Kay Archtop Acoustic

I guess I have a Kay Silvertone archtop. The numbers "N-12" are stamped on the inside.

This thing plays so GOOD! It was my daddy's when he was young and now he's gone so I'll never know when he bought it. He played songs like "Miller's Cave" "Honky Tonk" and the like.

This guitar has been really taken care of. It is black glossy finish with a whit border along the edges. The neck is dark brown in color and tunes really easily. I've just started playing myself and this guitar is great!

My Kay was made in about 1965, in Chicago Illinois. It has 19 frets. It is steamed laminated wood, painted to look like tiger stripe maple. There are no electronics. I bought this to play real blues, the kind poor Mississippi Delta Robert Johnson wannabe's played so I could capture the hard "cat annoying" sounds. (Think banjo meets guitar and hard finger picking wins the fight.) The neck is maple, I guess, and it has that nice half-round shape so I can chord without getting spasms in my thumb muscles. The faux painted finish is really cool and I wish I had the big-brother expensive model with real ivory trim and actual carved tiger-stripe maple body. Even so, the sound, man ... the sound is all it's about!!! It has a floating adjusrable bridge. The neck is slightly bowed. I held a ruler on top the frets and it runs a .020 in. gap at the 4th 5th 6th 7th diminishing to ) at frets 1 and 12. Our local guitar wizard has a hot-neck machine that he can leave these things on over night--sometimes over a week-end-- and he swears it trues up most warped necks. The tuners sucked-plastic crap and rusty whatever 3 on a side. I ripped em out right away and installed PINGS. The thing holds tune through four and five one hour sessions, so something is right about this guitar and the tuners. I bought this thing on eBay for $91.00 dollars--it's about the sound. I got a great big dreadnought vintage guitar with rich bass tone and the Delta Blues sound crap on it--I needed this Kay; it's about the sound.

It sounds like a banjo had a fist fight with a guitar and the guitar won. The hard crisp tones on strings 1-4 cannot be had on a regular acoustic. Strings 5 and 6 are kind of empty, a shallow base quality. The guitar can make sounds like Robert Johnson calling out to the devil.

The frets had not ben rounded and had to be filed down with a steel file where they met the neck or else my hand would be shredded right now. The frets are brass and had no wear. No one ever form-sanded the floating bridge, so the sound did not come to life until I form-sanded it. (Laying a piece of sandpaper ontop the archtop and lapping the feet of the bridge until it matched the form of the archtop.) The wood shrunk near the neckjoint, but the neck lines up so well with the bridge that it cannot be needing a neck reset. Still, I may have it done--it's about the sound.

This thing is 40 and will likely see 90 so long as someone appreciates the sound you get from these things. The finish is holding up with no laquer checking or crazing or paint peeling. One guy on here had it right; this guitar can be used for certain songs on stage.

Company went belly up in the 70s. Kay nowadays is a Singapore or Asian Rim company that bought the logo and that's bout it.

34 years playing guitar. Ibanez V300, circa 1980 model. A Gretsch G3553 2003 flat top. Both acoustics are mahogany body and spruce tops. I like Martin Light 12-54 strings. I wish I asked the guy who sold me the guitar to lower his price, he probably would have. I love the guitar's sound and looks. I like its size as well. It is comfortable to play. There is no basis for comparison, except checkmate, harmony etc. But, those old models were not favored or affordable for the bluesmen of 50s and 60s. I choes this model for the sound.

20 frets
Mahogany (i believe)
Medium+ Neck
Rosewood Frett Board
Tobacco Burst
Floating Bridge
I believe the Tailpiece was replaced

This guitar has an awesome sound until you get to the 11th fret, for some reaosn it makes this twanging noise and it sounds really horrible. But other than that its awesome.

This guitar is decent seeing as how it was pretty much tossed around at my grandparents house for about 20 or 30 years. I think the neck may be a bit warped *shrugs* and the bridge is loose, the paint is somewhat chipped and stuff around the edges.

this guitar has to be at least 50 years old so its can take a beating lol.

I have not been able to find any info on it at all, but after reading someone elses review on theres i checked all the stats and it somewhat matches mine.

This guitar says "Steel Reinforced Neck" on the back of the headstock inside some kind of Music Stand. I never saw any brand names on it but i saw where there may have been one. Inside it is stamped "N-5" which always through me off while researching cause i kept coming up with Epiphone. I believe this guitar is prolly worth a good chunk of change.

Unknown year (50's/60's)
19 frets
solid top
mahogany?
medium fat neck
I think it has a rosewood fretboard, "shellac" finish (smooth, glossy finish)

nice mellow archtop but a nice growl and bite with a sharp attack
unreal blues/jazz/slide

I got this old archtop out of a barn. It was totally unplayable (needed new tuners,bridge, back was comming apart,loose braces, no pick guard or pick guard "support" bar,no end pin). I fixed it, leveled the frets (14-15-16) and now it plays like new.

50 years old

Kay still makes guitars, but not like this one anymore

this guitar is stamped N14 on the inside (you can see it through one of the "F" holes). It has a nice tobacco sunburst on front and slight tiger stripe back, white dot fret/neck position markers ,white painted binding and white stripe,trapeeze tailpiece, black neck, rosewood fretboard, says "steel reinforced neck" on a picture of a music stand on the back of the headstock (in white) The kay logo plate is missing(I can still see the outline of where the plate was) .This guitar is cool and they certainly don't make them like this anymore (unless you get a custom made one for 3000 bucks)
I've been playing for 40 years (I'm 49 years young).This thing is a "real" guitar.

Mine was bought a dime store in the early 50's by my grandparents as a gift to my dad. It has 19 frets. It's an archtop, with a almost perfect finish (stored cased). No electronics, maple neck, wood adjustable bridge and plywood body.
All the tuners work good "ok", though one that is slightly bent.
It is a pretty guitar to look at (not played much at all, until I got it, and stored in a case. My features rating is on looks alone. There are no frills with this guitar.

This guitar sounds pretty good. With a good set of strings, I would prefer it over any guitar comparable in price. The neck is slightly warped, which causes some slight fret buzz when you get past the 12th fret. I seldom get that low on the neck when playing an acoustic anyway, so it doesn't bother me much. The quality of sound on the rest of neck is great. My advice is to lodge something under the pickguard to keep it from vibrating.
I think it depends on what you compare it to. No, it's not as good as a Martin. It is considerably better than any harmony I have ever played.

Other than the neck, it seems well made. Mine has the benefit of not being used much and stored in a case, though. It is great for hammer-ons and bends.

I wouldn't hesitate to use this guitar on stage in some arrangements. I wouldn't want to depend on it as my main guitar though.

Warrenty, after nearly 50 years? Gosh, wouldn't it be great?

I've played for about 15 years. I do have sentimental ties to this paticular guitar. I'm not sure what the chances are of finding another in the same condition. If I did, however, I would buy it if the price was reasonable. I wouldn't pay a whole lot, maybe $150., at the most.

I was told this archtop was made in 1951 - it has 20 frets, arched top and back (hence the name "archtop"). I think it is all mahogany, but the fretboard is rosewood painted to look like ebony with dot fret markers. There are no pickups/electronics. The bridge is height adjustable and made of wood, and it had a trapeze tailpiece. The tuners are the most worn out part of the guitar, and they're still in decent shape. The lower bout is about 15&1/2" wide, and the body is about 3&1/2" wide, so it's pretty big but not huge.

I play lots of different types of music, but mostly acoustic-rock-type-stuff. I am currently looking for a newer, higher quality archtop because normal flattop acoustics just sound too traditional for me. I really like the sound of this guitar! It's very warm and full sounding (probably because of the mahogany). I haven't tried to play it through an amp (with a mic or pickup), so I don't know how sensitive it is to feedback or anything like that.

I don't know how easy it was to play this guitar when it was new, but it was kept in an attic for a while and that caused the neck to bow some, making it hard to fret barre chords. There aren't any visible finish or construction flaws, but the tailpiece and tuners are a little rusty and the finish has been scratched near the strings (somebody took the pickguard off). It could be a lot worse though.

This probably wouldn't be a likely choice to tour with, simply because of its age. It has lasted almost 50 years and is still in good condition structurally. However, I don't have it strung up right now because the tension has caused a couple of hairline cracks in the neck near the neck/body joint and headstock.

I don't know if there is any customer support.

I've been playing for a little over 3&1/2 years - this was my first guitar, and I still have it (even though I can't play it). I saw a Silvertone archtop that was very similar and sounded pretty good at a guitar store for $400 - which I definitely wouldn't pay for it. I would look for a similar one for between $50 and $200, depending on how they sounded, if this one was lost or stolen.

Paid $40 at a guitar shop. Knew the neck was warped, so I could not play the high notes due to frets being hit by the strings. I thought with a name as well know as Kay, I could find another neck. Because the neck is bolted on at the acoustic body with 3 adjusting screws, thought I could replace the neck. It is too old. I believe the faded label inside shows it as made in Kentucky in the 40s. Sound is round and mellow in the high tones, but for high notes, see above. Rate it as a 3 for a take-to-the-beach guitar. If it floats off with the tide while I am enjoying myself, it would not be good, but not too bad.
The body seems to be fine wood that keeps a tune. Finish is old and faded. It will look good on a restaurant wall.
It is acoustic.

Round, full sound on the notes it will play clean. Cannot use the last 5 frets for high notes due to bowed neck.

Everyone elses amps make the strings vibrate against the frets.

Great size and feel. Good weight. Old.

made in the 40s or 50s and it still plays? What do you think?

Cannot find any.

I am still an amatuer.

One of the guys says that it was made in the late sixties/early seventies by Kay as a beginners guitar. I have no idea what the body wood is, probably a mix of cardboard, plywood, and other assorted materials. This thing is total crap!!! The neck joint is cracked, there is a large chip in the fretboard... more on this in action, fit, finish. The bridge is plastic with an adjustable saddle for string action. Frets appear to be copper, but that can't be right, can it?

Let's just say this right off: If it's a beginners guitar, it's not supposed to sound good! There are a few exceptions, though, the most predominate being the Fender Mustang. That being said, the sound totally sucks! A rubber band and some string attatched to some Legos and a yardstick sounds better. (I know, too, for I made one of these when I was three.) Since I play Nirvana and Metallica, I wanted an acoustic guitar, for songs like Polly and the intro to Fade2Black. Suffice it to say, this falls far below the mark for those songs.

Well, this is where it counts. Along with the cracked joint, the chipped fingerboard, the problems include: a broken tuner, a cracked bridge, a severly bowed bridge joint and surrounding body, the neck is warped, and headstock looks like it was used as a hammer. The tuners are EXTREMELY tight, but not in a good way, it brought me to tears trying to tune it. I finally resorted to a hammer and a pair of pliers.

Don't count on it. The only purpose this thing would serve live is if you had no back-up and no one in the audience had rubber band.

Good luck.

This is a late 50's Kay acoutic archtop. It has 20 frets and is made out of cardboard... er, I mean plywood. No pickups, looks like a maple neck, tuners from a cereal box. I'm pretty sure there are gears in there. It actually is a cool looking guitar which is what caused me to purchase it. It has abalone inlays on the neck and projects quite a bit of volume. Cream binding around the body and neck, trapeze tailpiece, nice baseball-bat thick neck.

I only play this guitar when I want to irritate my cat.

I'm not sure if this guitar was *ever* any good, but it sure isn't now. I have tried several Kay, Harmony and Silvertone archtop acoustics and can tell you this: if it's over $50 it ain't worth it. They rarely have straight necks and the bodies are made of wood that was rejected from the firewood pile. Yeah, I know... Kay actually did make some decent guitars, most notably the custom electrics like the Barney Kessel and Jazz II, but most of them are absolute junk.

Well, it's close to 40 years old now, so I guess it's durable. You know the old joke about why a Viola is better than a violin --- tadump! they burn better.... this puppy would burn nicely!

If this guitar were lost or stolen, I would feel sorry for the new owner. I might paint it a weird color and hang it on the wall, tho... yeah, that might do it! I could saw the top off and make it a planter; or catbox.
Don't let anyone fool you into thinking these junkers are collectable.