NUD: Recording King RUC-9TS $99 FREE Shipping

As you can see by the sig file we have a few ukes and have sold many others. When I saw this one I knew my wife would love the retro vibe and surprised her with its arrival today. Initial thoughts include:

1. $99 from GC including shipping. Unbelievable value. Arrived in three days.

2. Original strings: Suck! Also difficult for her to see. Fremont Blacklines on now and sound as good as it looks.

3. Set-up: 3mm at 12th. Very easy to adjust with removable saddle. Nut depth was quite good.

4. Fret ends: Aware they are there but very well done. No sharp edges.

5. Weight and build: Internals looked very clean and uke is very light.

6. Top: Solid sitka spruce. Flat sunburst. Shows grease on fingers quickly. May add a topcoat to preserve it.

7. Neck: Great. Fast and very smooth C shape, maple.

8. Markers: Side markers (Baz would approve) and wonderful fretbd markers as well.

9. Frets: 12 to body, 16 total

10. Intonation: Very close at 12 except for "E" string which was off 2 cents. Not bad at all.

11. Looks: Everything flows well together. Very nice package. Fun looking and will bring a smile to anyone's face.

12. Sound/tone: Fairly loud. Very nice mellow (not dead) sound. Doesn't sound "cheap." Doesn't feel "less than" in any way. Amazing. Good resonance and sustain.

13. Tuners: Smooth geared (high ratio - guess 14:1). Love NOT having to replace finicky friction tuners.

For the money we are both surprised and thrilled. I have had a dozen or more guitars over the years including $3K Martins. I got a Recording King Parlor guitar for under $200 and was astonished at the build quality and tone for such an inexpensive instrument. No Martin but a wonderful guitar at an incredible price. Thus the willingness to test the waters with their uke. They hit this one out of the ball park for this couple. A definite keeper.

BUT, change the strings. Blacklines show-up wonderfully against the pearloid fretboard.

Congratulations, what a great find. You said you got it from GC, what is "GC" by the way?

Lapyang said:

Congratulations, what a great find. You said you got it from GC, what is "GC" by the way?

Click to expand...

It stands for Guitar Center.......a large music retail chain

That's the funny thing about opinions...I got this same uke a couple days ago and my perceptions are far different. About the only thing we agree on is that the stock strings suck!

The first thing I noticed on unpacking it was how neck-heavy it is. Upon further inspection, it looks like the fretboard is one giant slab of pearloid, not overlay on wood.

I also thought it was very quiet. In my opinion, it's built like a tank, and the top is way too thick. I'm also not convinced it actually is a solid top, but there's so much finish overspray around the soundhole that I can't see a cross section of the wood.

If that's not enough, the pearloid overlay on the headstock is curled up and delaminating all around.

I'll be returning it.

strat4me, I'm glad you're pleased with yours. I'm disappointed, not only because I was excited when I ordered it (http://forum.ukuleleunderground.com/showthread.php?132729-Holy-Mother-of-Toilet-Seat-Batman!) but also because I've been pleased with Recording King instruments in the past. I adore my RK tenor banjo.

Good to hear varying opinions and experiences. Recording Kings do have a mixed reputation. Most buyers are somewhat astonished at what they get for the money but there are definite dogs in the mix. Just exchange for another one. Clearly not everyone's cup of tea.

We have had over two dozen ukuleles - many of which are very high quality. Once I changed strings (Fremont Blacklines) this one became a happy member of the family. We have sold a number of other ukes that didn't meet our expectations. For $80 (essentially the cost since $99 includes shipping) it is very hard to complain. We expected something we could use as a beater at the barn. This one turned out to be so much more. We really like the one we have. Still very impressed and happy.

YMMV