JS Kansas

Q: I have owned a JS Kansas guitar for about 10 years, it says Overland Park, do you know who built it?

A: Those came out in the 70s. Being an employee of Mossman Guitars, I was excited to hear of another guitar factory in Kansas. So, I began researching it. There was no guitar factory in Overland Park. The guitars were imported from Asia. I stopped my research. I never found out for sure whether they were imported from Japan or Korea and I never talked to the people who imported them. When I looked into importing guitars from Korea, in the 90s, there was a minimum order of 200 (with your peghead, pick guard and label), and there was no guarantee of satisfaction. If they got crushed, or the boat sank, or they were just not manufactured up to your hopes, you were screwed. There is probably an interesting story about the people who imported the Kansas guitars, but I was looking for a Kansas guitar factory. When I didn't find one, the story ended there for me. Although they have always given good value for the dollar, there has always been a stigma attached to the Asian imports. Importers have used every trick they could think of to make their guitars sound American. The products of one Korean factory, Samick, during the 80s and 90s, were being sold under 250 different name brands. The same guitar with different brand markers on it, could range in price from $199 to $350. Now, in my age and wisdom, I wonder about the business people involved, but back then, it was enough for me to know that Kansas Guitars was just part of the general import morass. If you find out anything more I would love to hear it.

Steve Mason

Michael Kent writes, "I have been told that JS was Jack Shelton, who eventually became a sales manager for Guild. He had a small luthier shop in Overland Park."

Steve Mason