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Old 02-11-2011, 04:18 PM
duckshoes duckshoes is offline
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Join Date: Oct 2006
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I can't speak for Wechter, but I really like my RNJ-25, which I bought as a thoroughly replaceable travel guitar for gigs. Most of my guitars are '30s and '40s Gibsons, so I consider this high praise.

The RNJ-25 is a knockoff of a '30s Gibson Nick Lucas model, with solid Sitka spruce top (a vintage NL would have had red spruce) and solid flame maple back and sides. The sunburst is lovely, the braces are scalloped, and the guitar sounds good and plays well.

RK's guitars have, indeed, been designed and completely spec'ed out in the US. They're manufactured in China, but with tight control by the folks in the US. In fact, the only extra setup needed on my straight-from-the-factory guitar was a slight loosening of the truss rod and just a tiny bit of work on the nut slots.

My only serious gripe (and this is a matter of personal taste) is that the neck is too slim, such that I have a tough time getting a full F-chord, with my thumb wrapped around to get the low F note on the bass string. Other than that, I'd make a few mostly aesthetic tweaks--reshape the edges on the bridge to make it look more vintage, more rounded scalloping on the braces (they're scalloped flat on top), a pickguard with a more subtle pattern and the L-00 size and shape, open-gear tuning machines (rather than the bright chrome-plated covered tuners that RK uses), and a much simpler headstock inlay design.

But I am not disappointed in the least. In fact, I am blown away at how good a guitar can be had for not even close to $1000!

--John
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