Vintage Kay/Selmer Bass

[teenagebass69]

hey I have a friend who wants to sell me his 40's Kay/Selmer bass for $1100. Does anybody know if this bass is good for classical music or good at all? Any information is appreciated.

[Silversorcerer]

What happened? Did anyone answer this thread?

[teenagebass69]

no...

[Sam Sherry]

Originally Posted by teenagebass69

hey I have a friend who wants to sell me his 40's Kay/Selmer bass for $1100. Does anybody know if this bass is good for classical music or good at all? Any information is appreciated.

Alright, here goes. I've posted this before; my apologies to those who have seen it before.

My sister is a luthier in LA and a wise-acre. At moments like this she says, "Hold your instrument closer to the screen so I can take a better look."

There is no way any of us can tell you whether this thing is any good. It might be a $20,000.00 bass (although given the Kay name the chances of that are truly minimal). It might be a $3,000.00 bass that needs $2,000.00 worth of work (after you spend $1,100.00 to buy it). It might be a $3,000.00 bass that needs nothing but a dusting. It might be a $200.00 stage-prop that will never be anything even if you put $5,000.00 worth of work into it. The bottom line, TAB, is that you know more about it than we do BUT if you bring it to a luthier before you buy it you will know more about it than you do now.

Das ist alles.

[Tim Ludlam]

Very accurate response Sam. I see we re-gain our fiestiness once we have our bass back and in working order!

[Paul Warburton]

I've seen and played Selmer basses. I've never heard of the Kay/Selmer combination of names though. The Selmer basses i'm familiar with were really pretty good.....100% laminated, violin pattern with sloping shoulders, real carved scroll ( not knock offs like Kays ) Real inlaid purfling. Decent machines and end-pins. Ebony FB, Good sound! Good playability.
A picture would be appropriate if you can pull that off.

[Steve Killingsworth]

Originally Posted by Paul Warburton

I've seen and played Selmer basses. I've never heard of the Kay/Selmer combination of names though. The Selmer basses i'm familiar with were really pretty good......

Same here. A year or so ago, I took a long look at one at George Gruhn's shop in Nashville. It had a good sound but serious setup issues. He was asking around $2500 for it. I think it did sell but I am not sure of the final price.

[jtlownds]

[quote=Paul Warburton]I've seen and played Selmer basses. I've never heard of the Kay/Selmer combination of names though. The Selmer basses i'm familiar with were really pretty good.....

I had a Selmer - Kay (Not Kay-Selmer) some years ago. I was told it was made in the 30s. Don't know for sure. Apparently Selmer and Kay had some sort of a relationship at some time, but I have no idea when it started or ended. It was a damn site better instrument than the Kays without the Selmer name.