Airline Archtop Dual Cutaway (made by Kay)

My guitar was made by the Kay Guitar Company in Chicago IL some time in 1965. and sold under the "Airline" name for Mongomery Wards (where all guitars branded Airline were sold no matter the manufacturer). I'm not sure what the particular model is, as there is none listed; the Montgomery Wards catalog for 1965 describes this guitar as an "Archtop Dual Cutaway" that's it.

Features:
-Curly Maple solid top, back, and sides
-Double florentine style (pointy) cutaway
-Maple neck, rosewood fretboard
-Chunky U-shape neck
-19 frets
-Kluson cloased back "three on a strip" tuners
-Nitro-cellulose natural blonde laquer finish
-Hollowbody archtop with one f-hole
-Triple bound top and back; bound neck
-Three "Gold K" single coil (Kleenex Box style as found on the Kay -Barney Kessel Model guitar) pickups with adjustable pole pieces
-Four way switch - each pickup on idividually, or all three on at once
-Volume and tone knobs for each pickup (six total)
-Adjustable truss rod
-Nickel frets
-Translucent crimson celluloid pickguard
-Stop nickel plated tailpiece

The only feature that my guitar doesn't have that other similar models had was the optional virato tailpiece.

I play primarily blues, jazz, and classic rock and if that's your thing, then this guitar is a monster! This is by far the BEST blues guitar I have ever played, and I've played many over the years. The "Gold K" pickups are very hot and are the same pickups found on Kays top of the line models. It's easy to see why they are considered to be among the best single coil pickups ever made.
The wide variety of tones this thing is able to produce (due to the three pickups, selector switch, and many knobs) is astounding. It can go from very deep, mellow tones to very bright tones with a flick of the pickup selector switch. Having all three pickups on at once gives the guitar a weird phased sound that sounds like nothing else. The thick neck and headstock give this guitar quite a bit of sustain.
I typically play this guitar though a 1965 reissue Fender Twin amp or an Old Silvertone 1484. Again, if you want blues tone, accept no substitues
My only real gripe with the guitar is the fact that, except for the wires leaving the pickups, all the wiring in this guitar is unshielded which, along with the 60 cycle hum produced by the single coil pickups, can make this guitar hum a little than I'd like. I wish they had used shielded wires! Aside from that it sounds amazing.

Considering this guitar was made in 1965, it's held up extremely well. I'm not he original owner, but someone obviously took care of it. The Airline (Kay) is a very solidly built instrument. None of the binding is loose and the wood is in excellent shape. The hardware has only lightly oxidized. The only thing that I had to do was have one of the volume pots replaced and have the frets leveled but, considering the age, it's excusable. Kay really did an excellent job when they made this one.
Again, my only real complaint is the unshielded wiring. I feel they could have done a better job about thar with very little effort.
I also fel that the "Airline" logo could have been put ont he headstock in a way that was more durable. It was just painted on and I had to do some touchup work to restore it.

This guitar has lasted over 40 years with only minor oxidation, finish wear, and maintenance. It plays like it could easily go on another 40 with proper care. The hardware seems very dependable and I'd be willing to use it at a gig without a backup guitar.
My only concern is this: The Kay Musical Instrukment Company wasn't known for making guitars with dependable truss rods, so I'm little worried tha tmit might not work should I need it to. Fortunately the neck is like atree trunk and is perfectly straight where is is so hopefully I won't have to worry about truss rod adjustments at all.

Ha ha ha... Kay went out of business in 1969 and Montgomery Ward definitly isn't going to be servicing this guitar (Their house brand is now "Kansas" anyways). Fortunately I know a really good luthier should I need one.

I've been playing for about a decade and over the past year or two have started collecting guitars and this one has one of the most unique and pleasing sounds I've ever heard from a guitar. This is my go-to guitar if I need to play some blues. In addition, I love the comments I get while playing it. It's such a unique looking and sounding instrument that it's very hard not to like it.
If this guitar were lost or stolen, I'd try very hard to buy another, but they're hard to find anymore so I might have some trouble replacing it.