Recording King Guitars

[William2]

I saw a video yesterday on Alamo Music of these instruments. By the end of the day all the big dealers had demos of these instruments. They are very inexpensive (ex. Dreadnought $1000), all solid wood. I watched a comparison of their D-60 vs a Martin D-18. I'd call it a tie. I'm wondering if their low price is caused by it being run by St. Louis Music and they can avoid tariffs. And I wonder what the impact on pricey instruments will be. As it was pointed out in the Alamo Music video, there are big name makers selling laminated bodies for over $2000. And I wonder how this will affect the used market if you can buy a new instrument for a $1000 or less. The videos seem to have sellers impressed. Or are they just used car salesmen trying to sell something? Any thoughts on this?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5SGC7rKl8s4&t=941s

[B0WIE]

They've been around for a while and I've personally never been impressed by them. They sound fine for their price range but I don't hear them as something Martin needs to be worried about.

When you heard the comparison, were they playing something that showcases the guitar or something that emphasizes the sound of the strings more? Most YouTube guitar sellers know that the trick is to present cheaper guitars by playing songs that don't rely on sustain. They'll play to the string sound because fresh strings sound great on any guitar. They aren't going to play long, slow arpeggios.

[William2]

Recording King vs Martin D-18

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/Wa9F73n7tvA

[BlueBowman]

Recording King vs Martin D-18

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/Wa9F73n7tvA

Even through my less-than-stellar MacBook speakers, I can clearly hear the Martin as the nicer sounding guitar,  and I bet the differences are even more stark in the room.

For a little more money, I think a used Eastman E10-D will net a better sounding guitar than the RK. I've played plenty of both.

[Silence Dogood]

I know a guy who is mainly an electric player.  He loves my Larrivee and has played it many times.  He wanted an acoustic and I told him to get used D03 (best guitar in the world).  He doesn't know much about acoustics, and even as enamored as he was with my Larrivee, he decided to get a Recording King dread (solid) from a local shop and save a bit of money.  Within a year the sides split open.  Caveat emptor.