Kent 823 Semi-Hollowbody

60's Japanese semi-hollow body. Shape is like a Gibson Trini-Lopez with the lower cut-a-way a bit smaller than the top. Very nice sunburst finish. Spruce top. Beautiful tiger stripe flame maple back. Too bad the top and back were not switched! Body is multi-ply bound. Neck and F-holes a single ply bound. Roller tune-o-matic type bridge with a very nice ( all the parts are there and it works!! )"Kent" bigsby style wanker bar. Mother of pearl neck inlays with "Kent" written in MOP on the body and headstock. 3 Pinkish-white single coil pickups mounted on a tortise shell small, rectangle pickguard. 4 tall toggle switches for the pickups also on a tortise. 3 pinkish-white top hat volume knobs and 3 vintage gold top hat tone knobs. You basic chrome plated covered tuners. Fat, fat, ( did I mention, FAT ) 22 fret neck with the infamous Zero fret. This is an exceptional looking instrument. Very unique semi hollow. Weighs in about 6-7 LBS. Feels very substantial strapped on.

I bought this two weeks ago. When I brough it home I gave it the cursory once over....plugged it in...turned the amp to about 2. I was not impressed with the sound. Low output, dull, lifeless bassy tone. About a week later I finally had time to clean it up. New strings, adjust the intonation, clean the pots & switches and adjust the pickups. All I can say is...WOW!!!! What a difference. I can get about 6 or seven very usable sounds out of this baby. It will absolutly nail a great BB King tone. After the cleaning, the pickups came to life. While they are still lower output than most, they are very detailed and excel at clean or slightly overdriven tones. I hooked it up to a Real Tube, French Toast Octave Dist, Vox Valve Tone, chorus, dealy and tremulo. Sounds great clean with the time based effects. Not so great with the real tube and the french toast. However, with the valve tone set to slight break up......look out!!! I have found my budget Lucille!!!

Set up was poor from the pawn shop. High action.....very likely the original strings. Pickups were very close to the strings. Incredible flamed back and very nice straight close grained top. Finish looks like brand new. This guitar looks like it was stored for the last 20 years. Like new condition!!! I scored!!

Well, this guitar is well over 30 years old. From the shape it is in now, my grandson will be playing the blues on this long after I'm gone!

I know Kent was made by a few different Japanese makers in the 60's. I believe Kawai made them for a while and another maker that also made Ibanez guitars. They are however....long gone.

Started playing about the time this guitar was made. I have had several hollow, semi-hollow's over the years. Ibanez AS200, 2 Guild Starfires. While this Kent does not compare to those, I am very happy with this purchase. For $100, I have a very usable, unique sounding addition to my tone arsenal. I would not hesitate to use this baby live or in the studio. It would add a nice clean shimmer or greasy, gutbucket tone to any project.