From The Workbench - 1960's Kay Dreadnaughts

A couple of posts ago we had a look at a 1960's Kay Dreadnaught.  This is a really unique instrument so I thought I would share a few photos of a couple of other Kays that are being worked on.


Here is a Kay Dread that I have on the workbench right now.  This guitar is in need of a lot of attention.  I initially had to shim the nut and make a new saddle for it.  The neck angle was a bit off so I was hoping to avoid having to do a neck reset by monkeying with the saddle and nut a bit.  No such luck.  The action was screwy and with the neck angle being sufficiently off as well as some space showing between the heel and body a neck reset was needed.

The difficulties of restoring this instrument have been compounded by the fact that it has been worked on before.  This was clear to me before I took the neck off as I could see some glue between the heel and body.  There were numerous other tell tale signs that this guitar had been worked on before.  A cardboard shim for the nut, a poorly cleated crack, etc.  None of the work is professional and only makes things more difficult now.  But hey, I'm not a pro either.  I'll have a go at getting this guitar back together again properly.


These guitars deserve our diligence.  They are made with quality, solid woods and are usually built like battleships capable of withstanding some blows that many other guitars might not be able to handle.  In terms of the woods that are used - I'm not sure who was using what back in those days.  Was Kay using a less quality spruce than Martin or Gibson?  I would think the wood quality was pretty similar.  This guitar is spruce and mahogany with a rosewood bridge and fretboard.  The difference I would guess would be in the craftsmanship.

We have to assume that the attention to detail in the old Martin and Gibson factories was a bit superior to the attention being given in the Kay factory.  You can generally see something on many Kay guitars that could have been done better if the object wasn't to just push out as many guitars as they did.  I don't doubt that there were many skilled craftsman in the Kay factory.  I just believe they were probably forced to take some short cuts or work a little quicker.

Have to repair the heel joint as a few pieces pulled off when I steamed the neck off.  I can usually get the necks of quite cleanly, but this neck had been off before which may have compromised the joint.

The second photo shows the kluson deluxe tuners that Kay often used on many models.  They are in good shape as you can see.

The third photo is the Kay bridge.  A singular design and good piece of rosewood.  Kay often attached their bridges with a bolt on both sides of the bridge along with glue.  The design for the bridge is one you will see on most Kays and is a great way to help identify their products.

I really like these guitars, but they can be a bit persnickity with regards to the repair process.  I have seen them cause really skilled luthiers to pull their hair out.  A lot of work to do on this one.  We'll see how it turns out.