1960s Kay Archtop Rubber Bridge Bass Conversion

This arrived on consignment as normal midrange Kay archtop but Ancel converted it over into a rubber-bridge electric bass guitar instead. These instruments are usually only so-so as acoustics (and I often stick pickups of some sort in them to get them to "give up the goods")  but in this application it's a stellar instrument. I actually brought this one out last Friday to play an hour or so while backing up my friend Rob at a gig and loved every minute of it.

I play a lot of bass these days and the guitar-length scale, light weight, light handling, and upright-like response and sound of one of these plugged-in makes them tremendous fun. I have one of my own guitars hanging-around here slated for conversion to one of these because I want one around all the time. They're an especially good fit for folks who want to fit an electric bass into an acoustic group, too, as they've got that Hofner-meets-upright kind-of vibe and a "bouncy" attack.

Repairs included: a fret level/dress, bridge mod, pickup cut/install, wiring harness cut/install, replacement tuners, pickguard mod, new bone nut, new tailpiece, setup, etc.

Weight: 5 lbs 2 oz

Scale length: 25 3/4"

Nut width: 1 5/8"

Neck shape: med-fuller D

Board radius: 9 1/2"

Body width: 15 1/2"

Body depth: 3 3/4"

Body wood: ply maple

Bridge: rosewood

Fretboard: rosewood

Neck wood: poplar

Pickups: 1x old Japanese 4-pole humbucker (microphonic)

Action height at 12th fret: 3/32" to 1/16" (fast, spot-on)
String gauges: 95w-35w or close to it

Truss rod: non-adjustable

Neck relief: straight

Fret style: medium-wide

Condition notes: overall the instrument is in excellent shape save minor usewear. Obviously, we've modified it a ton and it's now a rubber-bridge electrified bass guitar rather than a middling regular acoustic archtop guitar, however.

It comes with: sorry, no case.

Consignor tag: A6M