King Snake guitars

[michael_s]

Dear All, I have been away from this site for a couple of years as my focus shifted to fingerstyle guitar.

Recently I have been lusting for a vintage Gibson archtop with P90s, which are of course quite an investment.

Having always been in love with the ES-350 and ES-5 I discovered King Snake guitars and their ES-350/ES-5 copies, which I find quite appealing . Unfortunately there are practically no user reviews on the web - I know that these guitars are made in Japan and the Gretsch people are involved, plus the fact that The Fellowship of Acoustics sells them is somewhat encouraging but it wouldn't harm to readt first hand experiences...

Does anybody own a King Snake or did try them out in person?

With thanks, Michael

[jim777]

I've only ever seen them online. They look great, but I've never seen one in the US.
KING SNAKE Curtis H DJ/Amber Natural.??????????WEB?

[AllanAllen]

I wouldn't drop $3,000 on a no name, import factory guitar.

[Oscar67]

I tried the 3xP90 guitar that’s currently at TFOA. Well-built, will easily last a lifetime of (ab)use. 25.5” scale length so be prepared to work hard. Pickups are King Snake brand, unclear if they’re insourced or built in-house. At the moment the brand is obscure, so re-sale value is anyone’s guess. All-laminate construction. To my hands and ears, it was hard to play (though a good setup might improve that) and sounded kind of stiff. Decent acoustic volume but not much mojo or detail. Plugged in it sounded OK and the 3 P90s provide lots of options. Cool guitar for a tube amp that’s just at the edge of breakup, perhaps not so cool with a Henriksen or something like that. A direct comparison to an Eastman AR372CE (their all-laminate ES175 copy priced at 1300 euros) was easily “won” by the Eastman, but obviously this is highly subjective. Priced at close to 2900 euros, I wasn’t tempted by the King Snake. On the other hand, TFOA had five King Snake guitars and all but one have been sold. And TFOA’s customers know exactly what they want and are discriminating buyers.

[AllanAllen]

Well If it was a $3,000 Gretsch with P90’s that would be different. King Snake doesn’t even have a website.

It’s too many red flags, too expensive to take the loss, no brand history to justify price, not supporting an independent luthier to justify risk. Just unverifiable hearsay about a team at a factory in Japan.

[AllanAllen]

That didn’t come up when I googled the brand. So, one less red flag.

[cmajor9]

For what its worth, I think TFOA will do a video or Skype demo on request.

[jads57]

Resale is the issue if you don’t like it. Unless you play it in person, it’s really a gamble. My advice is go with a Tal Farlow or a Heritage H550 and deal with the differences.
Maybe swap out pickups.

[jim777]

Why was their website removed from the thread?

KINGSNAKE YAMAOKA EUROPE

[Jim Soloway]

Why was their website removed from the thread?

KINGSNAKE YAMAOKA EUROPE

I deleted my posts because I was uncomfortable with my own attitude.

[Jim Soloway]

Resale is the issue if you don’t like it. Unless you play it in person, it’s really a gamble. My advice is go with a Tal Farlow or a Heritage H550 and deal with the differences.
Maybe swap out pickups.

I agree that resale is the issue. One need only look at the lovely little Stringphonic on the sale board here to see an example of that.

[AllanAllen]

I deleted my posts because I was uncomfortable with my own attitude.

That’s interesting, I didn’t read any snark or negativity into your comments.

[Doctor Jeff]

I deleted my posts because I was uncomfortable with my own attitude.

My gosh you are too sincere. Is it a Canadian thing?

(Just joking, of course.)

I can't access any of these websites. I will point out that Peerless makes some nice thinline 2 and 3-HB guitars like the Sunset and Wizard. No P90s as far as I know, though pickups could be changed.

Peerless Guitars | Guitars 'n Jazz

[Jim Soloway]

My gosh you are too sincere. Is it a Canadian thing?

(Just joking, of course.)

I can't access any of these websites. I will point out that Peerless makes some nice thinline 2 and 3-HB guitars like the Sunset and Wizard. No P90s as far as I know, though pickups could be changed.

Peerless Guitars | Guitars 'n Jazz

The Wizard, the Songbird, and I believe the Sunset have all come in P90 versions and the current versions of the Tonemaster and the Gigmaster are available now in P90 configurations.

[Jim Soloway]

That’s interesting, I didn’t read any snark or negativity into your comments.

I generally try to keep a fairly tight rein on what I post on-line and with all the things going on in the world that I find troubling, I've pulled that rein even tighter. Deleting those posts may have been tighter than necessary but these days I'd rather err on the side of caution than contribute to what I see as a serious problem.

[Woody Sound]

[michael_s]

Thanks for your responses, especially to Oscar for the first-hand experience.

Yes, ~3000,- is rather steep for an unknown brand and resale value is a real concern, so I think I'll let it pass (TFOA has a very customer-friendly return policy though, so trying the guitar would not be impossible).

I have made my mind up to go for the "real thing" (vintage Gibson) - I have recently looked at a couple of quite different guitars (ES-225, ES-295, ES-350 and ES-5), but haven't come to a conclusion yet - I am rather a Blues than a Jazz player, so there is a wider range of instruments that fit the bill.

[KS & Y Europe]

Hello everybody, i'm Michel.
Hope you'r doing well in these strange times
I'm the importer and distributor in Europe for King Snake, Yamaoka, Vanzandt guitars, and AKG amplifiers. All japan made.
I found your discussion on google, searching for news about King Snake guitars. Thank for posting and comments.
I will try to answer to your questions, trying to be short but clear.
King Snake is a 5 years old brand owned by Taurus corpo, they are Japan importer and distributor for Collings, Eastman and other brands.
TAURUS corporation | ????????????????
The goal is to reproduce blues full hollow models from the 50's. Gibson and Epiphone models was the first. Reproduce but also correct some difects. A big job was done regarding the hollow body feedback problem. They are made in Terada Factory by the Gretsch team, some parts and specs are the same. They also build the TV Jones guitars and many other brands. Terada is considered to be the best factory for hollow body guitars in Japan. Choosed wood, ultra thin alcool filler, open grain ultra thin 100% nitro finish. Only few beautiful colors for the finish are available. Pickups are made in Japan but not in Terada, each model have his own type of pickups.
The production level is very low, max 10 guitars for each batch. there is almost no stock. Many guitars are sold on order and the deadline is between 6 to 12 months depending of the model and finish.These guitars are not distributed in the US.
Comparing what is comparable....
If you search for videos, just search on Youtube, there is a lot of videos including few from my shop.
Here's some address :
KINGSNAKE YAMAOKA EUROPE
-HOME- | mij-guitars.com
KING SNAKE GUITARS | ??? ?????????
Do not hesitate if you have questions, best regards and stay safe

[citizenk74]

Hello everybody, i'm Michel.
Hope you'r doing well in these strange times
I'm the importer and distributor in Europe for King Snake, Yamaoka, Vanzandt guitars, and AKG amplifiers. All japan made.
I found your discussion on google, searching for news about King Snake guitars. Thank for posting and comments.
I will try to answer to your questions, trying to be short but clear.
King Snake is a 5 years old brand owned by Taurus corpo, they are Japan importer and distributor for Collings, Eastman and other brands.
TAURUS corporation | ????????????????
The goal is to reproduce blues full hollow models from the 50's. Gibson and Epiphone models was the first. Reproduce but also correct some difects. A big job was done regarding the hollow body feedback problem. They are made in Terada Factory by the Gretsch team, some parts and specs are the same. They also build the TV Jones guitars and many other brands. Terada is considered to be the best factory for hollow body guitars in Japan. Choosed wood, ultra thin alcool filler, open grain ultra thin 100% nitro finish. Only few beautiful colors for the finish are available. Pickups are made in Japan but not in Terada, each model have his own type of pickups.
The production level is very low, max 10 guitars for each batch. there is almost no stock. Many guitars are sold on order and the deadline is between 6 to 12 months depending of the model and finish.These guitars are not distributed in the US.
Comparing what is comparable....
If you search for videos, just search on Youtube, there is a lot of videos including few from my shop.
Here's some address :
KINGSNAKE YAMAOKA EUROPE
-HOME- | mij-guitars.com
KING SNAKE GUITARS | ??? ?????????
Do not hesitate if you have questions, best regards and stay safe

[Gitfiddler]

Thanks for your responses, especially to Oscar for the first-hand experience.

Yes, ~3000,- is rather steep for an unknown brand and resale value is a real concern, so I think I'll let it pass (TFOA has a very customer-friendly return policy though, so trying the guitar would not be impossible).

I have made my mind up to go for the "real thing" (vintage Gibson) - I have recently looked at a couple of quite different guitars (ES-225, ES-295, ES-350 and ES-5), but haven't come to a conclusion yet - I am rather a Blues than a Jazz player, so there is a wider range of instruments that fit the bill.

If you haven't completely made up your mind to purchase a vintage Gibson, and are interested in modern day interpretations of their ES-225 and ES-330, you might take a look at both Heritage (H-530 & H-525) and Collings (I-30LC).

[WahmBomAh]

Interesting. Looking at the 330 type, i see they have a spruce block under the bridge so it is a variant. If someone has played one …please chime in.
The finish looks like its ready to come off rather easily.