Recording King RO-328 and RO-318

[FingahPickah]

RK guitars seem to be getting increasingly more attention.

I played a used RO-328 (Adi/RW) last week. In a word, impressive; very Martin 000-28 -ish. Sounded really nice. The V neck feel is different but not a turn-off. Price was right.

If it was mahogany, I probably would have bought it. (I already have a couple of RW guitars I love).

Who has experience with the RO-318 (Adi/Mahogany)? I actually have a lead on a used one I plan to follow up on. I'm very intrigued by the Adi/Mahogany combo in a 24.9" scale 000.

Interested in AGFer's take on these (and/or RK general quality).

[Malcolm Kindnes]

I don't know about those specific models, but I have two Recording King guitars which I use for gigging and air travel. They are excellent guitars, I have never come across anything better for the money.

[kizz]

I have an RO328 and it is without doubt one of the best guitar purchases I have ever made, very balanced sound with a good bottom and well built and very resonant. I paid $700 here in Europe and that's for a full solid/one piece neck all wood guitar. I rounded my V neck a bit which suited my hand better. If I had to come up with a minus, it might be the thick poly, but it still sounds great. I am very interested in the mahogany model RO318 too but they are hard to find, I contacted Thomann because they have been selling them for a few years but they said they no longer sell them, I don't know why as they still sell pretty much all of them other RK models.

[southgate409]

A couple local retailers used to carry RK but they don't seem to anymore. Maybe it is a supply problem.

Out of curosity I picked up a used RO-318 last week. Gave it a good setup and new strings. Sounds great, plays well and has stayed together this week.

The v neck is a work in progress for me. It can be comfortable, but slows me down at times. Fighting my muscle memory I guess.

I see the RO-318 as a more traditional Yamaha LL16M. They both scrap in the same weight class. The Yamaha probably is better built, the RK sounds more and looks more like a Martin 000.

[rollypolly]

The ro-318 I had was nice , nothing wrong with it at all . The tone was a tad tight but that could have just been my guitar. I sold it and picked up an RO-T16 with torrefied top that I much prefer. Way more open with more volume and punch.

[ljguitar]

Originally Posted by FingahPickah

…Interested in AGFer's take on these (and/or RK general quality).

Hi FP
For me, Recording Kings have been a case-by-case (play before pay) adventure, whereas the Bidel & Eastman guitars guitars I've played were more consistent. That said, I've played some really great Recording King guitars over the years.

I own an early 2000s ROS626 (Mahogany/Spruce 000 full-scale) with the wider nut (1¹³/₁₆"). They built in two versions…first the 1¹³/₁₆", and a couple years later switched to 1¾" nut. It's all solid (back and sides) and great trim (Herringbone) with a slotted headstock & pyramid bridge. By 2010 they were only producing them with the 1¾" nut.

Mine projects well for listeners, but didn't give me feedback, so I put a side port in it (using Tim McKnight's directions). Solved the issue. It's a copy of the late 1920s-early1930s Martin 000-18.

I bought it at a bargain because someone tried to solve the baseball bat 'V' neck profile by sanding the V to a 'Chunky C' (thinner but still not shallow C). They also sanded off the Recording King wood burned into the back brace, and removed the label (probably in an attempt to disguise it's origin).

A bit more…
Great playability and tone, and I'm guessing at least 15 years old. It has a surprisingly balanced sound, and very good sustain. But if you let non-coated strings go pretty-dead you can play some convincing punchy style blues or slide/Delta Blues on them.

[Malcolm Kindnes]

Hi LJ, I have the 616 all mahogany version as one of my gigging guitars and it does the job perfectly.