Help w/ older Kay bass

[SteveFreides]

A friend's son is playing a school upright, a Kay M1, serial number looks like 36658. I'd appreciate any info on this one - it sounds and plays pretty well to my ears.

The bridge is obviously missized for the instrument - it buzzes with the bridge in the "right" spot, so he has slid it up towards the neck about an inch in order to raise the action enough to get rid of most of the buzzing. It is possible, though, that the bridge was the right size and that the curve is just mostly gone out of the top.

If it matters, the fingerboard is rather flat, and the neck is kind of thin.

Any idea what to expect for cost in a full setup on such an instrument? It has new strings but it definitely needs a bridge and it needs a thorough going over as well.

Thanks in advance.

-S-

[drurb]

With that serial number, it was made in 1954. See here. My advice is NOT to slide the bridge up out of its proper position. Doing so may damage the instrument. The thin neck is a Kay characteristic. Assuming there is no major damage or problem, figure any where from $200-$500 for a new bridge and thorough going-over. That's just a very rough sight-unseen-hardly-any-facts estimate.

[SteveFreides]

Thank you very much.

-S-