Kay Effector Sunburst 1977
Kay Effector, made in Korea circa 1977, sunburst. Super weird, but suitably awesome. The origins of this fine monstrosity are a little cloudy, but after some digging around and help from fellow nerds, I'll give you my best guess at the tale. Kay were one of USA's biggest guitar builders through the 1960s, but the company went broke in 1968, and sold their assets and brand name to Weiss Musical Instruments in '69. Weiss distributed Teisco Del Ray in USA, so they applied the known Kay brand name to some imported guitars they had made in Korea that were sold through Sears via catalog in the late 1970s. The 'Effector' model was offered briefly through these exploits, and it kinda references the Les Paul Recording model, but with a different bunch of tricks on tap. It's got two single coil pickups, both always on, although there's a phase switch. There's a built in fuzz, approximately Muff-ish, although it's on the distortion side of the fuzz universe. The other effects are all basically variations on vibrato, with different names, all driven by the same chip under the hood and just paired with different caps for different textures. It all works, and there's a lot of fun to be had messing around with it. The neck is in reasonable shape: it's straight and stable and I reckon the frets were replaced fairly recently. Overall it plays pretty nicely: not super slick, but it's certainly pretty reasonably and holds tune fine. Don't count on seeing another one anytime soon!
Model: Kay Effector
Made: Korea, 1977 approx
Serial: N/A
Finish: sunburst, gloss poly
Body: agathis, maple carved top (species unverified)
Neck: agathis, rosewood fretboard, 24.75" scale, 16" radius, 43mm nut, slim C, bolt-on
Weight: 4.095kg
Mods: tuners, nut, truss rod cover and tailpiece replaced, frets appear to be replaced
Pickups: single coil x2, built-in effects circuit
Accessories: none
Cosmetic condition notes: minor finish wear. The headstock has chips on the corners and scuffs on the end, scratches and holes from previous tuners on the back, dents and oversized holes around some of the tuning posts and some scuffs on the front. The neck is clean and smooth in the hands, there's dimples and rub wear wear on the back, dents on the volute and what seems to be a crack in the clearcoat only around the headstock join. The back has widespread minor scuffs, dimples and surface scratches but no major marks. The sides have dimples around the whole body as well as some splits in the binding on the elbow area and bottom horn. The front has dimples around the knobs and tailpiece, scuffs in the elbow area and some play wear on the guard and horns.
Overall: very 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 10/52 Moonshiners strings.
Fret Life: 8/10, minor wear only