Kel Kroydon KK-1 Owned and Used by Jeff Tweedy of Wilco Model Flat Top Acoustic Guitar, made by Gibson (1931), made in Kalamazoo, Michigan, serial # 9956, natural top, dark stained back and sides finish, mahogany back, sides and neck, spruce top, original black chipboard case.
The Kel Kroydon KK-I flat-top is one of those odd Gibson creations built for a specific time and place but eventually recognized as a timeless player's classic. This one comes most recently out of the Wilco loft in Chicago, where KK-1's are a staple instrument! This is a "Plain Top" KK-1; some examples have tops ornamented with stenciled Hawaiian scene or the most-prized version with fanciful dual tropical bird design. These are more sought after for their visual brilliance but the guitar underneath is the same!
The Kel Kroydon line of banjos, guitars, and mandolins was conceived to enable Gibson to soldier through the worst part of the Depression by reducing the instruments to their bare essentials to enable the company to offer them at the lowest possible price. The KK-1 is structurally basically the same design as a 1930 12-fret Gibson L-1 and L-0 flat-top, with even plainer cosmetics and built without the patented adjustable truss rod. Kel Kroydons retain the very thinly built X-braced spruce top (later Kalamazoo-brand flat-tops do not) and are the lightest flat-top guitars Gibson ever made, which unfortunately has led to not that many surviving fully intact.
Sold originally for $20 retail, by the standards of 1930-31 the KK-1 was not really that inexpensive -- Sears offered guitars priced as low as $1.98! What It did offer was unusual value and exceptional sound quality for that price. The natural-finish spruce top is single-bound, with a simple triple B/W/B sound hole ring, and the "Kel Kroydon" logo is stenciled on the headstock. The back and sides are mahogany, as is the very slim neck; the dot-inlaid fingerboard is rosewood. The tuners are the simplest unplanted strips with black composite buttons.
This "no birds" KK-1 has a Factory order number stamp on the heelblock of 9956, which suggests it was built around mid-1931. This particular guitar was until recently part of Jeff Tweedy's collection; he has a particular fondness for this model and has been often seen with various KK-1's. This one has not been modified for a pickup installation so was likely not a stage guitar; it does have a small #2 label on the back of the headstock and a strip on the butt end of the original case reading "JT 1931 unpainted Kel Kroydon # 2". This is a lovely example and a fantastic-sounding featherweight guitar; an obscure but delightful (if unassuming) Depression-era gem.
Overall length is 38 1/2 in. (97.8 cm.), 14 7/8 in. (37.8 cm.) wide at lower bout, and 4 9/16 in. (11.6 cm.) in depth at side, taken at the end block. Scale length is 24 3/4 in. (629 mm.). Width of nut is 1 3/4 in. (44 mm.).
This guitar has some general wear but is in fine structural condition, remaining original with minor repair but no major damage. The top shows dings, dents and scrapes overall and has areas of typical strumwear down to the wood on both sides of the soundhole rim, extending back beyond the sound hole on the treble side. Despite the cosmetic wear, the top is in very solid shape with only a very slight arch retaining its original bridge, which has likely been reglued and appears to have been taken down just slightly in front of the pins.
The thin lacquer finish on the body is all original with dings, dents, and scrapes, most heavily on the back but no large areas of loss. There are four repaired back cracks, all solidly sealed up but easily visible with no overfinish added. Internally all the delicate braces are original and undisturbed, as is the TINY original maple bridgeplate. These extremely lightly built Kel Kroydons have often had more major structural repairs than this one.
This guitar has had a very clean neck set; the thin wire frets appear original or if not one of the cleanest, most accurate refrets we have ever seen! The sound is magical; it is superbly responsive and sings at the lightest touch. While not the flashiest of this model we have seen with its bird-free top it is certainly one of the better preserved examples and a really fine playing guitar, with a cool provenance to boot! The original chipboard case is included with the "Loft" markings intact and a "Wilco" brand Herco style nylon pick (very clever that!) in the pocket. Overall Very Good + Condition.
