Recording King RPS-JTE Satin Tobacco Sunburst Justin Townes Earle Signature Acoustic Guitar

Being a fan of Justin’s music I was really interested in playing his signature guitar. However, having read Adams review 14/01/23 I decided to check out several professional guitar players and techs who have all commented on Recording King guitars. They were all positive but reported different experiences of the guitars straight from the box. Some were set up near perfect to play but others required quite a lot of work to achieve a good playing action. I watched videos of the guitars development and playing of the instrument, I also found an excellent video on you tube of a young guy (Marc) playing and commenting on the guitar . So on balance and with Bax free return policy ! I ordered the guitar. My JTE guitar was excellent straight from the box, sadly for Adam his clearly was not.
Whilst the guitar and hardware may feel a little light, it is a beautiful looking parlour guitar.

I saw Justin live several times when he toured the Uk and also having watched him playing live at Black deer (YouTube), I do feel it resembles his sound, especially when using his frailing style of playing. The guitar has a short decay which Justin really wanted and which is great for finger picking the blues.

It’s important to read Adams review because if you are not a JTE fan you can probably get a similar sound and have as much playing fun with one of the cheaper dirty 30’s models …which get great reviews by the way.

I like the guitar a lot ….. RIP Justin .

Really wanted to like this guitar- unfortunately there is very little to say that’s positive about it- and I returned it.The build and finish quality is poor- it almost feels like a toy in your hands. The hardware and floating bridge seems low quality and the binding is the worst I have ever seen- shocking given the price.
The action was ridiculously high , which would have warranted sanding the bridge significantly and recutting the nut. Finally to the most important flaw- it doesn’t sound particularly good, even with a solid top- I know it’s supposed to reflect JTE’s tone, but I don’t feel it comes anywhere near- I also only play finger style.
The best things are the neck, and it does have a cool 1930’s vibe. IMHO - given the price , avoid.