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How Good are Recording King Guitars?


Jimmy Chaos

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I'm looking at a spruce dreadnought for my next guitar and want the best bang for buck.

 

I want to move away from the 'Modern' sound of Taylor's and I know people on here have said recording king provide a martin-esque experience on a budget.

 

I want rosewood, I want spruce and I'd prefer a matt finish if possible, but not a deal breaker.

 

Any help please?

 

EDIT: I quite like this. The spec on these seem pretty good too.

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Recording-King-RDJ16-Jubilee-Acoustic-Guitar-Sunburst-/270526157726?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item3efc9d939e

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Don't like their necks. The good RK's have "VINTAGE" necks with a deep "V"

 

 

I've not tried the dreadnought but I recently bought a 000 model which is a great guitar. It is the ROS-16 and, like Katopp says, has a vintage V neck - and a wide fretboard too. Excellent "bang-for-the-buck" IMHO - good quality, well made and sounds excellent.

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RK's are currently about as "Martin-esque" as you can get in a budget Pac Rim guitar... similar to the now defunct Silver Creeks and Johnson Carolinas. Solid wood throughout if you get the correct model. Gloss poly finish. Bracing and construction quite similar to standard Martins.

 

As has been said, if you can live with the V neck, you'll like the RK's. That V neck doesn't bother me.

 

BTW, that V neck on these is one of the profiles that the cheaper Shubb capo has a problem with.

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I have both an RD-126 and RD-127. Both are awesome replicas of two high end guitars I've owned, Martin's D-18V and HD-28VR. Those were my two all time best sounding guitars. Eventually let them go just to try something new. When I finally played the Recording Kings I was pleasantly surprised that I could tell no difference in the sound compared to the equivalent Martins. And I purchased both for half the price of one equivalent good used high end model of the above. For me, the Recording Kings destroyed the myth of that "Martin sound" being some mysterious thing that could only be purchased for big bucks.

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I've owned a couple of RK's. Bracing is a bit heavy. Finish is a bit heavy. QC is not the best. I'd rank them below both Blueridge and Eastman in terms of the imports, but they have some cool vintage-inspired designs.

 

Most of the guitars in their "Jubilee Series" are Gibson clones rather than Martin clones.

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I've owned a couple of RK's. Bracing is a bit heavy. Finish is a bit heavy. QC is not the best. I'd rank them below both Blueridge and Eastman in terms of the imports, but they have some cool vintage-inspired designs.


Most of the guitars in their "Jubilee Series" are Gibson clones rather than Martin clones.

 

Most of the guitars in their "Jubilee Series" are Gibson clones rather than Martin clones. I know that's right.

I had a Jubilee series, small bodied. Very nice for the money. Maybe not up to Eastman standards but it was about half the money too. No issues with the finish or QC on mine.

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I own a RK.....love it ......its the RO-26...solid African Mahogany and Spruce. But......I'm a big fan of Eastman guitars as well....They have a phenominal sounding dred for under $1,000. In fact their $500 Dred sounds great too. They don't offer a sub par guitar....every model is nice....and great bang for the buck. I'm not sure about the rosewood models as I'm a huge Mahogany fan, but Blueridge is another candidate.

 

Having played/owned all three....I'd buy the Eastman every time.

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