Harley Benton RB-414LH BK Classic Series

Lefty Rick-o-like are pretty rare to say the least. So when I saw that bass poping up on some different youtube reviews, I found myself almost instantly hooked. But I was also a bit scared. Never have I ever bought any HB instrument before and, let's be honnest, I had my share of so called "GREAT" little brand basses. So I dug deeper, trying to find cons to balance the so many pros. After a moment, I had to admit the fact: people who tested it enjoyed it.
So I finally ordered mine. It arrived perfectly packaged 2 days later and, like a kid, ran upstair to plug it and give it a first run.
For me, when thinking about Rick basses, the two names that come to my mind are Lemmy Killmister and Cliff Burton. Okay, let's go then!
Little tinkering to find the right settings and then let's make the neighbours mad with some Motörhead's classic Overkill...
Okay, yeah sure, she's no Rick but, man, does she roar! Love it!
Now regarding the other aspects of the instrument... I'm quite used to Ibanez style basses. They're light, intuitive and sound whole and warm unless you push them. The RB-414 is, so far, the exact opposite. Not back breaking heavy but you definitely feel the difference, but most important this one growls angrily on its default mood. It actually takes me some effort to make it sound like a normal bass. Not complaining, exactly what I wanted from it.
It's oldies/classic shape also forced me to hold and approach it a bit differently from what I played so far. I'm used to wear my basses quite low. I can't here as my forearm would then rest painfully on its angular body edges so... "pull me up those pants, kiddo!" No drama tho, just a different approach.
I could go on and on about that 200€/$ guitar and compare it further to others I played but the main thing is that the Rick (inspired or real) is a category of its own and, therefore, must be aimed for knowingly. If you're aware of what you're buying, I really think you will be pleased. If you're a beginner looking for a cool first bass, it could be. Just know that it will require a little bit more adaptation in order to play all those styles you wish to play.
As far as I'm conscerned, I had more out of it than I expected.
Very, very pleased and will certainly come back for more.

I bought this as lefty ric-o-likes are very rare. I wasn't expecting much from it and had a few concerns that it might not be a great player. I was wrong on all counts. The RB-414 looks and feels like a top quality instrument. I could find no cosmetic flaws on mine. It also sounds excellent. A good punchy bridge pickup. The neck pickup is a little nasal. Between the two of them there is a wide tonal palette available from this bass.

I was concerned the top horn was a bit short and neck dive would be a problem but it is better than most fender style basses and balances well on a wide strap. The weight of mine was a very respectable 8pounds 10 ounces or 3.9Kg

The bridge is the one thing that sets this apart from most other basses. It looks like a ric bridge but is much easier to adjust than the real thing. It is however the source of my one gripe about the bass. Because there is three and a half inches from the ball end of the string to the bridge saddles it needs extra long scale strings. I'm not a fan of roundwound strings and stock HB strings in particular but when I tried to fit some flats to the bass I discovered that none of the four different sets of strings I had would fit, they were all too short. I had to order some extra long strings. If there was any indication of this in the product description, I'd have ordered strings with the bass from Thomann. The strings issue is only an issue because I didn't know about it in advance and had to wait for strings to be delivered. The extra long strings work just fine once procured.

Like all the other HBs I've bought this instrument is superb value for money. It would be nice if the lefties were available in colours other than black but I can't fault the bass in any other way.

Highly recommended.

El HB RB-414 cumple con las espectativas: un bajo inspirado en el mítico Rickenbacker 4003 que destila rock por los cuatro costados. El sonido es muy bueno, cualquiera de las tres posiciones de pastillas ofrece muy buenos matices, y acepta muy bien la distorsión. Además tiene muy buen slap. La acción es muy baja y eso ayuda a digitar cómodamente por el mástil, y gracias a la construcción permite acceder perfectamente a los últimos trastes.
La cubierta de metal de la pastilla de agudos es incómoda para quien no esté acostumbrado, pero se puede desmontar fácilmente.
Estéticamente tiene algunos detalles que denotan que se trata de un bajo barato. En mi caso, la cejuela tiene un acabado algo defectuoso en la unión con la pala y el pulido de los laterales está poco trabajado. El golpeador tiene muchas rebabas de plástico que no se han quitado, pero al repasarlos con uña van saliendo y se queda bien. Los clavijeros no dan sensación de calidad, son algo ligeros, pero funcionan bien.
En general, pensando en la relación calidad/precio creo que no se puede exigir más, el diseño es brutal, suena muy cañero y las imperfecciones estéticas son fácilmente corregibles. En resumen, muy contento con la compra.

Vraiment satisfait de cet achat, une basse qui rappelle l’originale par son look et par son manche avec un accès aux aigus terrible.
Elle est arrivée presque réglée correctement, j’ai retouché la courbure du manche pour avoir une action un peu plus basse ainsi que le chevalet et la hauteur des micros, l’intonation n’a pas eu besoin de beaucoup de réglage.
Au niveau du son, les potentiomètres fonctionnent bien et sont progressifs, le micro manche est très claquant et le micro chevalet a un son bien rond, le seul défaut est que le volume de sortie de ce dernier est très faible, je le changerai plus tard.
Pour ce tarif et un look pareil c’est un bon achat pour les gauchers.

Sokáig gondolkoztam, melyik modellre essen a választás, de az RB fazon annyira menő, hogy végül ez a modell lett a befutó. Gyors szállítás, hibátlan csomagolás, és minden tétel, amit rendeltem kifogástalan minőségű. A basszusgitár minimális hangolás után, már használható is volt, és hát kérem szépen a Behringer Sf300 lábpedál irgalmatlan hangzást hoz elő a hangszerből, bár nem basszus pedál, de mit is számít ez?!
Összegezve: Tudtam, hogy ez a cég nagyon minőségi, de minden várakozásomat felülmúlta, amit a csomagból kivettem! Eddig sem volt kétséges, de ha szükségem lesz bármire, akkor csakis a thomann jöhet szóba!!
Hatalmas köszönet!!!

It purrs, it growls, it thumps. It does everything I want it to.
I'm sure if I put it under a microscope I could find flaws, but there really are none that I've noticed in the month or so I've had it.
The tuners are good, the pots are good, the switch is good, everything is exactly what I was looking for. Literally the only 'problem' I've found was that when changing the strings, watch out for the small barrel-shaped bridge pieces; they're only held in by string tension and can easily be lost. This was a very surprising discovery I made while removing the bridge pickup cover.

All in all, Harley Benton's quickly becoming one of my new favorite brands and Thomann have rendered excellent service and I am deeply impressed.