recording king dirty 30's rsp 7

blues90,

72nd Birthday, you maybe one of the younger guitarist in the Cabin who knows.

blues90,the Gretsch I returned just wasn't doing it for me- so I gave it back- I didn't start out intending to be a collector it just happened- I love how each one develops a personality and can be changed with a string change to alter the sound but the personality stays- I also look for unique aesthetics- and fortunately if I watch my p's and q's it doesn't bankrupt me to collect the inexpensive ones- I came within a hair of getting the Road King to replace the Gretsch but glad I didn't as I had had the Luna on my radar for quite a while-

I posted that video because it reminded me of the Road King- except the sound hole which is smaller on the RK- that is probably what kept me from going home with it- using just my thumb the sound is a bit muted anyway and the smaller sound hole doesn't help that-

Not to be a snob or whatever category this comment belongs.
I can't help but wonder even though I do know why. Many guitars of many brands have, for a good long time made in Indonesia or China. They must travel across the ocean in some cargo ship and it amazes me many make it to whatever county in tact. Especially acoustics which are far more sensitive to the environment.

I forget yet I think Yamaha was one of the first imported. Certainly there are still guitars made in the US and Canada and Australia and some smaller custom builders. These are the High end models I could never come close to considering.

Even the higher end Recording Kings are not real expensive equal to say imported Epiphone or Fender. I think there are solid wood Recording Kings which are even more. I didn't look at their price tag I think it may be on the companies main site. The model I got was the ones they started out with, then as usual they up the materials and woods to the next notch.

These are not guitars I would find in a local GC or Sam ash which is all we have here plus a few small shops that can only sell certain brands since manufacturers make it this way.

The least expensive Taylor which are not made here cost more than the other higher end Asian offerings.

TonyKgull,

Totally agree with your last comments with reference to guitars manufactured in various parts of the world.
Many years ago when you went to the guitar shop, the guitars from China etc were very poor quality, twisted necks guitars requiring neck rests and worse.
But times have changed for the good, I still think acoustic guitars made in the USA are the best, but that's jut my biased opinion.
Guitars manufactured from around the world have really made massive improvements in quality and can be excellent value for money.
At the moment I have guitars that were manufactured in Canada, Mexico,
Korea, Indonesia and China, and would class them all as excellent guitar's.
Even though may favourite guitars are made in America, I don't own any this is due to the price unfortunately.

Yes the CNC machines do make things consistent. Then it depends on the wood and any wood no matter how good it might look or how well it was dried and stored how long or old it is or whether grade A ,B,C, can do anything.

If a neck joint dovetail is not well done with a perfect fit and properly glued and allowed to completely dry it can come apart or shift. Certain departments perform each step. You can have a great top wood that's stable yet if the purfing was not done well or the top was not glued down well or the braces then all bets are off.

I feel this is why Taylor decided to use the bolt of necks with a selection of shims. If a neck angle changes or the neck itself decides to become twisted not a big deal. A dove tail is a huge deal.

So far with the acoustics I have I haven't had any issues. All I've done is replace a saddle and adjust a truss rod. the Fender CP-60S is now in it's third year and hasn't changed the EL-00 is in it's 7th year and has not changed. The Seagull in it's 16th year and did change a bit.

All were set up well enough other than the Fenders saddle fit in the bridge slot. The Recording King is fair. just has a few high frets mainly the 13th buzzes when the 12th is fretted. I can fix that. Since the body and neck are black you can't see the neck to body joint. Inside the guitar looks well done they just needed to sand the braces and bridge yet that's not a real issue.

I can't say QC stickers mean much and this is part of the process and needs to be done at each step on the assembly which is the person who actually does the work. Even a CNC doing repeated exact duplication once someone sands and does a half ass job you end up with their work. Even the person who reams the pin holes and the one who screws on the tuners if they are not trained well or new to it you end up with pins that don't fit and tuners with screws on an angle. Many use power tools and don't look even who drilled the screw holes on an angle and you end up with tuning machines not lining up. In order to get products out power tools have become the norm.

You do get what you pay for in the end.