so you see a lot of 70s MIJ guitars with all sorts of brand names that may have come from the same manufacturer - but the end-result of the brands on the headstock have no direct correlation. The thing about the Japanese manufacturers back then (and actually, still today) is that they produce guitars for many different companies/importers. People have trouble differentiating the 'company' that has their brand name placed on the headstock from the 'manufacturer' that actually produces the instrument. I see it so often 'oh that XXXXXX brand guitar is a 70's MIJ, must be the same as my friend's Aria/Pearl(yes, the drum company Pearl!)/etc'. That's the thing that I think leads a lot of people in the wrong direction when it comes to 70's MIJ makes.

With all respect to Barry, I personally would very much doubt a Hagstrom connection (which to my understanding is a Swedish company) with Kent guitars (which is likely an imported Japanese-produced instrument)

If any of you guys have any further insight in to Kent guitars, I'd love to hear it.īTW, My all time favorite player, Alex Lifeson, started on a Kent, so this one definitely has the right KarmaĪndreww wrote:I'd researched the Hagstrom connection, but from what I could tell they never produced any full bodied acoustics under the Kent name. Anyway, I really wanted a full sized acoustic, as my Kramer Ferrington gets drowned out when I play with friends, and for $10 it was a steal! The quality can vary from fairly decent to pretty terrible, but it seems that the one I got is of the higher quality variety. From what I understand, Kent was a budget brand that never actually manufactured guitars, but had them made for them by various (mostly far east) companies. Its a Kent 'Bonanza' which appears to have been produced in the early 1970s. I gave it a couple of quick strums and found that it had nice low action, and it seemed to play in tune all the way up the neck. I unzipped it to find a full sized, cherry sunburst acoustic guitar. At the last house on the block I spotted a cheap vinyl guitar case with a $10 sticker on it. I usually don't bother with such events, but as it was a beautiful day I decided to take a walk around to the various driveways. Our street had a number of garage sales this past weekend.

Kent electric guitars