing less than a Ricky clone for 10% of what I would spend for an authentic Ricky. So last July, I found the Thomann website and ordered a RB-612BK same guitar only in Black. I didn’t want black but due to supply chain problems the only color available to order was black. After multiple delays the black version was shipped to me in October, to the US. Unfortunately the guitar was lost in transit and the box and gig-bag arrived without the guitar.

I worked with UPS and Thomann and they both were fantastic and a new guitar was placed on order. However none was immediately available but expected to be delivered in 6-8 weeks. Then in mid-December they notified my of another delay of 8-12 weeks. Bummer right? Frustrated waiting so long I got on the Thomann website looking for something else to switch to. That is when I discovered that the RB-612CS was available in 7-14 days. Delighted, it was the color I originally wanted, I had the order switched and now have my beautiful guitar. So far it has been GREAT! I have a Spark practice amp and the sound is fantastic! It has the sound I dreamed of. The finish on the guitar is flawless. Everything is in great working order and I am thrilled with the guitar, Thomann is a great company and responsive to all of my requests. I highly recommend Thomann as a company and Harley Benton as a guitar.