1930s Kay-made KeyKord (Converted) Tenor Guitar

Update 2018: I originally posted this in 2012, but it's recently come back to me in trade and I did some more work on it since it's been back. I've updated this post's photos, added a video, and have updated the description where necessary. Now back to the post...

So, here's a very cool but odd duck. Originally this instrument (called a KeyKord tenor guitar and made by Kay in Chicago) would have had a fretless fingerboard and a chord-button gizmo attached to it that let the player use a number of typical chord shapes without having to actually fret the neck. Think of it like the piano accordion's "bass button" side with all sorts of chords available at the click of a button.

The patent for this gizmo dates to 1932 but below I've got evidence from a 1930 issue of Music Trade Review that shows that it was in use since 1930.

This one was modified from that original format at some point in its life and had what appears to be an Oscar Schmidt 1920s tenor banjo fretboard glued to its slightly thinned-down (width, not front to back) neck. Personally... I think that's great, because now a player can make proper use of the instrument. The bonus is that it's loud, punchy, and strident, too. It'll definitely carry nicely in a jam. It only has 11 frets to the body, but the sloping "cutaway" facilitates playing higher-up.

Work included: a fret level/dress, one tiny hairline crack cleat to the top near the bridge, a new vintage-style pickguard to cover-up where an old aftermarket pickguard had been, replacement friction pegs (it has Grover Perma-Tensions, now), new (1920s) banjo-style bridge, side dots install, a hidden bolt-reinforcement for the neck joint (the joint was good but I'd never given this one a reset so I like to hedge my bets), and a setup. It plays on-the-dot with 1/16" action overall at the 12th fret, strung with 32w, 22w, 14, 9 gauges and tuned in standard CGDA. The neck is straight.

Scale length: 21"
Nut width: 1 3/16"
String spacing at nut: 7/8"
String spacing at saddle: 1 5/16"

Body length: 15 3/4"
Lower bout width: 11"
Upper bout width: 8"

Side depth at endpin: 3 1/8"

Top wood: solid mahogany
Back/sides wood: solid mahogany
Neck wood: poplar
Fretboard: ebonized maple

Neck shape: flat board, medium/deep U-shaped profile

Bridge: maple

Nut: bone

Weight: 1lb 12oz

Condition notes: unoriginal tuners, unoriginal (but period) fretboard, unoriginal pickguard, unoriginal (but period) bridge, otherwise all-original. There's minor usewear and the edges of the neck have been sanded/touched-up where they meet the fretboard, but overall it's in very good shape.

It comes with: an awesome, form-fit, original hard case in good shape.

There are some filled tuner-screw holes on the back of the headstock. There were some 2:1 geared tuners on this when it was originally made, but those were long-gone when I got this.

I added a strap button at the tailpiece instead of just a screw.

Here's that original case -- isn't it awesome?

It's got wear and tear, but is actually in good structural shape.

Above is a 1930 article with a pic of the KeyKord device, later patented in 1932.