We wrote earlier this month about the rumor that Recording King would be partnering with Eric Schoenberg on some new acoustics - and it turns out our source was in the know.  This week Recording King announced the release of the Recording King RP1-626 and the Recording King RP2-626 - a single 0 parlor size cutaway and a 00-size with a cutaway body respectively.  Both guitars are intended to provide players with an even frequency response, clarity and a winder neck with a cutaway providing good access to the upper frets.

Both guitars have a one-piece mahogany neck, a classic v-profile and the body of a 12-fret with a hand cut dovetail joint.  Both also have a Minimum Advertised Price of $999.99 and come with a lifetime warranty.  Read on for the full press release.

Recording King Guitars

Recording King RP2-626

RECORDING KING ANNOUNCES CUTAWAY PARLOR GUITARS IN COLLABORATION WITH ERIC SCHOENBERG
MAP $999.99 / AVAILABLE MAR 2010

HAYWARD, CA—Recording King is excited to announce the result of our collaboration with the respected guitarist and historian Eric Schoenberg. The two new models will be a classic single 0 parlor size cutaway, and a 00-size with a cutaway body. The Recording King parlor guitars (RP1-626 and RP2-626) offer players the even frequency response, clarity and wider neck traditional to a classic parlor style, but the unique addition of a cutaway gives fingerstyle guitarists easier access to the upper frets.

Eric Schoenberg’s influence on guitar marries traditional fingerstyle playing to classic ragtime and walking basslines. His “Fingerpicking Beatles” book is considered an essential text for modern fingerstyle players. Mr. Schoenberg prefers the 12-fret cutaway because he believes the 12-fret neck joint gives the guitars a gutsier voice, yet the cutaway is not so deep that it takes away from the sound. As Schoenberg describes it, the Recording King parlor guitars offer the best of both a 12-fret and a 14-fret neck joint, thanks to the cutaway. Schoenberg explains his decision to work with Recording King on these guitars in this way: “When the (Recording King) ROS-626 model came out, I saw it and said, the quality is excellent, the style is great; a collaboration on something similar is just what I’ve been looking for.”

On both the RP1-626 and RP2-626, the one-piece mahogany neck with a classic v-profile meets the body at the 12-fret with a hand cut dovetail joint, giving these guitars a true parlor sound, warm and rich, but perfectly balanced. The solid AAA Engelmann spruce top and solid mahogany back and sides have been carefully selected and hand-assembled. With a 1-3/4” nut width, Grover tuners, ebony fretboard and ebony pyramid bridge, these parlor guitars are as well-appointed and unique as they are beautiful. Each guitar is sprayed with a thin coat of nitrocellulose lacquer and then hand-buffed for a finish that is extremely resonant and historically accurate.

The RP1-626 and RP2-626 models have a MAP of $999.99 and have a lifetime warranty. For more information on Recording King, visit recordingking.com.