Gibson Blues King Guitar

Acoustic Guitar: Recording King RAJ-126 Review

01.01.70

Gibson introduced a body style that would become known as the slope-shoulder dreadnought, used on models like the J-45, Advanced Jumbo, Roy Smeck, and others. Originally a simple and affordable guitar, the J-45 especially has become a standard guitar for players such as Bob Dylan and Jorma Kaukonen.

These days, vintage and US-made reissue slope-shoulder guitars generally cost thousands of dollars—not exactly within reach of many players. Recording King, a reincarnation of the Depression-era Montgomery Ward brand, has addressed this problem in a line of new Chinese-made guitars with vintage American styling. We checked out the RAJ-126, an all-solid-wood guitar that borrows features from different early slope-shoulder designs, including the longer scale length found on Gibson’s Advanced Jumbo (Recording King also offers slope-shoulder guitars with short scales, such as the RAJ-16).

Cool Vintage Styling

Built from woods usually reserved for costlier guitars (an AA-grade solid Sitka spruce top with a hint of bearclaw figuring and African mahogany back and sides) the RAJ-126 boasts tastefully vintage styling. The sunburst finish on the soundboard graduates from a rich dark brown at the edges to a warm amber in the center, while the back, sides, and neck are stained dark brown. The neck is mahogany and the fingerboard and bridge are rosewood. Ornamentation is streamlined, with three-ply créme-black-créme body binding that is echoed in the rosette, along with a créme heel cap, end strip, and neck binding. The back strip and headstock cap are solid black, the latter embellished with the Recording King logo in an old-fashioned pearl script. The open-gear, three-per- plate tuners have ivory buttons, and the tuners have been lightly aged, which is a little incongruous since the rest of the guitar is so shiny.

Source: Acoustic Guitar