Quote:
Originally Posted by Rick Shaw
Good questions Wade. The bout is 17" across. The back is flat not arched and there is a bridge plate that looks original to color and glue residual. No indication of a tail piece at all, just a typical strap button hole. I will say that the Lyra sure looks similar.
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To me it appears as though Kay used the same body mold and basic template to make a flattop version of the same guitar. The Lyra guitar in the photos I found also has a 17" lower bout.
Since someone thoughtfully stripped away the original finish and the original headstock logo with it, we'll probably never know what brand name it was sold under. Not that it matters - that stuff was so ephemeral and changeable, even at the time when these guitars were current. If it got sold to one retailer it got called one name, if sold to another it was called something else entirely.
I think you can safely assume that the guitar is American-made, most likely in Chicago by Kay, and probably dates to the 1940's or 50's. But I don't think it's possible to get more specific than that unless somebody shows us some photos of an identical guitar that still has the original finish and headstock logo.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rick Shaw
Weird Pickguard don't you think?
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On which guitar? The (slightly) elevated pickguard on the Lyra was fairly typical of archtop guitars during the period, though the way Kay did it was definitely a lowball, cheaper than cheap way to do it - I'm guessing there are spacers between the bottom of the pickguard and the top, probably felt washers. On Gibsons and other more expensive archtops, there is mounting hardware that elevates the pickguard.
As for the one on your family heirloom, well - it's not to my taste, and seemingly not yours, either. But if somebody started a refurb on that guitar during the 1950's, which seems likely, that pickguard wouldn't have raised an eyebrow back then. The 1950's were sort of the crescendo of the "big ugly pickguard era" in flattop guitars, particularly among country players:
Now, look at these pickguards and note that they were factory-original from Gibson at the time:
Seen from that perspective, it seems pretty clear that whoever made the pickguard on your family heirloom - whether some hobbyist or the folks at the factory that made the guitar - they were well within the aesthetics of their time.
Hope that makes sense.
Wade Hampton Miller