kay bass question

[nunzio81]

I was thinking of buying this 1968 S-1 Kay bass altogether the price after repairs will be 1,100 is the bass worth that?

[fdeck]

Generally speaking an honest and well executed repair doesn't diminish the value of a bass. And $1100 is certainly within a typical price range for Kay basses. So I would say based on the very limited information given here that nothing stands out as an obvious red flag.

A bit more info might help the peanut gallery evaluate. What are the repairs being proposed?

[nunzio81]

There are no cracks and the body is in pretty good condition but for some reason the previous owner took off the neck and fretboard,who ever put them back on did a horrible job, you can see glue coming out the side and the neck was on with a gap so the fretboard is down about two inches and the nut is out of place.

[Phil Rowan]

I had my Kay overhauled for $1500 when I got it (it was given to me Worth every penny (it needed a new neck, fingerboard, bridge, endpin, etc etc). Be sure to take it to a quality luthier specializing in double basses, and if possible, do so before you buy the instrument (or have you already taken it in for an initial, pre-purchase evaluation?).

[james condino]

The cost to remove, reset, and correct the neck issues you mentioned could easily exceed the price of this bass, hence the reasonable price. A good friend of mine puts it this way, "Kay basses- the king of hillbilly music and even more popular with wannabe hillbilly luthiers....". (No offence intended to any hillbilly memebers out there...). I do a LOT of restoration work on old Kays, most of it being damage control from past efforts.

Owning an old Kay is a lot like owning an old volksawgon- they are a lot of fun, but you should also be a resonable mechanic. If you like the bass and think it will work for you, the price is fair, so budget in a little extra for Chuck Traeger's repair book and start learning the craft....

j.

[drurb]

Originally Posted by nunzio81

I was thinking of buying this 1968 S-1 Kay bass altogether the price after repairs will be 1,100 is the bass worth that?

Originally Posted by james condino

The cost to remove, reset, and correct the neck issues you mentioned could easily exceed the price of this bass

So, what are the repairs included in the price of $1,100?

[Bass]

Got any pics?

[nunzio81]

The cost of repair is 200 the bass is selling for 900 this same repair man worked on my slap king when I broke the neck off, it was even betters when I got it back

[fdeck]

This is not specifically about Kay basses, though I happen to also have a Kay with a repaired neck joint.

When one reads about repairing things "the second time around," the discussion almost always revolves around the repair and not the original break. For instance see the "broken neck" thread in Setup & Repair.

If the repair was done with hide glue, then it might not have been done well enough to hold up, but at least it can be approached by clearing out the old glue and starting from scratch with the repair.

If the repair was done with modern glue, screws, etc., then the repairman must proceed with greater circumspection, consultation with fellow luthiers, and so forth.

Assuming a skilled luthier has already made this differential diagnosis, you're probably in good hands. If not, then I would ask a few Probing Questions.

[BassistForHire]

If it is a true S-1 w/ ebony fingerboard then $1100 after overhaul is a great deal. I have a '67 C-1 that I wouldn't sell for $2000.

[nunzio81]

Thanks everyone for all the advice, I am getting it repaired with in the next few weeks. I was told I could take my time and try it out, I will post some pics asap.