Recording King

Recording King is most known as a resonators, banjos and lap steel maker... But they also manufacture acoustic guitars: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recording_King https://www.recordingking.com/ The brand also owns a Custom Shop USA department. The RD-327 is an all-solid dreadnought model with a nice nitro lacquered finish that really makes it look like a high-end Martin. This guitar is made of high-end wood. It features an AAA adirondack spruce top, a solid Indian rosewood back and side, a solid mahogany neck and a very dark ebony fretboard – all very good! This guitar’s features are very alluring, but I read on other forums that the finish was not always up to par. It is assembled in Asia (hence the price) in an industrial manner, which could lead to mistakes in the nut and bridge’s alignment, to some glue remains on the fingerboard or to frets disposed past the neck’s width. However, it is to be relativized as such problems can also be found on guitars from highly prestigious brands (I can tell), so… Since then, the brand has the great idea to establish a quality control department in California, which also happens to be where most get shipped from. The finishing is really perfect on the instrument that I own, and I’ve inspected it all around. Really astounding: it’s plain gorgeous! All details, the abalone incrustations, the “snowflake” inlays on the ebony fretboard (looking closely the wood’s veins can be seen – no richlite used here), the Adirondack top’s veins… The “Torch” inlay on the head ans the gold-plated vintage style Grover open-gear tuners give it a stylish look. The instrument is a lightweight, the alignment is perfect, so is the action – nothing to be said except of course “great job”. The V-shaped neck is pleasant, its ebony fingerboard provides a great comfort while playing. And – what a sound! :8O: Both subtle and clean in fingerpicking, powerful and clear with an excellent projection in strumming. Perfectly balanced and adapted to all playing techniques. Just to mention: albeit new, the guitar does not suffer from a lack of lows, as I’ve read here or there on some other reviews all over the web. A guitar’s sound quality largely depends on the choice of woods. Guitars made from the best tone woods often cost several thousand euros. Here, Recording King proves that a good guitar doesn’t have to cost an arm and a leg, and this instrument perfectly illustrates that as it’s an affordable acoustic folk guitar made from high-quality solid woods. In a nutshell, it’s an excellent and remarkable Dreadnought guitar with the features (and sound quality) of a prestige brand. Time will tell, but I’m confident. Absolutely impressive! Link : https://www.recordingking.com/guitars/rd327

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The Recording King RG-31 Lap Steel Guitar is a budget lap steel, made for beginning players. However, do not let this foot you, as I was definitely surprised to see how well this steel played and sounded. The guitar just has one pick up, with tone and volume knobs... UTILIZATION Playing the Recording King RG-31 Lap Steel Guitar is a pretty easy thing to do if you can play. While I'm not the most experienced lap steel player, I find it easy to play this guitar. As long as the guitar is properly set up, I don't see why most players wouldn't find the RG-31 to be easy to get a feel on overall. It is a compact instrument like most lap steels, that is very easy to bring around... SOUNDS The tone of the Recording King RG-31 Lap Steel Guitar is very smooth overall. The pick up is definitely not the best, and if you were to replace it I would imagine that you'd bring this guitar into a whole other league. I've used the RG-31 with a Vox AC30 and a Boss CS-3 compression pedal, as I always try to have some compression with the lap steel to give it some more sustain. I also used a bit of overdrive, but of course this is all up to your taste. Like I said earlier, I'm not the best lap steel player, but I found that within this configuration I was able to get a very nice steel tone with this guitar. OVERALL OPINION Until I actually tried one of these, I was always wary of the Recording King RG-31 Lap Steel Guitar. The main reason for this is the price, as this is just about as cheap as you can get for a decent lap steel. I was pleasantly surprised to see that this instrument was not only easy to play, but had a very clean and full tone quality. I'm hoping to eventually replace the pick up on this guitar, as I really think it would make a huge difference. All in all, the Recording King RG-31 is the perfect lap steel to get started with.

The Recording King Rodeo Sweethearts RG-100-RS is a 3/4 sized collectible guitar that is part of Recording King's Western themed guitar series. It's definitely more of a piece of art than an instrument, but at the same time it is indeed playable. It's just an acoustic instrument of course and doesn't have any electronic capabilities. I'm not sure where these guitars are made, but it was designed by Greg Rich who designed guitars for country great Gene Autry. UTILIZATION I wouldn't say that this is the easier guitar to play in the world, but the Recording King Rodeo Sweethearts RG-100-RS can still be played. If you keep it in good shape and keep new strings on it, it will of course make it easier to play, which is even more essential here. Keep in mind that it's a 3/4 sized guitar and will feel different from a normal guitar to begin with. SOUNDS The sound of the Recording King Rodeo Sweethearts RG-100-RS isn't anything special and it isn't a guitar that I would recommend recording with it. It sounds like a guitar, but not great sounding overall. For a beginner it will do the job fine, but for anyone experienced looking to get a decent sound from their guitar, this probably won't do the trick. OVERALL OPINION While definitely cool looking, the Recording King Rodeo Sweethearts RG-100-RS isn't a guitar for serious players. It's more of a collectible than anything, although it is playable. The price is super cheap which makes it okay that this isn't a great instrument if you're looking for a real guitar. It does have a really cool finish on it and also comes in a bunch of other styles beyond the Rodeo Sweethearts design. The bottom line with it is that even though looks awesome and is cool to have around your house, you probably shouldn't get it if you're expecting something to really use!