I just bought a Kent guitar (early 60's i believe).
http://i428.photobucket.com/albums/qq10 ... 1227563140
-I followed the instructions for posting a picture but it doesn't seem to work?-
I haven't received it yet but I have some questions.
First, I tried to research Kent but didn't get a whole lot of info. evidently it was never actually a company and it has some ties to Hagstrom. If anybody can clear this up and give me some history (on both Kent and what type of guitar this is and it's value) it would be appreciated.
Next, it doesn't have a saddle. Is there anywhere I could find an authentic one and if not are there any that would fit/have the same dimensions. (hopefully cheap, the guitar cost me $46 on ebay).
EDIT: just saw one on ebay right now that says this model is called "polaris"
The VintAxe Guitar Forum
A Place for Vintage Guitar Enthusiasts to Pursue their Passion
Kent questions
Moderators: cheepaxes, VintAxe, Phizix
4 posts
• Page 1 of 1
I've read about the Kent/Hagstrom connection too. I believe the same Japanese factory was making both, when Hagstroms were being made in Japan.
I wouldn't count on being able to get a new bridge that fits. My experience suggests that anything you buy new will be for American guitars with wider necks than the '60s Japanese necks tend to be, and your E strings will end up hanging off the neck.. I don't know about your Kent but I did a bunch of work on a Kent, and I've been looking around a bit, and what I've seen is that the stock bridges don't have string guides so the strings cross at points dictated by the string spacing on the tailpiece. The result was that the strings were way too close together to be playable for me, especially up the neck. I ended up carefully, and only semi-successfully, filing grooves in my bridge to space the strings the way I wanted them. I also shimmed the neck and raised the bridge to get plenty of downward pressure to hold the strings in place.
I'm not sure what to sugges for a bridge for yours. You can look on eBay for older Japanese bridges from Teiscos, etc. Determine the string spacing you're going to need and ask the seller to measure for you. My guess is it's going to be about 50 mm from E to E. I'm working on another thin-necked guitar project now and was able to find a tune-a-matic bridge where the slots in the saddles were not in the center of the saddle, so I could adjust the spacing inward somewhat by rotating the saddles so that the slots were closer to the center of the bridge. I'm trying to figure out what to do for a tailpiece and will probably make my own. I have a friend who made a bridge by finding a way to keep a piece of thick threaded steel rod where the bridge should be. The threads hold the strings where he wants them. Of course there's so way to adjust the intonation of individual strings that way.
If you're interested, look at some of the projects in the Show and Tale section of this board for ideas. There's a description of my Kent project there, and some other cool stuff.
-Scott
I wouldn't count on being able to get a new bridge that fits. My experience suggests that anything you buy new will be for American guitars with wider necks than the '60s Japanese necks tend to be, and your E strings will end up hanging off the neck.. I don't know about your Kent but I did a bunch of work on a Kent, and I've been looking around a bit, and what I've seen is that the stock bridges don't have string guides so the strings cross at points dictated by the string spacing on the tailpiece. The result was that the strings were way too close together to be playable for me, especially up the neck. I ended up carefully, and only semi-successfully, filing grooves in my bridge to space the strings the way I wanted them. I also shimmed the neck and raised the bridge to get plenty of downward pressure to hold the strings in place.
I'm not sure what to sugges for a bridge for yours. You can look on eBay for older Japanese bridges from Teiscos, etc. Determine the string spacing you're going to need and ask the seller to measure for you. My guess is it's going to be about 50 mm from E to E. I'm working on another thin-necked guitar project now and was able to find a tune-a-matic bridge where the slots in the saddles were not in the center of the saddle, so I could adjust the spacing inward somewhat by rotating the saddles so that the slots were closer to the center of the bridge. I'm trying to figure out what to do for a tailpiece and will probably make my own. I have a friend who made a bridge by finding a way to keep a piece of thick threaded steel rod where the bridge should be. The threads hold the strings where he wants them. Of course there's so way to adjust the intonation of individual strings that way.
If you're interested, look at some of the projects in the Show and Tale section of this board for ideas. There's a description of my Kent project there, and some other cool stuff.
-Scott
- cheepaxes
- Posts: 475
- Joined: Sun Jul 16, 2006 3:56 pm
- Location: DC
found someone else online who has a Kent with a similar bridge I believe and he directed me too an ebay auction he discovered and said the string spacing on this was the same as on his any thoughts or advice it'd be nice to get a second opinion or two.
http://cgi.ebay.com/Vintage-Teisco-Kent ... 240%3A1318
http://cgi.ebay.com/Vintage-Teisco-Kent ... 240%3A1318
- hyphensprint
- Posts: 8
- Joined: Sun Nov 23, 2008 7:56 pm
4 posts
• Page 1 of 1