Recording King Dirty 30s Series 7 000 Tenor Acoustic Guitar - Tobacco Sunburst

4-string Tenor Acoustic Guitar with Whitewood Back and Sides, Spruce Top, Mahogany Neck, and Ovangkol Fingerboard - Tobacco Sunburst

Item ID: 000D307TTS

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Recording King Dirty 30s Series 7 000 Tenor Acoustic Guitar - Tobacco Sunburst

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High-quality, Affordable Tenor Acoustic

Everyone from jazz pickers to folk strummers and beyond will find much to love in Recording King's Dirty 30s Series 7 000 tenor acoustic guitar. Designed in response to an overwhelming interest in a Dirty 30s-style tenor acoustic, this 4-string delivers the series' trademark vintage flair with exceptional tone to match its good looks. It all starts with whitewood for the sides and back joined to a punchy spruce top — these tonewoods produce luscious sonic warmth with great sustain and volume. Sweetwater players can't get enough of this tenor's 23-inch-scale mahogany neck, which grants easy access to the ovangkol fingerboard's 20 frets. For an even more premium experience, Recording King went with their exclusive CrossLap bracing for increased response and a genuine bone nut and saddle for improved sustain and optimal sound transfer between all the woods. Add a high-quality tenor acoustic to your stable at a steal with the Recording King Dirty 30s Series 7 000!

Recording King: retro refreshed

The landmark Recording King brand traces its origins back to 1930s building contracts with the retail titan Montgomery Ward. During the early days of radio and recorded music, affordable but well-crafted Recording King guitars, banjos, and resonators swept across the nation far and wide. Now revived, Recording King hearkens back to those early days of production-line American instruments built for pros and budding musicians alike. Nearly a century later, these retro models take their cues from vintage designs for results that look and sound like their 1930s counterparts.

Recording King Dirty 30s Series 7 000 Tenor Features:

Budget-friendly tenor acoustic guitar with undeniable vintage flair
Works great in jazz and folk; adds a unique voicing to modern compositions
Whitewood back and sides join a spruce top for a warm, powerful sound
23-in,.-scale mahogany neck makes it easy to access all 20 frets
Ovangkol fingerboard feels silky-smooth to the touch
CrossLap bracing increases response
Bone nut and saddle improve sustain

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Tech Specs

String Type: Steel
Number of Strings: 4
Left-/Right-handed: Right-handed
Body Shape: Dirty 30s Series 7 000 Tenor
Back & Sides Wood: Whitewood
Top Wood: Spruce
Top Finish: Satin
Color: Tobacco Sunburst
Body Bracing: Cross Lap X-bracing
Binding: Ivory
Neck Wood: Mahogany
Neck Shape: C
Radius: 16"
Fingerboard Material: Ovangkol
Fingerboard Inlay: Ivory Plastic Dots
Number of Frets: 20, Medium, Nickel-Silver
Scale Length: 23"
Nut Width: 1.25"
Nut/Saddle Material: Bone/Bone
Bridge Material: Ovangkol
Tuning Machines: Nickel with Ivory Buttons
Strings: D'Addario EJ66 Tenor, .010-.032
Case/Gig Bag: Sold Separately
Manufacturer Part Number: ROST-7-TS

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Reviews

5.0

Customer Photos & Videos

Purchased in April, 2023 from my sales guru David Hess. Sounds great, plays great, looks great - I cannot believe this is a $ guitar. This instrument quickly became my "go to" for playing around the house and working up new material.

I highly recommend this for anybody who is just starting out on guitar, and for anybody who already plays a 4 string instrument (ukulele, mandolin, fiddle, banjo) and is looking to expand their tonal palette.

Not only does this instrument sound great acoustically, I had a K&K pickup installed by Woodsongs Lutherie (Boulder, CO), and with the addition of an LR Baggs Para DI it sounds great amplified as well.

My only wish is that they offered other color / finish options (e.g. "Wabash Blue"), because I'd order another one so I could have one tuned GDad and the other tuned CGdg.

Order this guitar - you will NOT regret it!

For the money this tenor guitar is very hard to beat. The sustain is great for a laminated guitar and the action is very good right out of the box. I put a piezo pick up in it and I can't get over how good it sounds every time I play it. My only con is that it's pretty heavy, but then again, I really don't care. It's all about the sound for me and this one delivers in a big way.

I'll pitch my review from this perspective as a qualifier of my personal position.
I've many stringed instruments, literally in the dozens. I'm kinda picky for sure. Amongst my many instruments, the tenor guitar is personal fancy and go to. And yes, I have several tenor guitars. My tenors range from $ customs to some pretty good production models. I play private party, small listening, festival, and street busk. Busking is my favorite.

I'd been wanting another street hammer that I didn't have to worry about and had been intending on one of these Dirty 30 tenors for some time. Over the years, I've tried just about every tenor guitar under the sun it seems. There are a few great customs, a smattering of ok production, and LOADS of junk.

Anyway. I pulled the trigger on this little guitar this week. From that, I can't much more about it other than how blown away I am with this guitar. And for $? Do WHAAATTT?

But to explain my review on it, here goes.
I'll start with the cons. As is typical in most production imports and many claimed to be custom and or high end, this guitar needed MINIMAL touch up. The fret end had very slight and tiny burrs which is highly common. Five minutes with a whip or two on each fret end, and voile. Smooth as silk. Now, the pros.
Fit and finish, 4.9.
Intonation 5.0
Fret placement 5.0.
Nut and saddle 5.0.
String spacing 5.0.
Neck relief 5.0.
Neck set 5.0.
Neck straightness 5.0.
Tapered body 5.0.

Now. For playability and sound.
Good grief Charlie Brown. All that for $? No way.
Sustain 5.0.
Projection 5.0.
Tonal balance 4.9.
(Tonal balance will nail it when I get the rosewood bridge pins in it).
All to say. I really am amazed. Now I don't want to take it busking because it's so good. Lol.

A couple noted comments:
I prefer and most often play a 12" radius fretboard. This one is flat yet plays delightfully well.
The stock strings are very light. I switched to medium progressive tensioned strings.

It was a tad in need of fretboard conditioner so that if course fit done. Waxed it up nicely with Dr Ducks Axe Wax all over. Restrung, played it for a few hours to settle it. Then tucked it in the humidor room for the night (it really liked that.

This thing is serious fun, playable and sounds fabulous.
I've got one of the first Kala tenor guitars shipped when they first came out. This Recording King leaves that Kala as well as Blue ridge, Harley Benton, GT, and any others way back in the dust in playability and sound.

It really is that good.
Oh. Did I mention for ONLY $.

The setup was so dead on I couldn't believe it. I literally did zero work on the nut and or saddle. The action felt completely professional custom out of the box.

So. Don't over thing it. Just order one.
But don't forget. The bridge pins are plastic. Order a set of rosewood pins and be amazed.

Me? I'll surely be putting a K and K "Pure Mini" pickup in it straight away.

Play! Enjoy!

I've been playing ukulele casually for decades. I recently bought a baritone ukulele to play some assorted styles of music that don't sound the best with reentrant tuning. I found myself wanting something even more different as I still wasn't getting the sounds I was looking for. Some search time on the internet pointed me to the tenor guitar. A tenor guitar is a tuning chameleon as there are lots of ways to tune it. The option that appealed to me is Chicago tuning of DGBE, the same as a baritone ukulele, and the same as the four high strings of a guitar. (I've tried to play six string guitars and I don't enjoy it)

Tenor guitars can be hard to find, and when you do, the price of entry is about $700 with very few exceptions. This is one of them and is the only option I found in this price range that doesn't use a "mini" guitar body. I like the fact that this guitar has a full-size Martin 000 body shape. The sound is good. The action is acceptable. The intonation is on point. The fit and finish is better than what I expected for an entry level instrument. Overall, this guitar is exactly what I wanted, an affordable entry level instrument to explore new music with.

Waited about six months to post this. Great guitar. Sounds is excellent. Came set up well. Build is good. Holds a tune. No complaints. Sweetwater is great.

See also: Recording King, Recording King Other Acoustic Instruments