Happy Easter All!
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The Easter bunny delivered a new mystery bass to my house. I have what I believe to be a very early 1937 K-Meyer Orchestra Model serial number 160. I had seen one other bass like this once before several years ago. The owner of that bass had this to say:
I do have an old Kay just like that one. It has the same kind of tuners with the wooden pegs, saying only Czechoslovakia. It also has the little "target" on the back of the peg head. I’m assuming that the O stands for Orchestra Model" maybe. Mine also has the ebonized tailpiece and ebonized maple fingerboard. The scrolls are fully carved on mine. The original endpin on mine looks similar to that one; I’m assuming it has a metal rod that comes out. The top on mine is thinner than later Kay’s.
Mine is very lucky to have a label inside. It is a little small label outlined in red and it says Guaranteed Genuine Orchestra Model, Ser. # 251 and it has K-Meyer hand written in cursive in the center of the tag. Henri Kuhrmeyer was the one to make the Kay bass, hence K-Meyer. Mine also has a board across the back inside that the sound post sits on unlike most later Kay’s which have the round disc. I also have a 1940 Kay that has a K-Meyer label and it too has a board across the back inside, but it has regular style tuners and no "target" on the peg head.
I have seen in person 3 others like the one I have and you have. One was a K-Meyer, one was a Kustom-Kraft, and one had no label or # at all. There is no real way to date the one with no label or # but I would bet money they were all made in 1937. Probably some of the very first ones, possibly "experimental basses."
As I do more research on this bass I’ll share my findings. I think this an early, rare American made plywood bass that was the fore runner to the classic Kay basses.
Heck all I wanted was some chocolate candy for Easter…but this will do just fine!
