Harley Benton RB-600BK Classic Series

FYI, the guitar cost me US $360 total, delivered to Arizona, w/gig bag. About the same as a high end Fender Squier from Guitar Center - so inexpensive, but not cheap.

For starters, the guitar arrived essentially unplayable. All of the frets had needle sharp sprouts, and the neck was significantly up-bowed. The strings were D'Addarios, but they felt sticky and grimy, and the action was set very high. The fretboard was also dirty. The tuners were very cheaply made. Nowhere close to the quality on most Squiers. Finally, one corner of the pickguard was popping up.

So why 5 stars? First off, because I know how to fix these things myself. I sanded down the fret sprouts, cleaned and oiled the fretboard, adjusted the truss rod, mounted a set of Wilkinson/Jin-Ho locking tuners, screwed down the pickguard and put on fresh D'Addario strings.

I now have a rather amazing and unique guitar. The fit, finish and overall look is great. The short scale neck is slim and fast. The bridge is a little tricky to adjust, but it works well enough, and I actually like the little cover over it. I suspected the neck would be unstable, but I was wrong. After the major adjustment the truss rod has only required minor tweaks.

I've saved the best for last . . . this freakin' thing sounds amazing! No, no, no it does not sound like a Ric, but it sounds like nothing else I've ever played, and I definitely will NOT need to swap out the pickups. Oh, and the controls also perform well, giving me access to a range of tones that I really like, and that I wasn't expecting. Fantastic fun!

In conclusion, an excellent purchase if you understand what you're getting. I expect you would pay at least US $100 for the set up work if you don't do it yourself. Add another $50 or so for the tuners and strings. Beginners with no experience of these things will likely be disappointed. Oh, and this will be my last Harley Benton unless and until Thomann sets up distribution and return facilities here in the US. I hope some of you find this helpful!

I own 3 other Harley Benton guitars: CST-24, XT-22 and TE-70RW deluxe. All of these 3 guitars are superb value for money and surprisingly high quality fit, finish, playability and tone.

I was therefore slightly disappointed with the RB-600BK. There are no obviously major flaws with it, but overall it's not of the same high standard as my other Harley Benton guitars. The tuning machines are wobbly and have quite a lot of slack. The nut was cut a bit too high making intonation and action adjustment difficult. The fretboard is rough and very dry. The frets were a bit scratched and corroded. The pickups were quite microphonic, especially the bridge pickup which squeals at gig volume. The bridge saddles have evidence of corrosion on them. The bridge was not mounted flush or level. The inside of the body behind the F hole is splattered with glue and paint. One of the knobs broke off when I pulled it to take a look at the pots.

I was able to address these issues, and have now got the guitar up to a reasonable playing standard, but based on my experience, I would pass on this particular Harley Benton model. I do own a genuine Rickenbacker among my other guitars, and I appreciate that the HB model is only 1/10th of the price of the comparable USA made Ricky, but you'd struggle with this guitar unless you have some basic luthier skills required to get it up to the necessary standard for playability.

Visually it has a great vibe, with it's beautifully designed retro body, vintage style binding and a head stock shape that doesn't resemble a boat paddle, I can say honestly I prefer the look of the RB600 over the brand that influenced it's conception.

I like the plain basic dot inlays, the unvarnished finger board and the traditional sound hole shape... mine does have a touch of black overspray inside but so what, hardly noticeable!

My RB600 was mostly in tune and playable straight out the box, all I did was lower the strings a little bit to get my preferred low action, tune it up and once plugged in, I raised the pickups a bit on the high strings to get my preferred balance. The intonation itself was perfect, the tuners work just fine and it holds it's tune well. The frets were all level with no sharp edges, all playable. I'm happy with the shorter scale length, the neck is quite narrow and I find it really comfortable to play. The paint finish was also fab, no faults at all and I've got to say, it just looks so good!
I'm not a fan of pretzel tail pieces but this one is totally fine, far more pleasing than ones that try to imitate that famous trademarked "R", after all I think this guitar stands on it's own merit and the proud Harley Benton logo asserts that is exactly what you're buying, not a cheap copy of something more expensive, but a guitar with a distinctive vibe.

Unplugged it sounds good acoustically, great for late night noodling without waking people up, it's not as loud as a full hollow body Casino.

Using a Harley Benton Tube15 Amp and an ACtone pedal (identical to the Harley Benton version), it's easy to dial in vintage tones. The pickups are Artec mini humbuckers. They have a vintage Filter’Tron look and the flat chromed metal mounting rings sets them off. I'd say they sound somewhere between P90s on an Epi Casino, and a bit dark like on a Telecaster. It definitely has it's own voice and a good range of sounds, and yes one can get sounds like the brand that inspired it.

After all that praise for what is a modestly priced instrument, let's get a gripe out the way... What were people thinking when they put the "ce" compliant label resplendent with a crossed out wheelie-bin logo to go on the back of the headstock printed directly on the paintwork and UNDER the varnish instead just using a removable sticker??? This guitar doesn't deserve that, so I took a black sharpie and that "wheelie bin" symbol is now gone for good! It's great value, and I'm a very happy customer!