Post by Tony Ravenscroft on Dec 31, 2020 12:06:58 GMT -6
SLM has been a distributor for many years, but also has had some moments of marketing genius. In order to fill the needs they saw among their customers, they created brands like Alvarez and Crate, and re-started a bankrupt Ampeg.
In the 1970s, SLM had their flagship co-branded Alvarez-Yairi acoustics, as well as mid-range Alvarez, but wanted to expand their entry-grade selections, without throwing shade on their better lines. To that end, they created the Bently brand in the late 1970s.
(I'm putting together the next few paragraphs from fragments, rumor, and innuendo. A consistent narrative is more useful here than absolute "truth." Footnotes, verification, and correction are welcome.)
The story goes that these early Bentlys were not just Japan-built, but Matsumoku -- which was de riguer back then but Mats have since become classics, in part because of leading the charge into great build discipline but also due to the "lawsuit era" superstitions. In any case, the early Bentlys were almost assuredly MIJ. Bently models were primarily assigned numbers (four digits, all beginning with "22__") though as an afterthought some were named.
However, that was only the beginning of the hard-rock/heavy-metal boom. Beginning in the early '80s, every male under 30 decided he could be a rock star, and demand for flashier entry-level guitars took off. Particularly for solid-body electrics, SLM quickly found themselves needing to go even deeper into inexpensive builds, and again without dragging down the market segment Bently had settled into.
The Series 10 sub-brand was created (one guess being 1981). Production for these went to Korea, probably to Samick. Corners were cut, such as plywood bodies, because the target audience largely didn't care, so long as they were affordable.
As the '80s wore on, Bently was squeezed out of its segment by the simultaneous rise of Epiphone, Squier, and Washburn, not to mention Hondo, Ibanez, etc. Production of Series 10 shifted to Cort. But without Bently, SLM saw an opportunity to capitalize on the presence of Series 10 with its dealers to push in "upgrade" models for players who had become proficient and needed to move up. That's when the Series 10 Professional line began, with quality build and hardware.
Series 10 guitars are a totally mixed bag, and vary wildly from low-end clones to quality copies and original designs.
With a saturated market, SLM quietly closed down Series 10 somewhere around the mid-'90s.
In the 1970s, SLM had their flagship co-branded Alvarez-Yairi acoustics, as well as mid-range Alvarez, but wanted to expand their entry-grade selections, without throwing shade on their better lines. To that end, they created the Bently brand in the late 1970s.
(I'm putting together the next few paragraphs from fragments, rumor, and innuendo. A consistent narrative is more useful here than absolute "truth." Footnotes, verification, and correction are welcome.)
The story goes that these early Bentlys were not just Japan-built, but Matsumoku -- which was de riguer back then but Mats have since become classics, in part because of leading the charge into great build discipline but also due to the "lawsuit era" superstitions. In any case, the early Bentlys were almost assuredly MIJ. Bently models were primarily assigned numbers (four digits, all beginning with "22__") though as an afterthought some were named.
However, that was only the beginning of the hard-rock/heavy-metal boom. Beginning in the early '80s, every male under 30 decided he could be a rock star, and demand for flashier entry-level guitars took off. Particularly for solid-body electrics, SLM quickly found themselves needing to go even deeper into inexpensive builds, and again without dragging down the market segment Bently had settled into.
The Series 10 sub-brand was created (one guess being 1981). Production for these went to Korea, probably to Samick. Corners were cut, such as plywood bodies, because the target audience largely didn't care, so long as they were affordable.
As the '80s wore on, Bently was squeezed out of its segment by the simultaneous rise of Epiphone, Squier, and Washburn, not to mention Hondo, Ibanez, etc. Production of Series 10 shifted to Cort. But without Bently, SLM saw an opportunity to capitalize on the presence of Series 10 with its dealers to push in "upgrade" models for players who had become proficient and needed to move up. That's when the Series 10 Professional line began, with quality build and hardware.
Series 10 guitars are a totally mixed bag, and vary wildly from low-end clones to quality copies and original designs.
With a saturated market, SLM quietly closed down Series 10 somewhere around the mid-'90s.