1940s Kay-made Old Kraftsman Archtop Guitar

A local customer dropped this off to get turned-around as a birthday present for his brother. It's a very clean old '40s Kay and even has a solid top. A lot of this style are ply throughout, but this is one of the luckier ones, I suppose.

These guys tend to have long (25 3/4"+) scale lengths and poplar necks, so it's a roll of the dice as to whether or not the necks are straight-ish by this point in their lives. This one, fortunately, is straight. It did have a bad neck angle (and loose joint) when it came in, however, and the original bridge had been hacked-up so much that it was no longer useful.

Post-surgery, it has great chop and a nice, lower-mids growl to its voice. It's very punchy and quite direct and loud. This is not my style of archtop guitar, but folks who like longer scale lengths and play a lot of fill/lead work will enjoy its snap and bite.

Did I mention the pickguard shape and sunburst are classy as heck?

Repairs included: a neck reset, fret level/dress, new bridge fit/install, and setup. The neck reset went poorly, though. The joint was loose upon arrival but would not budge. I heated it up, steamed it a bit, and applied my neck removal jig but it still wouldn't budge. I cranked the jig's clamp a bit and ka-pow, the neck came off but the bottom of the heel split right at the bottom of the dovetail as it did. Someone -- at some point -- had wonked-out and crammed a bunch of shims willy-nilly in there with some sort of mystery adhesive. The cruddy poplar of the neck gave out, apparently, in the stress. This happens once in a blue moon with Chicago necks as the wood is -- frankly -- not great stuff... and the dovetails do not extend far enough down the heel to support the bottom portion. Suffice to say, this repair was on the house. It's stable and good to go, but it makes me sad.

Setup notes: action is bang-on at 3/32" EA and 1/16" DGBE at the 12th fret. Strings are 52w-11 gauges and the neck is straight. Because of the long scale and unreinforced necks, I tend to not suggest 54w-12 for use on these.

Scale length: 25 7/8"

Nut width: 1 11/16"

String spacing at nut: 1 7/16"

String spacing at bridge: 2"

Body length: 20"

Lower bout width: 15 1/2"

Waist width: 8 7/8"

Upper bout width: 11 1/4"

Side depth at endpin: 3 5/8"

Top wood: solid spruce

Back/sides wood: ply flamed maple

Neck wood: poplar

Bracing type: tonebar

Fretboard: rosewood, bone nut

Bridge: rosewood adjustable, modern

Neck feel: medium-big C-shape, 12" board radius

Condition notes: it's quite clean and all-original save a new bridge. The finish looks great for its age save the hairline crack at the bottom of the heel.