Kay Unknown

I bought this guitar from a friend who gave me no info on it, so all I know is what I have researched myself. Through the internet I have "sort of" figured out what it is, I believe it is a 1970's Japanese made Kay solidbody guitar (It looks like a SG "sort of"). The body is about 1 inch thick and looks to be made of plywood with a "awsome" vener top and back. It is stained/painted in a translucent red. The finish is not of a very high quality, but from a few feet it looks really good. The neck is bolted on, and is made of a wood with a mohagony look, but I don't think it is mohagony. For now I just call it mystery wood. The finger board is stained to look like ebony but I belive it is made of the same mystery wood. The reason I belive this is because where the finger board is worn around the first 5 frets you can see a light colored woood showing through. The neck has the worst body/neck joint I have ever seen in my life (And I have a guitar repair shop). It is actually crooked by about 15 degrees!! And the pocket on the body is about a 1/4 of an inch to large on both sides!!! But it does hold the neck on, surprisingly! The hardware is just about as bad! It is set up with what is susposed to look like a tun-o-matic bridge (looks nothing like one) and has a Jass Bass (ashtray) like end peice. The pickups are susposed to look like soapbars, but I took them apart and they have about 15 inches of winding each!! But suprisngly they sound amazing!! The switching is just as humorus as the rest of the guitar, there are two on/off switches (neither works well at all), and a master tone and a master volume switch ( they do just about nothing). All of the wiring is very noisy!! And there is a good amount of microphonic feedback at any sound level. But as I said before, it still some how sounds great. The tuners are no-named, but actually work well (when you can get them to turn).
I give it a four because after all of its downfalls, it still some how sounds great!

As I said above it sounds great (as long as you are not near ANYTHING that might give it interference). The pickups give a very full sound, surprisingly!!!
I only give it ia seven because it does take a little work to get to that great sound!

When I got the neglected guitar from my friend the action was set at about 5/8 of an inch at the 12th fret (I am NOT joking). All the joints on the guitar are pretty poor. It is amazing it even stays together!! The pickups have no adjustment options at all!! So they sit about 1/2 to 3/4 of an inch from the strings. It is a chore to play (thats puting it lightly). But as I have mentioned before it sure does sound good.
I give it a two for obvious reasons!!

I doubt this guitar would survive live playing! Everything about it is pretty poor, but it does sound great.
I give it a two in this catagory because only a very brave person would not use a backup with this guitar, or even use it at all!!

I have no clue about the customer service at Kay, the only way I even know (and I am not at all positive) that it is a Kay is that the name "Kay" is printed on the pickguard. And I bought it from a friend so I am on my own anyways.

I have been playing for about 4 years. I own 6 other guitars. And will probably aquire another tommorow if the deal goes through. If it were stolen or lost I would only replace it if I could find another for under 50 bucks.
In summary I would not wish this guitar on anyone who is looking for a seroius guitar!! But if you are looking for a guitar that looks sort of good on the wall and sounds good when you occassionally play it, then you may want to start pawn shoping!!
I give it a 8 because for 30 bucks you can't even get this much firewood, but I have no plan of burning it ever!! It brings too much happiness to me when I look at it (because I can't stop laughing at the horrible aspects of this guitar). But it sure does sound GREAT!!!
If anyone has ANY info on or related to this guitar PLEASE e-mail me.

This beast was made sometime in the early to mid 60's I believe. I'm guessing its foreign. It has a baseball bat for a neck with 19 frets. A standard 3 way selector, with 2 volume and 2 tone controls. The pickups are "soapbar" single coils. I think the body is pine since it is really light. It has a body style almost like that of a jazzmaster or jaguar. It also has a stop bar tail piece.

The guitar has a bassy tone, yet seems thin when distorted. You're definitely not going to get any of that "chug chug" metal grinding tone out of this. I'm using it with an old Magnatone amp, which can give the guitar a bright tone when needed. I also run it through a Zoom 505. A lot of hum is present when distorted, and it feeds back quite easily, which I like.

I suppose it was put together pretty well. The action was way to high when I first started playing it, so I just took the neck off and shimed it. The action is fine now, and there is very little buzz. It has a sunburst finish, which looks very 60's.

This guitar is pretty durable. Its been played for almost 40 years, and everything is original, so what does that say? The rear strap button is kind of a pain, and the strap comes off it once in a while, but other than that, its durable and can handle a few falls, even if the wood dents easily.

I have no idea. They've probably been out of buiness for quite a while i would imagine.

I've been playing for about 2 years and hopefully will soon own an SG standard. I use this guitar for wierd tunings and stuff and it does its job well. Its kind of cheesy, but thats cool in a way.

No model name that I'm aware of. Looks basically like a Barney Kessel with less-fancy cosmetics. Probably the same guitar otherwise (going only by photos of the Kessel model). Laminated maple top and back (with a decent amount of flame). Neck wood is unknown, maybe maple. Too light to be mahogany but doesn't really look like maple. Mystery wood.
Two-tone burst, checkered binding, trapeze tailpiece, large 2x4-like neck with big block pearl inlays, neck binding. Two "Kleenex box" pickups.

Very bassy sounding. Kind of like it's got a blanket thrown over it. This can be remedied by cranking the treble knob on your amp all the way up. Neck pickup gives a really nice jazzy sound. Warm and mellow with lots of bass. Bridge can be a little harsh but plenty of lows. Both together is where it's at on this guitar. Great Gretsch-like hollow twang sound. Good for rockabilly, trad country, that sort of thing. No sustain whatsoever, but then you'll have that with a hollow body.

Surprisingly great. But then again, back in the 50's the American workforce took pride in its work. Checkered binding is still all there (try and say that about an old Gretsch). Very solid guitar. Plays like butter. Has become a kind of "fretless wonder" over the years, allowing the action to be set incredibly low. Plays better than most of the new stuff I come across in the shops these days. NO buzzing anywhere.

It's survived this long, I think it's safe to assume it'll be fine from here on out. If it was going to need a neck reset it would have needed it by now, and it hasn't.

Non-existant. Kay went the way of the dinosaur years ago.

These old Kay hollow bodies are great guitars for the money. I'd call them the poor man's Gretsch or Gibson. If you're into rockabilly and the like but can't afford to drop $2,000 on a made-in-Japan Gretsch, be sure to check these out.

This is a Beautiful 6 string Guitar..Custom Strat, Black solid body with 22 frets,black pick guard, 1 volume, 2 tones, 5 way selecter 3 pickups & Wammy bar...Don't really know what model or year..it looks better then most later models though...it's got a Maple Neck with a Satin finish.. got it from a friend that didn't play guitar...had no strings but did come with a Amp, Gig bag & Strap 200$
Kay really did a Excellent job makeing this guitar

it Sounds Great for my likeing( heavy metal,country,Alternative,ect..) I useing a Crate GX-15 series amp with it...sounds great... Haven't really tried many effects with it, through.. I Can get 5 different Sounds out of it.From a High Pitch Metal, to a Real Bassy Style Music.
It has a Rich,full sound not really any Dislikes

I'm sure the guitar Contain's flaws. But all Guitars contain some sort of flaw.this guitar does have a few nicks in the finish on the bottum..but that's about it..the frets,neck,and Electronics Are in Excellent Condition.

This guitar would easly Withstand live playing (Allready Has) So i've heard
Hardware should last a long time..
This I a guitar you can depend on. I would use it on a Gig with out a backup Really Solid guitar.

I'm A beginning Guitarist Been playing about a 1/2 year now If it were Slolen or Lost...I Would Definitly buy another one I love the Shiny Black body.. Excellent Sound, Excellent Condition To me this guitar is almost perfect..
Excellent Guitar..Rock on