Kay Archtop, 1950s?

October 10, 2008

This is my guitar. It's a Kay archtop, probably from the 1950's, possibly 1960's.

It was given to my wife when she was about 10 or so by her uncle, who bought it in Korea when he was in the service, which was either in the early 1960s or late 1950s.

It rattled around our house for years without strings (a bad thing for guitars) until I decided I wanted to take lessons, so I spent about $50 getting it set up.

The action is a bit uneven, but it has a decent sound, at least in the middle registers. Once, upon seeing the Antiques Roadshow (the only time I've seen it), somebody had an old guitar laying around the house and it turned out to be a rare collectible valued at $10,000. I doubt that's the case with this guitar.

Nonetheless, I have a new teacher and I let him play it, commenting that it was worth about $50, and he disagreed, saying it was in excellent condition, the archtop design was a little rare. (Probably not RARE rare, but archtops aren't as popular as flattops and are apparently a little harder to make). My previous teacher had also said it was a beautiful guitar and when I mentioned I was saving for a new guitar (a Taylor acoustic...someday), he seemed slightly alarmed at the idea I might get rid of this Kay. That won't happen (unless, of course, it turns out to be worth $10,000, then we'll see), but I wouldn't mind knowing a bit more about this guitar.

The only marking I can find on it that might tell me something about it is a P-2 stamped on the inside. I don't even know what kind of wood it's made out of, although I suspect spruce.

So, if you're a guitar afficionado, or know someone who's into vintage guitars, have them take a peek at the photo. Maybe they have some thoughts on it.

Cheers,

Mark Terry