kay musical instrument company
the kay musical instrument company was an american musical instrument manufacturer that was formally established in 1931 .
the kay musical instrument company was one of many early musical instrument manufacturers in the united states. the kay company was officially established in 1931 at chicago, illinois by henry kay kuhrmeyer .
american archtop guitar, kay musical instrument company, chicago, c. 1950, model n2
kay guitar company produced guitars and other musical instruments from the 1930s to the 1960s .
earliest tag says simply (kay musical instrument co. chicago, u. s. a) .
sg galan is the original brand of japan' s shimokura musical instrument store .
chubby jackson, a jazz bassist, endorsed the kay bass for kay musical instrument company from about 1946 until 1969. the s - 51 model kay was advertised as the
chubby jackson models .
the kay musical instrument company emerged in the 1930’s in chicago, when kay founder henry kay “hank” kuhrmeyer and an invester acquired the groehsl instrument company, which was founded in 1890. kuhrmeyer was interested in producing electric guitars and amplifiers when he took over the company, and they did just that in 1936 with the release of the company’s first electric guitar .
in 1923, henry kay kuhrmeyer joined the company. he later became president. in 1928, with help of an investor, bought the company. the new company, “kay musical instruments” was formally established in 1931 from the assets of stromberg - voisinet. henry kuhrmeyer, with no musical background, but was financially successful in the musical instrument business .
throughout most of the 1900s, the kay musical instrument company was a true behemoth of the american guitar market. based in chicago, the company’s output was impressive, surpassed only by the harmony company (also based in chicago) .
kay musical instrument company output was very impressive, surpassed only by the harmony company (also based in chicago). the kay company had a significant impact in the history of guitar making in the usa, and the company always had a plethora of guitars in just about every price range and style .
then, in 1928, new owner henry kay kuhrmeyer changed the name to the kay musical instrument company and began to focus on all types of stringed instruments, like basses and violas and guitars .
the kay guitar company was a division of the kay musical instrument company formerly known as stromberg - voisinet which manufactured professional and student instruments since the 1890s. this company was no relation to elmer stromberg and son, the boston luthiers that built high quality, collectible archtop guitars .
during the early 50s barney kessel played on the gibson es - 350, later on in the late 50s he endorsed 3 guitars from a company called kay musical instrument co .
in 1964, kay musical instruments moved to a new factory in elk grove village, illinois. the move to the new building attracted a buyer, and in 1965 katz sold the company to seeburg, a company already famous for their juke boxes. katz became the head of seeburg’s musical instrument division. bob keyworth, a long time kay employee, headed up the kay instrument division .
in 1964, kay musical instruments moved to a new factory in elk grove village, illinois. the move to the new building attracted a buyer, and in 1965 katz sold the company to seeburg, a company already famous for their juke boxes. katz became the head of seeburg' s musical instrument division. bob keyworth, a long time kay employee, headed up the kay instrument division .
kay musical instrument company was a prolific american manufacturer of musical instruments that operated from the 1930s through the 1960s. although kay' s first electric guitar was offered in 1936 (the same year as gibson es - 150, five years after the frying pan), kay is known as an electric guitar pi ...
founded in 1890, the company originally operated as the groeschel company and manufactured mandolins. in 1918 the company name was changed to the stromberg–voisinet company and added guitars and banjos to the lineup .
henry kuhrmeyer, with no musical background, was financially successful in the musical instrument business and was able to start planning his retirement in 1953. sidney m. katz, who had excellent financial backing from family members including albert pick, of picks hotels, was interested in purchasing the company. after having worked for harmony instruments, katz knew the musical instrument business, but came to work in the accounting department of kay musical instruments for some time before taking over full and complete leadership .
the kay guitar company' s origins date back to the 1890' s, starting with the groeschel mandolin company of chicago, illinois .
direct digital download of a high quality scan of the 1946 kay upright 5 string bass print ad shown. scanned directly from original print ad from a 1946 magazine that measured approximately 6
x 9
. a cool early ad for kay musical instrument company featuring endorsers
kay musical instrument company primarily manufactured inexpensive guitars from the 1930s to the 1960s. however, they also made a few top quality arch top guitars. the most collectable kay guitars are any model with the “kelvinator” plastic headstock overlay that is stylized with art - deco decorations .
kay model k5915. i’m unsure of the year, as there is no serial number found on the instrument .
kay also produced a line of archtop acoustic guitars under the brand name kamico. the company outsourced its amplifiers to a rival company called valco .
kay was indeed one of the earliest american manufacturers of electric guitars. things progressed, and by 1934, the company was officially known as the
kay musical instrument company
. the company became larger and more successful over the years, leading to the addition of a new factory in elk grove village, illinois in 1964. but somehow by 1965, the company had hit rough times and was bought by seeburg, a jukebox manufacturer that sold kay to valco in 1967 .
the linings of an instrument were glued to the rib sections, providing a surface area for gluing the top and back of the instrument to the ribs. kay always installed both inner and
with the stromberg - voisinet company now recognized as a leader in their field, business expanded quickly, and by 1934 kuhrmeyer repaid the debts he owed. the kay musical instrument company moved to a new building, in 1935, at 1640 w. walnut st. in chicago, il .
kamico was a part of the kay - kraft musical instrument company (which is where the name was derived from) that operated from 1931 to 1968. kamico brand appeared on lap - steels, amps, mandolin guitars, archtops…from 1947 to ?
direct digital download of a high quality scan of the 1946 kay upright 5 string bass print ad shown. scanned directly from original print ad from a 1946 magazine that measured approximately 8 1 / 2
x 11
. this is a cool early ad for kay musical instrument company featuring endorsers
in 1931 kay was formally established in 1931 when the assets of the former stromberg - voisinet company were acquired by businessman henry
kay
kuhrmeyer .
but this same company offers kay vintage reissue guitars. these instruments are made in the far east, but are well made replicas of the famous kay thin twin guitar and what is called the kay jazz guitar, which is a semi - hollow body double cutaway instrument .
by 1964 the company moved from chicago to new quarters in elk grove illinois and continued the tradition of selling kay guitars and musical instrument as well as house - brand instruments, but the demand for electric guitars was very heavy at this time in history .
by 1928, kuhrmeyer had bought the company and that same year the company started producing electric guitars and amps .
direct digital download of a high quality scan of the 1946 kay bass guitar print ad shown. scanned directly from original print ad from a 1946 magazine that measured approximately 6 1 / 2
x 10
. this is a cool early ad for kay musical instrument company featuring endorser norman bates playing the 5 - string kay upright bass... .
with the stromberg - voisinet company now recognized as a leader in their field, business expanded quickly, and by 1934 kuhrmeyer repaid the debt he owed einsele. the kay musical instrument company already formed, presented itself with a new building, in 1935, at 1640 w. walnut st. in chicago, il .
kay' s roots go back to 1890 to the groehsl company, a manufacturer of musical instruments when it was sold to stromberg - voisinet in 1929 with mr. groehsl remaining and henry k kuhrmeyer as treasurer and later president of the company .
kay guitars (of chicago illinois) were first built in 1890 under the company name groehsl which by 1921 had changed to stromberg - voisinet. the driving force at that company was henry kay kuhrmeyer, the treasurer. he established the company as one of the main jobbers of the 1920' s supplying guitars to montgomery wards and regal stores. in early 1931 a higher end line of guitars was created called
kay kraft
and by the end of the year the company was renamed kay musical instruments .
the dickerson musical instrument manufacturing company was founded in 1935, and by the end of the decade it was supplying lap steels and amps to oahu, bronson and many other brands. it also sold instruments under its own
hall was the exclusive veneer provider to the kay musical instrument company from sometime in the 1940' s until the end of kay' s production in 1969. the spruce came from birdseye veneer in escanaba, mi. which provided the finest material available in the united states, very similar to the spruce from bavaria .
just a year later, in 1965. katz sold kay to the jukebox manufacturer seeburg corporation with katz becoming head of seeburg' s musical instrument division. two years later kay was resold and merged with valco. however by now the guitar boom was fizzling out. the company was dissolved by 1968 and the assets of both kay and valco were auctioned off in 1969 .
direct digital download of a high quality scan of the 1947 kay 5 string bass & artist guitar print ad shown. scanned directly from original print ad from a 1947 magazine that measured approximately 4
x 7
. a cool early ad for kay musical instrument company featuring showing the
top team
of the 5 - string kay upright bass and the artist guitar... .
former employees of the kay musical instrument company believe the (c - 1) bass to be the most common. they thought kay made about twice as many (c - 1) basses as they did (m - 1). probably 10 - 15% of the basses produced were either (s) or (m - 3) models .
the kay company had a significant impact in the history of guitar making in the usa, and the company always had a plethora of guitars in just about every price range and style .
the earliest instrument in the database is a cello ser # 2. the earliest basses may also have been named kay, kay kraft, old kraftsman, kraftsmen, kustomkraft, custom kraft, k - kraft, kay - meyer, or k - meyer .
kay was founded in 1931 by henry “kay” kuhrmeyer. they supplied guitars to montgomery wards and others. during the 1950s their electric guitars were competitors for the silvertone and danelectro guitars. the company dissolved in 1968. kay guitars are not currently in production. however, kay also produced cellos and basses. engelhardt - link purchased the acoustic line of instruments from kay. these are still being produced in elk grove village, il. the company lineage started with the groeshel mandolin company .
this company, which may have been a distributor as opposed to a manufacturer, was a member of the matsumoto musical instrument association. they have been credited with camel and fresher badged guitars, although freshers were also made by chushin in the late 1970s .
henry kay kuhrmeher joined the company in 1923 and bought it outright in 1928. the kay musical instrument company flourished during the 1930s and 1960s and became one of the leading manufacturers of acoustic and electric guitars in the united states and opened a new factory in elk grove, illinois. their guitars and bass guitars were and still are played by a number of famous musicians, such as eric clapton, bob dylan, howlin’ wolf, ry cooder and jack white .
little - known manufacturer from osaka, japan, this company is responsible for the oddly named john bennet badge. nakai has been mentioned as a possible matusmoto musical instruments association member in the past. the company still exists and is producing musical instruments, quite a feat in light of so many manufacturers who faded after the golden electric guitar age .
the company' s name was changed to
stromberg - voisinet
in 1921, and shortlyafterwards, in 1923, henry kay
hank
kuhrmeyer (the origin of the name
kay
) joined the company and quickly worked his way up to the top .
to vary height of strings above fingerboard, loosen strings and wing nut inside of body. push heel of neck backward or forward to desired string height. retighten wing nut. never loosen wood screw in neck. patent applied for kay musical instrument co. chicago, ill
the kay musical instrument company was leading their field in lamination. from the beginning, the kay bass (1937) had a laminated top and back formed on presses in the factory. presses were made of a material that looked like plaster and wood and finally steel. hide glue was probably the glue used to laminate the plys. upon taking a 1949 bass apart, hide glue between the plys was apparent .
in 1980, a. r. enterprises (tony blair) purchased the kay trademark. as of this date, blair is still listed as ceo of kay guitars and also of kustom musical instruments which was formerly owned by hanser music .
with the help of an investor, kuhrmeyer secured and purchased the stromberg - voisinet company in 1928 the same year the company became interested in electrifying the guitar .
it' s made by the fujigen, maya and matsomoku company' s .
kay did build a line of amps carried over from the old stromberg company that were also sold through catalogs like spiegel and others. kay eventually subcontracted its amplifier production to chicago music industry rival valco in the 1950s .
it says (genuine kay bass viol _ _ _ _ model ser no. _ _ _ _ _). the word kay is in script, there is no loop on the kay, and all letters of the word kay use the same font and are bold .
however, by the sixties the company began to lose momentum and was bought by seeburg, a jukebox manufacturer, in 1965. kay was sold again in 1967 to valco but the company dissolved only a year later due to financial problems
henry kuhrmeyer started planning his retirement in 1953. sidney m. katz, who had excellent financial backing from family members including albert pick, of picks hotels, was interested in purchasing the company. after having worked for harmony instruments, katz knew the musical instrument business, but came to work in the accounting department of kay musical instruments for some time before taking over full and complete leadership. in 1955, kuhrmeyer retired allowing katz full ownership and responsibility. kuhrmeyer died march 18, 1956 .
the assets of kay / valco were auctioned off in october of 1969. w. m. i. , weiss musical instruments, founded by jack westheimer, operated by sil weindling and barry hornstein, bought the kay name. tony blair, who had been working for w. m. i since 1973 bought the kay name in 1980 after he heard fred gretsch, jr. was interested in a brand name. by 1982 blair began using the kay name on instruments and in 1984 the kay guitar company began manufacturing and importing instruments for beginners .
the first bass with the engelhardt name left the factory on february 18, 1970 with a serial number of 260. why this number was chosen, no one remembers. serial numbers for the engelhardt basses are well organized and assigned to the instrument just before the instrument leaves the factory. excellent records are kept and in short periods of time company personnel can tell a caller the year in which an instrument was made .
the kay kraft kay kraft guitar was manufactured from 1929 until 1937. the kay kraft jumbo was made in the 1930s had a pressed (rather than carved) arched spruce top and laminated mahogany back and sides. kay pioneered the use of laminated woods in high - volume guitar production .
truetone trademark of western auto supply company. serial number: 72207542: : trademarkia trademarks
urltoken is a division of legalforce, inc. , a delaware software automation company .
not to be confused with stromberg guitars. kuhrmeyer eventually became president of this firm. the company had its roots as the groeschel mandolin company which was founded in 1890 .
i ordered from stewart macdonald company urltoken the following items. (1. )
the assets of kay / valco were auctioned off in october of 1969. w. m. i. , weiss musical instruments, founded by jack westheimer, operated by sil weindling and barry hornstein, bought the kay name. by the early ‘70s, kay only existed as a brandname attached to japanese import guitars. tony blair, who had been working for w. m. i since 1973 bought the kay name in 1980 after he heard fred gretsch, jr. was interested in a brand name. by 1982 blair began using the kay name on instruments and in 1984 the kay guitar company began manufacturing and importing instruments for beginners again .
kay guitars manufactured the kessel archtop electric model named after him. kay merged with valco in 1967 and it' s name was dissolved in 1968 .
the horseshoes were manufactured by kay. kay employees started with 1 / 4
piece of ebony and used a forstner bit for the inside diameter .
founded by a father and son, ryohei tahara and the unknown tahara. i do not know which was the father and which was the son. the company existed until the late 1979 when it was bought up by saga musical instruments. in all, the company existed less than a decade as tahara. both the maya and el maya badges are attributed to tahara. saga musical instruments exists to this day .
in 1969, the company’s assets were auctioned off and the kay name, and some of its trademarks, were acquired by weiss musical instruments. the company has changed hands a number of times in the last three decades and currently offers low priced acoustic, electric and bass guitars and also sell resonators, mandolins, harmonicas, ukuleles and banjos that are manufactured in asia .
in 1961 kay offered the twin pickup kay jazz guitar that featured and arched top, double cutaways, two kay single coil pickups and a bigsby tailpiece. the thin line electrics were modified and included the single pickup galaxie model .
the kay krafts venetian style body resembled a mandolin. for those of you acquainted with some plucked / strummed string instrument history you will know that mandolins were very much in vogue during this era .
kay is known as an electric guitar pioneer because their past company stromberg - voisinet produced the first commercial electric guitar, the stromberg electro, in 1928 .
in 1967, valco company who had been responsible for the national and supro brands, descendants of the dopyera brothers and dobro, bought kay from seeburg. with robert engelhardt as president and al link as vice - president of valco, kay products were unchanged. during valco’s ownership, kay’s catalog was simply reprinted with valco’s name at the head. japanese competition, debt accumulation and inventory excesses were difficult for kay / valco to handle and a decision was made to dissolve the company .
kluson manufacturing company of chicago agreed to do the metal work for tuners and side plates .
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a vintage kay k162 electric bass guitar was sold on urltoken for $ 750 .
kay produced a model c - 4 bass which was a blonde concert model .
shield tag says (genuine kay bass viol maestro model _ _ _) .
during the production of the kay bass every effort was made to produce instruments to exacting tolerances set forth by menc, the musical educators national conference. menc, a non - profit organization was formed in 1907, with the intent of helping every american student obtain a musical education by encouraging schools, communities and educators to offer music programs .
american archtop guitar, kay musical instrument company, chicago, c. 1950, model n2, serial number l 1442, the headstock with metal kay logo, width of lower bout 15 5 / 8 in. , no case. estimate $ 300 - 350 note: start the video at 5 minutes in to hear a similar kay. this archtop has the classic tone you would expect. this one is maple fingerboard, sides and back and a ply - construction top (in pictures look at f - hole closeup). works well with the lace pickup i have for sale separately .
in 1967, valco company who had been responsible for the national and supro brands, descendants of the dopyera brothers and dobro, bought kay from seeburg. with robert engelhardt as president and al link as vice - president of valco, kay products were unchanged. during valco' s ownership, kay' s catalog was simply reprinted with valco' s name at the head. japanese competition, debt accumulation and inventory excesses were difficult for kay / valco to handle and a decision was made to dissolve the company .
- offering a download containing high quality scans (300 dpi) of the rare complete original 9
x 12
four - page brochure from my personal archive. this digital brochure shows and describes the line of student basses and cellos produced by the kay musical instrument company in chicago, illinois at this time. also included some pages from a grossman counter catalog showing the very cool kay maestro m - 1b, swingmaster s - 9 and chubby jackson model s - 51 basses and kay accessories. download includes pdf continuous document allowing you to see or print the entire catalog clearly. great reference material .
engelhardt manufactures the same line of upright instruments as produced by the kay musical instrument company. basses are advertised as concert (ec - 1), maestro (em - 1), maestro 1 / 4 (em - 3), supreme (es - 1), and swingmaster (es - 9) models, with the
e
simply representing the engelhardt name. cellos represent a larger part of the business than basses .
one of the more unusual guitars kay offered in 1960 was the solo king, the upper part of the body was not carved, except for the upper cutaway. the lower part had a carve to rest the instrument on the players leg and a cutaway. it was available with one or two pickups. eastwood guitars briefly revived this instrument .
the origins of the company can be traced as far back as the 1890s with the groeschel mandolin company of chicago, illinois. in 1921, the company changed its name to stromberg - voisinet and in 1928 produced the stromberg electro, which is widely acknowledged as the first commercial electric guitar .
kay produced many of its instruments for resell by retail stores and catalog companies to sell as house brands this means kay instruments can be found under a variety of names .
this same year kay introduced their thin line electric models which became a staple with student guitarists, as did the kay pro which had more of a les paul vibe .
like a guitar, but sounds like a big upright double bass
. the kay
some of the nickeled kay script metal insignias have “japan” stamped on the back side .
groehsl instrument company, who had been in business in chicago since 1890, changed its name to stromberg - voisinet. they were expanding their product line from bowl - backed mandolins, to include banjo' s and guitars which would position them to become one of the lead instrument producers in the city of chicago. kuhrmeyer wished to be a part of their growth .
the company made electric bass guitars as well, and in this edition of old school, bassist frank novko shares his late 50’s / early 60’s kay model k5915 electric bass with us .
vintage kay electric guitars are regularly sold on ebay. in january 2012 alone, several kay electric guitars were sold between $ 200 and $ 800. a vintage 1950’s kay “sizzler” black silvertone electric guitar, in good condition, sold for $ 1, 400 .
- offering a download containing high quality scans (300 dpi) of the rare complete original 9
x 12
four - page brochure from my personal archive. this digital brochure shows and describes the line of student basses and cellos produced by the kay musical instrument company in chicago, illinois at this time. also included some pages from a grossman counter catalog showing the very cool kay maestro m - 1b, swingmaster s - 9 and chubby jackson model s - 51 basses and kay accessories. see photos for complete contents. . download includes pdf continuous document allowing you to see or print the entire catalog clearly. great reference material .
there is also another s - 10 which was manufactured for the selmer instrument co. the basses were manufactured in 1937. the ¾ sized
there are a plethora of vintage guitar dealers and internet sites that sell kay musical instruments, such as vintageguitarpro. com, urltoken and soundpure. com. however, if possible, it is widely recommended to buy a vintage guitar “in - person”, as although the instrument may look good on the online photograph, there could still be numerous problems with its internal mechanics .
the upright bass and cello lines were sold to a company formed by a ranking valco employee and was called. engelhardt - link. the kay name (and some of its trademarks, such as knox were acquired by teisco importer, weiss musical instruments aka w. m. i. which was owned by sol weindling and barry hornstein. these men put the kay logo on imported japanese guitars that were manufactured by teisco .
this little - known company is responsible for the st. george badge. this particular badge was made from 1963 - 1967. it also produced the rare shiro guitar. it is possible that the company may also be responsible for the pleasant guitar badge after 1966. this company may have been a small offshoot of aria guitar company, founded by shiro arai, but that has not been verified as of today .
yasuma still exists as a company today, making high quality acoustic guitars. located in nagoya, japan, the company may have been a source for yamaha in the 1970s. manufactured house brand yasuma guitars .
mid - ’30s stromberg / kay del oro, with “resonator” containing the stromberg electro unit .
two new kay models were available in 1962. one was the kay double cutaway solid guitar, k300. it featured two pickups on a curly maple body and what kay called its thin lite neck. the kay double cutaway model k592 was perhaps the precursor to gibson' s johnny a model. this excellent guitar featured twin florentine cutaways and a bigsby vibrato .
the k162 kay electronic bass guitar .
it' s held like a guitar, played
a year later, kay began producing their well - known upright – a 3 / 4 size bass hand - built using special machinery and featuring the embossed trademark kay cursive script .
this is a very rare k - 48 manufactured by the kay musical instrument company. limited numbers were produced from 1947 through 1951. the k - 48 was kay' s answer to the gibson l - 5 and epiphone deluxe. the guitar featured a solid handcarved spruce top, highly flamed maple back and sides as well as an ebony fretboard and bridge. the body was bound both front and back with 5 ply cream / black binding. the ebony and pearl headstock sported top of the line kluson sealfast tuners. it was available in either blonde or sunburst finish .
in the late ‘60s, guitar sales were waning, and kay was soon bought out by the valco company (also located in chicago). valco marched on for a few more years, but by the early ‘70s, kay only existed as a brandname attached to japanese import guitars .
though kay may have initially made amplifiers early on, when the company was established it subcontracted its amplifier production to valco. this is interesting because valco / national was their rival in the 1950’s .
according to one of the employees who has worked for kay, kay tried producing some plastic or fiberglass model basses. the one bass found like this had a standard maple neck, rosewood fingerboard, and kay inscribed on the back of the peghead and a rosewood tailpiece with the nickel finish kay metal logo attached. we have still not determined the exact model designation .
kay / valco went out of business soon afterwards, and in 1969 its assets were auctioned off. syl weindling and barry hornstein of w. m. i. (the main importer of teisco del rey products) purchased the kay brand name during this time. as a result of this, the names
teisco
and
kay
were used on teisco del rey guitars for a while in the early 70' s. in 1980 the kay guitar company was purchased by tony blair and is currently active selling kay brand and santa rosa brand guitars, chicago blues harmonicas and accessories and of course the kay vintage reissue line of professional guitars and basses .
true oddities of the 1959 kay catalog were the sizzler guitars that came in one and two pickup versions. the pickguard and headstock designs were a departure from the more traditional kay guitars .
another kay custom kraft' sizzler' sold in april, 2013 on urltoken for $ 1600 .
wtb kay barney kessel jazz special, blond single pu. please contact me: dlnolet @ urltoken
even paul mccarney played a double cutaway kay jazz bass model with wings during their 1970s tour .
company was founded in 1948 and made high quality acoustics. maker of house brand c. f. mountain .
like a tuning fork, the split may double the vibrations to the solid portion of the post and transfer more vibrations to the back of the instrument .
the groeshel mandolin company was established in chicago in 1890. in 1921, the company was renamed to stromberg - voisinet. stromberg - voisinet was the chicago company that became kay around 1931. stromberg - voisinet was one of numerous companies that built musical instruments in chicago in the early part of the 20th century. like regal, harmony and most of their other competitors, stromberg - voisinet made relatively inexpensive instruments that were designed to be sold through catalogs. the 1920s stromberg - voisinet instruments were very well made, given their inexpensive prices, and they generally had a unique designs to attract buyers .
the musical instrument producer recognized henry' s talents and offered him an opportunity to invest in the company, which he did with the help of his father, charles. by 1923, henry kuhrmeyer was listed in the chicago city directory as secretary for stromberg - voisinet. charles, while a businessman in st. paul, minnesota, was listed as the vice - president of stromberg - voisinet in the 1928 chicago city directory .
some of kay' s lower - grade instruments were marketed under the knox and kent brand names .
possibly the kay was embossed on every peghead and then through the sanding and finishing process became invisible .
kay went away from the hand written number beginning with serial number 10, 000 (approx) .
shield tag says (genuine kay bass viol orchestra model no. _ _ _ _ _) .
although kay had been producing this model in the late ‘50s, by 1962 the company had dubbed this thinline the “speed demon. ” these are auditorium–sized guitars (40–¼” x 15”) but were only 1 ¾” thick .
kay offered their first electric guitar in 1936—five years after the rickenbacker frying pan, and the same year as the gibson es - 150. nonetheless, kay is considered an electric guitar pioneer because kuhrmeyer bought their past company, stromberg - voisinet, and produced the first commercial electric guitar, the stromberg electro, in 1928 .
holiday was the logo on alden’s musical instruments. old kraftsmen was sold through the spiegel catalog. orpheum was distributed through the wards catalog. penncrest was the brand sold by j. c. penny. silvertone and supertone were brandnames for sears musical instruments. suprema was distributed in canada by eatons and truetone was sold through western auto stores .
introduced in the 1952 kay catalog, the new k–161 was featured as the newest development in electric guitars .
it seems like barney’s endorsement ended by 1960, and these upscale kay jazz boxes ceased production soon after .
so, if you have a number written on the inside back on a suspected kay bass over 3100 on a concert shape, or over 5000 on a maestro shape, then the bass is probably a kay .
- offering a download containing high quality scans (300 dpi) of the rare original 9
x 12
four - page brochure from my personal archive. this digital brochure of one piece of paper folded to produce 4 pages shows and describes the
instruments by kay standards by kessel
kay kessel guitars produced by the kay musical instrument company in chicago, illinois at this time. black and white illustrations and descriptions of some cool stuff included: kessel jazz special, kessel artist guitar, kessel
pro
guitar and the western rhythm guitar (flattop). also includes a full page showing and describing the silva banjos by kay. silva model, silva
pro
model and silva artist. all instruments include retail prices too! download includes pdf continuous document allowing you to see or print the entire catalog clearly. kelvinators! !... .. great reference material .
i' m unsure if this company existed or not, but since many major electronics manufacturers jumped into the electric guitar market in the 1970s, it seems reasonable that hitachi could have ventured briefly into guitar production. a seller of the badged guitar
splender
claims it was made by this company. yet another seller claims the badge slendon was made by this company .
the inner linings, only visible by close inspection of the instrument' s interior, appeared where the top and back join the ribs. the outer linings were clearly visible showing thin 1 / 2
strips of wood glued to the ribs and running the entire distance around the exterior of the instrument body. the top and back of the instrument extended over the ribs a short distance and the outer linings were installed to provide an additional gluing surface. the inner lining appears to be always kerfed or slotted .
body size, string length, distance from the nut to the top of the base, and depths of the base were dimensions monitored continuously to ensure standards were met. since the target market for kay basses was the beginning student musician, it was important each instrument noted the same .
oahu was not a manufacturing company but a music publishing house. they introduced their own line of musical instruments in the 1920s, sourced primarily from kay / stromberg - voisinet and regal. when electric instruments became popular in the mid 1930s, oahu sourced their electrics from kay and dickerson (which would be come magnatone). a few amps were made by national - dobro. after world war ii, most oahu electrics and amps were built by valco, though some 1940s - 1950s lap steels were built by kay. there is sometimes confusion because a few lap steel models – such as the famous tonemaster – were built by kay and later valco with little cosmetic differences. the valco - built versions can be identified by their string - through pickups .
in the early 1930s when the depression was well underway and many instrument makers were struggling to survive kay contracted stromberg - voisinet a violin maker to build a deluxe arch top acoustic instrument with an adjustable neck other innovative design features. sorry folks but bob taylor guitars didn' t invent the bolt on neck. this kay bolt on neck system is simple, effective and works! in fact this kay system works so well you don' t even need a service technician to perform a neck reset. you can do it in about 3 minutes. just loosen the strings, reach inside and loosen the giant wing nut, adjust the neck how you want it and retighten, done !
collectors generally rate kay slightly above harmony guitars, but both are below gibson in terms of collectability and quality. kay made some fine instruments from stand up basses, cellos to some nice acoustic and electric guitars and basses .
in recent years the brand kay has emerged and is being applied to some student grade instruments made in the far east and pacific rim countries. in checking linkedin, tony blair is still the man in charge of kay .
roger fritz was hired by tony blair in 2010 to develop the vintage reissue line of kay guitars and bass .
1950' s - 60' s kay guitars 6 string parlor guitar, with case. nice, # l7230
mark heller says
vintage kay bass... .... . - rat strat guitars | facebook
direct digital download of a high quality scan of the 1945 kay upright bass print ad shown. scanned directly from original print ad that measured approximately 8 1 / 4
x 11
. a cool early ad for kay that shows slam stewart (then of the benny goodman orchestra) playing his kay five string upright bass. .
playing the 5 - string kay upright basses... . byline is
kay 5 string bass artists place first and second in polls !
.. minor crease evident from fold in source trade paper ...
four questions are included to properly register your kay bass. after answering the questions, send the info, and i will be able to add your kay bass to the database. hopefully with enough input we can learn about kay bass serial numbers and model types. after registration i will provide a date of manufacture for your bass .
shield tag says (genuine kay bass viol _ _ _ _ model ser no. _ _ _) .
just search [ kay archtop walk around ]. head has one of the best kay tin emblems ever made. guitar sounds and looks great! if you push in on the crack it has
no give
it feels solid .
playing the 5 - string kay upright bass... minor crease evident from fold in source trade paper. .
there is an empty space a little larger than a quarter and frequently the word kay is embossed into the wood .
stromberg - voisinet had primarily manufactured mandolins, tenor guitars, tenor banjos and 6 - string guitars under its own brand as well as a large number of other brands, as stromberg - voisinet was an oem supplier to many other manufacturers. kay musical instruments continued this practice; however, kay did sell many instruments under its own brand, “kaykraft. ” kay also made guitars under a few different brand names, such as silvertone, truetone, airline, and old kraftsman, among others sold through catalogs which was the practice in this era .
- this rare complete original 1930' s - 40s carl fischer musical instruments catalog shows and describes the complete line of musical instruments and accessories offered at this time. everything musical from bagpipes to horns, banjos, guitars, violins, fifes, flutes, flageolets, french horns and more. includes 88 pages with a neat color illustration section in the middle. also includes 2 - page order form. please see photos for contents... it' s a dazzling array of fine (now valuable vintage) instruments... (see photos for more about contents )
during the best years for kay, the company was overshadowed by other usa brands, such as gibson, fender, guild, gretsch and martin, who were building superior products. however some of the kay models, both electric and the acoustic archtops were excellent guitars and are now commanding high prices in the vintage market. they were just under appreciated back in the day .
during the same time gibson convinced barney kessel that they would match the deal he had with this company and build him a better guitar .
i also have hohner hg 9 - 12 arbor series 12 string and found some info on it but not what japanese company made it .
kay also built one of the earliest electric bass guitars using the similar “thin” single coil pickups called the pro bass. commonly referred to as the “howlin’ wolf bass” as it was used by andrew “blueblood” mcmahon in the wolf band. the kay pro bass was the second electric bass on the market, built by kay in response to fender’s electric precision bass. unlike the precision bass that has a solid body, the kay pro bass is a hollow body and has a different sound. these original basses are sought after and still used today in some studios. these basses have also been reissued by kay .
also because of customer demand the flat was removed from the fingerboard, giving the fingerboard a rounded appearance. this change helps the student musician
bow
his instrument with less arm movement .
irish musical instrument lessons: 6: 30 p. m. to 7: 30 p. m. wednesday evenings for ages 5 - 18. braintree community arts center, 1969 washington st. , braintree. wednesday evenings group class teaching of the fiddle, flute, accordion and tin - whistle. the type of music taught will be traditional irish music. ages 5 - 18. materials required: take an instrument. rentals available; contact in advance to arrange. cost: $ 25 per class. for information: 781 - 348 - 9241, braintreecommunityartcenter. com .
carl and august larson were swedish immigrants who settled in chicago, hotbed of american instrument manufacturing. they started building instruments for the maurer instrument company, which the brothers purchased for themselves in 1901. the two brothers – alone, without any other workers in their factory – built thousands of guitars for the maurer, dyer, stahl and bruno brands. (aside from maurer, these brands also sourced instruments from other manufacturers). they also built under their own euphonon and prairie state names. however, not one of their
a vintage kay kraft “sizzler” electric guitar, made in 1961, was sold on ebay in january 2012 for $ 1500 .
kay produced a 1 / 4 bass, (m - 3), along with at least three different sized cellos .
tag no 5 shield tag says (genuine kay bass viol concert model no. _ _ _ _ _ _) .
most common tag introduced in 1938 and used until 1969. tag says (genuine kay bass viol _ _ _ _ model
the s models sported the inlaid purfling on the front, back and around the f - holes .
f
holes would be bound. (s models). a very early s model manufactured for the selmer musical instrument co. had the f - holes purfled, however the purfling was at the very edge of the hole, not set back from the edge of the hole .
in 1954 the company offered its first bass guitar called the model k - 162 electronic bass. this remained in the catalog for many years .
the matsumoto musical instrument manufacturers association was the organization responsible for fresher guitars. little is known about this association, other than it did not have larger guitar manufacturers matsumoku or fujigen gakki as members. nakai gakki was a possible member of the association. fresher guitars began production in 1973 by the kyowa shokai company, an association member, which was also responsible for the camel badge. it' s interesting to note that fresher guitars were eventually being produced by chushin, which leads me to believe that they may have been an association member along with kyowa. the beginning production year was considered a low quality benchmark for the company. the fresher brand continuously improved in quality until 1980 .
stromberg - voisinet is particulary well - known among serious students of stringed instrument design for its unique “venetian” body shape, which was used for its mandolins, tenor guitars and 6 - string guitars .
1960s kay 6109 western dreadnought, freshly set up. kay made this model in the 40s, 50s and 60s, labeling them either as “western” or “western rhythm. ”. the pointy pickguard probably makes this a 60s example (i think) .
kay k - 161 thin twin electric guitars made from 1952 to 1959. this one looks like early 1950s (but hard to tell exact date). commonly referred to as the “jimmy reed” guitar because he was pictured on an album cover with one. the kay musical instrument company mass produced instruments in the usa and the k - 161 thin twin was introduced not long after gibson’s les paul. the thin twin is a semi - hollow body guitar and is not a thin - line. it is larger than its name “thin” implies as it is really a reference to the unique appearance of the dual pickups, having a very slim “blade” profile. the guitar’s body was 2 3⁄4 inches (70 mm) deep. underneath the pickguard these thin blade pickups are actually large single coil pickups .
i have my father' s mandolin which he told me he bought when he was around 16 or 17 years old. so i am guessing that he bought it somewhere between 1943 - 1945. it is made by kay musical instrument company and has their full name in the logo. it is also stamped k63 inside. i am wondering if anyone can tell me anything about its worth, if my guess on the age is correct or any other information that i might find useful or interesting. i am wondering if it is worth fixing it up (my 15 year old son has fallen in love with it) or if this is going to create further problems with the instrument or whether i would be better off looking for a newer mandolin. it is missing the e strings and is missing a screw that holds the pick - guard in place, otherwise to my untrained eye it looks to be in fairly decent condition. the strings still remaining however are all original to the instrument (my dad said his fingers were too thick for him to play so he quit) and i was told that sometimes when you change out the original strings on an old instrument that things start to fall apart. any information or advice would be very much appreciated. thanks
kay musical instrument company was a musical instrument manufacturer of the united states , in operation since the 1930s until the 1960s . it was established in 1931 at chicago , illinois by henry kay kuhrmeyer , from the assets of the former stromberg-voisinet , which was founded as groeschel mandolin company in 1890 . kay offered their first electric guitar in 1936 — five years after the rickenbacker frying pan , and the same year as the gibson es-150 . nonetheless , kay is considered an electric guitar pioneer because kuhrmeyer bought their past company , stromberg-voisinet , and produced the first commercial electric guitar , the stromberg electro , in 1928 . 
kay musical instrument company was a musical instrument manufacturer of the united states, in operation since the 1930s until the 1960s. it was established in 1931 at chicago, illinois by henry kay kuhrmeyer, from the assets of the former stromberg-voisinet, which was founded as groeschel mandolin company in 1890. kay offered their first electric guitar in 1936 — five years after the rickenbacker frying pan, and the same year as the gibson es-150. nonetheless, kay is considered an electric guitar pioneer because kuhrmeyer bought their past company, stromberg-voisinet, and produced the first commercial electric guitar, the stromberg electro, in 1928.
kay musical instrument company was a musical instrument manufacturer of the united states, in operation since the 1930s until the 1960s. it was established in 1931 at chicago, illinois by henry kay kuhrmeyer, from the assets of the former stromberg-voisinet, which was founded as groeschel mandolin company in 1890. kay offered their first electric guitar in 1936 — five years after the rickenbacker frying pan, and the same year as the gibson es-150. nonetheless, kay is considered an electric guitar pioneer because kuhrmeyer bought their past company, stromberg-voisinet, and produced the first commercial electric guitar, the stromberg electro, in 1928.