Kay 6868 Archtop Honey Blonde 1966
Kay 6868, honey blonde finish, made in USA around 1966. It looks gorgeous, no? Kay was made under the same Chicago roof as Silvertone and Harmony, and at the time they were the biggest guitar building operation in the world. This example dates to the mid 60s and is a fully hollow, laminate maple jazz box with a single neck pickup. The no-cutaway pinstriped body, semi-transparent celluloid tort guard and cool mid-century headstock logo make for all sorts of swagger. It's in pretty good playing shape with a functional truss rod, reasonable action and working frets and tuners, which is more than can be said for many guitars from this era. It's a fun little player; The tone is dry and snappy with a clear high end, plonky woody mids and a sweet vocal low end. These are pretty scarce in these parts, so nab yourself a very cool vintage jazzer, and let's get that moustache curled up at the corners like your grandad taught you, mm'kaayyy?
Model: Kay 6868; See: 1966 catalog
Made: Chicago USA, 1966 approx
Serial: N-6
Finish: natural, gloss urethane
Body: fully hollow, laminated maple, full depth 'super auditorium' archtop shape
Neck: maple, rosewood-stained fretboard, 24.75" scale, 16" radius, 'thin lite neck with adjustable truss rod'
Weight: 2.23kg
Mods: truss rod cover replaced
Pickups: Kay 'magnetic pickup unit'
Accessories: vintage ply hard case
Cosmetic condition notes: used electric guitar with cosmetic wear. First up, there's plenty of finish wear from head-to-toe. Starting at the headstock we have checking and worn back patches in the finish. There are scratches across the logo and non-original truss rod cover as well as chips in the finish by the tuners. On the back of the headstock are a few small holes, likely from changing the tuners at some stage and possibly adding a strap pin; The current tuners seem original. The neck is straight, but with plenty of checking, flecks of missing finish and other dings all the way down; Nothing sharp! Plenty more checking and worn away finish on the heel and edges of the body. The front of the body is a bit tidier with plenty of checking and a minor worn away patches mostly around the edges of the f-hole and base of the neck. There seems to be a relatively small piece of the top that has come away under the pickup that has been glued back in place. The 'binding' seems to be only painted on, and has worn away plenty on both the front and back. Turning over to the back of the body we have – would you believe it? – more checking. There is a decent patch of rub wear in the elbow area where the finish has progressively worn down. This patch is smooth and shows the undercoat of the finish. There are flecks of finish that have chipped away, some deeper scratches and scuffs around the centre as well as a ding closer to the heel.
Overall: good condition (7/10)
Playing condition notes: Action is low, neck is straight, intonation is good, truss rod works. All electronics tested and working properly. Wearing fresh 11/49 Moonshiners strings.
Fret life: 6/10, low, likely never were high, certainly were never jumbos. Honestly, pretty typical.