Recording King RP-06 Review and Saddle Replacement
In the 2010’s, Recording King made the RP-06 model, an O body guitar with solid sitka spruce top and laminate mahogany back and sides. With a street price of around $300 at the time, the RP-06 provided a decent guitar at a fairly low price.
Overview
Recording King’s RP-06 provides impressive bass, resonance and volume for a small body guitar along with excellent string balance. This instrument will work fine for those looking to do fingerstyle or individual note picking. Light to medium strumming works OK, but starts getting jangly with anything beyond a medium attack.
The overall construction is good, but with some small construction flaws that you might expect. The biggest concern is the tuning machines. Although these work decently, we advise that you consider upgrading to a better quality, or at the very least, adding oil to the gears at least once per year. Also, remove the saddle to ensure a flat bottom, as the one we replaced was not sitting flat against the bottom of the bridge saddle slot, which can result in decreased string vibration transfer to the top.
Bone Saddle Replacement
The RP-06 came from the factory with a bone saddle. The saddle shares similar characteristics to the common Martin wave style saddle, but about 1 mm shorter in length, and a center line B compensation pattern versus the Martin forward GDA wave saddle pattern. Nevertheless, a Martin-style wave bone saddle worked for this guitar by reducing length by 1 mm, which we did for the RP-06 shown in the above image. We ensured a flat saddle bottom for good contact with the bridge, and this produced a slightly fuller sound. Intonation worked fine for this guitar, but note that you should first check your intonation with the factory saddle first and determine how a differing compensation pattern will affect it. You must also check your bridge string spacing to ensure that the strings will align with the new compensation pattern.
Looking for a saddle replacement for another Recording King model? Saddle size will vary depending on year and model. View our article on How to Find the Right Saddle for Your Recording King Guitar.
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