Hi.
Welcome to TalkBass
colonel.
Congrats on the NBD.
Based on my experiences with KAY guitars and basses, I'm not that fond of them, but hopefully Your experiences will be more pleasurable

.
Do not mind the Ric posse either, they've adopted the "U Can't Touch This" policy the company has towards the shapes of various bits and pieces.
They're decent folks when You get to know them, but anything even remotely resembling a Rickenbacker product tends to set them off like fireworks on fourth of July.
Let them, that makes 'em feel better

.
Regards
Sam