Chicago was a key city in the story of American instrument manufacture; notable guitar brands hailing from the windy city included Harmony, National, Supro (both made by Valco), Silvertone and of course Kay.
N-3 is a model designation that is stamped inside of Kay guitars from the era you are referring to.it designates a slightly fancier model than the N-2.if its got a spruce top its a solid wood pressed archtop and probably from the fifties.the laminated maple back and sides on N-3's are usually of good grade flame maple.figure varies from pretty good to spectacular.they almost.
- Kay Guitars Kay instruments have never featured meaningful serial num- bers, so basically there is no way other than approximation to de- termine when a specific instrument was made. Electric instru- men ts should have American-made potentiometers whlch are date- coded. That will give you the earliest date the guitar could have.
- Identification is complicated by the fact that Kay re-assigned these numbers around 1960, so many models have two different model numbers, one which was used in the '50 and another in the '60s, despite being the same guitar.
Like most early American guitar companies, they actually started out producing other acoustic instruments; the marque actually evolved from the Groeschel Mandolin Company, with 'Kay' not finding use until 1931. Kay upright basses were highly regarded in the 50s and 60s.
Bluesman Jimmy Reed with his Kay Thin Twin
In the 1950s and early 1960s, Kay was famous for a number of entry, mid level and rather respectable electric acoustic guitars, most notably Barney Kessel Jazz Special, and the Thin Twin, famously played by bluesman Jimmy Reed. They also produced amplifiers, although this was subcontracted to Valco in the '50s. But Kay (along with Harmony and other manufacturers) also manufactured numerous guitars with alternate branding for the American department stores of the time: Silvertone (Sears), Sherwood and Airline (Montgomery Ward), Old Kraftsman (Spiegel), Custom Kraft (St. Louis Music), Truetone (Western Auto), and Penncrest (JC Penney). How to install mods on uplink.
Sales were good and production moved to a new plant, Elk Grove Village, still in Illinois. Cat gp25k manual. Kay were distributed by Hohner in the UK, gaining niche respect from the ranks of Chicgo blues fans making up many British bands at the time. But like so many American manufacturers of the time, Kay were hit by increasingly strong competition from overseas (especially Japanese) guitar makers. The mid 1960s, although a time for massive guitar sales in the US were a time of massive uncertainty for Kay, with the company sold twice in two years, briefly merging with Valco in 1967, before both companies went under in 1968. This was the end of US Kay production, though the Kay name was again resold to distributor Weiss Musical Instruments who went on to release numerous Kay-branded Japanese Teisco solid bodies from 1973 onwards.
List of Kay guitar models
Electric Acoustic
Kessel Jazz Special 8700 8701
Kessel Artist 6700 6701
Kessel 'Pro' 1700 1701
K Up Beat K8980 K8990
Jazz II K775
Pacer K6540 K6550
Red Devil K592
Speed Demon K571 K573
Swing Master K6970 K672 K673
Thin Twin 'II' K5910
Value Leader K6533
Kessel Jazz Special 8700 8701
Kessel Artist 6700 6701
Kessel 'Pro' 1700 1701
K Up Beat K8980 K8990
Jazz II K775
Pacer K6540 K6550
Red Devil K592
Speed Demon K571 K573
Swing Master K6970 K672 K673
Thin Twin 'II' K5910
Value Leader K6533
Solid Body
Double Cutaway Solid K300
Sizzler K4140 K4144
Electric Basses
Electric Bass K5965
Jazz Bass Special K5970
Double Cutaway Solid K300
Sizzler K4140 K4144
Electric Basses
Electric Bass K5965
Jazz Bass Special K5970
Kay Guitar Serial Number Lookup
Acoustic
Auditorium K5160
Concert K8160
Concerto K7020
Classic K7000
Maestro K7010
Master Cutaway K8950
Solo Special K8127
Standard K1160
Stylist K6437
Auditorium K5160
Concert K8160
Concerto K7020
Classic K7000
Maestro K7010
Master Cutaway K8950
Solo Special K8127
Standard K1160
Stylist K6437
German ebay listings
Klassischer 1960 Kay Gitarre Verkabelung Gurt F端r Zoll Speed Bump ' Tonabnehmer
Current price: €96.25
Time left: 20d 21h 42m
Current price: €96.25
Time left: 20d 21h 42m
Schwarz Klassischer 1960s Kay Japan Glocke Gitarre Abdeckung
Current price: €22.50
Time left: 1d 4h 37m
Current price: €22.50
Time left: 1d 4h 37m
![Kay Kay](https://chrisguitars.com/kay60swingmaster-k6970-2.jpg)
Keyence gt2 series user manual. See more results on eBay here