My first double bass: a 1967 Kay S1

boze · #1 09-11-2010, 05:53 PM

Back in the Spring of this year I was at Action Music, my favorite guitar store in northern Virginia, when Matt, the owner, told me he had seen what looked like an old Kay bass at a consignment furniture store down the street. He knew I played guitar in a gypsy swing band and figuring he didn't have space for it in his shop why not do the world a favor and let somebody know.

My bassist and I drove over to see about buying it a few days later. Matt had warned us it was janky looking. It was a Kay alright, but there were issues: the sound post was glued in and it was not in the right place, the tailpiece (if you could call it that) was handmade from a few pieces of metal that were bolted together like they'd just come off of a lawnmower, and the nut was literally a sawed off piece of a broom handle from the looks of it - a big wooden dowel about the size of a fat thumb.

The body and neck were sound and my bassist buddy said he was happy to help me get it playable with some hand-me-down strings and a few replacement parts. It was at one of those consignment furniture stores where something automatically gets cheaper the longer it sits. I think I paid $324.

A few weeks ago I took it to be set up by Tom Wolf out at Wolf Instruments in Plains, Virginia, and I just brought it home today. It now has a properly fitted Teller bridge and ebony nut, an ebony tailpiece I got for $8 on eBay, a new set of Evah Pirazzi strings, a soft case, and a modest CF bow. The post has been reset and the glue scraped away. Tom even gave me a recommendation for a teacher near my place in DC. He explained that my Kay is one of the nicer models from that year, with an ebony fingerboard and real purfling inlay.

I'm looking forward to a long relationship with this bass, and I wouldn't be surprised if that meant bugging you guys about stuff from time to time as I'm finding my way. So thanks in advance. I'd like to give a shoutout to my bassist as well, he's the one who told me about TB and I'm sure he's on here, but I don't know his user name.

And now, without further ado, pictures:

fdeck · #2 09-11-2010, 06:39 PM

That's a sweet find, and in nice condition. From this distance the setup looks to be nicely done.

And welcome to TBDS (TalkBass Dark Side).

Paul Warburton · #3 09-11-2010, 08:41 PM

Nice. Congrats.
That model even had a real carved scroll instead of those awful glued on volutes that pop off.

Tejano Bass · #4 09-12-2010, 06:29 AM

KUDOS! for a great rescue . . . the kind of deal that most only dream about finding . . . & . . . one on which you will never lose $$$$ . . .

F Y I : http://www.kaybass.com/ indicates yours as a late '68 model . . .S-1 was indeed the top of the line for Kay . . . & . . . you scored (big time) one of the very last made before Kay shut down their production in '69.

Smart move taking it to Tom Wolf, btw . . . he did the set-up on a couple of Kays for me & treated them (& me) just as if they were custom hand-carved!

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tomshepp · #5 09-12-2010, 06:45 AM

Great story! Great bass! Great pics! Congrats!

boze · #6 09-12-2010, 07:10 AM

Thanks for the high fives and the extra info. I'm super excited about this whole thing. I like the spirit of the word "rescue". Including the replacement parts my bassist and I fiddled with before I took it to Tom the total cost is probably near $1500, but instead of the repairs and setup costs paining me I feel almost noble about it. My only regret is that I don't have before/after pix. Oh, and a a few photos from the visit to Wolf Instruments (an old converted school house in horse country) would have also added some flavor as well.

Paul, I've never heard the word "volute" before today, although I have heard my bassist say the words "carved scroll". One more thing to be proud of. =)

And Tejano, yes I was deriving the year from this link off of KayBass.com: http://www.kaybass.com/KayHSerialNoList.htm

Oh, I see what I did: I just didn't recognize that second digit in on the tag as a being a six! I thought it was another five that had like faded or something but you're right, I just zoomed in and you're totally right.

drurb · #7 09-12-2010, 08:45 AM

Congrats! Indeed, you've lived one of the common double-bass daydreams... to find a gem sitting unappreciated in the back of some shop that you can bring back to life for not a bunch of $$$. Enjoy your new musical mate and it's history!

boze · #8 09-12-2010, 08:51 AM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3n9MgsFdfs

Jake deVilliers · #9 09-12-2010, 12:17 PM

What a deal and in nice shape too. Congratulations!

PaulKing · #10 09-13-2010, 06:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by drurb

Congrats! Indeed, you've lived one of the common double-bass daydreams... to find a gem sitting unappreciated in the back of some shop that you can bring back to life for not a bunch of $$$. Enjoy your new musical mate and it's history!

I actually used to dream this, quite regularly, clear as day .. I can remember some of the dreams even now, 20 years later .. basses hanging on walls in restaurants, at antique fairs, in junk shops ... never happened of course. Not to me.

Happened to StevieDee from the Chihuauas ... 2 basses on a junk stall at local market. For almost nothing... ggrrr.

Nice bass btw, great rescue story.