zombywoof Posted September 7, 2014 Share Posted September 7, 2014 Being that I have put myself on a guitar austerity plan there are not a lot of Gibsons in my future. I ended up passing on the L-12 but shed not a tear for me because on the day I returned the archtop to its owner I came home with something else. As best I can figure is it is a late 1930s Kay K-6. What caught my eye with this one was the high level of ornamentation - binding around the top, back, board and soundhole (even on the inside edge). Nice mahogany body and good quality spruce top. Ladder braced, of course, with the expected Louisville Slugger Kay neck. But the 15" lower bout, 14 fret neck and typical Kay long scale (25 3/4") combine to give the guitar some serious bite. Just a big, open voice. One of the coolest things is the edges of the board were rounded off making it comfy as all heck. Kay called it an oval fingerboard. And I love the blonde tort archtop style pickguard. Bad news is it does need a neck reset (big surprise there) and the rosewood pyramid bridge is lifting. Some wingnut replaced the tuners with some MIJ 1960s style contraptions and managed to put them on the wrong side. And you always have the problem with these guitars of trying to figure out what they are worth which is pretty much what somebody is willing to pay for it. But what that is who knows. Don't matter though as to me this one is worth fixing up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bayoubengal1954 Posted September 7, 2014 Share Posted September 7, 2014 Very cool! Looking forward to hearing it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobouz Posted September 7, 2014 Share Posted September 7, 2014 Zomby, it's always nice to see your sustained enthusiasm for the old mail-order stuff! When I bought items like this dirt cheap at flea markets forty years ago, I only picked up what I could work on myself. Didn't have enough money to spend on repairs, and the goal was to fix them up & trade for something better. There were a number of nice guitars, mandolins, & banjos along the way that deserved to be saved, and clearly some pieces still remain in that category today. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigKahune Posted September 7, 2014 Share Posted September 7, 2014 . Nice. And that one white bridge pin is really nice. .. B) . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zombywoof Posted September 7, 2014 Author Share Posted September 7, 2014 . And that one white bridge pin is really nice. .. B) . Just grabbed something to replace the black pin that shot across the room like a rocket when I hit a big fat open A chord. If another one launches I guess I will either wrap some duck tape around the pins or even may have to buy some proper fitting ones. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
E-minor7 Posted September 7, 2014 Share Posted September 7, 2014 Authentic looking old new friend. How old. . . The guard adds a lot of style'n'personality - guess were in blue territory with this one. . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kelly campbell Posted September 8, 2014 Share Posted September 8, 2014 If you guys and gals don't mind I would like to ask what may seem to be a dumb question. Being new to the guitar world what does the NGD I have seen on a couple threads stand for? I think I may know but not sure. Thanks and please excuse me for the remedial question. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
E-minor7 Posted September 8, 2014 Share Posted September 8, 2014 If you guys and gals don't mind I would like to ask, , , NGD simply means Never Go Deaf - You pick a certain guitar and spend the whole day checking the ear sentivity by nuances in both volume and tone. It can also just mean New Guitar Day ,-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BluesKing777 Posted September 8, 2014 Share Posted September 8, 2014 Congratulations ZW! That is a beauty! I have seen a photo of a famous blues guy with that same guitar...somewhere? Any clues? Big Bill? BluesKing777. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nodehopper Posted September 8, 2014 Share Posted September 8, 2014 She looks like she has a lot of music left in her....glad to see people discard the name brand high dollar status symbols and find beautiful old guitars that have a lot of life still to go with just a little help from a good repair person.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zombywoof Posted September 8, 2014 Author Share Posted September 8, 2014 She looks like she has a lot of music left in her....glad to see people discard the name brand high dollar status symbols and find beautiful old guitars that have a lot of life still to go with just a little help from a good repair person.. I have discarded nothing. Still have my '42 J-50, '46 LG-2 and all. They are not going anyplace. It is more the love of musical voices and textures and the challenge of pulling sound out of a bunch of pieces of wood glued together. I learned a long time back that no matter what I am playing I just sound like me. Does beg the question though of the wisdom (or lack thereof) of buying a top of the line guitar offering by Kay or Harmony or buying a bottom of the food chain Gibson or Martin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kelly campbell Posted September 8, 2014 Share Posted September 8, 2014 NGD simply means Never Go Deaf - You pick a certain guitar and spend the whole day checking the ear sentivity by nuances in both volume and tone. It can also just mean New Guitar Day ,-) Thanks I had it wrong LOL it could mean New Gibson Dread as well Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onewilyfool Posted September 8, 2014 Share Posted September 8, 2014 Zomby, can't keep a good wolf down!!!! They ALL need neck resets, but you save another one from the bonfire!!! Good job!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zombywoof Posted September 8, 2014 Author Share Posted September 8, 2014 Zomby, can't keep a good wolf down!!!! They ALL need neck resets, but you save another one from the bonfire!!! Good job!! Never got that. If they did not want to reinforce the neck, it is not like Kay could not have let the neck wood season for eight years before using it. That would not seem like a lot to ask, does it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.