Kay K-40 Archtop Guitar 1955

Description: In 1955, the founder of Kay Guitars, Henry "Kay" Kuhrmeyer retired from running the company. This ended the golden age of Kay as it went from making some truly high quality and innovative musical instruments that competed with the best builders, like Gibson, to "catalog guitars" that were sold in department stores. This guitar was made that same year and is both vintage and historical. It truly has all the features that Kay was trying to incorporate into his stringed instruments. In my mind, he was trying to borrow the Gibson L7 features for his own. The difference today is about $1500 for the Kay and $7000+ for the Gibson. The neck has actual abalone inlays, a rarity for Kay. I acquired this from a man in Alabama who told me it had been stored for many decades and showed few problems. Plus, the spruce top and maple sides/bottom had some 70 years to age and finish out. The tone is what you would expect from a guitar of quality. The specs are shown in the page from the 1955 Kay catalog. It is large with a 17" lower bout and very good action for its age. I measured the string height at the first fret at .030. I play fingerstyle and it plays well up the neck. Typical of the "50's, the neck is big but not fat. It does have a "Speed Demon" neck with allows adjustment for movement in the neck, but I know nothing about it and have left it alone. Other than that, there are no issues structurally. I did change some things as what it initially came with was less than what should be on a vintage guitar. I replaced the old and broken tuners with closed-back gold butterfly-style Klusons. I also replaced the very worn nut with a new bone. Then there is the tailpiece. It came with a non-standard Frequensator tailpiece, but using a single bar, not the double. I kept the worn gold-plated tailpiece on and replaced the trapeze with a new double set. Never used a Frequensator before but thought it looked neat for this period guitar. I also put on a custom tortoise shell pik guard to replace the original white one. All the other metal brackets are replaced with gold ones to match the feel of the period. I have the original pik guard and brackets which I will include. I do not have the original tuners. The gold really goes with the gold in the headstock. The case is new and bomb-proof. I think it sells for about $130 and the guitar fits perfectly. Finally, the cosmetics are good to excellent. There is a large scratch on the back of the head stock. Everything else is minor and normal. A few nicks on the front and back, but no cracks or breaks. Nothing penetrates the finish. The maple is flamed and really jumps out, especially with the size and gold fittings. The bindings are exceptional, lending to the impression that this isn't just another average guitar. The enclosed video shows a K-40 (not this guitar) so you can get an idea of sound. Video of similar guitar: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YmS173lILeY&t=4s

Price: 1325 USD

Location: Middleburg, Florida

End Time: 2024-10-16T14:23:57.000Z

Shipping Cost: 65 USD