Kay Kay Kraft Venetian Style B Model Arch Top Acoustic Guitar (1932), made in Chicago, sunburst lacquer finish, laminated maple body, spruce top; mahogany neck with ebonized fingerboard, black chipboard case.
This is a nice example of the Kay Kraft Style B, the middle model of the early 3-guitar Kay line of asymmetrical bodied round-hole archtop guitars. These early Kays appeared just after the company had re-branded itself from Stromberg-Voisinet when Henry Kay Kuhrmeyer took over the operation from his former partners. This happened just as the country was sliding into the Great Depression, and Kay's budget oriented, laminated wood instruments were inexpensive enough to keep the company afloat in those dire times.
This unique and attractive maple-bodied guitar had an original list price $35.00, which was not really all that cheap in 1932. The Style B is somewhat fancier and much rarer than the common Style A, which sold for $25. The unique asymmetrical body has a triple bound Cremona sunburst top, back and sides with the black celluloid layer outermost. The shaded figured maple back has some particularly attractive flame figure on this guitar. The trapeze tailpiece is a later replacement but the original solid one-piece wood bridge and often missing Bakelite floating pickguard are still intact.
The most unusual feature is a bolt on angle-adjustable neck pivoting on a curved heel plate secured internally with a huge wing nut on the neck block. This actually works quite well for setting the action although it tends to creep over time and proved a fairly short-lived design. The multi bound ebonized fingerboard has slotted diamond inlays, while the headstock is faced with white pearloid and trimmed with a gold-painted engraved "Kay Kraft" logo and edge decoration. The original individual Grover "Sta-Tite" tuners with riveted gears and metal "butterbean" buttons are another cool early feature of this example.
While only a borderline professional instrument even in its day this Kay Kraft is well-made and attractive guitar, showing more care in construction and attention to detail than later '30's examples. It has a bright, barky and surprisingly loud sound when pushed, not particularly subtle but effective in some situations. These guitars (mostly the $25 Style A) were fairly popular in the 1930s and appear in many old pictures of string bands and other styles of itinerant musicians on a budget. This is as nice an example of this rarer Style B model as we usually expect to find.
Overall length is 38 7/8 in. (98.7 cm.), 14 1/4 in. (36.2 cm.) wide at lower bout, and 3 9/16 in. (9 cm.) in depth, measured at side of rim. Scale length is 25 1/2 in. (648 mm.). Width of nut is 1 7/8 in. (48 mm.).
This is a relatively clean, *almost* all original guitar showing no notable repairs and just some general wear. The most noticeable defect is some fairly heavy capo marks into the wood on the back of the neck between the first and fourth frets. The fingerboard binding is somewhat shrunken giving the edge of the board a slightly scalloped feel. There are scattered dings, scuffs and dents but the rest of the guitar is fairly clean. The neck is straighter than most with very little fretwear. The trapeze tailpiece is an old replacement but all other hardware remains original. This is a nice example of a Kay Kraft Style B, A cool early-depression survivor far less common than the plainer Style A. It resides in an old but later period chipboard case. Overall Excellent - Condition.
