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  #1  
Old 09-21-2017, 02:32 PM
dcharles dcharles is offline
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Default 17" Kay Archtops

Hi,

Anyone here have first hand knowledge of which of the 17" Kay made guitars from the 1940s and 1950s have either solid carved or solid pressed tops? As opposed to laminate tops? I love the look and fairly low prices many of these guitars have but can never seem to gather whether or not they have solid wood tops. I'm particularly interested in the K 40 and K 45 models, but a list of any models in the 17" size range with solid tops would be great to have as a reference.
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Old 09-21-2017, 04:46 PM
mr. beaumont mr. beaumont is offline
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A lot of the 17" guitars were solid topped, probably pressed. Very tough to find info, but it seems to me, on a Kay 17" from that era, if the top is spruce and the back and sides are maple, it's probably a solid top.

Here's mine...I love the sound, but it's a beast to play...tiny frets, club like neck, and super narrow string spacing.

https://youtu.be/mT1leSdu8A8
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Old 09-23-2017, 08:29 AM
dcharles dcharles is offline
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Thanks for the reply Jeff. That really does sound good! I will continue on the lookout for one of these old Kays for sure. As far as the neck and string spacing- that's really not an issue thankfully as I don't really do fingerstyle and played for 3 years on a truss rod less 1930s kalamazoo with what I'm assuming must be a similar enormous neck!
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Old 09-23-2017, 10:49 AM
mr. beaumont mr. beaumont is offline
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You'll be fine then!

Yeah, this one is the proverbial "baseball bat," big and round. I've encountered some V necks on old arch tops that I can't handle...

I might get this thing refreshed someday with something a little more substantial. The crazy thing is they're not low from wear, they're literally just that tiny...
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