Kay Kraft Jumbo Style A Acoustic Guitar (1932)
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Item #13915
Kay Kraft Jumbo Style A Model Acoustic Guitar, c. 1932, made in Chicago, sunburst lacquer with decals finish, solid spruce top, mahogany back and sides; mahogany neck with ebonized fingerboard, black gig bag case.
This Kay Kraft Jumbo Style A guitar is a fairly rare iteration of this offbeat Chicago classic, the early deep body model with a long-scale neck and a solid X-braced top. This is a far superior instrument sonically to many more common later 1930s straight-braced Kay-built guitars. The early Kay Kraft Jumbo was offered in 1932 in three models labeled A, B and C; these were made of mahogany, maple and rosewood respectively priced at $30, $40 and $50. We have only ever seen the mahogany "A's" and maple "'Bs" but would one day love to find a rosewood "C" for comparison! Some of these were also built for a time labeled with the Oahu brand name.
These conventionally shaped "Jumbo" guitars appeared alongside the Kay Kraft "Venetian" body archtop models around 1931, just after the company 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. The smaller "Venetian" archtops appear to have been more successful (based on the number of surviving examples anyway) but this is a much more conventionally good sounding instrument.
This is one of the nicer first-generation Kay Kraft Jumbos we have seen, they are relatively rare. The "Jumbo" body is actually rather smaller than a Martin Dreadnought or Gibson Jumbo at 14 1/2" wide but it is quite deep at the rim measuring nearly 5" in the manner of Gibson's Nick Lucas. The fairly thin X-braced top is solid spruce; the back and sides are laminated mahogany. The top has 4-ply binding and a dark sunburst finish with an elaborate gold scroll decoration stenciled on the lower area, as seen on a number of higher-grade Chicago made guitars in this era. The back and sides are sunburst as well, with single binding on the rear edge. The elaborate shaped pyramid bridge is a holdover from the company's days as Stromberg-Voisinet, and there is a raised pickguard pinned directly to the top.
The mahogany neck has 12 frets to the body with a fairly flat round-backed contour, topped by a bound ebonized maple fingerboard with pearl dot inlay. This neck is wide but slimmer back-to-front than many of this period. This has a notably longer scale than a Nick Lucas, imparting an extra power and depth to the tone. This early version is also distinguished by the distinctive peghead shape, the face covered in pearloid with a gold engraved and filled "Kay Kraft" logo. This fanciful carved headstock shape is a Kay trademark also used on the Kay Kraft archtops.
This instrument was in the higher echelon of what Kay in Chicago built, and while less sophisticated than a period Martin or Gibson flat top, this Kay is a fine example of the quality that company was capable of. This is a surprisingly nice pre-war mid-sized guitar, one of the few that resembles Gibson's 1930's Nick Lucas Model in layout but with the longer scale. The guitar plays very nicely with a huge ringing sound, not as subtle or sweet as a Gibson but with power to spare. We find it sounds particularly good tuned down to D, but it works well in concert E tuning as well. It rings for days with plenty of depth, easily one of the best of these Kay Jumbos we have heard.
Overall length is 40 in. (101.6 cm.), 14 1/2 in. (36.8 cm.) wide at lower bout, and 4 5/8 in. (11.7 cm.) in depth at side, taken at the end block. Scale length is 25 1/2 in. (648 mm.). Width of nut is 1 13/16 in. (46 mm.).
This 90+ year old guitar shows some general play wear and repair but remains in well-preserved and good playing original condition. The original finish shows numerous scuffs and dings overall, with some pick scrapes to the top above the soundhole and around the pickguard. The top finish has no really heavy areas of loss and the stencil work is in very good shape with only some light flaking. The back and sides have typical dings and dents and the back of the neck has wear to the wood in the lower positions and some feelable dings and dents.
There are several repaired grain splits to the top in the area behind the bridge running to the back edge; all are sealed and cleated but not particularly neatly. The treble side of the top below the fingerboard extension has a similar repair. The back and sides are crack free, one small screw hole has been filled just above the endpin. The bridge appears to be a very nicely done ebony repro of the eccentrically shaped original with a canted bone saddle, the small bridgeplate and all internal bracing remain original.
There has been a solid neckset including two screws run through the heelblock (this is a Kay after all) and the very tip of the heel cracked off and was re-attached. The fingerboard was removed and reseated; magnetic examination indicates a metal reinforcement was added to the neck, which is nice and straight. The frets appear original with surprisingly little wear as is the bone nut; there is an old set of cracks sealed down the center of the fingerboard and divoting in the first position. This guitar plays well and sounds great; there is no case (these smaller deep-bodied guitars are hard to fit!) but a solid gig bag is included. Overall Very Good + Condition.
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This Kay Kraft Jumbo Style A guitar is a fairly rare iteration of this offbeat Chicago classic, the early deep body model with a long-scale neck and a solid X-braced top. This is a far superior instrument sonically to many more common later 1930s straight-braced Kay-built guitars. The early Kay Kraft Jumbo was offered in 1932 in three models labeled A, B and C; these were made of mahogany, maple and rosewood respectively priced at $30, $40 and $50. We have only ever seen the mahogany "A's" and maple "'Bs" but would one day love to find a rosewood "C" for comparison! Some of these were also built for a time labeled with the Oahu brand name.
These conventionally shaped "Jumbo" guitars appeared alongside the Kay Kraft "Venetian" body archtop models around 1931, just after the company 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. The smaller "Venetian" archtops appear to have been more successful (based on the number of surviving examples anyway) but this is a much more conventionally good sounding instrument.
This is one of the nicer first-generation Kay Kraft Jumbos we have seen, they are relatively rare. The "Jumbo" body is actually rather smaller than a Martin Dreadnought or Gibson Jumbo at 14 1/2" wide but it is quite deep at the rim measuring nearly 5" in the manner of Gibson's Nick Lucas. The fairly thin X-braced top is solid spruce; the back and sides are laminated mahogany. The top has 4-ply binding and a dark sunburst finish with an elaborate gold scroll decoration stenciled on the lower area, as seen on a number of higher-grade Chicago made guitars in this era. The back and sides are sunburst as well, with single binding on the rear edge. The elaborate shaped pyramid bridge is a holdover from the company's days as Stromberg-Voisinet, and there is a raised pickguard pinned directly to the top.
The mahogany neck has 12 frets to the body with a fairly flat round-backed contour, topped by a bound ebonized maple fingerboard with pearl dot inlay. This neck is wide but slimmer back-to-front than many of this period. This has a notably longer scale than a Nick Lucas, imparting an extra power and depth to the tone. This early version is also distinguished by the distinctive peghead shape, the face covered in pearloid with a gold engraved and filled "Kay Kraft" logo. This fanciful carved headstock shape is a Kay trademark also used on the Kay Kraft archtops.
This instrument was in the higher echelon of what Kay in Chicago built, and while less sophisticated than a period Martin or Gibson flat top, this Kay is a fine example of the quality that company was capable of. This is a surprisingly nice pre-war mid-sized guitar, one of the few that resembles Gibson's 1930's Nick Lucas Model in layout but with the longer scale. The guitar plays very nicely with a huge ringing sound, not as subtle or sweet as a Gibson but with power to spare. We find it sounds particularly good tuned down to D, but it works well in concert E tuning as well. It rings for days with plenty of depth, easily one of the best of these Kay Jumbos we have heard.
Overall length is 40 in. (101.6 cm.), 14 1/2 in. (36.8 cm.) wide at lower bout, and 4 5/8 in. (11.7 cm.) in depth at side, taken at the end block. Scale length is 25 1/2 in. (648 mm.). Width of nut is 1 13/16 in. (46 mm.).
This 90+ year old guitar shows some general play wear and repair but remains in well-preserved and good playing original condition. The original finish shows numerous scuffs and dings overall, with some pick scrapes to the top above the soundhole and around the pickguard. The top finish has no really heavy areas of loss and the stencil work is in very good shape with only some light flaking. The back and sides have typical dings and dents and the back of the neck has wear to the wood in the lower positions and some feelable dings and dents.
There are several repaired grain splits to the top in the area behind the bridge running to the back edge; all are sealed and cleated but not particularly neatly. The treble side of the top below the fingerboard extension has a similar repair. The back and sides are crack free, one small screw hole has been filled just above the endpin. The bridge appears to be a very nicely done ebony repro of the eccentrically shaped original with a canted bone saddle, the small bridgeplate and all internal bracing remain original.
There has been a solid neckset including two screws run through the heelblock (this is a Kay after all) and the very tip of the heel cracked off and was re-attached. The fingerboard was removed and reseated; magnetic examination indicates a metal reinforcement was added to the neck, which is nice and straight. The frets appear original with surprisingly little wear as is the bone nut; there is an old set of cracks sealed down the center of the fingerboard and divoting in the first position. This guitar plays well and sounds great; there is no case (these smaller deep-bodied guitars are hard to fit!) but a solid gig bag is included. Overall Very Good + Condition.
