# Recording King Guitars



## elbandito

...So I decided to bite the bullet and buy myself a new acoustic guitar. I wasn't sure exactly what I wanted, except that it must have a 'V'-shaped neck profile. At first, I was on the hunt for resonators, as I was certain that a resonator would be my best chance at finding a guitar with that profile. After having tried a bunch and realizing that the ones that I liked were way out of my price range, I decided to switch courses and look for regular acoustics. This is how I discovered Recording King guitars.

These guitars are made in China but make the claim of being designed in the USA (whatever that means). I was apprehensive at first but figured that not everything that comes from China is necessarily a p.o.s., and so decided to dive in and really try to feel a couple of these guitars out. First I tried some 12 fret, parlour-sized ones (all mahogany & and a cedar one) and thought they were cool but not quite what I was after. Then I tried a jumbo, which was too big for my liking and a couple others. Although these guitars played well, had the profile that I wanted and sounded good, there was always something that I didn't like about each of them. I finally settled on one of the cedar top parlor ones and put it on hold at the store.

As I left, I realized that this guitar didn't come with a case and that I would need one, as I'm the type that brings my guitar everywhere with me. So off I went to find myself a case.

I eventually ended up at another store and asked them if they had any guitars with a 'V' profile. "We've only got this one in the back here," says the guy to me. "Let me go get it for you." Two minutes later, he returns with a hard schell case, puts it on the floor and open it up for me, saying that they've just given it a fret dressing and whatnot. "Cool," says I, as I pick the guitar up and give it a strum.

Let me tell you, readers, this guitar SANG. I was so surprised that my mouth was literally left hanging agape. I played it for 10 minutes and bought it on the spot. Action so low it could have been an electric guitar, with ZERO buzz, the perfect sized neck for my hands, rosewood back and sides, ebony neck and a beautiful inlay on the headstock, at an attractive price, case and all. I called the first store and cancelled my hold, with apologies.

This guitar is the Model RO-126: A 14 fret, pre-war styled, 000-shaped guitar with a 'V' profile. Man, does this beauty sing!! Seriously - if you haven't tried a Recording King guitar, do yourself a favour and do! This guitar has such great resonance and presence... it really knocked my socks off. I don't have any high end acoustics to comapre it against but I did spend a full 6 weeks trying out every guitar that I could find and this really was a standout piece.

So there's my thoughts on Recording King. What are yours?


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## elbandito

Oh, I also wanted to share the first recording that I did with this guitar... now, I'm no engineer by any means. I've got a couple Audio-Technica mics that were reasonably priced, a crappy behringer mixer to power them with and a Boss BR600 to record into. I hope that more refined ears don't find this too difficult to listen to. It's an originial cover of a Townes VanZandt tune called "Colorado Girl". I recorded the guitar and vocals at the same time and onto one track. I think it came out pretty well and it should (hopefully) give you guys/gals an idea of what this guitar sounds like.

elbandito - Colorado Girl - SoundCloud


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## shoretyus

Sounds good. That guitar story reminds me of goldilocks .... this ones just perfect ...


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## bagpipe

Sounds nice - cool song too. I've been listening to more Townes Van Zandt recently, due to to Steve Earle. Great songwriter

It sounds like you went through the exact process that I like when looking for a new guitar ie try a whole bunch of them until you find the one which feels right. Do you have any pics of the guitar? Don't want to ask how much you paid for it, but whats the ballpark cost on those guitar?


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## washburned

I've never seen a bad review of those guitars. Nobody handles them in my area that I know of.


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## elbandito

bagpipe said:


> Do you have any pics of the guitar? Don't want to ask how much you paid for it, but whats the ballpark cost on those guitar?


I don't mind telling you the price... it cost me $550 + tax, including the (very nice) hardshell case. The parlor one that I almost bought was $450 before tax and without a case, while the jumbo was about $600 before tax and again, without a case.

Here are a few pics of my Triple O.


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## f2fanatic

Nice guitar, where in Montreal have you found these? I have seen them advertised at the 12th fret in Toronto but have not seen any in the Montreal area. I am from the Eastern townships.
Thanks


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## elbandito

Actually, I bought it in Toronto at Ring Music. I haven't seen them anywhere in MTL myself either. Perhaps we should petition a dealer to start carrying them... Or start our own Guitar Shop!!!


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## billdraper

That Ro-126 looks and sounds great!!


I bought a Recording King ROS-06 from Musiciansfriend.com for $190 + tax and $40 shipping...no case...solid top lam back and sides arrived in 8 days shipped to Victoria BC. I really like it. You can see and hear them on Youtube. Here is a soundclip I made:

http://www.songramp.com/mod/mps/srplayer.php?type=hipriv&trackid=57177

Its always a risk just buying a guitar on line like that but it was a lot of fun and turned out good...great wide neck for fingerstyle...12 frets...slothead headstock...bone nut and saddle...pyramide bridge...Nice.

You can find out more in a special section of the blueridge guitar forum...Greg Rich the luthier designer even drops in now and again...says he's planning a Gibson SJ style coming soon. http://theunofficialblueridgeguitarforum18213.yuku.com/

Bill


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## harrym

There a guy in Ottawa on 'Used Ottawa" has a Recording King RD-27 for sale for 700. He says it is hand made in the USA and is as good as a Martin D-28 and sounds just as good. Although I like the Recording King guitars, this embellished on the truth.


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## Setitup Dan

I helped my daughter pick out a Recording King late this past summer - a 12-fret to body model, for $300 with hard case. When visiting this winter, I had a chance to play it more. It was really well set-up, and has a very sweet sound. I decided that it played and sounded just as good as the Eastman grand concert that I bought as a practice guitar, and paid more than twice as much for, slightly used. It's not as fancy as the Eastman nor the one pictured here, but it looks simply nice! Great value!

Dan
Understanding Guitar Intonation; Better Guitar setup With Compensated Nut and Compensated Saddle


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