Harley Benton RB-414CS Classic Series

The bass guitar is very well made, everything works as it should. But, it didn't play as it should, the neck pickup was practically inaudible, the bridge pickup, it was very noisy!! Due to the very decent price, I did not complain about the bass, I dismantled the electronics and in approx. two days I identified and repaired the fatal defects in the connection. For example: 1. on a three-pole switch instead of a live conductor, a shield was connected!
2. on the output connector of the guitar "jack" there was a shielded wire connected in place of the live connector! 3. the output wire from the sensors was casually connected between the potentiometers. 4. It was necessary to fly away these errors, replace the output wire with a new longer one to reach the switch pin-connector. 5. The bridge-bridge was screwed in place with 4 screws, only two, so I fixed this defect. Overall, the guitar is great now, but the electronics were literally sloppy. Now the guitar plays as it should be balanced and the corrections react as they should. I did not send the guitar as a complaint, because I control electronics, and I was curious where the defects were!!! So the exhaust check was obviously not done. Due to these defects, it is possible that this good and reasonably priced guitar will be unnecessarily claimed by clients for careless finishing operations.
Because I am really satisfied with the guitar and the repair was successful, I give full points despite this shortcoming!!!
Regards, Thonann.

This was my first electric bass purchase from Thomann. I had no hesitation in choosing Thomann for this purchase as I was delighted in their service from previous other purchases.
I took a good two weeks looking around at the various options. When I came upon the Harley Benton RB -414CS my mind was instantly made up. I’ve always wanted a real RB but like many am unable to afford one. Having read all the reviews from happy customers all I had to do was chose the colour! To be honest I loved them both and would have been happy either way. The black model reminded me of Bruce Foxton’s iconic bass in The Jam but in the end I went for the sunburst. The package was delivered in good time to my workplace as I didn’t want to be out and miss this exciting delivery. Straight out of the box I was amazed at the build quality, looks and great value for money. As this was my first bass purchase I was quite apprehensive as to what I was getting. I need not have been! My bass had been pre-checked and quality control checked by Steven at Thomann. I was especially impressed by the playing action which needed no adjustment at all. The tone options are perfect; switching easily from that trade mark RB rock drive to the more “less toppy” mellow options. I also ordered the gig bag package which was a great way of both saving money and protecting my investment. I was very impressed with the bag; again extremely well manufactured and plenty of storage areas and padding to keep me happy. This bass looks fantastic is amazing value for money! Couldn’t be happier 👍🏻😊

Summary: A beautiful instrument which I enjoy very much.

However, it does have its weak points. They don't matter to me (see the update below, though), but if any of these are significant to you, you may want to reconsider.

The bass came with perfect setup, both intonation and action. The PUs
and the electronics provide a good range of tones that are angled more
at rock rather than jazz (but you'd probably tend to go fretless for the
latter, anyway).

The tuning machines are so-so. They hold the tuning very well, but they
have a lot of "latency", meaning that you can turn them for quite a way
(roughly 1/4th of a turn) before they take effect.

The finish is near perfect over all, but is a little rough on the insides
of the cut-aways. The neck is on the thinner side (suits me well), if you
want to get a real handful, that's not it. A few of the frets have
sharpish edges, but can be easily filed down.

It is perfectly balanced on a strap; sitting down it has a small tendency
for neck-dive.

The nut is cheap, but cut well. The bridge, though, leaves me scratching
my head. Works well enough as delivered, but trying to understand how it
works makes me want to change it for something more standard, and shouldyou want to put stronger strings on (comes with .040 to .100), well...

Quite a few caveats, I know. Don't get me wrong, these are for those who
expect a cheap Rickenbacker copy, which the bass is not. I love it for its
strengths: easy to handle and very good sounds. A good bass, regardless
of price.

Update about a year later: That bridge again... Whoever designed that must hate performing musicians. When changing the strings, the saddle parts fall of as soon as you tilt the guitar. God forbid a string breaking on stage! You'll never find that small part again, and I don't think they are sold seperately (not even the entire bridge). Go get another, perhaps even original, part. I therefore deduct one more star from quality.

I bought this Bass strictly because of its similarity to the overall look of a Rickenbacker. I've owned several Ric Basses & Guitars (& even a small Ric practice amp!) over the years. After reviewing many online videos featuring this Bass, I purchased it even though it was back ordered up to 15 weeks. Fortunately it only took 12-ish to arrive. Since then I've customized it to my liking such as removing the treble PU cover, changed out the knobs & selector switch cap (everything accented in red), added an aftermarket thumb-rest, changed over to flat-wound strings, etc., etc. It is not my goal to have this Bass "sound" like a Ric. It's a great sounding instrument all on its own. Perhaps in years to come other companies or individuals will try their best to sound like MY Harley Benton! ;)

Right out the box first impressions paint looks amazing, the binding around the body is i think 4 layers done really well. Single ply binding around fret board done really well the frets don't stick past the binding no sharp edges it has a set neck which is. Super nice.the toaster pickup sounds deep and full the bridge pick up sounds awesome just a lil more treble then the eck.the switch and knobs seem solid. The only trouble i had was the trust rod needed a lil adjustment but that's to be expected i live in Detroit Michigan and it's cools over all great bass unbelievable price I'd definitely recommend it to anyone beginner or veteran you won't be disappointed

I've wanted a Rickenbacker Fireglo 4003 for years, but the price is way too steep for my budget. When I came across Harley Benton's version, I just couldn't beat the price. So I took a chance and WOW, the sound that comes out of this thing blew me away! Can't believe the power and tone that comes out of that tiny mini humbucker. I did have some issues out of the box however. The neck was bowed, so I had to adjust the truss rod for that. But when I tried to adjust the string height, I noticed that one of the adjustment screws on the corner of the bridge saddle was missing entirely. Also, one of the mounting screws on the bridge saddle assembly had stripped thread and would not lock down. I've spoken to Thomann customer service and they are supposed to be shipping me replacements for these two screws. Other than that, this thing is a beast and I'm in love with it. One thing I don't like is the absurdly tall pickup cover. Planning to remove it when I get a chance.