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Help: Bentley Series 10 Guitars


Rgkchile

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I am curious about Bentley Series 10 guitars. I realize they are considered to be on the low end of the guitar spectrum, but every once in a while I see one on eBay or Craigslist and it never looks that bad.

 

I finally bought a Series 10 Les Paul copy and have found it an absolute pleasure to play. The guitar came with one of those older, brown leather Les Paul hard-shell cases, with the pink fuzzy lining and cloth flap. All told, guitar and case only cost me seventy-five dollars.

 

Does anyone know anything about the Series 10 line? I am fairly certain that Bentley was purchased by Jackson a while back.

 

Are there any other Series 10 owners out there?... anyone able to decipher the serial numbers? I believe the first two numbers must be the year, but I'm not sure of that.

 

Any information will be appreciated, thanks folks.

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I don't know about the Series 10, but I have a Bentley acoustic electric guitar I bought in the mid 90's. It's actually a pretty decent sounding guitar for the money. I once took it to a recording session at a pro studio and the engineer was impressed with how it sounded on the recording.

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I don't know about the Series 10, but I have a Bentley acoustic electric guitar I bought in the mid 90's. It's actually a pretty decent sounding guitar for the money. I once took it to a recording session at a pro studio and the engineer was impressed with how it sounded on the recording.

 

Any idea of the serial number on there?

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A Series 10 was my first guitar...about 24 years ago or so... it was a black fat-strat style (H-S-S.) As I recall it was crappy BUT it was the only frame of reference I had (having no previous knowledge of the instrument.)

 

The humbucker was LOUD and microphonic as hell.. I remember my second guitar (a Charvel with H-H configuration) - and being slightly disappointed in the volume drop from the Series 10.. of course I had no clue what "good tone" meant at that time.

 

So how do they stack up today? I'd imagine with advances in manufacturing processes those cheap Series 10 (assuming they're still made) are decent guitars for the money...but if it were between my first love (the Series 10) and my current (my 1990 MIA Fender Strat Deluxe) - I'm reaching for the Strat.

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Hi my names Jake and im a Series 10 and Bently guitars collector.

Series 10 guitars are not made anymore and neither Jackson or Fender bought the name.

Bently guitars originated back in 1985 when the company SLM introduced them. SLM stands for Saint Louis Music.

They made the guitar brand because people wanted somthing that cost less then Alvarez guitars.(Alvarez is not an offbrand of Ibanez regaurdless of what some people say).

Bently was a medium grade guitar and started off as acoustics.

Then they started making electrics.

Then they changed the names of the electrics to Series 10 as a way to separate the acoustics from the electrics.

Series 10 and Bently guitars were made from 1985 to 1998.

SLM stoped making the guitar line when they introduced the Austin guitar line.

On the used market you can find them from $50 to $100 maybe a little more depending on the guitar and if you find a collector.

If you want to send me the serial number and a picture of the guitar i can try to find out how much it sold for and how much it is worth now if you like.

I hope this information helped you out some.

I just made this account on here because i saw your question on google lol

I have been collecting the guitars for 3 years and own a few of the les paul copys.

i'll ttyl

 

-Jake-

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Hi my names Jake and im a Series 10 and Bently guitars collector.

Series 10 guitars are not made anymore and neither Jackson or Fender bought the name.

Bently guitars originated back in 1985 when the company SLM introduced them. SLM stands for Saint Louis Music.

They made the guitar brand because people wanted somthing that cost less then Alvarez guitars.(Alvarez is not an offbrand of Ibanez regaurdless of what some people say).

Bently was a medium grade guitar and started off as acoustics.

Then they started making electrics.

Then they changed the names of the electrics to Series 10 as a way to separate the acoustics from the electrics.

Series 10 and Bently guitars were made from 1985 to 1998.

SLM stoped making the guitar line when they introduced the Austin guitar line.

On the used market you can find them from $50 to $100 maybe a little more depending on the guitar and if you find a collector.

If you want to send me the serial number and a picture of the guitar i can try to find out how much it sold for and how much it is worth now if you like.

I hope this information helped you out some.

I just made this account on here because i saw your question on google lol

I have been collecting the guitars for 3 years and own a few of the les paul copys.

i'll ttyl


-Jake-

 

First off welcome to the forum Jake. :wave:

 

Bentley's introduction pre-dates 1985 by a couple years. Bentley electrics were the student guitar line used at one of my hometown music stores in the mid 80's. My parents rented a Bentley Precision Bass copy for me in the summer of 1984 and a friend had a bolt-on Les Paul copy as early as the fall of 1983. I'm fairly confident the Series 10 was used on both these models, at least on the Bass.

 

As for quality the Bass was passable for a beginning student. My buddy's Les Paul was absolute junk.

 

This is probably the most thought I've put towards Bentley guitars in the past 24 years. Anyway, strange line to collect. Does this mean there are Westone collectors?

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Thank you both for all of the new information... any idea on Series 10 effects? I know that there was a DT-1 (Distortion) out there, but I haven't seen any others.

 

For sure remember the dirt pedal. Can't remember how they sounded. I would like to have on for sentimental reasons. lol

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Here's some photos of the Series 10 Les Paul copy I've got... if you wouldn't mind taking a look JakesBently, and guessing the age I would really appreciate it.

 

dsc00793zg.jpg

 

dsc00792r.jpg

 

dsc00791ba.jpg

 

I realize this last one if a little hard to read, but is says: "Series 10 Professional 920073". Also stamped on the base of the neck reads: "Made in Korea".

 

dsc00794f.jpg

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I just sent an email to my friend Mark.

I should get a reply about it somtime today.

I'll send you all the information on it asap.

I'll get the age on it too if i can.

I had a Series10 just like this one that i sold not too long ago except it had the mother of pearl block enlays.

I enjoyed playing it a lot, I upgraded the pickups on it to Seymour Duncans tho.

 

-Jake-

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Series 10 guitars are crapsticks. My old bass player stole mine and then quit, so it was a good day. Got rid of a shit guitar and a shit person, and for free!

 

The necks of the Series 10 electrics were really lousy, in asmuch as the wood wasn't very strong, or such was the case with my Crackle II with a LFR bridge. The hardware was similarly lame.

 

They looked cool, but that's about it. The guy with a friend wanting $150 is going to have to wait for the dollar to depreciate a good deal more before he sells that POS.

 

As for the non-crackle finish sharkstooth inlayed guitars, I don't know. Better quality can be had in the same price range, IMHO. Westone, Yamaha, Aria Pro, Electra, etc etc.

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Series 10 guitars are crapsticks. My old bass player stole mine and then quit, so it was a good day. Got rid of a shit guitar and a shit person, and for free!


The necks of the Series 10 electrics were really lousy, in asmuch as the wood wasn't very strong, or such was the case with my Crackle II with a LFR bridge. The hardware was similarly lame.


They looked cool, but that's about it. The guy with a friend wanting $150 is going to have to wait for the dollar to depreciate a good deal more before he sells that POS.


As for the non-crackle finish sharkstooth inlayed guitars, I don't know. Better quality can be had in the same price range, IMHO. Westone, Yamaha, Aria Pro, Electra, etc etc.

 

Agreed. My Series 10 was one of the crackles with a LFR too. It was lame and so was my brothers strat copy. But they were fun cause we rocked out like newbs with them. Goodtimes

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Sorry it took so long.

I found out that your guitar sold for $349.99 back when it was made.

It would sell for about $125 to $150 now days.

I was'nt able to get the axact age of the guitar but my guess is it was probably made in the late 80s.

I hope this helps.

Let me know if you have any other questions.

 

-Jake-

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  • 11 months later...
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Hi my names Jake and im a Series 10 and Bently guitars collector.

Series 10 guitars are not made anymore and neither Jackson or Fender bought the name.

Bently guitars originated back in 1985 when the company SLM introduced them. SLM stands for Saint Louis Music.

They made the guitar brand because people wanted somthing that cost less then Alvarez guitars.(Alvarez is not an offbrand of Ibanez regaurdless of what some people say).

Bently was a medium grade guitar and started off as acoustics.

Then they started making electrics.

Then they changed the names of the electrics to Series 10 as a way to separate the acoustics from the electrics.

Series 10 and Bently guitars were made from 1985 to 1998.

SLM stoped making the guitar line when they introduced the Austin guitar line.

On the used market you can find them from $50 to $100 maybe a little more depending on the guitar and if you find a collector.

If you want to send me the serial number and a picture of the guitar i can try to find out how much it sold for and how much it is worth now if you like.

I hope this information helped you out some.

I just made this account on here because i saw your question on google lol

I have been collecting the guitars for 3 years and own a few of the les paul copys.

i'll ttyl


-Jake-

 

Jake, I have a Series 10 Dolphin in Near Mint condition. Current SLM contacts could find nothing about this guitar. I know they were made in 1994 and had very limited production. It is a copy of the EVH Ernie Ball MM Axis. Awesome guitar.

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