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Banjo

Recording King RKH-05 Dirty 30's

Name: Recording King RKH-05 Dirty 30's
Brand: Recording King

Recording King · RKH-05 Dirty 30's Resonator Banjo

Price: 325 EUR – 325 EUR

Price history

Cheapest seen Most expensive seen

Availability: 0/10 (Very rare)

A lightweight entry resonator banjo skipping a distinct metal tone ring entirely, relying on maple neck and resonator plus a plate flange for tone - simple construction aimed at beginners rather than tone-ring performance.

Where available? Go to the best price – 320 EUR About this instrument

About the Recording King RKH-05 Dirty 30's

Unlike Recording King's Madison-series banjos with their Mastertone-referencing bell brass tone rings, the RKH-05 has no dedicated tone ring at all - a plate flange with 24 American-threaded hooks and nuts sits directly against a multi-ply rim, a simpler and lighter construction than tone-ring banjos. That keeps weight and cost down considerably, at the expense of the volume and sustain a genuine cast tone ring provides.

The maple neck carries a Rovebond fingerboard (a manufactured, consistent alternative to natural wood) with inlaid dot markers across a 26 1/4-inch scale, joined to a maple resonator with ivoroid binding. Hardware includes a single adjustable coordinator rod, nickel-plated fittings, a Presto-style tailpiece, and a Remo Recording King head, finished in satin - straightforward specification for a beginner instrument named for the stripped-down, depression-era banjos it visually references.

Where to buy

Reverb 320 EUR Best price View details

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Source: https://reverb.com/item/98516480-recording-king-rkh-05-dirty-30-s-5-string-resonator-banjo

Sound character of the Recording King RKH-05 Dirty 30's

The Dirty 30's deliberately omits a metal tone ring, relying only on a plate flange under the resonator - a construction typical of actual 1930s-era banjos, before Mastertone-style rings became standard. That gives it a darker, softer, more vintage-voiced tone than a modern tone-ring resonator banjo, while the resonator still adds more projection than a fully open-back instrument.

Vintage-voiced Dark Mellow

Technical data for the Recording King RKH-05 Dirty 30's

Neck	Maple
Fretboard	Rovebond
Resonator	Maple, ivoroid binding
Tone ring	None (plate flange)
Scale length	26 1/4"
Coordinator rod	Single, adjustable

Price history for the Recording King RKH-05 Dirty 30's

Cheapest seen: 325 EUR · Most expensive seen: 325 EUR

Cheapest seen Most expensive seen

The history of the Recording King RKH-05 Dirty 30's

The Dirty 30's name and cosmetic styling references banjos from the economically lean 1930s, when simplified, tone-ring-less construction was often a cost necessity rather than a deliberate design choice, repackaged here as an affordable modern beginner instrument with vintage visual appeal.