1960s Kay Value Leader Hollowbody Electric Bass Guitar

Above, a fresh video (2025) and below and older video (2022)...

The moment I opened the case on this guy I thought: what a cool thing! It's got the wear and tear, it's got that lovely metal control plate/pickguard combo, it's lightweight, and it looks downmarket-slick in the tackiest way. There's a lot to like.

It is a bit of a weirdo, though! Unlike the "normal" Kay short-scale basses, this one is very short scale and uses the same scale as the Value Leader guitar models -- 24 3/8" -- which means that the strings are very bouncy and slack compared to a "normal" bass. This is an advantage in some ways (guitarists will find it slinky and comfy and it's fun to sit on a couch and play this for practice) but a disadvantage in others (bassists will find it a little alien to play at first as it's easier to put out of tune or "slop" your notes if you're expecting bass string tension).

It's a lot like the National/Valco "Pocket" basses that I see in the shop more often. I really like these as true basses, but I did sneak some used electric guitar strings (EADG) and tuned it up like a piccolo bass for a moment before finishing-up work on it. That was stupid-fun and if you run that through an octave pedal to get some sub-bass you immediately get a 4-string instrument that sounds a lot like the low-end of a bajo sexto. Yes, the obvious question is, "why not just play a guitar's EADG strings?" Well, my obvious answer is, "spacing!"

Suffice to say, post-repairs it's got a clean bill of health and both plays and sounds excellent. The neck is chunky like you'd expect, though.

Repairs included: a fret level/dress, added ground wire to tailpiece, mod to pickup mount, cleaning, side dots, setup.

• Body wood: ply maple (hollow with center post)
• Bridge: maple
• Fretboard: maple
• Neck wood: poplar
• Pickups: 1x original single coil
• Action height at 12th fret: 3/32” bass 1/16” treble (fast, spot-on)
• String gauges: old strings, roughly 100w-45w
• Neck shape: fat D
• Board radius: 10"
• Truss rod: adjustable
• Neck relief: straight
• Fret style: medium-wide
• Scale length: 24 38"
• Nut width: 1 11/16"
• Body width: 13 1/8"
• Body depth: 1 3/4"
• Weight: 5 lbs 0 oz

Condition notes: it's entirely original except for the volume and tone knobs and a shoulder strap button I added to match the style of the endpin. The finish has small nicks, dings, various scratches, and discoloration (especially on the neck face) throughout. It looks glorious! I modified the pickguard/control plate to add two new screw-down mounts on the left side and added a hole for the pickup wire so I could jack the pickup a little higher/closer to the strings. NOTE that the pictures were last taken in 2022 and while it otherwise looks exactly the same, the brass frets have tarnished since but have not been worn so they're still good to go. Also in the pictures it has roundwound strings on it but currently it has a nice old set of worn-in flatwound strings.

It comes with: an unoriginal gigbag.