1960s Silvertone (Kay) Archtop Guitar

Overview: This guy was made during Kay's final years of production and it has a mix of interesting design elements. It's a late-'60s model with Silvertone (Sears) branding and a bolt-on, electric-style neck. It probably dates to around '69 or '70 and is a one-owner guitar. The sound is chunky and warm with good volume and snap and, if what you do is chord-chopping on archtops, it's a superb choice for that. The neck is quicker than older Kays and it has a good, sturdy feel to its.

Interesting features: The bolt-on neck mates nicely to the all-ply, lightly-built, Kay archtop body design which was otherwise unchanged since the late '40s. Said all-ply design makes it a good choice for gigging musicians or those on the move as it's not weather-sensitive or fussy at all. This guitar is especially clean for its age -- almost unplayed -- save that it does have fine-line weather-checking to the clearcoat, as typical for any guitar from the time. In the Kay catalogs, this Silvertone model is most similar to the K6840 from the same period. Because it has an extra-long scale length, we've set it up with 50w-11 gauges.

Repairs included: Jose gave it a level/dress of the frets and set it up. It's playing spot-on and ready to go.

• Weight: 5 lbs 2 oz
• Scale length: 25 5/8"
• Nut width: 1 11/16"
• Neck shape: slimmer-medium C/D
• Board radius: 10"
• Depth at first fret: 7/8"
• Depth at seventh fret: 31/32"
• Body width: 15 3/8"
• Body depth: 3 3/4"
• Top wood: ply maple
• Back & sides wood: ply maple
• Bracing type: tonebar
• Bridge: adjustable rosewood
• Fretboard: rosewood
• Neck wood: maple or poplar
• Action height at 12th fret: 3/32” bass 1/16” treble (fast, spot-on)
• String gauges: 50w-11
• Truss rod: adjustable
• Neck relief: straight
• Fret style: wide/low

Condition notes: It's very clean and all-original save for some weather-checking to the clearcoat in the finish and the tiniest bit of handling-wear here and there throughout.

It comes with: It has an original chip case.

Consignor tag: PTLG