Your thoughts on old Kay Value Leader basses.

[Jaycat]

Such as this one.

There are a couple for sale in my area. One for $750 and another for $500. Both of which are below the going rate, it seems.

Does anyone have any experience with one of these? What should I look out for?

I have never had much luck with old Kay instruments, but this one is just.... so cool looking ....

 

[2saddleslab]

No experience w/ these but would certainly go one a go if given the opportunity. Good luck!

 

[GretschWretch]

As musical or contextual niche instruments, they have their place long with other "catalog" basses, but the bass pictured is the bottom of the line for Kay. I think the asking prices are much too high.

 

[Matt Liebenau]

They’re cool. I had a mostly matching guitar and bass at one point. I’m pretty sure the bass I had was guitar scale length while that one looks longer, maybe I’m remembering wrong. They’re cool and quirky instruments. I’m not sure one would be ideal as an only bass but definitely as something different.

I haven’t kept up on prices but remember asking prices on Reverb or eBay are different from what people are actually getting. I remember when no one wanted those and you couldn’t give them away so even $500 seems wild.

 

[mark107]

I'm sure it was a cheap piece of junk bottom feeder in the day. Does that make it worth something now?

 

[Melik]

Prolly hard to find strings!

 

[Gervais Cote]

Not my style of bass but if I was shopping for something of that kind, I would give a try to a fretted Godin A4 Ultra. More costly but high quality and a trouble free instrument.

 

[Thumpin6string]

I had one of those back when I first started playing bass back in the 70s. Mine had lipstick pickups but looked similar to the one pictured. I will say it was one of the biggest pieces of I ever owned. The strings sat about 3/8 of an inch above the fretboard and could not be adjusted any better. I think I sold it for $20 in 74 when I got my year old 1973 Fender Jazz that I paid $125 for with the hard case. I honestly can't see why anyone would pay $500 or up for such a crappy instrument. Only good for a conversation piece hanging on the wall IMHO.

 

[Bass4ThePublic]

Cool yes but $500 is $400 too much. Remember, these were sold at sears for $10. Keep that in mind.

 

[Gilmourisgod]

I'm about 99% sure I played one of those in a pawnshop years ago and yeah.... not great. On par with the basses hanging in the musical intrument department in Sears when I was a kid. The kind of budget bass you'd buy for somebody you were pretty sure wasn't going to stick with it, and later gets found in a closet with 3 strings. They have a weird fever-dream appeal, but more as wall hangers than actual playable instruments.You never know though, this one might be the exception, I sure as hell wouldn't buy it without playing in person.

 

[ghostdog93]

I totally get that it's cool looking and I'd never slander a Kay because of some fond childhood memories, but yeah...$500 is $400 too much, even if it does turn out to be a decent player.

Just my two copper.

 

[Water buffalo]

I have always felt that the scale on these Value Leader basses looks off. The scale is around 24 1/2" , the fretboard has 15 frets. Danelectro did the same thing, this allowed them to put a bass fretboard on a guitar neck.

The difference is Danelectro moved the bridge to the bottom of the body so that the bass intonated correctly. The Kay has the bridge in the original guitar position. The 12th fret should be roughly in the middle; the distance between the nut and the 12th fret should be equal to the distance of the 12th fret to the bridge. The Kay's are not.

"Key Features:

•Original Sunburst finish with natural checking and patina

•Hollowbody construction with short scale (approx. 24 3/8″)

•Classic “pancake” pickup with volume/tone controls

•Comfortable “baseball bat” neck profile

•Made in USA – Chicago, IL"

 

[Water buffalo]

The Kay K5915 is 30" scale. I have owned a couple of versions of these, they're really nice basses if you find one in decent condition.

 

[Guitalia]

I have the three-pickup guitar version of that bass, as well as a Sears Silvertone/Danelectro bass with one lipstick pickup. The Danelectro bass is a similarly simple design but much better quality---especially the fingerboard and neck.

That said, it might be worth checking out one of the ones you mentioned. If you can get along with the neck, it would be a fun bass to own. Maybe offer $250 or so. (Note that, despite the harrumphing about prices in this thread, one sold recently on Reverb for $800 with free shipping.)

Edit: by the way, someone suggested above that the design of the Value Leader bass is faulty because the bridge is placed wrong for the scale length. It's a floating bridge, so that's not a concern. The first thing I did with my Value Leader guitar was to slide the bridge to the right spot to correct the intonation.

 

[ghostdog93]

(Note that, despite the harrumphing about prices in this thread, one sold recently on Reverb for $800 with free shipping.)

"A fool and his money are soon parted." - Dad, 1973

 

[Guitalia]

"A fool and his money are soon parted." - Dad, 1973

You had asked his advice about buying a 1965 Jazz Bass for $200, I take it.

 

[Water buffalo]

Edit: by the way, someone suggested above that the design of the Value Leader bass is faulty because the bridge is placed wrong for the scale length. It's a floating bridge, so that's not a concern. The first thing I did with my Value Leader guitar was to slide the bridge to the right spot to correct the intonation.

That's good to know. Thanks.

 

[GretschWretch]

Cool yes but $500 is $400 too much. Remember, these were sold at sears for $10. Keep that in mind.

These weren't. They might have been sold by Spiegel or Western Auto, but not Sears.

 

[GretschWretch]

Cool yes but $500 is $400 too much. Remember, these were sold at sears for $10. Keep that in mind.

These weren't. They might have been sold by Spiegel or Western Auto, but not Sears.

 

[bass player 53]

Vintage Guitar Magazine ran a story on these basses:

Kay Jazz Special and Value Leader