The first Kingston guitars were Harmony Stella style acoustic models made by Terada in Japan from the late 1950s to early 1960s for distribution in the USA by Jack Westheimer. By the mid 1960s Westheimer was also importing Japanese Kingston electric guitars made by Kawai, By the mid-1970s it was more cost-effective to produce the guitars in Korea so Westheimer opened a factory there, which became Cort. These Korean Kingston guitars carried on until the early 1980s. The Kingston brand reappeared in the late 1980s and early 1990s on cheap Asian made electrics. There was also a line of Indonesian Kingson acoustic guitars from 1994 onwards.

Source: Trash or Treasure: Kingston S-style Model. Premier Guitar. 5th September 2017

Source: Jack Westheimer: Pioneer of Global Guitarmaking. Michael Wright. Vintage Guitar Magazine