Killer Kays!!

Top Row(L to R) - Truetone electric archtop, Orpheum 1/2 size terz guitar, Kay jumbo - Bottom Row(l to R) - Kay jumbo, Kay Value Leader, Kay Dread, Thin Twin

I've always had a thing for Kay guitars.  Many of them come with really good parts, some pretty nice woods and in some cases are solidly built.  I keep going back to them over and over again.  That dreadnought down in front is my number one guitar.  Every person that picks it up is blown away by its tone when they strum that first chord.  I think one of the biggest reasons I love these Kays is that many of them come with big fat necks - which i happen to love.  Most will need work if you are buying through ebay, but they are worth it.  James Ralston has worked on four of the pictured instruments and they are a joy to play.  Just thought i would upload a little family photo for the fun of it.  Here are some closer views.

2016 Gibson Hummingbird

If you follow this blog at all, then you must be wondering if this guitar is lost and can't find it's way home.  Yes, it is a brand new Gibson Hummingbird and plays a major role in one of the most wonderful guitar stories that you will ever hear.

Many moons ago, i purchased my wife an engagement ring, she accepted(much to her chagrin now!!) and returned the favor by buying me a brand new Gibson Hummingbird.  We would go out together and make an occasional stop at a local music store that had the Hummingbird and I wouldn't be able to keep my hands off of it.  At that time of my life(or any time for that matter), a Gibson Hummingbird and its price point was pretty high cotton for me.  Nonetheless, I had no intentions of purchasing it.  Well, some time later after I had presented the ring to my wife she presented me with the guitar after becoming acquainted with it by our visits to the music shop.

What a wonderful gift!!  I was blown away.  Unbeknownst to me, the neck was really wonky.  It had a nice twist in the upper register.  If you played it in first position it was fine.  Throw a capo on it and she had a tough time staying in tune.  This was a time in my life when i wasn't particularly guitar savvy.  I had really only owned one(a Taylor) and was playing out night after night with it with no real technical problems.  So i wasn't really sure what to do with the Gibson.  I had taken it to a repairman or two and no one wanted to touch it.  Nor was I aware of the lifetime warranty - i know - shame on me.

Well fast forward almost 20 years and that lifetime warranty really paid off.  I had mentioned the Hummingbird and the neck issues to my buddy Chris Carey at Parkway Music in Clifton Park, NY.  Parkway is an authorized Gibson dealer so Chris told me to bring it by.  He would look at it and see if it warranted sending it back to Gibson.  Chris looked it over, agreed the neck was a mess and sent the guitar back to Gibson Montana.  My wife still had the original receipt which made the return process a lot easier.

After a fair amount of back and forth between Chris and Gibson, it was agreed that the guitar was highly unplayable and that instead of fixing it, they would replace it with a brand new Gibson Hummingbird Standard.

Here is a link that provides all the specs and some great photos
http://www.gibson.com/Products/Acoustic-Instruments/2016/Hummingbird-Standard.aspx

A few weeks later Chris called me and said that the guitar was in and that he had a surprise for me as well.  I went to pick it up and it played like a dream.  It was set up perfect and sounded amazing.  I can hardly imagine what it will sound like in ten years when everything settles in.  The surprise was that Gibson had sent me back my old Hummingbird as well.  They advised that they knew it was sentimental and felt it needed to stay with me.  Chris said he had never seen or heard of anything like this.  What an effort by Gibson and Chris at Parkway Music to make things right.  I was blown away.  I didn't have to do a thing.  Chris handled all the details at Parkway Music.  All I had to do was pay the return shipping. Incredible!! 

That's some good old fashioned, stand by your product, made in the USA stuff right there.  This blog has always been about the off brand guitar, but even I would have to admit that Harmony, Kay , Regal, etc never offered a lifetime warranty like the one Gibson does. 

Gibson for life

Me and Marie

I just received a royalty check from CD Baby last week.  Not exactly going to pay the mortgage, but a fun piece of mail to receive.

So lets take a moment to remind you that "Me and Marie" can be found at www.cdbaby.com/edcarey

You can listen to clips of each track and purchase the whole record or simply download a single track.  It's an amazing resource for the independent musician. 

Thousands and thousands of people have perused this blog.  If only I could get each person to spend .99¢ on a track.

And for all you funky guitar lovers - You will get a peek of my first electric guitar rig on the CD cover - an old Japanese, teisco/hy-lo setup that has since been retired.