Kingston Swinger

It's made in Japan, (probably late) 60s. Kingston guitars were made by either Teisco or Kawai at that time. Mine has two pickups, single coils, pretty typical of Japanese pickups from that time. The neck is Mahogany, don't know about the body. Aluminum pickguard. The bridge can adjust up or down on either side, but there are no saddles to adjust intonation. There is no truss rod, but it has a "steel reinforced neck". I read the other reviews on here before I picked it up, and expected a POS, but it's actually not a bad guitar at all. The neck is very comfortable. It has on/off slide switches for each pickup, and a volume and tone knob. The tremolo looks kind of like a Hagstrom trem, but with a thicker arm. It's pretty typical of tremolos from that period... you're not going to do any divebombing on this thing. It came with a weird vinyl case-- never seen one like it before. No idea if it was original or not.

I play a lot of different styles. This guitar is good for blues and 60s/70s hard rock, probably good for punk or indie stuff too. Definitely not for modern metal. The tone is very much on the warm, beefy side. Not much in the way of high-end bite. Plenty of bass and mid-range. It's not a versatile guitar, but the tone it's got is cool. The bridge pickup is brighter than the neck pickup, naturally, but has the same overall character to it. I haven't used it with effects yet or tried it with different amps... it sounds good through my '57 Champ. Overdrives nicely when you turn it up to 12. (The Champ goes to 12. Eat your heart out, Nigel!)

The set-up at the factory was before I was born, and the guy I bought it from as well. So who knows? But the action is easily adjustable with thumbwheels at either end. The intonation is not adjustable. I haven't checked yet to see if a tuneomatic style bridge would fit on these posts. The neck is straight, despite the lack of truss rod, and while I haven't checked the intonation with a tuner, it sounds right to my ears.

This guitar is somewhere around 45 years old, and it's in pretty damn good shape-- the neck is straight, the frets aren't worn. So it's fair to say it's stood the test of time.

N/A

There's a guitar company called Kingston that exists now, but I doubt there's any connection, and even if there was, I mean, come on.

I've been playing... Jesus Christ... *breaks out calculator*... 24 years. I've got a bunch of other guitars, including a '60 Gibson melody maker and a Gibson flying V. This guitar doesn't measure up to those, but it's got it's place. Quality-wise, it's as good as a Squier, but with a lot more character. And, no matter what anyone says, there's nothing wrong with a Squier, either. If the guitar works, and plays fine, and you can't make it sound good, the problem isn't the guitar-- it's your playing. Replacing the bridge with one that can be intonated is the one modification that would significantly improve the guitar, although as I've said, the intonation sounds fine. It's a cheap 60s Japanese-made guitar. It's not for a shredder. It'd probably be best for an indie rocker who wants something with some character without spending much dough.

i cant tell you much about this pile. My friend found it or something. It's caled a kingston "swinger" and idk, its preatty shitty. It looks like its from prob. the late 60's. It's got gold finish and a wierd silver pickguard. The "pickup" if you want to call it that, looks like a replacement part for a toaster oven from 1934. The Neck and head are some sort of strange wood, maybe mohagany?!?!? or super super stained maple? It's got like, the crappiest electronics ever. and the tuning knobs are rediculously stiff. Th only cool feature is the kick ass pickguard

sounds like, hmm.... my smelly asshole. It buzzes on the frets, has one ANCIENT pickguard. SOunds like a huge chunk of sh

Awful action here folks. The pickups. hmm, its not in their all too well, kinda loose. It's got a sweet bridge and tailpice though. The tunig pegs suck my juicy bung. and the paint is like peeling and shit.

Well two of my friends beat the hell out of it, and like, dragged it through the parking lot, and all that. They even through it in a puddle. And it still keeps on truckin. I think it could withstand Vietnam.

HAHAHAHAHHHA LMAO GOOD LUCK!

It's a shit nugget

possibly between 1934 to 1960. 22 frets, solid top. volume/tone controls, one single pickup, no clue on woods(neck might be maple with wierd laquer on it), gold finish with silver pickgaurd, body style:wierd... kinda like the silvertone kiss guitar, wierd bridge/tailpeice, stiff tuners that suck, thick neck, no action

well, its my friends guitar, and he found it on the side of the road. i plugged it into a marshall on OD2, and so tone didnt make much difference, all that mattered is that it played.

action sucked, but its old. pickup--- you mean that toaster oven replacement part from 1934? everything was bolted on and screwed on right. finish was cracked. tuning pegs were tight and stiff. cracks in finish.

well it survived one hell of a beating after i got pissed off ait for sucking. me and my drummer beat the shit out of it. we rode it like a skateboard, hit on rocks. and spun in circles on it

we just found it on the road.

sucks. lol. a "hunk of junk"