Samick RLB 2 VS Royale

Single cutaway, like a les paul, but a little larger, with f-holes,
semi hollow body. The sides and centre block are routed out of one piece of wood. Bound, arched, quilt maple top, with bound, mahogany set neck. Rosewood fingerboard, stop tail piece and adjustable bridge.
Probably made 2004/5, in Korea. One overall volume, a tone control for each of the two pickups and a pan pot. Pan is far more useful than a 3-way switch. The pickups are single coil.
The gloss finish covers a gorgeous, golden brown sunburst body. The head, back and sides are in black. Twenty frets on a 34 inch scale, with a medium width fingerboard.







2 high grade active single coil pickups

Two good quality single coil, active pickups, comprehensively controlled, give a nice range of tones. The Construction of the body/neck gives a nice combination of semi-acoustic warmth and solid bodied attck and sustain.
I have played it through Marshall, Behringer and Ampeg combos and it does very well through all of them. With a mix of the bass's variable tones, a good amp and some playing skill, this bass could fulfill most roles. Perhaps not Industrial Metal though. But country, rock, folk, pop, prog or even funk, then yes.

This came staright from the distributer, to me, in the shop. And the set up was fantastic. Lovely low but solid action was a joy to play.
No pops, crackles, nasty snags or marks.

This is quite a weighty, solid beast. Well put together, with a quality of design and construction that belies it's meagre price tag.
Tougher feeling than the average semi, this should last, on the road and off.

Met the distributer. Nice chap. They and the shop have been extremely helpful. Nothing nasty has heppened to involve warranties though.

I've been playing over 30 years. Bass and acoustic guitars. I Have spent a fortune on top line gear but have found in recent years, that companies like Samick and Cort are producing high quality equipment at low costs. Suits me, as does this bass. I tried out some lovely basses, before plumping for this one. Cort, Gordy, Lag, Ibanez. I'm not saying that the Samick Royale was better. It just suited me more.
It looks gorgeous and very classy and performs to a high stamdard. The only unusual thing I noticed, was that with the smallish body, the neck sticks out. a long way from your body. No problem for me, I find it comfortable But if you are small or have shortish arms, this could cause some discomfort over longer periods of play.
Overall though another quality instrument that was not pricey.

The other two reviews have it all re body, neck etc.- Korean, not sure how old as bought used on e bay.

Designed and engineered by American Designer Greg Bennett and manufactured by Samick in Korea - I think they are the largest guitar builders in the world! They make all sorts of branded guitars, check that out, you could be suprised, you may be playing one all ready!

Active electronics giving excelent range of sounds.

I think there may be confusion re controls - there is not a pup selector but you have a 'sweep' knob - so it's 1 volume, 1 'sweep' and 2 tones. I believe thats the setup. Buitifull balance, finish, looks, I love it!

I play all sort of stuff (well the all sorts a 56 year old plays!) like Beatles, Shadows, Status Quo (after a few drinks) Blues, Folk, Have a go at whktever tales my fancy! oh, and ROCK & ROLL!

Well as stated mine was not new however you can just tell its 'right' The very best of set up's won't make the 'silk purse from a sows ear' now, will it?

There are no flaws

I have not owned it long enough to say how long it will last, but by the looks of it, forever.

The finish is first class, looks robust and would take a knock, although mine has very few marks, which kind of proves the point?

Strap buttons are solid, all good

Not had any need for that. Probably never will be the look and feel of it!

I have been playing for over 45 years, I currently own Fender Strat and a Bowl Back Acoustic (Hudson). Have owned Gibsons, Gretch, Yamaha, etc.

Looked at Fender Zaz and P bass, Warwick, Ovation acoustic and a few others.
As soon as I picked this up I knew it was 'the one' - It has everything I was looking for, feels right, just real nice and yes I would get another. Final thing, do have a look at the Samick web site, all about these guitars is explained in a video by Greg Bennett the designer, interesting!

I have seen these new in UK music shop web sites at #495

I bought this bass in February of 2004, I think it was made in 2003. It's a 34 fret, semi hollow body with 2 active pickups. The body and neck are one piece, which is comparable to my old Ric. The neck is thin compared to my old Stingray but a little thicker than a Ric. It's perfect for anyone with average to large sized hands.

Each pickup as 2 knobs, one for tone and the other for volume.

This bass sounds BETTER than my Stingray. I recently used it to record and the punch and clarity is amazing. Great tone, and because it's a semi hollow body it can even be played unplugged.

I think it plays absolutely great, although it was in a music store in Connecticut where it was probably changed a little by the store owner who is also a bass player. Overall I'd say it plays great out of the box provided it was delivered to the store in the condition I received it.

It's early too say it'll last forever, however it seems like a durable bass. Definitely not going to hesitate to take this bad boy on stage.

I haven't had to contact customer service, however their web site doesn't have any contact info. The bass didn't come with a case, and since it's 46" X 15" body is larger than a standard case I ended up emailing their web site technical administrator for some info on a case and never heard back.

I've played a vintage Ric, a used Stingray, and a handful of other basses. For my needs (lightweight, active pickups, vintage look), this bass is great. Looks and sounds like a much pricier bass.

Overall I'm 100% satisfied with the purchase.

I'd guess it was made in 2002; I purchased it in January 2003. 20 frets, 34" scale semi-hollow body archtop. Neck is set (not bolt-on or thru) with rosewood fingerboard. Quilt maple top. Two unlabeled soapbar pick-ups, one near the neck, the other near the bridge; active electronics (there's a panel on the back for the battery; another for the electronics). Four knobs: 1 vol, 2 tone, 1 pan. Mahogany sides and back. Gotoh style tuners. The body cavities are cut out of a solid block of wood so it has excellent sustain and tone (not always true on semi-hollow basses).

I play punkish rock and new wave; my bass playing is very inspired by Peter Hook. This bass is terrific for me: nice thin but moderately wide neck. The tonal range across the two pickups and on all strings is terrific. It sound exactly like I want it to. I would hesitate to play metal on it but I think it would be terrific for most styles. I play w/ a pick mostly and it works out well for me.

The finish is amazing. Action and intonation were spot on from the factory, fresh out of the box. I adjusted the height of one pickup slightly to bring it closer to the strings, but that's my personal style. The fret finish, neck, etc are beautiful.

It's solidly built; it weighs more than my Danelectro (but what doesn't?). This is not a cut rate model; I paid $450 for mine.

Haven't had to yet. Limited lifetime warantee; electronics fully covered for 1 year; body, neck, top for 10 years against defects.

Playing off and on for 15 years. My other bass is a Danelectro; owned several other basses over the years. If it were lost or stolen, I'd get a new one. This is the nicest bass I've ever seen or played.