Went to a new students home for her first lesson last night. She was playing an ok enough Englehardt.
The big surprise for me was when we were done, she said "do you want to see my old 5 string Kay?"
Heck yeah!
It was beautiful, sad, and intriguing, all at the same time.
It had very high tension steel strings on it, the action was waaaaay high-nigh upon unplayble-but man, the thing was a frakkin' cannon! The tone was beautiful!
But...it appeared to have a carved top which had dealt none too well with time and high tension steel strings; it was sinking badly. The bridge was some distance away from the sound post...bummer. There was a crack in the top in the lower left bout, about 2-3" from the edge. Dunno if it's salvageable, but I recommended she immediately de-tension the strings some, and take it to the gents at KC Strings in Kansas City.
I'd never met a Kay 5 string in person. The top and sides were very thin. The fingerboard beveled outwards away from the neck to make itself wider for the 5th string. The tuners looked very much like electric bass tuners, with longer posts.
I hope it's repairable; it was neat. It would take top repairs, strings, probably a new bridge and a f/b planing to make it decently playable. Jeez it sounded good...
If anyone has other recommendations on who in the region might be good to service it, that'd be nice...and, any general information as well...did these normally come with carved tops???
The big surprise for me was when we were done, she said "do you want to see my old 5 string Kay?"
Heck yeah!
It was beautiful, sad, and intriguing, all at the same time.
It had very high tension steel strings on it, the action was waaaaay high-nigh upon unplayble-but man, the thing was a frakkin' cannon! The tone was beautiful!
But...it appeared to have a carved top which had dealt none too well with time and high tension steel strings; it was sinking badly. The bridge was some distance away from the sound post...bummer. There was a crack in the top in the lower left bout, about 2-3" from the edge. Dunno if it's salvageable, but I recommended she immediately de-tension the strings some, and take it to the gents at KC Strings in Kansas City.
I'd never met a Kay 5 string in person. The top and sides were very thin. The fingerboard beveled outwards away from the neck to make itself wider for the 5th string. The tuners looked very much like electric bass tuners, with longer posts.
I hope it's repairable; it was neat. It would take top repairs, strings, probably a new bridge and a f/b planing to make it decently playable. Jeez it sounded good...
If anyone has other recommendations on who in the region might be good to service it, that'd be nice...and, any general information as well...did these normally come with carved tops???
