New to me Kay M-1

Well Hey There Fretless ... How Dee Dooo !! I have owned several Kays ... And seen N lissened to a'hole bunch more ... Local'like . My brain is thin-pickin's ... But I'll try ....

Not tryin' to give you Too-Much-Sh$t-Here F-Less ... Damn ....

My Brain .... Small As It Is (Not quite up to FrankenStein Monster TransPlant Quality) .... Says ....

Really I would prefer an Orange in the ribs rather than an Apple ... Ditch them nylon strings (for some bullet-proof Kevlars) ... Even though I'm shure they are Suuuhhhwweeett. The "pretty darn loud" thang is tempting .... But .... Quit thinkin' about how much that Kay POS is Worth (I know about this Kay Deal ... I own 2) ...

Does it play Good ? ... Do Ya Like-It ?? Can It Hit A Ball Outta The BallPark ?? That is what matters.

Kruudd .... I (and I suspect most Luthiers and Buyers) would hate your swell descriptions .... "crack ... rough ... gouge .... poorly repaired ... needs a new bridge" ....

Tuff to off-load on Flea-Bay that way .... Polish up your Marketing there Pal !! Worst Deal Is ... The Heel Crack .... The rest is gravy with the right marketing.

But Hey ... If you are interested in selling (which you aren't) ... Who Cares ?? What year is The Bass In Question ?? I'll give you A'Buck'3'Ninety'Eight for it (You pay shipping to me) .. Mighty-Fair Price in a major recession !

 

Hello F-Less ... I Jess like to give Folks .... Trouble .... Shoot ... Yer From IOWA ??? Pigs .... Soy Beans .... Corn ... Blues ..... TornadoBass My Pal ?? I even met The Wiener Brothers (Big Boys ... Maybe 6-Foot to 6-Foot-Four / 180 lbs to 280 lbs ... Depending on the brother ... Their family raised hogs in Iowa ... So We'All could have bacon/ham fer breakfast .

I would have given you Even-More-Trouble had I known that from the Beginning . My Bro-In-Law was from the Sioux City area .... Small-town Hinton .....

You really can hear the corn grow at night ... I heard it in person July one year while visiting my Little Siss and Her Hubb .. It is No Sh%T ! You can really hear the corn grow ... As if all you DB players might even Give A Hoot ....

P.S. I forgot what I waz trying to respond to in the First Place ...

Sh%t F-Less ... Get A Clue Buddy !! Where Ya From Pal ? Sorry ... Iowa ... Right ?? Of Course You Got Hosed !! We all get Hosed playing Double Bass ... What's New ?? .... No Matter What State We Are From !!
What A WonderFullWorld We All Live In .... Where's SatchMo when we need Him to lift our attitudes ??
"I hear babies cry...... I watch them grow
They'll learn much more.....Than I'll ever know."

 

$1550

 

LOL!!

 

Tough to say, and you own it now, so isn't this an exercise in masochism, trying to find out after the fact if you got screwed? Ya mighta been better off asking this *before* you bought... but anyway.

Kays and other American made plywoods have become something of a collector's item in certain circles and the prices CAN be pretty outrageous. Certainly more than the sum of its parts for sure. My very rough guess is that if the heel repair is solid and that apple doesn't vibrate itself out or look too awful, and the overall sound and playability is good, you got a good bass so sleep tight knowing that. Personally I wouldn't put out more than say $2-2.5k or so for it, but if you paid more, fear not, because I guarantee there are plenty of folks out there that would be more than happy to earn you a profit on it.

 

A steal. Even if you need to put $1500 into it you'll get it back I imagine.

 

When I got my Kay it was in pretty rough shape.. bolted on neck, the scroll and whole headstock could be "bent" forward and back", the F hole on the G was sinking because the sound post was installed on the E (at least that's what I suspect). But, the bass had strings on it, and it sounded decent and promising in its "original" state. *Mind you, this bass was given to me for free...*
Aanyway, our good friend and luthier extraordinaire Arnold put a new neck on, set a new sound post, new bridge, new end pin.. all for about $1,500 total (this is was back in '98). This is the bass that got me through college and that I still play to this day (though I've upgraded to a hybrid to help w/ arco matters).

 

You got a great deal

You didn't specify but I'd make sure the stringed-instrument repair guys are actually luthiers who work on double basses.

And I'd have one of them take a good hard look at the neck repair before putting on any kind of higher-tension strings. Neck problems on Kays are quite common and many (like my '42 Kay) have been professionally repaired and are stronger than ever. If that's the case with yours, the rest sounds like it can be easily dealt with (by somebody who knows what he or she is doing, of course.)

Good luck.

 

I would not suggest putting anything but lower tension type strings on that bass. Many older Kays end up having structural issues over time, from having modern high-tension steel strings on them - which they were not built for, IMO.

There are a multitude of low tension strings today that are good for many types of music, and I think Kays (& many other basses) even sound better without too much tension on the top.

The Obligatos should be just fine tension-wise.