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06-26-2009, 10:37 AM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Oregon, USA | | | First time Kay owner
I recently bought a 1946 Kay M-1. This is the first time I have played or heard a Kay up close. I'm really impressed with the sound. It has totally blown away my expectations of what a laminate bass can sound like. It's loud and punchy. 
Now I understand why these basses are legendary. Attachment 131574
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Last edited by altruego : 01-28-2011 at 02:22 PM.
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06-26-2009, 11:59 AM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: NorCal | |
Congrats!! I love Kays. "Punchy" is the key word about the Kay sound I think. It's not for everyone, but works for the rest of us. 
Your bridge needs to come down to be in the correct postion though, centered between the f-hole notches.
Last edited by Gearhead43 : 06-26-2009 at 12:55 PM.
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06-26-2009, 12:51 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Gaithersburg, Maryland | | | Welcome to the club!
__________________
Wineaux/Dave Morris
"It's all about the music."
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06-26-2009, 06:22 PM
|  | Registered User | | Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Maynard MA | | | Nice Bass! Will you register it with Roger Stowers? |
06-26-2009, 07:30 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: New York | | | Nice bass man. Congrats on joining the club. I love my Kay and have used it for many recordings and gigs with much success. I put a lot of work into mine (new ebony fingerboard, new bridge, lots of TLC) and I couldn't be happier. |
06-26-2009, 10:24 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Oregon, USA | | | This ones needs some TLC as well. The bridge looks like a potato chip and the fingerboard has some serious grooves in it from playing a lot in first position. I don't think a luthier has seen it in it's 63 years of existence!
It's great bass and I feel like I own a little piece of history. I'm not selling my carved bass but I'm not planning on parting with this one either.
My carved top is great for my jazz gigs and this one will shine for Bluegrass. Kind of like a hammer vs. a screwdriver. Both are great tools but each one has it's own purpose. |
06-27-2009, 08:27 AM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: New York | | Quote:
Originally Posted by altruego  This ones needs some TLC as well. The bridge looks like a potato chip and the fingerboard has some serious grooves in it from playing a lot in first position. I don't think a luthier has seen it in it's 63 years of existence!
It's great bass and I feel like I own a little piece of history. I'm not selling my carved bass but I'm not planning on parting with this one either.
My carved top is great for my jazz gigs and this one will shine for Bluegrass. Kind of like a hammer vs. a screwdriver. Both are great tools but each one has it's own purpose. | Yes that makes sense. I personally don't own a carved bass. Eventually I want to purchase something very nice, but not for a while, because of the expense and the fact that when I do buy it, it will be the last time I buy a bass! For the meantime, my Kay is my jazz workhorse and really has a beautiful tone. I know some would disagree with using Kays for anything other than bluegrass, but I always get huge compliments on its sound from other musicians and engineers in the studio. I wouldn't recommend it for solo classical work, though....!
PC |
06-29-2009, 10:59 AM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Bozeman Montana | | Quote:
Originally Posted by altruego This ones needs some TLC as well. The bridge looks like a potato chip and the fingerboard has some serious grooves in it from playing a lot in first position. I don't think a luthier has seen it in it's 63 years of existence! ..... | Congrats Altruego  ! You could surreptitiously meet Luthier Jake deVilliers in Blaine Washington, let him stash the '46 M-1 in "Dixie" (his VW bus), and then smuggle it across the Canadian border  . He knows Kays pretty-well and after he does his witch-doctoring, I think you would be very impressed with the Kay's playability and loud bark . |
06-29-2009, 12:02 PM
|  | 'Woodworker - Witch Doctor - Luthier'
Owner/The Bass Spa, String Repairman/L & M Vancouver | | Join Date: May 2006 Location: Crescent Beach, BC | | | Hey Bob, let's be cautious with the 'S' word, huh? =) |
06-29-2009, 12:30 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Bozeman Montana | | Sorry Jake .... I used too-many Sinister "S" words there ... surreptitiously, stash, and smuggle  . What I meant to say was ....
Altruego would meet you in broad daylight with many witnesses present, you would then carefully place the '46 M-1 in Dixie in plain view of everyone, and then you would properly declare your cargo with the Border Mounties in a transparent and friendly manner . Better Now ?? |
06-29-2009, 01:41 PM
| | 'Woodworker - Witch Doctor - Luthier'
Owner/The Bass Spa, String Repairman/L & M Vancouver | | Join Date: May 2006 Location: Crescent Beach, BC | | I'm feeling a lot more relaxed. You know, its actually legal to transport double basses across the border for work or pleasure. |
06-29-2009, 03:24 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Bozeman Montana | | Quote:
Originally Posted by Jake deVilliers .... You know, its actually legal to transport double basses across the border for work or pleasure. | Fair Enough .... I stand corrected. But I bet that doesn't hold true for banjos  .
P.S. Altruego .... That's a nice-looking Kay. Glad you found it. Have fun with it. My '40 O-1 has the same dark color and sunburst and rosewood board on it. It's been a good bass for the past 2 years but I'm having Jake make it even-more-gooder .
Last edited by MT Spaces : 06-29-2009 at 03:40 PM.
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06-29-2009, 06:35 PM
|  | Tolerated User | | Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: State College, PA | | Its a good thing you didn't get a blonde Kay...you might loose it in all that knotty pine. |
06-29-2009, 07:06 PM
| | 'Woodworker - Witch Doctor - Luthier'
Owner/The Bass Spa, String Repairman/L & M Vancouver | | Join Date: May 2006 Location: Crescent Beach, BC | | Quote:
Originally Posted by Bob Knebel But I bet that doesn't hold true for banjos . | No kidding - I hear the penalty for transporting banjos is pretty serious! |  | Thread Tools | Search this Thread | | | | 
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