c.1960 Kay-made Silvertone Classical Guitar

This Sears-sold Silvertone classical guitar was made by Kay and is in nearly perfect condition. Unsurprisingly, because it has a laminate body, it has no cracks and the beefy poplar neck and dyed fretboard are straight and good to go. I almost have this feeling that the strings are the originals or perhaps nearly so, too.

Anyhow, this guitar walked in the door via a customer of mine and will be up for consignment soon with its original two-tone chip case (see below). It's essentially unplayed -- looks like it went into the case after 10 or so hours of use and was left there ever since. All I had to do to it was lightly adjust the factory setup at the nut to improve action. It plays with 3/32" string height at the 12th fret and the strings feel like a high tension nylon set which seems just about right for the stout construction.

Tonally, it's what I'd call "all-around medium" -- simple, straightfoward, not overly loud, not overly quiet, and practical. Besides, it's got that student 60s charm!

This guitar has a natural-colored top with some "mahogany" stained back and sides.

The big old nut width and bigger slight-v neck remind me of 30s guitars rather than 60s ones.

Dyed fretboard ("ebonized") with some tarnished frets. The owner didn't want me to do a leveling and dressing on them and they really didn't need it so I left them as-is.

Blue-decal rosette.

Bolted and glued bridge with typical classical-style tie block.

...and its original case in good health. The blue masking tape is just for ID in my instrument storage area.