Harley Benton RB-612CS Classic Series Reviews

Be prepared to do some setup.

I would like to start off by saying that this is actually a guitar I like quite a lot at this point. However, it had some issues to start off with. When I initially received it, it was not properly strung. The high G had snapped in transport, and one of the other strings was not seated properly in the (admittedly quite tricky) tailpiece. I initially just replaced the two offending strings (after a short battle with the stubborn tailpiece), but found the stock strings so unpleasant on my fingers that I ended up replacing them all with some GHS Boomers. Suddenly the guitar became much, much more enjoyable to play.

Aside from this, I find this guitar very satisfactory. There are of course some minor cosmetic QC issues, but nothing particularly problematic. The pickups are... fine. The only other thing that I have any issue with is the fact that the neck seems a bit more bendy than I expected. It's possible, in fact, to get a respectable vibrato effect by doing nothing more than swinging the guitar back and forth lightly. This isn't something that impairs playability at all but it is a bit surprising. Perhaps the wood wasn't dried enough?

love this guitar. i wanted a 12 electric for recording and searched around quite a bit trying to find one that wasn't ridiculously priced. i heard of Harley Benton but was a bit leary on pulling the trigger because reviews were mixed on them. i bit the bullet and took a chance and i'm so glad i did, the guitar can without a flaw, the only thing i did to it was cut the nut slots a bit deeper for lower action. plays and sounds great, so happy i bought it. i highly recommend this guitar. every other guitar i own is hundreds or thousands more than this and it's one of my favorites now.

Awesome...A Forest Review!

Other reviews can give your a blow by blow account of each tree and feature. Me, I have been playing for about 60 years and that Ric got away when it was affordable. No band or regular gigs but I have about 20 guitars and each is a delight. Tested a few Eastmans and Danelectros but this one was kind of a leap of faith! Well, it blew me out of the water right out of the box. It is just a great looking and feeling guitar that sounds like it should. Played it for a month before taking it for some luthier TLC; even he was impressed. Pyramid flatwound strings, a little fretwork after lowering the action a pinch, standard setup and voila, this things chimes with little effort and stays tuned in like manner! The play-ability after the TLC made it even more of a treat to pickup. I cannot wait to take the guitar out to jam with my friends or bring to our local haunt. In the meantime, every time I pick it up I feel those ringing strings just fill my studio with the sounds of my youth and then some! I wasn't crazy about the headstock since it seemed out of proportion with the rest of the guitar. I am thinking that it provides the needed strength to keep these tuners more supported and the tuning in check. That was the only con for me. A pro continues to be how well it stays in tune! I have no right to but I am looking to get a second Harley Benton in the near future! Thank you so much!

Very good, especially for the price

Beautiful, sounds good, and price is unbelievable

This guitar great!

I could not have asked for more! Plays great, very fun guitar! Thanks for a fantastic guitar! Shipped from Germany to America in three days!

Harley Benton RB612CS

The guitar is excellent value for money - let me rephrase that, outstanding value for money.

I do not play professionally so performance use will be limited to small gatherings and fun events. Sorting and other injuries have taken their toll on, my left hand in particular, which causes tiredness to set it after half hour or more of playing one of my acoustic 12 string guitars. I needed a guitar with a lower action that is possible with most acoustic 12 string guitars and this is the cheapest (that is low cost) that seemed worth looking at and playing.

I have had the instrument for 6 days and letting it settle in plus making small adjustments to accommodate my playing. These are going just fine and should be about right after the guitars acclimatisation - probably another week or 10 days.

There are no obvious flaws, in fact the guitar looks much like you would expect for 4 or 5 times the price. The pickups are good enough for what I want and, having put it through two different amps, more than satisfied with the sound. A bit of experimentation will find the exact sound I want, though getting there is an enjoyable process.

Others have made their comments on their experience of the guitar so I will keep this brief and say that I have acquired a 12 string semi-acoustic 12 string guitar for a little over £200 that could justify itself against those many times more that price.

It is not a Rickenbacker and is one tenth the price of an equivalent and it would be unrealistic to think that it compares directly. However, what you get is a very acceptable compromise against the Rickenbacker.

what a cracker of a 12 string

open the box a really super looking guitar it has got 2 minor blemishes which is under the top coat so cannot be removed,but you have to look very closely to find them, sounds like a Ricky which is what i wanted, this was on back order for weeks and weeks,and i thought of cancelling and buying another make/model so glad i didn't you cant beat this for sound and quality at this price point or even double.

Jingle jangling for hours bringing back 12 string classics!

Wow! I'm not easily amazed, but I was when my RB-612CS

arrived. The finish is flawless . I will not hesitate to gig with this guitar. I have looked for flaws, but none found to date. It plays and sounds beautifully and is hard to put down. It took a couple days for the new strings to settle in and now the tuners seem to be holding fine. Very playable right out of the box though I may change out the strings at some point in the near future to one I've used for years. I would buy again without hesitation and a few friends may order as well. Pleasantly surprised and a happy picker.

Crackin 12 strings

Great quality and beautiful design.

Feels great, plays great, sounds great.

Good price.

Well packaged, good fast delivery (once in stock).

Some New Things To Know About This 12-String Guitar You May Not Have Read About, Yet.

This guitar exceeds all my expectations and sounds/ functions - even better than it looks!

I’m a relative beginner to guitar playing, but can play and know obvious differences, issues and problems. There are no problems I can detect.

I do notice it’s better than any 12-string I’ve tried from friends and in the Music Shops. This excludes Ricky, but includes1,000 dollar guitars, down to 500 dollars.

Most of the very positive reviews mention many details for their positive reviews Believe them. . I’ll mention some things that I haven’t seen highlighted.

1 Body is Sapele Wood; I’ve learned this Wood is used for Taylor Guitars. It’s been described this way by experts:

Sapele’s tonal output is consistent and balanced across the tonal spectrum, making it compatible with a diverse range of playing styles. It’s comparable to mahogany but its higher density tends to produce a slightly brighter sound with more top-end shimmer.”

2. The headstock is very close to that of The Hagstrom Viking 12-string.

3.The body is totally functional, but a bit smaller, but NOT weirdly small or affecting playing or sound. Think Les Paul body size. If that’s not a problem for you.........

4. Maple Neck is awesome.

5. The F-hole DOES have a history with Rickenbacker. We usually see them with no hole, or a slash one. The Who’s Pete Townshend used a Rose Morris model, which features an F-hole. The HB has an F-Hole

6. The Mini Humbuckers have a unique jangly sound and sound way better than any pick-ups I’ve heard on non Ricky 12- strings.

Mucho Happy with purchase!

Outstanding value for money

At over £3000 for a 'Rick' 12 String, this (just over) £200 guitar severely challenges justifying a £2800 price gap. Depending on your taste, this is a fine looking instrument & although purists would give this no chance at all, if you don’t do brand snobbery & do function over style, give this guitar a try: I don’t think you’ll be disappointed... Take time to read some more product reviews or check out you-tube video’s people have done.

It’s a little too early to comment on reliability of electrics & hardware, but initial impressions are that this really does represent outstanding value for your money. … Straight out of the box & like many new (& expensive) guitars, it was obvious the standard factory set-up would not personally suit myself & so … Using the Allen keys provided, I significantly lowered the action (& also bridge pickup height) plus a small tweak to the intonation of the D strings & it was ‘good to go’ … Frets all dressed nicely, with no choking or buzzing & good job on the binding. A small amount of excess glue just visible on the internal bracing through the ‘F’ hole is the only minor issue on finish that I found & this is very easily remedied….

In summary, I’ve owned several high end twin 6/12 guitars & mainly used the 12 string for a few songs, but as seems the norm, due to weight issues when gigging, lack of use & just leaving them in their case, I’ve always sold them. This little gem is the perfect light weight & very affordable alternative, giving a solid & pretty authentic impression of a ‘Rick’. … If you take the plunge & decide to buy, you’ll save yourself a small fortune & I truly believe you won’t be disappointed.

unbelievable

what a beautiful guitar.....sounds great, looks great, needs a little set up for my personal use but not bad at all......... Ive been playing for 58 yrs and owned every brand made and this is well worth 5xs the cost!!!! this is my 3rd Harley Benton and will not be my last

Don't expect to play it right out of the box

I received this guitar around 2? years ago, so this is a "test of time" review as well.

Starting from The price - very attractive.

I was looking for an electric 12 string guitar and given that it's a niche guitar, the other options available would cost 10 times as much as this one.

Looks - Great, the paint, finish and hardware (looks only) look great.

Sound - pickups are ok, but a 12 string guitar has its own sound, and an electric 12 string - even more, so if you're looking for that familiar sound - you'll get it from this guitar.

So far so good... until the setup and playability:

fretwork - one of the worst fret jobs I've ever seen. buzzing everywhere, uneven frets, untreated frets (no polishing so the frets does not feel smooth) - overall very very sloppy job. I spent a lot of time on leveling, recrowning and polishing the frets in order for this guitar to be playable. luckily - I'm well experienced in that field so I saved myself a lot of money. bear that in mind in case you need someone else to do your setups for you.

setup (out of the box) - terrible and unplayable. the one good thing I can say is that the guitar has a double action truss rod, which means the neck could be adjusted both ways (back bow vs. relief).

the nut also needed serious work, but I chose to replace it with my own custom brass nut.

Tuners - bad quality, they slip sometimes and generally do not hold tuning very well.

Electronics - so far, working great after 2? years. no noises, nothing falling apart (pots, jack etc.) so good job in that area.

The main reason for this lengthy review is because when I ordered this guitar, I was told that the delivery is delayed because my guitar is being inspected and set-up... so this is either a lie or the inspector doesn't know how to do his job...

Overall - for the price and sound - worth it, just keep in mind that you might have to spend more money on setup and tuners if you really intend to play this guitar on a regular basis.

Great guitar

Great guitar, but order new string at the same time you order the guitar.

I know the strings that come on guitars are not always the best, but these were absolutely shit. Kind of a shame. Once restrung with new Daddarios it sounds great. Should be some instructions on the tailpiece. Kind of a bear when re stringing.

Nice 12 string sound. Finish was disappointing here and there. Customer service were very good, offered return/replace or keep the guitar with partial refund.

Cant fault that.

Too small

Unfortunately, I found this guitar a bit too small so I will return it.

Great 12-string for any collection

I was looking to get a 12-string for a few songs I was working on. I looked at some other models from other brands, and found this model through YouTube. After watching pretty much every review I decided to take the plunge. After about 6 days (shipping to US), it finally arrived.

I've been extremely impressed by this guitar; it definitely rivals much more expensive guitars I own (or have tried) in terms of sound, look, and build quality (both acoustic and electric). I was pleasantly surprised at how well it plays not just for chords but also lead parts (limited bending ability but that's expected).

I did have a few issues. The lower G string was broken when it arrive, but fortunately I had ordered extra strings so it wasn't a major inconvenience (and there were no other issues from the shipping). It did take me about 30 minutes to figure out how to install a new string, so some instructions would be helpful there. There is also a plastic film on the pickguard that I just cannot fully remove, which is a bit of a poor design choice. Lastly the balance seems to be a little bit off (quite a bit of neck dive) but I'm working around that.

All in all I would highly recommend this for anyone looking to get that great 12-string sound at a VERY reasonable price! I was so impressed I just bought two more Harley Bentons.

A great guitar for the price

I have wanted to try a 12 string guitar for a long time, but was put off by the steep prices. I already have a couple of Harley Benton guitars and have so far been happy with them, so when I spotted this HB 12 string guitar I decided to give it a go. The first impression is very good. The guitar looks fantastic and plays great. The only small minus are the pickups. They are a bit on the dark side, and might have to be changed some time in the future. Anyway, a good product at a great price, I recommend this guitar!

This replaced my long lost Ricky and now the pain is healed.

I recently bought this to replace a much beloved Rickenbacker 360/12 WWB that I had to sell a few years back, and ya know what? I really don't miss the Rickenbacker now and wish you guys had these way back then. You guys did a REALLY nice job of this; all the chime of a Rickenbacker is there with these pickups, and I especially love the fact that you made the nut width nearly 2"! Far wider than the Rickenbackers and that makes all the difference in playability! I haven't had to change the strings yet, but I can tell that that is going to be a vast improvement on having to change the strings on a Rickenbacker - especially with that "R" tailpiece (Grrr!). You needed a team to get that done. Again, you guys do a truly great job on this one!

Cons: NONE

GR8888888888

whats to say but GR8888888 even the pickups sound great ;. even the strings are gr8 .; i think the time has come we dont have to pay a fortune for a Quality instrument . thanks HB