See the video review of the Recording King ROS-626

The original Recording King brand was conceived by the Montgomery Ward department store in the thick of the Great Depression. The retail pioneer's idea was simple: sell high-quality guitars built by established companies like Gibson and Kay, and make them affordable and available to cash-strapped working folks who were more interested than ever in creating their own entertainment.

Seven decades later, a lot of players are feeling the cash crunch again. And the Recording King name has been resurrected by the Music Link, the company that's also behind Johnson and the Loar brand guitars. And while the Recording King guitars of the 21st century aren't undercover Nick Lucas Models or L-5's, they are fine guitars in their own right—as the ROS-626 reviewed here reveals—and an excellent value, too.

Recording King guitars are designed in the USA by a team led by luthier Greg Rich, made in China, and then set up and inspected in the Music Link's California headquarters. The ROS-626 is part of the company's newest line of guitars, the Century Series, and it is also available with rosewood back and sides as the ROS-627. Both models are based on the design of Martin's turn of the century 12-fret 000s.

VINTAGE VIBE AND GOOD WOODS

The ROS-626 is built around choice woods: a solid Sitka spruce top; solid, lightly figured mahogany back and sides; one-piece mahogany neck; rosewood fretboard and headstock overlay; and an ebony bridge (the fretboard's rosewood is so dark that from a distance, its color matches the bridge's ebony). The ROS-626 features tastefully minimal adornment. It's devoid of a headstock logo but is decorated elsewhere with subtle touches like snowflake mother-of-pearl fretboard inlays, ivoroid binding and heel cap, and herringbone purfling. The open-geared Grover tuners also enhance the vintage feel.

Overall, the ROS-626 is a well-built guitar. The frets are cleanly seated and polished, and the inlay work and binding are tidily applied. It's cool that the Music Link decided to give the guitar a true-to-vintage nitrocellulose finish, even if it seemed a little bit on the thick side in some areas. On the cosmetic side, the twin 12th-fret dots were a little uneven on our review guitar, and some of the bracing could have been sanded a little smoother. But none of these minor issues had a bearing on the guitar's sound and playability.

WARM AND VERSATILE

Some early 20th-century guitars have huge necks that aren't completely conducive to today's playing styles. The ROS-626, though, has a medium-size V-profile neck and 25.4-inch scale that make it easy to play barre chords and single-note runs for extended periods. The action was great right out of the case, and the 1³/₄-inch nut width provided ample room for fretting work. A lightweight, compact body—15¹/₈ inches at the lower bout and four inches deep—makes this guitar exceptionally comfortable.

The ROS-626 has a warm, sweet, and airy sound, which sustains longer than many larger-bodied guitars I've played. The guitar projects well, though when I drove it with heavy strumming there was a little fret buzz. However, the Recording King's dynamic responsiveness and sustain make it ideal for delicate fingerstyle work.

The ROS-626 sounded great on blues-based material, and it was also adaptable and sweet-voiced in several diverse roles. As I played through some Scott Joplin arrangements, the guitar provided a liveliness that was ideal for these ragtime works. And although steel-string 000's aren't exactly associated with classical players, the ROS-626 sounded satisfying when I fingerpicked through some J.S. Bach solos and a couple of Erik Satie pieces. I also enjoyed picking the ROS-626 in alternate tunings—it sounded particularly rich when I improvised in double-dropped-D and open G.

The guitar's tone also complemented lightly strummed songs like Nick Drake's "Pink Moon" and Bob Dylan's "Shelter from the Storm." In fact, the Recording King proved time and time again to be ideally suited for accompanying a singer. My only complaint is that the ROS-626's sound seems just a tad compressed, but as with all solid-wood instruments, the tone should open up with playing and age.

THE WRAP

Recording King's ROS-626 is a lovely and cost-effective interpretation of a turn-of-the-century slotted-headstock 12-fret guitar—a style not commonly made these days, and most often seen emerging from boutique manufacturers. While it has a warm and lively tone that captures some of that prewar 000 magic, it's easier to play than the average 100-year-old guitar, thanks to its comfortable neck profile and low action. And with a street price of $750, the ROS-626 packs a lot of vintage flavor in a guitar with a distinctly nonvintage price. In that sense, this guitar captures the spirit of those old Recording Kings perfectly.