Harley Benton RB-612BK Classic Series

Looking for a decent electric 12 string guitar, i had Gretch in mind, knowing they are excellant quality guitars, but my budget was not enough to buy one. So i visited Thomanns online store, Looking through Thomanns list, the Harley Benton RB-612BK Classic series electric 12 string came up, so i checked all the information and feedbacks and made the choice of buying one, the price being in my budget zone. I received the guitar, unpacked it, checked it all over for any damage, and it was perfect, so i tuned it in and started to play it, wow i was really surprised at the sound unpluged , it had some excellant sustain and sounded really nice. So i fired up my Bugera V22 plugged into my Bugera 2 x 12 cabinet on the clean channel, and plugged in the Harley Benton 12 string, i was blown away by the clean sound of this guitar, it was set up perfectly straight out of the box ! Intonation, string height was perfect. The sound of this guitar was stunning, lovely clean sound and sustain and the usual 12 string ringing sound when you play hard. I do not understand how Thomann can get a guitar produced at such a low price that has so much quality built into it. The finish on the guitar with the bead edging is perfect, nice smooth finish on the paint job, and quality hardware, the bridge, saddle, neck, tuners etc all are excellant quality assembled to make a superb product with a sound to match the quality. This 12 string is going to be one of my favourites in my collection now, no need to spend thousands on a guitar that may not sound as good as this Harley Benton. Thomann have provided me a excellant quality guitar at an excellant price. Thankyou Thomann. :)

I've always wanted the sound of a 12-string electric guitar (think The Smiths, REM, The Beatles, The Byrds...), but could never justify going full price on a 'real' Rickenbacker or even a mid-price Danelectro or Italia. This is always bound to be an extra guitar purchase for people who already have a one or more six strings. So... I figured for the low price that this Harley Benton RB-612BK might be something of a risk. Nothing could be further from the truth. It's an amazing guitar. The first thing I noticed was how solid it feels. It's doesn't feel 'cheap' in any way. Well built, compact, and nicely balanced. And the neck and playing action... just blown away to be honest. I have the black and white one and it looks superb too. I've been using it for recording and just jamming around, and I can't get enough of it: it's just so much fun to play. The pickups probably aren't the best around, but they sound absolutely great both live and recorded. Put a compressor and a bit of phaser / chorus on, and you're in a world of psychedelia. Add some overdrive and you've got a great Indie rock sound. My only slight quibble - and it is slight - is that it's a bit untidy inside the f-hole. But for this price I don't care. I simply don't know how they make and sell such a solid, brilliant instrument for such a low price. Really recommend it if you want to treat yourself to a new toy :-)

Minor blemishes, here and there.

Sound is ok and useable, but the pickups are a little dull sounding, compared to higher end pickups. The pickup size is not standard, so it'll be tricky to find replacements. Bear this in mind, if you're looking to replace the pickups.

Pots feel good, for the money. Jack socket plugs in nice and solid.

12 string tuning stability can be a nightmare, so I replaced the tuners for locking ones to help tuning stability. I'd recommend getting some cheap locking tuners - note you'll need 6 a side version, 1 normal and 1 lefty.

The tailpiece is a nightmare for restringing. Not a great design at all. Very finicky and hard to get the strings to sit in. I'll be looking at replacing this.

For the money, I wasn't expecting anything amazing, but it's ok and useable.

Fretwork/nut cutting isn't great. Could do with a professional setup to just take it to a gig-able level.

Case wise, this fits the Thomann Guitar Case Single-/Double Cut perfectly - item number 129350. If you want a hard case with this, but this one.

I would rate it as four and half stars - if you do not mind a bit chunkier neck, than this 12stringer will do the trick at all fronts. The visual appearance is next to perfect, I like the sound of all three pickup positions, actually find it hard to decide which I like best (-: Fret edges could have been smoothed a tad better, but the action was fine right out of the box. The only caveat concerns tuning stability (obviously, it is a 12 string so you have to pluck and finger with more care). I got around it to a degree by replacing the thinner G string (which happened to be the thinnest strings of all the ones used) by a regular G, so the Gs are actually doubled now and the tuning feels more solid. Another small problem is that you cannot fine tune octaves per each string separately, as mentioned by other reviewers, but the sound of a 12 string is not all about perfect intonation, it is the magic chime that comes first... What an inspirational music instrument this guitar is!