Recording-King-RPH-05 vs Jim Dandy

I've been listening to some HI slack key and would like to try it. love the sound, so I'm thinking of an inexpensive small steel string guitar. I've got some arthritis issues so I dont want a neck thats too wide. The Gretsch Jim dandy gets a lot of love [$170,all lam], so does the Recording King RPH-05[solid top [185]. or should I just step up to something all solid and get a [h=1]Art & Lutherie Ami Cedar. [$350] I'm mainly interested in sound and playability, and can do my own set up. Laminate doesn't scare me either, I have several lam ukes that sound great. I've tried baritone sized guitalies and was not toohappy with them. advice?[/h]

strumsilly said:

I've been listening to some HI slack key and would like to try it. love the sound, so I'm thinking of an inexpensive small steel string guitar. I've got some arthritis issues so I dont want a neck thats too wide. The Gretsch Jim dandy gets a lot of love [$170,all lam], so does the Recording King RPH-05[solid top [185]. or should I just step up to something all solid and get a Art & Lutherie Ami Cedar. [$350] I'm mainly interested in sound and playability, and can do my own set up. Laminate doesn't scare me either, I have several lam ukes that sound great. I've tried baritone sized guitalies and was not toohappy with them. advice?

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I like the Jim Dandy for what it is, and to my eyes the retro look is pretty cool. The one I played and tested last year at the local shop sounded and played very nice and had a good setup out of the box. Intonation was only +/-2 cents at the 12th with no setup and fret ends were smooth.

However, since steel strings are an anathema to my natural nails and wreck them for classical nylon and ukulele strings, I actually ended up getting an Art & Lutherie AMI Cedar Nylon parlor guitar, and despite the price being a bit more (~$299) than the Jim Dandy, it plays and sounds more like a $900 guitar.

The Nylon AMI is closer to a classical guitar with a 51mm nut width (which I REQUIRE) than to a steel string acoustic with a 43mm nut width.

The cedar top and cherry wood back and sides are a great combination, and it is my favorite guitar to play now. I also got the Tric case for it ($99 on Amazon), which is hermetically sealed to retain the humidity, and can get almost 4 weeks @ a constant 45% from a home-made humidifier (cut foam sponge in a pill bottle placed in the soundhole, suspended from the strings) during the winter months before the sponge is almost dry. I keep a Caliber IV humidifier inside the case which I purchased 'calibrated' from the violin luthier David Burgess on his web site.

If my AMI were damaged, lost or stolen, I would RUSH to replace it immediately with another.

Based upon this experience, I'd think that the steel string version of the AMI would yield similar performance.

Fellow UU brother Libranian (Andrew Morse) has a few videos with his AMI Nylon over in the 'Seasonistas Play Other Instruments' thread from a few months ago.

looks like the closest place that stocks the AMI is in Canada, about 1.5 hours away, but that may be a good thing, since with the exchange rate, I can get it [including their 12% taxes] for $288us. And I get to try it out. I need to find out if there is a fee to bring it here to WA.
I called, no fee.

If you can deal with a slightly larger size, I'd recommend the Art and Lutherie Folk Cedar. Since you're looking to play slack key, the folk size will give you better bass response than the AMI. I have one and it sounds very nice in slack key tuning

mocash2003 said:

If you can deal with a slightly larger size, I'd recommend the Art and Lutherie Folk Cedar. Since you're looking to play slack key, the folk size will give you better bass response than the AMI. I have one and it sounds very nice in slack key tuning

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thanks. I wonder how much bigger it is. It is still described as a small guitar. they seem to be about the same price. does yours have their electronics? Maybe I cAN try one of those too. I'll ask if they have one in stock.

I bought a b stock Loar lh200 gibson lg 00 copyand its very sweet playing and good looking.
lowered the action to 2.25mm at 12 fret, put on darrio silk abd steel 11/53 and its an absolute joy to play.