Following the oh-so-popular vintage revisitation trend, most equipment manufacturers go back and revisit designs ranging from the post-World-War-II years up to the 1980s. While not being different in concept, a few would dare to go back to the golden age, a time when phonographs and player pianos were the kings of audio reproduction. Guitar manufacturers do follow the same trend, a trend exemplified in The Recording King ROS-697 which looks like the guitar that Hector Berlioz might have inherited from Nicolo Paganini.

A new addition to the Century Studio Series, The ROS-697 is an acoustic guitar that was based on a historic 1927 12th-fret 000-Style design. This guitar has been crafted from rare Brazilian Rosewood for the back and sides. The stunningly beautiful soundboard is made from select Sitka Spruce. The solid mahogany neck also has an overlay of Brazilian Rosewood on the peghead for added aesthetic appeal and is fitted to the body at the 12th fret with a hand-cut dovetail joint. While the design itself doesn't go way back to Paganini and Berlioz's time, the aesthetics of the ROS-697 do have that late Romanticism feel to it with it's intricately inlaid fingerboard (an elaborate Greg Rich-designed Tree-of-Life M.O.P. inlay covering the full fretboard) made out of ebony. Also giving the guitar a firm functional footing is the ebony pyramid slot-through bridge and maple bridge plate.

Adding to that elegant appeal are the hand-inlaid abalone purfling and vintage-style rosette. Finishing off the period-accurate look would be a grained ivoroid binding on the neck and body, a grained ivoroid heel cap, and the ivoroid bridge pins.

With the scale length of 25.4" and a nut width of 1-7/8", the ROS-697 has been designed to be period accurate down to the last detail. Add to that the gold-plated Grover tuning machines, this guitar is one rare and elegant piece of art that is as beautiful to play as it looks. The Recording King assures you that with the ROS-697, you can now play the likeness of a museum piece without the fear of paying for insurance and the risk of apprehension. Though it's no Il Cannone Guarnerius that has to be escorted by a platoon of guards and have a multi-million-dollar travel insurance, it's still is one elegant and exquisitely rare musical instrument to have.