Kay 300

it was made in the early 1960's in the US (i think). it has a very pretty figured maple top. it's hollow, but has no F-holes. there is a three way selector and two volume and two tone knobs. it has two single coil pickups- they are gold kleenex box type pickups that sonically are similar to P90's. supposedly Kay got these pickups from Gibson. the guitar is a double cutaway guitar with a 25.5 scale. the frets are tiny, but sound fine. the fretboard appears to be rosewood & has very nice looking abalone block inlays. it came with the original case (missing the handle.

the sound can best be described as "authentic vintage". it is a woody, warm sound that is perfect for rockabilly, blues, jazz, psych...basically any style that requires a genuine vintage tone. the downfall of this guitar is that it can't be turned up very loud without feeding back. it's not a high microphonic squeal, it's a low drone that is probably a result of the hollow body construction and the low powered pickups.

after a pro setup, this guitar is still a pleasure to play. after 40+ years, the finish still looks beautiful. this was Kay's professional model, and it shows in the construction.

everything is original on this guitar except the strap buttons - they were the ols plastic peg type that basically disintegrated over 40 years. i replaced them with some gold strap buttons to match the hardware & this guitar is in perfectly playable condition. it has lasted MORE THAN FORTY YEARS!!!!...it will continue to last.

not applicable.

i've been playing for almost twenty years. this guitar has a quality that no new guitar can possibly have. that said, it's not right for all applications - with a high gain rig, this thing would feed back like crazy...but when a REAL vintage tone is required this is the guitar i grab. if it was stolen, there would be no way to replace it...these are very hard to find...sure, there are plenty of Kay's department store guitars floating around, but the 300 was of a much higher quality, and much more rare.

Killer axe; solidbody with short scale neck (19 frets); Brazilian rosewood board with block inlays to 1st fret; tiger striped natural maple flame burst body; brass pegs and wooden saddle with brass saddle cover plate; dual pickups; 1 three-way pickup slector and 2 independent volume/tone knobs. Found this beaut in San Fran in 2003; can't find anybody or anyplace that knows a thing about this axe--had a luthier set-up with new rosewood saddle, says it is has "rare wood"--has a quasi acoustic overtone but distinctly electric--one of the best sounding axes I've ever played if you like a clean, natural electric sound. Highly recommended if you can find one!