1954 Kay K10 Auditorium Size(OOO) Acoustic Guitar

Here we have a 1950's Kay 000 size acoustic guitar.  This guitar is in about as good a shape as you will find for something its age.  You will see from the pictures how clean it is.  She required a little work to get her into fine playing shape, but hey, they all do.  All we really had to do on this one was a neck reset.  Now she plays perfect.

This guitar came to me as a package deal with the Maybell from the previous post which has caused it to suffer a bit of an unfortunate fate.  If it had come on its own without competition from the Maybell, I would probably be spending a lot of time with it right now.  It is a fine player and really comfortable to hold and perform on.  The problem is the Maybell of the previous post is crushing everything in its path.  Tonally, this Kay has a vibe but can't compete with the Maybell.  The difference is most likely in the wood composition as it seems the Maybell is all solid woods.  Kays were known for there use of laminates and I believe this guitar probably showcases some of that laminate.  The slightly smaller body size and use of laminates leaves you with a slightly less refined tone.  Nonetheless, it is a spunky player and a joy to practice on.

This model was made in the 1950's.  There is a cool website out there called the King Of Kays(www.kingofkays.com) that has a nice listing of Kay catalogs that has this exact model in a 1954 catalog.  Kay made a number of these 000 size bodies with different wood combinations throughout the 50's and 60's.  I'm not sure how many years this model was in production.  The catalog claims that this guitar has "genuine" mahogany top, back and sides.  I'm not sure what the word "genuine" does for us in terms of describing if the guitar is made of hardwoods or laminates.  Catalog claims use of a rosewood fretboard and bridge.  I have a thing for these Kay bridges and try to save them whenever we can.  Many times the string slots have to be repaired after years of wire cutting into them, but I feel it is worth it.  These bridge types are synonymous with Kay products and a great way to help you identify the brand.

This guitar has a 15" wide lower bout - 10.5" wide upper bout and a 25.5 " scale.  The nut width is 1.5", but feels bigger due to the depth and shape of the neck.  This has that classic Kay baseball bat feel to it which I love.  This guitar is a great fingerpicker, but if you are looking to hit it a bit harder you might want to opt for a Kay dread(one of my favorites) or a Kay jumbo as they can both handle a hefty strum a lot better.  This is a fun guitar, nice playing instrument.  We all know it can't compete with your 000 1950's Martin, but then again you should be able to pick one of these up without having to clean out the bank account which has always been one of the greatest draws to these instruments for me.

cool, slightly retro style headstock logo that comes in a plate form.  You don't see many of these

classic Kay headstock shape.  another great way to identify the brand

Kay loved using Kluson tuners

an unfortunately meaningless serial number.  wish that Kay had given us a better way to date their instruments.  Harmony was often able to do it and they were producing just as much as Kay was.