At the price, I didn't expect much. I was, however, pleasantly surprised with what I got. Steel guitar is not my primary instrument, but I play well enough to lay down some country backing tracks when called upon to do so. This little rascal will get that done for under two hundred bucks.

The instrument is solid, and the strings-thru-body design assures stability. The bridge and nut are unimpressive, but they both do their job well enough. I can see upgrading the nut in the near future. The tuning pins are of reasonable quality, and they bring the strings to pitch and keep them there. What more did anyone want them to do? The pickup won't wow anyone, but neither will the price of the instrument. The fact is that the P-90 delivers well enough to satisfy me, and I've been making music in Nashville for more than a quarter century.

You're going to need an appropriate amp, reverb and a ton of fat compression to get the sustain and tone most of us associate with the steel in country music, but with an appropriate rig this Recording King will put a smile on your face.

Finally, if looks are important to you, in spite of its inexpensive materials, the RG-31 is fairly handsome. The matte finish mahogany body is simple and classy, and the plexiglass white pearloid fingerboard is, IMO, appropriate to the overall clean design of the guitar. It's all a matter of taste, but to me the look of this guitar offers a nice break from all the totems, hearts, diamonds and thunderbirds that seem to have proliferated like cheap tattoos in the steel guitar world.

To sum it up, I have experienced none of the unfortunate problems with this Recording King lap steel that others have reported. I took it out of the box, installed new strings (this will be needed if you play with C6 tuning), ran it through a tube preamp, then directly into Logic Pro where I used a vintage amp model with plenty of reverb and applied some heavy compression using a standard Logic Pro plugin. The sonic results were indistinguishable from what would have been expected from a greatly more expensive instrument. The only thing that would have improved the track would have been a better steel guitarist!

This is a great guitar to explore lap guitar if it's new to you. The retro look is cool and the construction is ok...Mine came with one broken screw, but no scratches or marks. The sound is good but the pickup could be a bit hotter...amped up it sounds good...but I'll replace the pickup for a harder sound.The tuners keep it in tune which is a big plus on a cheaper guitar. The bridge is functional but has sharp corners and if you play with your hand on the bridge, you'll feel it...I rounded these off a bit...The fret board is a bit too shiny...I took some OOOO steel wool to take this annoying sheen off...it's still shiny but more of a mat finish...All in all with a few tweaks, this is a pretty good guitar.and because it's fairly inexpensive, you can add a few "worn" areas to make it look like it's been on the road for years...have fun

I wanted a lap steel and had thought for a long time about building one. Even with the parts I have on hand, I would spend almost as much on additional materials as the cost of this Recording King. Despite the inconsistent reviews both here and other places, I got this based on my ownership of another Recording King guitar, the ROS-6. As with that instrument, this one seems to offer a lot in terms of value. The workmanship is good and it has good tone both clean and overdriven. Intonation seems just about perfect, which is amazing for a bridge with no compensation. The guitar arrived in tune (standard guitar tuning).

No doubt you could improve this with some better tuners and pickup/electronics but not exponentially. This is my first lap steel though I've been playing guitar for over 40 years. Perhaps there are better beginner instruments out there. I just couldn't find one in this price range. The only reason I don't give this 5 stars is it doesn't have a case or gig bag -- even as an additional cost option.

It's my first lap steel, but sounds good to me, especially for the price. Had an issue with the "fret board", it was cracked at every screw, as though it was over-tightened during production. Contacted Recording King customer service....don't bother, no help whatsoever, and thats why I only give it 4. Contacted my Seller, who is dealing with Recording King for me, "Music Buys"-www.amazon.com/shops/AKU673E99C4UG, I give them and the instrument a solid five stars. Just let down with the lack of customer service and help received by Recording King.

A great instrument at an affordable price for a beginner. The only draw back was trying to purchase a hard case to protect one's investment. Not much help provided by the seller when asked about purchasing a case for the guitar.