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Looking for information on this Zenta guitar please. Model,year,etc.

Mid-seventies. I recall seeing an Irish band playing at the (now sadly-defunct) Manor House pub in N London, circa 1976. The guitarist was using a guitar just like that one.

It might look a bit like a Strat, but despite the fact so many claim that ridiculously cheap guitars can play and sound just as good as a pro model, that one certainly doesn't.

JN

I bought one of those new in 1975. It was a copy of a Strat - almost! - in a sort of red-to-black sunburst, with a maple neck and the ugly large headstock . It was fitted with a tremolo unit that was nothing like that on a Strat, a rhythm/solo switch (going out of fashion even then) and a strange toggle switch for pickup selection; it switched between the neck pickup and the other two. Again, this was nothing like the real thing although it did mean you could have all three pickups on at once if you wished. It had two knobs for overall tone and volume control – I’ve still got those! They are on an amplifier I bought at about the same time, swapped for the original black ones.
Apologies for the awful pic but it's the only one I have!



Mine didn't look quite the same as the one in your photo because of the maple neck and the two knobs.Also I believe the jack socket was on the scratchplate. It probably looked more like this picture, which is one I saw for sale on eBay recently.

I have a Zenta strat copy. I bought it for about 50 quid in 1972. It still plays very well, I am about to replace the pots and switches but otherwise the neck is totally straight and it stays in tune. Not bad for a 40 year old Japanese guitar.

When I bought it I decided that one of the problems with cheap guitars was quality control so after deciding to buy one I played all of this model that the shop had (4 or 5) and picked the best. It isn't a strat but the sound is pretty good and the switches give lots of variety. I mainly use the pickup by the fingerboard.

I could afford a strat now but I still play my old Zenta as it feels very comfortable and I love the tone.

Nick in "sunny" Southampton

dave robinson wrote:
In 1972 £50.00 equals £557.00 today - You can buy one hell of a guitar for £557.00 these days.

Good point Dave. Perhaps my memory is playing tricks, wouldn't be the fist time. I'm fairly sure I went out to buy a guitar with 50 quid in my pocket, the proceeds from my summer job, but perhaps I didn't spend it all.

I think prices have dropped dramatically. I bought a Yamaha acoustic (FG700MS) for around £150 a couple of years ago and it really is a pretty good guitar.The quality is way better than you would have got for the equivalent money (around 15 quid) 40 years ago.