Kent Lido Model 531

Not sure if this guitar is the "Lido" or simply the "unknown" Strat Copy. Piece of junk, but my first electric.
The guitar was purchased new in 1967 for a grand total of $40 - and worth every penny, but no more! Solid maple, weighed alot, 3 single coil pickups, tremelo, metallic gold finish.

Actually, nostalgia aside, the guitar sounded classic early 60's thru a Fender amp. Clear, bright, and a bit jangly.

What did I know? I was twelve.
I could play it, but the action and intonation were awful, pegs average for holding it in tune

Well, yes, durable -- in that you couldn't do anything to make it worse!

N/A

Was so thrilled to have a neighbor sell me their Gibson / Epi two years later. Was finally able to play bar cards and leave first position!

This was the first guitar I ever owned. It was purchased new in about 1965. It came with a cheap hard case. The descriptions in the other reviews are applicable.

This guitar sounded okay when played through a decent amp. The matching Kent amp was a junker.

The strings seemed close together and the action was high. Almost as hard to play as the borrowed Silvertone archtop I started on.

The swithces and knobs were all very cheaply made. The switches expired after about 4 years and I junked the guitar rather than replace it. The body of the guitar itself was solid as a rock but that is about the only good thing I can say about it. It didn't hold it's own with guitars of the same era in a similar price range such as my friend's Hagstrom which blew the Kent away.

I have been playing for about 40 years and this wins the all time junker award. Parents, do your kids a favor. If you are getting them started in guitar, fork out a few extra bucks and at least get them a passable guitar such as an Epiphone.

This is my first guitar, got it for Christmas when I was 13 years old. It sounds almost exactly like the guitar reviewed by Ed below, except I'd describe mine as more a tobacco-burst. I'm giving it a 10 for features simply because my friends and I used to joke about how "the Kent has so many features." The 'lead-rhythm' switch is great...I mean, how many guitars out there actually tell you exactly whether you're currently playing 'lead' or 'rhythm' guitar? Like I said, mine sounds 100% like the one reviewed below, even with the custom hard-case it came in.

Here's where things start to degenerate. What good is a 'lead-rhythm' switch if neither sounds particularly good? Unlike in Ed's review below, on mine the 'lead' position is fuller and the 'rhythm' is thin and tinny. Maybe they put the decal on backwards on mine, who knows. It's not useless though; I mean, through a decent amp it sounds like a guitar.

This guitar was probably 20+ years old when I got it, and that was 15 years ago. But it's always had fret-buzz problems. The 10th fret on the first string plays a half-step high. The whammy-bar bridge makes staying in tune through a whole song virtually impossible. The action is high and made learning very difficult...I remember when I first played another guitar -- I realized that some guitars where actually comfortable to play.

I've had this guitar for over 15 years but haven't played it in ages. I plugged it into an amp last night for probably the first time in at least 10 years -- bridge pickup wasn't working. I suppose you can't blame the guitar for this, though, since any guitar will have some wiring problems after 10 years of sitting in a case in a closet. The finish still looks good and the guitar seems otherwise structurally sound. In the end, it's really just a cheap, beginner's guitar that has no place being used for gigs.

Well, since I'm not sure the company which made this guitar (Teisco or one of it's offshoots?) even exists anymore, I'd have to imagine customer support is non-existant.

Yeah, it doesn't really work anymore and the frets and action are horrible and you can't really fix intonation problems and it won't stay in tune...but I'm going to give it a 10 because it was my first guitar and I think it deserves some points for that. Would I recommend you pick one of these up if you saw one for sale? Absolutely not. But I wouldn't part with mine, either, unless the price of cheap 60's Asian import guitars starts to skyrocket in the next few years.

This solid mahogany bodied guitar has a softer Strat like shape. I assume it's from the mid 60's. The top of the sunburst body is flat, chrome pickguard, 2 single coils, 2 white rocker on-off switches, tone, volume, lead rhythm switch, plastic bridge and a whammy bar. The clear finish has no cracks or checks and is thin enough to show the texture of the woodgrain. The headstock is oversize, finished in black, 6 inline exposed tuners, white platic knobs and a brass "K" with the word KENT in black block letters on it. Appears to be a maple neck finished in translucent red, rosewood fretboard, small frets, rectangular pearl markers withdouble round markers for the 12th. It came with the original fitted case and even has the whammy bar arm. The neck is adjustable at the body end. The back of body has a tummy cut.

The pickups measure at 5K ohms and the sound is quite full on the rhythm setting and thinner on the lead setting. The bridge has no intonation adjustment which makes it hard to tune. It is hard to overdrive an amp with the low output. They are quiet for single coils.

The neck is mounted quite high on the body which causes pickups to be at their maximum height. The neck has a medium D profile. It is a little hard to play because the strings seem a little closer together.

I was able to adjust neck relief without snapping anything, the switches work, the tone and volume are not noisey and the whammy works if used carefully. The strings are rusty but it tunes fairly well and stays in tune. Would make a good 60's garage band guitar. The appearance is of a one year old guitar so at this rate of aging it should last 100 years LOL.

Now there's a question?

Been playing since this guitar was a baby. Reminds me of my first electric but I think this Kent is much better than average for a beginner guitar.
I'd like to communicate with other Kent players or anyone knowledgable with this brand.