Jeff Buckley’s Series 10 Professional “Flower” Telecaster

According to a post made over at JBCommunity forums, Jeff got this guitar as a gift after a gig played in Lyon, France in October 1994, from a guy called Jean-Marc who worked at the avenue. For the full story please refer to The Story of the “Flower” Guitar.

The guitar was a cheap Korean knock-off that didn’t play particularly well, but it caught Jeff’s attention nonetheless—mainly because of the groovy flower finish on the body. He used the guitar at least a few times, most notably during a performance at MTV London on March 3, 1995.

The Mystery Behind the Brand

Based on photos, the guitar Jeff used clearly had a Series 10 logo on the headstock. However, there appear to be several variations of this guitar in circulation, and not all of them were necessarily made by the same manufacturer.

The best available information suggests that Series 10 was a brand owned by a company called Bently (sometimes spelled Bentley). This company operated out of Korea and was reportedly owned by the American distributor St. Louis Music. It remains unclear whether Series 10 was a model name under the Bently brand or if the company at some point rebranded itself entirely.

Additionally, flower-finished Telecasters occasionally surface under the name Saturday Night Special Professional Guitars, printed on the headstock. These guitars appear nearly identical to the Series 10 models, aside from the headstock shape—raising the possibility of rebranding over time, or that multiple companies were producing similar versions of the same design.