1960s Kay K580 Galaxie Hollowbody Electric Guitar

Speed Demons, Galaxies, Swing Masters, oh my! Kay made a ton of different hollowbody electrics using the same basic body shape and neck profile and then mixed and matched colors, trim, and pickups to suit whatever model or market they were selling into.

This "Galaxie" is the updated version of the '50s Swing Master model, though it still has the nicer-grade Kleenex pickup fit to it rather than the later "speed bump" pickups you see on most '60s Kays of this sort. It's a great-looking guitar, with flamed maple veneer in the body, multi-ply binding, segmented f-holes, and a design aesthetic that's about 10 years out of date from its manufacture (save for the triangular fretboard inlay).

As with all bolt-on-neck, hollowbody electric guitars, these old Kays benefit a lot from a dowel install connecting the neckblock to endblock (which I did) that helps stabilize the whole body from compression forces at the neck joint. After that, it just needed a few seams addressed and then the usual level/dress of the frets and setup work that Molly did. We also added side dots, as I recall -- and I thought about replacing the wiring harness with fresh, 500k pots, but it sounded nice through the original gear so we left it.

Post-repairs, it plays spot-on and has a good, even, slightly-mellow, slightly-jazzy sound about it that, when hit with drive, is just sublime. Did I mention I like this model?

They have long scale necks (25 3/4" here) and so are great candidates for down-tuning and the like. This one appears entirely original throughout, save strap buttons and my added dowel and extra compensation at the saddle for 3-plain, 3-wound stringing.