- May 6, 2003
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- Proprietor Fifth Avenue Fret Shop. Technical Editor Bass Gear Magazine
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Double Bass Kay factory installed Ampeg pick up
- Thread starter MollyKay
- Start date
I am slowly selling myself on finding the perfect Kay for me (for folk, rockabilly and bluegrass it seems the perfect fit), so it seems that I am watching all of these threads. 
I think that anyone looking for more info about these pickups should drop Jess Oliver an email ([email protected]) as I'm sure he'd be able to offer some assistance. I've dealt with him with an old Oliver amp that I [Invalid or Expired Link Removed], but I know that when he was hired at Ampeg, it was to install (and repair) the pickup systems that they offered. (Seems that he was hired simply due to the fact that he was offering to do his own Link Removed.) FWIW, He still does repair work out of his basement in NY.
I think that anyone looking for more info about these pickups should drop Jess Oliver an email ([email protected]) as I'm sure he'd be able to offer some assistance. I've dealt with him with an old Oliver amp that I [Invalid or Expired Link Removed], but I know that when he was hired at Ampeg, it was to install (and repair) the pickup systems that they offered. (Seems that he was hired simply due to the fact that he was offering to do his own Link Removed.) FWIW, He still does repair work out of his basement in NY.
that's really cool to find out where the name Ampeg came from! I never would have guessed that. I wonder why the don't still do double bass oriented thngs?
Every story has a beginning, middle and end so I thought I would close the loop on the 1953 Kay Ampeg bass.
We have finished the bass recently and it has proven its self to be a really nice bass we are both surprised and delighted.
We didnt want to remove the Ampeg pick up but it really served no purpose other then the cool factor
so it has been removed, the bass is now restored and sounding great
no regrets. For a 1953 Kay this baby can really push some volume. I am continually amazed how these old workhorses will give back if you just give them some TLC. 
Here is a slide show of the whole story beginning middle and end enjoy!
http://s318.photobucket.com/albums/mm428/bassmonkey2/1953 Kay C-1 Vince/?albumview=slideshow
We have finished the bass recently and it has proven its self to be a really nice bass we are both surprised and delighted.
We didnt want to remove the Ampeg pick up but it really served no purpose other then the cool factor
so it has been removed, the bass is now restored and sounding great
no regrets. For a 1953 Kay this baby can really push some volume. I am continually amazed how these old workhorses will give back if you just give them some TLC. Here is a slide show of the whole story beginning middle and end enjoy!
http://s318.photobucket.com/albums/mm428/bassmonkey2/1953 Kay C-1 Vince/?albumview=slideshow
Hey MollyKay, that hollowed-out bridge is interesting. How (and how much) does it affect the sound?
Well we (this is my husbands brainfart, I had no idea he was going to do this until he started)
approached this from an objective, engineering stance verse a subjective, ear/personal opinion stance without changing the visual appearance of the bass. The bass was pushing 76 decibels at five feet on the sound meter before the modifications. With the bridge and tail piece modifications I can get 85 decibels at five feet in a controlled environment. I cant say if it is the bass, the bridge or the tail piece or all three
but I can say the volume of this bass did increase after the modifications. It was all an experiment with no preset expectations in mind kind of a **** and giggles experiment. The bass has volume tone and quality of the sound is personal and only to be judged by the player of course I like it! With aging hearing we are trying to approach these experiments with a measurable, objective A vs. B test its fun and really gives my husband an outlet for his creative ideas.
Some what ironic he would choose this bass to try his ideas out a state of the art 1953 Ampeg pick up bass there has to be some weird vibe from this bass when it comes to sound and amplification.
