New respect for Recording King parlors

[rmoretti49]

I have owned a Recording King RP-06 parlor for several years. I have been wanting to upgrade, and have lusted after the Blueridge BR-361 and the Eastman E20P. Recently, I was able to audition them.

I brought the Blueridge BR-361 home with me on a trial from GC. After putting new strings on it, I played it a bit, and then compared it to my RK RP-06. They are almost identically sized, both with sitka tops, but different back and sides, with the Blueridge having solid rosewood and the RK having laminated mahogany. They sounded a bit different, but I would be hard pressed to say one sounded better than the other. I had my wife do a blindfolded listening test. She preferred the RK, describing it as having more resonant bass (!! ).

I played the Eastman E20P in a large store, with a fair amount of noise from other guitarists, so not the best conditions. I fairly quickly noticed the adirondack top and its somewhat harsher sound compared to sitka. Of course, that would likely mellow with playing and time. I also felt that the playability wasn't all I hoped for, though it appeared to be well set up. I then picked up a Recording King RP-G6 that was right next to it. The playability was excellent, the tone markedly different, not to my immediate liking.

My point is merely this: Do not judge Recording King parlors by the Dirty Thirties line. Their other parlors can be incredible bargains as well as fine sounding and playing guitars. I just saved myself about 1K or more, because I am staying with what I own.