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Double Bass Kay Replacement necks inquiry

#21
MollyKay said:
That would be the UB Standard Bass…sorry Les, you’re just teeing these up. :)

I’m yanking your chain because I can. :D
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Oh yeah, all in good fun! :) I never thought of the [Invalid or Expired Link Removed] as an elite Kay. It's way above that league! Anyway, those guys don't seem interested in turning out lami basses anymore.

The serious side of my comment was that it might be intriguing to have something that has the dimensions and overall design of a Kay (gotta have those f-holes) but with more robust and tweaked parts. Better neck, better blocks, nicer top, back, ribs. While the parts could be used as direct replacements on Kays, one could build a bass out of all of them and have an ultra-Kay. :)
 
#22
RCWilliams said:
Not being all that familiar with Kays is there more than one model? I know I have seen them in more than one finish and I think more than one species, but if there is only one arch and one outline and one style of FFs , I would think it should be easy enough to do an arch pattern and then vacuum form ply or laminated tops for them. I suspect the volume would be fairly low for the tops are the tops generally made of all spruce veneers?

are only upper blocks needed or are corner ao lower blocks also needed?

what about grafting necks?
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There are two basic body shapes: the 'Concert' with Gamba corners and the 'Maestro' with violin corners. I'm fairly certain the tops and backs came off the same mould. I've never tried to put one over the other but my eye says they are the same.

The gigantic f-holes are a key diagnostic feature of unlabeled Kays.

The core plies are mostly poplar (though I've seen several with birch plies) and the outer veneers are usually spruce for the tops and maple for the backs though again I've seen some curly bird's eye maple tops from the war years.

I make my own blocks from spruce but could be tempted by a pre-made neck block. Corner blocks are so easy to make they wouldn't be worth the shipping for me - end blocks too.

I have used replacement necks and tops from Engelhardt/Link and they are very inexpensive. They do have the same varying wood quality as the early Kays though, especially the necks.
 
#26
drurb said:
The serious side of my comment was that it might be intriguing to have something that has the dimensions and overall design of a Kay (gotta have those f-holes) but with more robust and tweaked parts. Better neck, better blocks, nicer top, back, ribs. While the parts could be used as direct replacements on Kays, one could build a bass out of all of them and have an ultra-Kay. :)
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Why not even package it as a kit for those of us who have skills but have not developed them far enough yet, or don't have all the tools or the time necessary to do the complete build from scratch? Sort of the "Heathkit" of double bass.
 
#27
bssist said:
Why not even package it as a kit for those of us who have skills but have not developed them far enough yet, or don't have all the tools or the time necessary to do the complete build from scratch? Sort of the "Heathkit" of double bass.
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Brilliant. :)
 
#28
bssist said:
Why not even package it as a kit for those of us who have skills but have not developed them far enough yet, or don't have all the tools or the time necessary to do the complete build from scratch? Sort of the "Heathkit" of double bass.
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I got one of those. It was called a fallen-apart Kay. :)
 
#29
jonas said:
The Kay I was recently working on had a (poplar?) top verneer with painted (!) spruce grain.
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Most are a faux finish, even faking the center seam. Very well done too. We're going to try it on one of the new "Chicago" models soon as I think we can just lay masking tape down the centerline, gel stain and rake with a rubber comb and then repeat in the other side. I think I saw Martha Stewart do it once! ;)

We're a big fan of relaminating the tops and backs rather than replacing when we can and have done this for other shops too. We usually peel away 2 or 3 layers of wood and relaminate them with new material on our press. It's practically a new top/back at that point...but we've preserved the instruments original features...at least externally.
 
#30
bssist said:
Why not even package it as a kit for those of us who have skills but have not developed them far enough yet, or don't have all the tools or the time necessary to do the complete build from scratch? Sort of the "Heathkit" of double bass.
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If the price were right, I'd buy such a kit. Especially if it came with step-by-step assembly instructions. ;)
 
#31
Eric Rene Roy said:
Most are a faux finish, even faking the center seam. Very well done too. We're going to try it on one of the new "Chicago" models soon as I think we can just lay masking tape down the centerline, gel stain and rake with a rubber comb and then repeat in the other side. I think I saw Martha Stewart do it once! ;)
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Now that we've moved to a pretty good thread derail....AlCoA had a 50 step patented process for the faux wood finish on aluminum basses in the early 1930s, as seen on #509:

alcoaaluminumbassback.gif


alcoaaluminumbass1.gif
 
#33
The scrolls are glue on all except the Swingmaster (the high end models) those are carved. The windings are sometimes referred to as volutes or roses. Here’s a picture of a Kay getting a replacement volute applied and will get color matched to the scroll.

Penelope1122007003.jpg


Here is a fully carved Swingmaster scroll

MarthaKayS-9112809014.jpg


One with a missing volute that has not been replaced. They were glued on with hide glue and easily pop off.

Graciel972008011.jpg
 

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