1930s/50s Kay/Harmony Hodgepodge Round-Hole Archtop Guitar

This strange contraption is a '30s Kay Kraft-style body, all-ply, archtop, and round-hole -- that's been mated to a '50s Harmony neck that probably came off of a cutaway archtop guitar of some sort. The neck had been refretted, re-nutted, and fit with nice Gotoh 18:1 tuners when it came to the shop on its lonesome, too. Meanwhile, the neck belonging to the Kay Kraft body was pure garbage -- very warped and fit with one of those "adjustable heel" gizmos which like to move around.

My friend Michael was interested in procuring a round-hole archtop for himself but didn't want to spend a bunch of cash to get there, so I offered to "make this guitar work" as both components had been hanging-around upstairs for years. I put it together (the neck joint is a shallow tenon with the attachment being 3 bolts), fit a small-profile adjustable bridge to it, and did the glorified setup work to make it a spot-on player.

It wasn't the guitar for Michael in the end, but I think it's pretty fabulous if you're into swing jazz and "hot club" gypsy-jazz style music. It has a ton of volume, snap, and cut, with an airy/woody bottom-end that's pretty unusual and satisfying. The Harmony neck has a short, 24" scale length, too, which gives the whole instrument a very "different" feel as most of the Kay Kraft-style guitars feature scales of 25 3/4" or greater which don't allow for thicker string gauges. The short scale on this guy lets one string it 54w-12 which means the top actually has enough "engagement" with the mass of the strings to really give the guitar some "guts."

Suffice to say, it's a quirky build but very fun.

Repairs included: cobbling, a fret level/dress, bridge fitting, setup.

• Weight: 4 lbs 1 oz
• Scale length: 24"
• Nut width: 1 3/4"
• Neck shape: medium-full C
• Board radius: 10"
• Body width: 15 3/8"
• Body depth: 3 3/4"
• Top wood: ply spruce
• Back & sides wood: ply figured maple
• Bracing type: ladder
• Bridge: ebonized
• Fretboard: rosewood
• Neck wood: maple
• Action height at 12th fret: 3/32” bass 1/16” treble (fast, spot-on)
• String gauges: 54w-12 lights
• Truss rod: adjustable
• Neck relief: straight
• Fret style: medium

Condition notes: it's a cobbled guitar so it's of course mismatched. The heel has some funkiness at its edges due to the last guy adding shims and whatnot to where it meets the joint. There's a little wear below where the heel joints and also general wear and tear throughout the body and neck. It looks nice, though. The bridge is set low and has a low rise because I didn't want to accentuate the high-end/snap more than it already is. the neck bolts can always be loosened and the neck angle knocked-back if one wanted to have the bridge set higher. As it is, the tailpiece pulls down to the top because of the way the strings are anchored on it (it happens on a lot of Kay Kraft guitars with that style of tailpiece because the tops "dome" so much below the bridge -- I often wrap the ends around the tailpiece and then below it to counter the design flaw). I've also "locked" the bridge in place by fitting the adjustment posts into the top of the guitar as well as into the bridge. I like that because it keeps it sturdy and functional. It can be changed if desired, of course. Note that the strap button on the heel is slightly offset because that's where the hole was when the last guy fit it, so I left it. Also note that the heel is a weird shape because the neck was originally fit to a cutaway guitar so it has one "straight" side and one "angled" side. There's a photo that shows the back of the heel so you can see what I mean...

It comes with: sorry, no case.

Consignor tag: DD/CK