Kay N-2 Archtop

Kay acoustic archtop, probably from the late 1950s. Made in Chicago, of course. 19 frets, 14 clear of the body. It's a student plywood model, probably birch or maple laminate body. Not sure about the neck, could be poplar or possibly ash (like baseball bats). It is a light brown tiger stripe finish with white painted "binding" and dot inlays (one missing), headstock logo long gone but it is undoubtedly a Kay. Original adjustable floating bridge, cheapie trapeze tailpiece. The guitar feels "big" but it's not--optical illusion perhaps? Neck is chunky but comfortable, medium frets, open tuners in good shape. Someone added a strap button to the base of the neck. Pickguard was long gone when I bought it. All told, a basic no-frills archtop. No pretensions, classic design, comfortable to play, hence the rating.

I bought this guitar in 2000 at a guitar store in Saratoga New York right around the time I was getting more interested in playing music. I'd never even held an archtop, fell in love with it in the store as I strummed a few open chords. Something about the sound on chords and single notes is just haunting, as if the guitar had a secret reverb chamber. It was set up with bronze-wound strings, which I soon changed to nickel-wound which darkened the tone without sacrificing resonance. As with all archtops, the mid-ranges on barre chords is where the sound stands out, but single-string solos also have real character, plenty of sustain and vocal nuance. A guitar this cheap shouldn't sound so good, but it does. For old-time country, primitive blues, jazzy pop and swing, or slide guitar, this instrument is extremely fun to play and hear. It's not an old Gibson or Epiphone (I have a 1939 Epi for comparison), lacks the deep bark of a vintage solid-spruce archtop, but it has no apologies to make either. The volume and sustain cannot compete with my solid-top Epiphone dreadnaught or Jumbo Fender, but neither of those get the jazzy/bluesy tone of this guitar. I've owned a nuber of old Kay archtops, and this is the best I've played.

Action was good at the store. After a year or so I knocked it over and damaged the neck joint, but clamps and glue brought it back to even better action (dumb luck, because I dropped it again and the next repair I did almost ruined it. The guitar had no flaws until I started pretending I was a luthier. Given the age and intended market, this is a well-put together instrument that is easy to tune and play.

It's 50 years old. Hardware is all still good. I've played it live some, mostly slide work with or without a pickup. I rehearsed a lot with it in standard tuning as well. Finish is wearing through in a few places due to strumming (not mine) or nicks/scuffs at edges. Strap buttons are fine. I've found it a very reliable instrument for particular purposes, but must also add that on some shows the guitar had trouble holding a tuning. I would use it on a show for some material, but I always have a backup.

Kay is long gone, but there is a lot of helpful info on the internet.

After 2 amateur repairs (that reduced its playability but not fatally), I've brought it to my guitar tech for a neck reset. Warranty/shmarranty, it's an old Kay, so deal with it.

Been playing about 30 years (25 when I bought this guitar). This was my 4th guitar I ever owned. Since then I've bought about 30 guitars or so, still own 20 of them, all under $300, most in about this price range or less. I have 3 acoustic archtops, 3 electric archtops, 1 electric semi-hollow, various parlor, auditorium, mini-jumbo, jumbo and dreadnaught acoustics, a mandolin, a lap steel, a resonator, tenor and 5-string banjos, two keboards and an acoustic upright piano. Also a tube amp and a solid state amp.

If I lost this archtop, I would definitely look for another of this quality sound and price value. These sometimes have prices over $300; they are not worth that much, but are a good $100-150 guitar,far better than the equivalent beginner flattops being cranked out for Johnson, Epiphone, Samick, etc.

Playing this guitar improve my playing in every way and opened my ears and hands to whole genres of music. I started studying T-Bone Walker and Charlie Christian solos, graduated to electric guitar, really started playing Delta slide tunes in open D and open G, began fingerpicking. I love this guitar without reservation. It's treated me far better than I treated it.

I hate that I broke it, but my tech will fix that.

My favorite aspect is the resonsiveness of the sound, very vocal and supple regardless of whethet I use a flatpick , play finger-style or slide. At the store I only played this one. The sound and price were right.

I do wish it had a single coil pickup, but can live without one.

Kay acoustic archtop, made in the late 50's/early 60's. I believe Kays were made in Chicago, but I'm not sure.

I bought this guitar at a junk store for $15 on June 22, 2005. She had no strings, no bridge, no nut, no strap pin, no pickguard, and was FILTHY! I bought a compensated ebony bridge for $30 and a nut for 99? from my favorite music store so this guitar actually cost me $46.

There's supposed to be 19 brass frets, but one was missing. I set this guitar up for playing slide, so I won't worry about replacing it as of now. Maple fretboard on thick maple neck. If you took the neck off this guitar it would make a good weapon, but I still like it. :-) Red dot inlays.

Laminated top, and appears to be solid back and sides. Finish is a tobacco sunburst with faux figured maple stripes which I actually like. No cutaway, body 15" across at lower bout.

Steel tailpiece, the original bridge was some kind of hardwood (from the pictures I've seen) but it has an ebony bridge now.

Kluson deluxe three on a side tuners with white plastic buttons. They were locked up with rust when I bought it, but some gun oil fixed that. They are still pretty hard to turn, but they're just like having locking tuners! :D
Brown paint on headstock with the "Kelvinator" logo made out of thin embossed metal. (think soda can and you have it)

White painted-on "binding" that needs "restoration".

I bought this guitar for playing slide blues and it fits the bill just fine. I also like to play punk and garage rock on it.

Likes:
Thick, rich tone with excellent separation.
No buzzing except when playing excessively hard.
It makes a nice grinding sound when I play power chords on it. (the rocker in me)

Dislikes:
Not enough sustain for my liking.
There's no strap pin on the neck end, but I'm going to install one.
Treble notes are a bit shrill.

Even though I listed three dislikes, those are personal preferences, and not faults, so I give it a 9.

I set the action high for playing slide, but I think I'm going to lower it so I can play it normally. I'm anxious to find out what brass frets are really like. Neck is nice and flat, but I do wish it had a trussrod. The frets were dressed nicely at purchase, but they did have some oxidation which polishing removed.

The finish has a lot of scratches around the edges, the painted binding is worn and there is a piece of the top layer of laminate missing from the lower bout, about a half-inch square.

She has obviously been abused in her 40-year-plus existence.

As much as she has obviously been through, she's going to be around for many years to come. What little original hardware is left, it seems pretty good quality to last, but if it doesn't, I'll fix or replace it.

There is very little clearcoat left on the body, but with care it shouldn't wear off. Just treat it the same way you'd treat any vintage instrument.

If I wanted to gig with it, I couldn't bring a backup. It's the only one I've ever seen in person.

Anything that can put up with as much as she has deserves a 10.

I'm my own tech support. If it works, it's useful. If it doesn't work, it's a science project. I'm an incurable tinkerer. I rate myself a 10! :-D

I didn't have an opportunity to "play before buy", with the missing vital parts. I bought her for three reasons:
1. The guitar feels great.
2. It had a lot of resonance when I (gently) rapped on the top.
3. My guitarist's instinct told me it was a good one.

I follow those three guidelines and have never bought a dud. Knock on wood. (sorry for the pun)
I'm going to try and find either an original pickguard, (white with a gold Kay logo) or a pickguard with a built-in pickup like the one seen in Dan Erlwine's Mod Squad in the December '05 issue of Guitar Player. I haven't bought a strap pin yet, but I'll likely get an end pin/output jack combo just in case.
When I bought her, there was something rattling around inside, but I couldn't see inside through the f-holes. It sounded too light to be the missing bridge, but I hoped it was the nut. After thoroughly cleaning the outside, I turned the guitar top down and shook it around for about a minute while watching various debris fall out of the f-holes. A few staples, dust bunnies, the obligatory dead fly, and then the object of my search!!!!!
-drum roll please!-
...an ancient, used popsicle stick. I may not have found the nut, but I got the shim. :-)
Whether or not it's lost or stolen, I'll buy another Kay archtop if it's a good price. Hopefully it'll have all of mine's missing parts on it! (and no popsicle sticks) :-)