About Bill Ruxton Expertise What kind of old guitar do I have? Is it valuable? How old is it? Where was it made? Is it worth repairing? Advice on buying new or used guitars, accessories, etc. [Note: While I can give some general info on approximate values of types of instruments, neither I nor anyone else can do an "appraisal" without actually seeing and handling the instrument] I have almost 40 years` experience as a player and afficianado. If I don`t have an answer myself, I can often refer people to other authoritative sources.
Question There's a guitar I saw for sale at a pawn shop, really old, worn down. The headstock says Kay guitars, and I was cxureious as to what model it is.
It's got two pickups, a kind of red-brown finish, and these strange pickups that have some kind faux diamond cover on them. It seems to have a stoptail designed to have w whammy bar, but the bar is missing.
I wasn't able to find much information, except on Vintaxe.com, I found a catalog cover with the guitar on the cover. The direct image link is: http://www.vintaxe.com/catalogs/thumb_1965kay.jpg
but it's on this page: http://www.vintaxe.com/catalogs_american_kay.htm
And it's on the cover of the 1962 full catalog.
I believe that to be the shape of the guitat I saw, or similiar.
It's strange, the string bridge is a block of wood, I don't know if the original owner replaced the original, or if that's how it was designed.
The Kay versions had the “Kelvinator” headstock, which had a clear plastic overlay over a black or white plastic layer with gold-colored dots and a big “K.” The "faux diamond" (clear plastic) pickup covers are known as “Kleenex boxes,” named for the clear plastic Kleenex box covers that were popular in the 60s. The '62 catalog shows a model with what looks like a genuine Bigsby vibrato, but I’ve seen these with cheaper vibratos apparently made by Kay. I think this model was known as the “Jazz II,” and the headstock design and pickup covers were similar to those on Kay’s Barney Kessel models.
Although these models were never serious threats to more expensive "name brand" models, they had a sound of their own, and with a proper setup, were playable, although most came from the factory with high action. The block of wood is certainly not the original bridge.
The Kelvinator headstock and Kleenex box pickups have some appeal to some collectors. Later versions of this model had a “half-Kelvinator" overlay that only covered part of the head, and these are less desirable.
The original Kay Musical Instrument Company, of Chicago, went out of business in 1968, and the name was acquired by an importer of cheaply-made Asian instruments.
Any used guitar is worth only what some buyer is willing to pay for it, and condition and originality are big factors in its value. In excellent, all-original condition, I’ve seen these models sell for up to around $800. Lesser condition (severe wear, non-working electronics, etc.), modifications, and non-original or missing parts all would reduce its value greatly.
