DestroyAllGuitars BC Kingston Guitars

~ BC Kingston Guitars ~

Brian Kingston bought his first stereo using all his summer job savings in 1969. He was only 14 years old but because of a competitive swimming background he was traveling with a group of 18-20 year-olds to different towns to teach swimming. A couple of the kids played guitar and listened to guitar music constantly. It was there for the first time during the Woodstock summer that Kingston experienced the magic of guitars. In short order he became obsessed with guitar music and tone. As his ears received their education and became more sophisticated he realized the subtle nuances in tone improvement as one climbs the stereo cost ladder. Each summer he'd be so happy with his new stereo but by the next summer he'd upgrade everything again. This went on for six years until a friend got a new guitar and gave Kingston his old one. He played the hell out of that guitar for a couple of years. In 1977, after two years of university Kingston opted not to return and went to the Roberto-Venn school of luthiery in Phoenix where he built his first acoustic and electric guitars. He knew then his life would revolve around the construction of guitars. He sold all the stereo equipment and bought tools and woods.

Now 32 years later Kingston can look back and see the parallels between trying to get more sound from his stereo in the early years and his driving passion to get more tone from his guitars since then. Above all else he concentrates his efforts on building a guitar that is alive. It is exciting for Kingston to study and evaluate each piece of wood for its strengths and weaknesses and then carve it, guided by experience and intuition, until it reaches the point where he feels it can vibrate as freely as possible without compromising structural integrity. He also insists that his guitars are effortless to play. They have to feel right. From the profile of the neck to the height of the action and everything in between, each detail is meticulously addressed and no effort is spared to ensure optimum results. Kingston believes that by constructing guitars that are alive and effortless to play, it follows that they will be inspirational to the player.

From 1977 to 1996 Kingston constructed an array of flattop acoustic models and a few electrics, both solid and semi-hollow, but from 96 on he has concentrated exclusively on carved guitars -- archtop jazz and semiacoustics. Kingston has always been a one-man shop and as such supplies all the effort except for the metal and electronic components which he purchases from only the finest suppliers. All guitars come with a five year warranty.

Kingston currently offers three versions of his 17" archtop "Cavendish Road" guitars. They are the CR-P, CR-E, and CR-I models. There are three versions of his 16" double cutaway thinline, the "Fusion" as well. They are quilt, flame and spruce. The possibility exists to accommodate any options the client wishes over and above the specs.

Kingston doesn't consider any part of the building process to be work. Everything is a labor of love and building guitars makes him a happy and contented guy. He trusts you can feel this from his guitars.

BC Kingston CR Series

Features of the CR series: 17” body, 25.0” fret scale, 3” deep, Nut 1 21/32," Custom suspended ebony finger rest, bound in ebony/maple with stealth volume and tone controls and Bennedetto B6 floating humbucking pickup or Kent Armstrong floating adjustable polepiece humbucker, Custom ebony “torch” tailpiece,(with etched definition on CR-P), 0.200 carbon fiber rods extending from neck, through the peghead on each side of the LMI two way adjustable truss rod, Multiple solid wood ebony/curly maple bindings (fabricated in shop) around the f-holes, body, fret board and peghead...