Jumbo! Ebay score

[Dotneck]

I've been looking around on ebay again and finding all kinds of cool stuff that I don't need....but would love to have...

Here is a mid-50's Kay K24. Could very well be a birth year guitar for me...at least its a birth era guitar! Looks like it will need a set of  tuners. Hope the neck is straight...I should get it next week. Hoping for a big clubby neck!



I really wanted the case! Isn't this cool?

[unclrob]

Whay cool catch,Congrats.

[Dotneck]

What was kind of interesting was this seller had many many vintage guitars...I bet he had hundreds of guitars. He had vintage ES 335s and LP/SGs that went for about $9000...vintage Martins...to goofy stuff like this Kay and Harmonys....to Hondos that went for $10. Some was junk and some were pristine. The auctions ended every 5 for ten minutes....with 25 or 30 auctions on one day...and another 25 or 30 the next day....It was fun to watch and hard not to get caught up in the bidding once you took a broad look at what was going on instead of just watching one particular item.

He's got a Guild M-20 coming up in a couple days...I know some of the guys here like M-20s...(actually I just looked and right now he has 308 auctions listed...I bet over 200 auctions ended this week!).

[noyage]

Nice guitar Dotneck - is it ladder-braced?

[SMan]

Nice find!  The cool police are all over the case. 

[Dotneck]

Nice find!  The cool police are all over the case.  

Nice guitar Dotneck - is it ladder-braced?

I don't think so...these were built as copies of Gibsons J-200.  I don't have it yet so I can't look to be sure.

[broKen]

Very Cool! I like the case too. Hope it's a player.

[Zohn]

 :+1:Cool guitar - the case is really something special.

[Dotneck]

:+1:Cool guitar - the case is really something special.

The case is cool...its a chipboard case with faux alligator...but its got red velvet inside. Love it!



The guitar is HUGE! And it has a baseball bat for a neck. I bet the Yankees would love it. I ve got to replace the tuners before it will be playable...but I'm anxious to see what it sounds like...its in very good condition...looks like t will be a cool guitar to add to the arsenal.

[petevee]

Way cool! I need to spend more time on eBay 

[Dotneck]

Nice guitar Dotneck - is it ladder-braced?

Well it looks to be ladder braced after all.....

And its got an odd wrap around bridge with a wooden saddle.   I ordered new tuning machines today...so it will be a few days before I will see what it sounds like....

[unclrob]

More details please on the wrap.Also can you post some pix of the bridge and odd wrap.

[Digdog]

Very cool purchase and the case is sooooooo outstanding. The frosting on the cake so to speak.For the last couple of month's i've been checking out strictly the old 50's & 60's harmony made arch top guitars. Some of the late 40's into the 50's are made with solid woods and hand carved tops that are great sounding and in the 200- 600 dollar area far more affordable than there GIBSON PERIOD PIECES. Ended up winning a bid on a 1966 Monterey arch-top made of solid birch b&s and a solid spruce top that is in mint ultra silked sun bursted , kind of a faded look , the guitar looks like it never left the case . OH yeah and it has that very easy playing type older baseball bat v-ish neck....

Ended up having a luthier friend cut a tortoise type pick-guard and attach a Kent Armstrong floating 2d micro pick-up with the volume and tone controls,small little wheel type,under the pick-guard . Man what a killer sounding arch-top .

I'm stoked for you and your new Kay jumbo. and that extra coooooolll case  

[Dotneck]

Ended up winning a bid on a 1966 Monterey arch-top made of solid birch b&s and a solid spruce top that is in mint ultra silked sun bursted , kind of a faded look , the guitar looks like it never left the case . OH yeah and it has that very easy playing type older baseball bat v-ish neck....

That sounds cool. Some of the Montereys are really nice. I also keep my eyes open for a nice Patrician too. Speaking of archtops...I've had lots of cool old archies including some very nice Epiphones...that I usually bought right and sold to realize some cash after holding them for a while.

But some of the cheapies are the best. I had a Kay all mahogany archtop that was like new. Probably from the early 50's. That's one I should have kept. Have fun with the Harmony

[Dotneck]

More details please on the wrap.Also can you post some pix of the bridge and odd wrap.

Here is the bridge. Its a wooden saddle...the string goes in between the saddle and the bridge and is wrapped around the bridge...

[Dotneck]

That is way cool.  Interesting bridge design.

Its an interesting bridge design but it doesn't work. So here is the plan. That bridge is coming off...and a new bridge will be installed...with traditional bridge pins and a bone saddle.

The problem is...the action is too high (who's surprised?). The neck angle is fine....but you can't lower the action because you cannot lower the saddle enough with the current bridge design. And there is no break angle behind the saddle. So this bridge is coming off...and a new bridge will be made to fit in the same spot...with traditional pins, and a compensated bone saddle.

If the fancy rivit heads can be saved they will be cut off and glued onto the new bridge for a nod to the original design. The job will be finished off with a new bone nut cut with a bit wider string spacing than is on the current nut.

I hoping this treatment will wake up the guitar with some volume (as much volume as you can expect for a ladder braced jumbo).  I kind of excited to see how it works out...

[broKen]

I hoping this treatment will wake up the guitar with some volume (as much volume as you can expect for a ladder braced jumbo).  I kind of excited to see how it works out...

No doubt. I would be too. You may just have a winner.

I suppose you'll be adding some bridge plate pieces.

[unclrob]

Take a good straight edge and place it in the middle of the fingerboard so that you can get the bridge hieght correct.The straight edge should rest on the top of the bridge without lifting up off the fingerboard.This will give you plenty of room for saddle hieght.

[Dotneck]

Take a good straight edge and place it in the middle of the fingerboard so that you can get the bridge hieght correct.The straight edge should rest on the top of the bridge without lifting up off the fingerboard.This will give you plenty of room for saddle hieght.

I'm not going to do it...one of the better techs in town is going to do the work. We sat yesterday and went over the guitar from head to toe and came up with the plan to scrap the old bridge. We talked about re-engineering the old one but we think this plan will be better by having the bridge pins anchored into the top.

[unclrob]

Replacing the bridge is the way to go.Even though I don't have too I'm going to type it anyway.Keep us in the loop.