#1
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Vintage Kay and Harmony guitars
There are a lot of old vintage Kay and Harmony archtops that always seem to pop up on auction websites, and craigslist. Any clues as to sorting the wheat from the chaf on these?
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______________ ---Tom H --- |
#2
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Mostly chaff.
There's some fun ones out there, they'll be priced a little higher, solid pressed tops, can sound pretty good. But most of 'em are just novelties. |
#3
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so then, did they make good ones - but you just never see those for sale? I've seen some historical data that indicates they made some solid ones, ( maple, rosewood, mahogany,). I've just seen a few lately that looked like they were of better quality. It would be fun to get one or two to play with, but I certainly don't want to waste my time or $$ on a plywood POS either...
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______________ ---Tom H --- |
#4
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They're definitely out there, but yes, just not as many. I guess people either hang on to 'em or there just weren't as many of them to begin with. Generally, it seems the smalle bodies tend to be the cheaper ones that are more miss than hit.
I have a 17" Kay "Master Cutaway," and it's pretty cool. Has a huge neck and tiny frets--it's not a guitar I'm going to fly around playing jazz solos on, but for old school swing rhythm, it's great. Solid pressed top, I believe. It's LOUD |
#5
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Like all other instruments, quality is all over the place. There is a big difference between say an all-birch Harmony Archtone and a Cremona or Brilliant model. Same with Kays. The Kay Television archtops from the late 1930s are, as example, beautifully made, carved top and back plate instruments. I recently picked up a 1935 Capital which was built by Gibson for Jenkins Music to help weather the Depression. 16" lower bout, pressed spruce top and mahogany body, no truss rod. Interesting skunk stripe inlaid down the center of the board. Feel is all Gibson.
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"You start off playing guitars to get girls & end up talking with middle-aged men about your fingernails" - Ed Gerhard Last edited by zombywoof; 03-16-2017 at 12:59 PM. |
#6
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Quote:
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"You start off playing guitars to get girls & end up talking with middle-aged men about your fingernails" - Ed Gerhard |
#7
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Here's a good old cheap one!
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#8
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Quote:
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"Mistaking silence for weakness and contempt for fear is the final, fatal error of a fool" - Sicilian proverb (paraphrased) |
#9
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Also bear in mind that the playing style of old archtops was very different from what we are used to thinking of with "Jazz" today...
Those old guitars were usually strung with heavies and run with a fairly high action. They were played HARD to be heard unamplified in the mix against horns. They are LOUD played this way with a really good tone... String them with lights and try to play technical, modern stuff - and you will be completely unimpressed/disappointed. Quality wise... Yep.. They had a HUGE range of offerings from cheap beaters to the most expensive on the market.. More expensive than Martin and Gibson offerings. Their good stuff was very very good.. Their cheap stuff was generally pretty uninteresting. |
#10
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Slingerland Archtop made in the thirties
I have a beautiful Slingerland Archtop natural finish that is in perfect condition with a four bar Grover De Luxe tailpeice on it... Action is low, neck is straight, it's a beautiful guitar... Five piece neck is a little fat compared to my Gibson's, Martins etc. but its fun for that slap rhythm style playing... My wife can't stand the sound of it when she sings... I think she is just used to hearing the bold sound of my other guitars..
Question is, what size and type of strings would you recommend that may change the sound or if changing would help... I have med Elixir's on it now... Thanks |
#11
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I use to hang out with a girl whose grandma had a Martin d28. We went to see her one day and she pulled the Martin out and a very old harmony archtop. That Martin was nice but the old harmony was just plain cool. Sounded good and easy to play. Definitely was hard to put down I’ve been looking to find one every since but I’d rather not finding one in need of work
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#12
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#13
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Man, I'd love to plug that into a little tube amp and crank it up!
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#14
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I am in rural MN and it has been common to see these old catalogue archtops come in that belonged to a clients grandparents and in many cases were used in old time dance bands. Mostly as rhythm instruments I would guess as the finish is usually completely worn off in the first position.
Here is an old Regal that belonged to the client’s wife’s dad who fronted a dance band in central MN back in the 30’s and 40’s https://youtu.be/XWXcjh7pAoc |
#15
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Quote:
https://shop.guildguitars.com/produc...-mount-pickup/ https://shop.guildguitars.com/produc...0rhythm-chief/ https://shop.guildguitars.com/produc...me-knob-amber/
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"Mistaking silence for weakness and contempt for fear is the final, fatal error of a fool" - Sicilian proverb (paraphrased) |