Kay Musical Instrument Company

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Kay Musical Instrument Company (often referred to simply as Kay) is an American musical instrument manufacturer established in 1931 by namesake Henry "Kay" Kuhrmeyer and based in Chicago, Illinois. It was formed when Kuhrmeyer bought out his financial backers in the instrument manufacturer Stromberg-Voisinet. They produced guitars, mandolins, banjos, ukuleles and were known for their use of lamination in the construction of arched top instruments.[1]

The company operated independently until 1965 when they were purchased by the Seeburg Corporation, a jukebox manufacturer.[2] In 1967, the company was sold to Valco citing decreasing profits due to imported Japanese instruments.[3][4] In 1969, rights to name "Kay" was acquired by Weiss Musical Instruments (WMI) . The brand has been used by several manufacturers since then, mainly attached to Asian import guitars.[5][6]

Kay offered their first electric guitar in 1936 — five years after the Rickenbacker Frying pan, and the same year as the Gibson ES-150. However, Kuhrmeyer with Stromberg-Voisinet had announced the "Stromberg Electro" even earlier, in 1928, possibly making the short-lived model the first commercial electric guitar.[7][8][9][10] However, no copies exist, and there is speculation that the Electro was never produced.[11]

Overview

Early history (1890–1931)

Script error: No such module "Multiple image". The Kay Musical Instrument Company grew from the Andrew Groehsl Company (or Groehsl Mandolin Company[12]) in Chicago, established in 1890.[13] In 1921, Groehsl's company was purchased by Henry "Kay" Kuhrmeyer, Frank Voisinet, and Charles Stromberg and renamed to Stromberg-Voisinet. In 1928, with the help of an investor,[13] Kuhrmeyer bought out his partners, renamed the company, and started producing electric guitars and amplifiers.[14]

The new company, "Kay Musical Instruments" was formally established in 1931.[6] As its predecessor had primarily commercialized its products under its own brand as well as a large number of other brands, Kay Musical Instruments would continue that practice.[6]

Activity on Kuhrmeyer-era (1931–1955)

Script error: No such module "Multiple image". The company initially manufactured only traditional folk instruments such as mandolins, tenor guitars and banjos,[6] but eventually grew to make a wide variety of stringed instruments, including violins, cellos, double basses and a variety of different types of guitars, including electric, classical, lap steel and semi-acoustic models.

In addition to manufacturing instruments for sale under its own brands (like Kay Kraft and Kamico), Kay was also a prolific manufacturer of guitars for retailers across the nation who would order instruments with custom branding to be resold as "house brand" instruments.[15]

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.

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Electric-shift & Decline on Katz-era (1955–1968)

File:Kay Swing Master K673, K672 & Truetone Jazz King (Kay Speed Demon K573).jpg
Kay's archtop electric guitars in 1961: (L to R) Swing Master K673, K672,[16] Truetone Jazz King[17]

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.[13]

Revive (1969–present)

The assets of Kay/Valco were auctioned off in 1969. The upright bass and cello lines were sold to Engelhardt-Link, a new company formed by a previous Valco member, which has continued production (see #Kay basses for details). The Kay name (and some of its trademarks, such as Knox were acquired by Teisco importer, Weiss Musical Instruments (WMI, by Sylvain Weindling and Barry Hornstein),[17] who put the Kay name on the Teisco products beginning in 1973, and continued on through the 1970s.[18]Template:Sfn

In 1980, A.R. Enterprises (Tony Blair) purchased the Kay trademark.Template:Sfn In 2008–2009, The "Kay Guitar Company" of California reissued 12 models of vintage Kay guitars and basses[19] manufactured by Fritz Brothers Guitars.[20] As of 2013, production and sales of these guitars have continued.[21]

Kay guitars

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Kay is best known for their large production of student-grade, budget instruments but also built higher quality instruments that were used by professional artists of the time including a line of electric guitars endorsed by Barney Kessel. Kay sold guitars under their own name as well as a plethora of brand names such as Silvertone for Sears, Sherwood and Airline for Montgomery Ward, Old Kraftsman for Spiegel, Rex for Gretsch, Custom Kraft for St. Louis Music Supply Company,[17] Truetone for Western Auto,[22] 'Penncrest' for JC Penney, etc.[23]

The current line of Kay instruments sold by A.R. Enterprises include low-priced acoustic, electric and bass guitars, and moderately priced banjos, ukuleles, mandolins and resonators. All imported from China.

K-161 Thin Twin guitar and K-162 Electronic Bass

Script error: No such module "Multiple image". One of the best known Kay electric guitars during the 1950s was the K-161 Thin Twin, most visibly used by blues artist Jimmy Reed. This instrument debuted in 1952, and featured a single cutaway body, a distinctive "fire stripe" tortoiseshell pickguard, and a pair of thin blade-style pickups.

Also in 1952, Kay introduced the matching K-162 "Electronic" Bass, which was the first commercially available thinline-hollowbody electric bass guitar, and the second production electric bass guitar after the Fender Precision Bass debuted in 1951. Due to the use of K-162 by a bassist of Howlin' Wolf, Andrew "Blueblood" McMahon, it is commonly known as the "Howlin Wolf" bass. These instrumentsScript error: No such module "Unsubst". are believed to be the first semi-hollow electricsScript error: No such module "Unsubst". (i.e., thinline-hollowbody electric with solid center-block), predating the Gibson ES-335 by six years. Their unique designScript error: No such module "Unsubst". featured a flat top with no f-holes, a free-floating arched back, and two braces running along the top. The result was a semi-acoustic instrument that was feedback-resistant while retaining natural acoustic resonances. In 1954, Kay added the K-160 bass to its catalog with baritone tuning, according to the catalog,Script error: No such module "Unsubst". "tuned like the first four guitar strings but one octave lower." Structurally this bass was basically same as K-162 bass, except for the higher pitched tuning and the addition of a white pickguard.

In the late 1950s, various guitars in the Kay line were assigned new model numbers; according to the 1959 catalog, the Thin Twin became K5910 and the Electronic Bass became K5965.[24] Both instruments remained in Kay's catalog offerings with only minor cosmetic variations until 1966, when Kay revamped its entire guitar line to only feature budget instruments. Kay also manufactured versions of the Thin Twin guitar under the Silvertone (Sears) and Old Kraftsman (Spiegel) brands.

Gold "K" Line

Script error: No such module "Multiple image". In 1957, president Sydney Katz introduced the Gold "K" line of archtop and solid body electric guitars[20] to compete with major manufacturers like Fender, Gibson, and Gretsch. The gold "K" Line featured the Jazz Special, Artist, Pro, Upbeat,[24] Jazz II, and Jazz Special Bass. Gold "K" guitars used the same hardware as top manufacturers. However, there were truss rod and neck issues.[25] Kay's "Thin Lite" truss rods introduced on mid-tier instruments in the 1960s often become dislodged and inoperable. They may be repaired by a luthier.

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. The Jazz Special Bass has a single blade pickup as used on the K-161 and K-162 (tilted slightly towards the neck at the treble side), as well as a distinctive, oversized headstock.

Valued among collectors, the headstocks from 1957 to 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 Kay discontinued the Gold line in 1962.

Kay basses

Script error: No such module "Multiple image". In 1937, Kay began to produce a 3/4 size upright bass, which is widely believed to be their Concert or C-1 bass. Like their guitar manufacturing, 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.

After the dissolve of Kay/Valco in 1968, the Engelhardt-Link Company bought the upright bass and cello lines at the asset auction in 1969, and continue to produce the same instrument lines until today. 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. In August 2019 Upton Bass String Instrument Company purchased the bass and cello-making equipment, formerly owned by Kay, from Engelhardt-Link.

Notable players

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See also

Bibliography

Notes

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References

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  5. ↑ The Story of Kay Guitars, Told in 10 Reverb Listings by Frank Meyers, Jul 18, 2017 por Frank Meyers
  6. ↑ a b c d Kay History on Chasing Guitars website
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  22. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1". – "Truetone" was a registered trademark for musical instruments owned by Western Auto since 1964/1966 until 1989 (or since 1945/1947 until 1992 for radio receiver on trademark 71485315).
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History
  • Script error: No such module "citation/CS1". — compact timeline, based on the below.
  • Script error: No such module "citation/CS1". — detailed history.
  • Script error: No such module "citation/CS1". — history focused on the development of early electric guitars, based on the other references.
  • Script error: No such module "citation/CS1". — another short history, which covers slightly different topics.
Models
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External links

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