Kent mandolin

[Dan Healy]

Hey all ,I have been offered a Kent electric mandolin (apparently from the 60s) for $ 400 ,it looks great and I'm told it plays well .Does anyone have any info on this brand ?

[MikeEdgerton]

Cafe member Martin Stillion (mrmando) maintains www.emando.com. He has a section devoted to Kent (link below). It was a brand imported from Japan. The mandolins they imported came in with other brand names as well.

http://www.emando.com/builders_inactive/Kent.htm

[allenhopkins]

Didn't the late "Gatemouth" Brown play one of the long-scale Kents?

A quick Google finds asking prices all over the lot for used ones -- couple hundred $$ to over $1K, depending on the model.

[mrmando]

Whether this is a good deal depends on which model is being offered. Do you have photos?

[mrmando]

Didn't the late "Gatemouth" Brown play one of the long-scale Kents?

If you can find me a photo of Gate with a mandolin or mandola of any kind, please pass it along. He's credited with mandola on his Black Jack album.

[mandolinstew]

And the tailpiece cover screws on.

[mandolinstew]

I heard the scale length is a problem.

[mrmando]

And the tailpiece cover screws on.

That depends. There are at least five distinct models of Kent e-mandos; not all of them have the long scale or the screw-on tailpiece cover.