Kay Musical Instrument Company

Kay's archtop electric guitars in 1961. L to R: Swing Master K673, Swing Master K672, Truetone Jazz King

Kay Musical Instrument Company was a prolific American manufacturer of musical instruments that operated from the 1930s through the 1960s. Although Kay's first electric guitar was offered in 1936 (the same year as Gibson ES-150, five years after the Frying pan), Kay is known as an electric guitar pioneer  because their past company Stromberg-Voisinet produced the first commercial electric guitar, the Stromberg Electro, in 1928.

Overview

Stromberg-Voisinet Banjo Ukulele

Early history

The Kay Musical Instrument Company grew from the Groeschel Mandolin Company (or Groehsl Instrument Company) in Chicago, established in 1890. In 1921, the company was renamed to Stromberg-Voisinet. In 1923, later president Henry Kay "Hank" Kuhrmeyer joined the company, and in 1928, with the help of the investor, he bought the company and started producing electric guitars and amplifiers.

The new company, "Kay Musical Instruments" was formally established in 1931^{[citation needed]} from the assets of the former Stromberg-Voisinet company by Kuhrmeyer.

Activity

The company initially manufactured only traditional folk instruments,^{[citation needed]} but eventually grew to make a wide variety of stringed instruments, including violins, cellos, banjos, upright basses, and a variety of different types of guitars including Spanish acoustics, Hawaiian lap steels, hollow-body acoustic-electrics, and solid-body electrics. Some of Kay's lower-grade instruments were marketed under the Knox and Kent brand names.

In addition to manufacturing instruments for sale under its own brands, Kay was also a very prolific manufacturer of "house branded" guitars and folk instruments for other Chicago-based instrument makers, and, at times, even for major department stores including Sears and Montgomery Ward.

Kay also made guitar amplifiers, beginning with designs carried over from the old Stromberg company. Kay eventually subcontracted its amplifier production to Chicago music industry rival Valco in the 1950s.

Retirement of Kuhrmeyer

After the retirement of Kuhrmeyer in 1955, the company was taken over by Sidney M. Katz. The product line of Kay was shifted toward electric musical instruments on demands, and in 1964, the company moved to a new factory in Elk Grove Village, Illinois. In 1965 Katz sold Kay to Seeburg Corporation, and he became the head of Seeburg's musical instrument division. In 1967, Kay was resold and merged with Valco, but dissolved in 1968 due to financial problems.

Revive

The assets of Kay/Valco was auctioned off in 1969. The upright bass and cello lines were bought by Engelhardt-Link, a new company formed by previous Valco member, and still continues the production (see #Kay Basses for details). The Kay name and some of its trademarks (such as Knox) were acquired by Teisco's importer, Weiss Musical Instruments, who went on to market imported guitars and amplifiers under those brands.^{[citation needed]}

In 2008-2009, Kay Guitar Company in California reissued 12 models of vintage Kay guitars and basses manufactured by Fritz Brothers Guitars.

Kay guitars

A vintage 1960s "Truetone" archtop electric made by Kay

Kay primarily produced inexpensive department store style guitars from the 1930s to the 1960s under various brand names. As well as their own name, Kay manufactured guitars branded as 'Silvertone' for Sears, 'Sherwood' and 'Airline' for Montgomery Wards, 'Old Kraftsman' for Spiegel, 'Custom Kraft' for St. Louis Music, 'Truetone' for Western Auto, 'Penncrest' for JC Penney, etc. Also, Kay produced a line of archtop acoustics called Kamico.

Kay’s current line includes low priced acoustic, electric and bass guitars, and moderately priced banjos, ukuleles, mandolins and resonators. They also sell the Chicago Blues line of inexpensive harmonicas.

Gold “K” Line

Gold "K" headstock

Barney Kessel Pro

In 1957 president Sydney Katz introduced the Gold “K” line of archtop and solid body electric guitars to compete with major manufacturers like Fender, Gibson, and Gretsch. The gold “K” Line featured the Jazz Special, Artist, Pro, Upbeat, Jazz II, and Jazz Special Bass. Gold “K” guitars used the same hardware as top manufacturers. However, there were truss rod and neck issues.^{[citation needed]}

Gold models had single coil pickups with clear silver plastic covers and phillips head bolt adjustable pole pieces. The Upbeat model came with an optional transparent black plastic cover. These pickups appeared on Kay instruments through the late 1960s and are sometimes referred to as “Kessel” or “Kleenex Box” pickups.^{[citation needed]} The Jazz Special Bass has a single coil chrome pickup.

Valued among collectors, the headstocks from 1957-1960 featured a reverse painted plastic overlay similar to the Kelvinator logo. The guitars featured art deco patterns. It was difficult to get players to take Kay’s high end entry seriously, and the Gold line was discontinued in 1962.

Kamico

Kamico guitars were the lower-priced versions of Kay's original guitars, and among the first guitars to use a humbucker type pickup, predating Gibson by some few years. Produced along with Kay brand name guitars from 1931–1951, according to most sources. The most recognizable model is the Jumbo Jazz.

Kay Basses

Gretsch Tone King (1939) by Kay

Kay also began to produce in 1937 a 3/4 size upright bass, which is widely believed to be the Concert or C-1 bass. Much like the guitars manufactured, the basses were hand crafted by skilled craftsmen using special ordered machinery. They even had a hot stamping machine that could emboss the trademark KAY cursive script. The Engelhardt-Link company bought the upright bass and cello lines at the auction of Kay/Valco assets in 1969, and has continued to produce the same line of instruments to this day. Still manufactured in Elk Grove Village, Illinois, Engelhardt basses and cellos are sturdy instruments widely used by students and touring professionals. The ES9 Swingmaster bass (formerly the Kay S9 Swingmaster), is highly thought-of by jazz, swing, and bluegrass musicians.

Notable players

Alvin Youngblood Hart American blues guitarist/songwriter Annie Clark of St. Vincent Barney Kessel, American jazz/blues guitarist/session musician prominent in the 1950s and 60’s. Kessel endorsed the Jazz Special, Artist and Pro guitars, but left to join Gibson after three years. Big Joe Williams, American blues guitarist/songwriter. Bob Dylan Diablo Dimes, singer/songwriter/guitarist Eric Clapton, Singer and lead guitarist of the band Cream Howlin' Wolf, blues singer

Jack White, American singer/guitarist of rock bands The White Stripes, The Raconteurs and The Dead Weather. Jimmy Reed, Chicago blues singer/guitarist - Reed's guitar tone is the most famous example of the unique, thick & biting "Kay sound." Paul McCartney of The Beatles Phil Alvin of The Blasters Robert DeLeo and Dean DeLeo of the Stone Temple Pilots Robert Pete Williams, American blues guitarist/songwriter Ry Cooder Sarah Mclachlan Sheryl Crow

Gallery

Kay Thin Twin (1952–1960) / Silvertone 1369L (1957)	Kay Style Leader #1983 (ca.1960)	Kay Value Leader K5962 6-string Electric Bass owned by Rory Gallagher	Kay Value Leader #1963 (ca.1960)	Kay Value Leader #1961 (ca.1960)
Truetone Jazz King (1960s) / Kay  Speed Demon K573	Kay K1160 parlor guitar (ca.1966)	Kay Speed Demon K318 / Silvertone 1413L	Kay Fuzz Tone

See also

Related brand Silvertone (instruments) Airline (guitar) Teisco

Related companies Stromberg-Voisinet Seeburg Valco

Notes

Media

References

History

• "A short timeline of Kay and Engelhardt upright basses". Everything 2. http://www.everything2.com/index.pl?node_id=1257039.  — compact timeline, based on below.
• "A history of Kay and Engelhardt upright basses". KayBass.com. http://www.kaybass.com/history.htm.  — detailed history.
• "The Story of Kay Guitars". MogrelGuitars.com. http://www.mongrelguitars.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=24&Itemid=52.  — history focused on development of electric guitar, based on another references.
• "Kay History". KingOfKays.com. http://kingofkays.com/history.aspx.  — yet another short history which covers slightly different topics.

Models

• "Kay Vintage Catalog (1953-1987)". Kay Musical Instruments / Kay Guitar Company. http://www.kayvintagereissue.com/downloads.html. 
• "Antique Vintage Guitars Info". http://home.provide.net/~cfh/other.html. 
• "Vintage American". KingOfKays.com. http://kingofkays.com/American.aspx. 

Further reading

• Jay Scott (1992). 50’s Cool: Kay Guitars. Second String Press. pp. 64 pages. ISBN 978-1880422014. 

External links

Current companies

• Engelhardt-Link, upright bass and cello manufacturer which took over Kay's product lines in 1969
• Kay Guitar Company, which uses Kay brand in 2000s (decade) (not the successor)
  • Kay Vintage Reissue, a division of Kay Guitar Company
  • Fritz Brothers Guitars, manufacturer of "Kay Vintage Reissue"

Vintage Kay (1930s–1960s)

• King of Kays — History of the Kay company and information and photos of vintage Kays.
• KayBass.com — Kay Bass Information and Registration

More models (–1980s)

• Vintaxe.com — American Guitar Gallery
• Guy Mackenzie. "The guitar collection". http://www.theguitarcollection.org.uk.  — 1980s Korean models, K-45 Travel guitar and LP Synth.