Rock Style from The Boyd Collection 
27 June 2019
Rock Style from The Boyd Collection 
265

Kay

electric guitars, pair

c. 1960
lacquered wood, rosewood, chrome-plated steel, aluminum, pearloid, plastic 39½ h × 13¼ w × 2½ d in (100 × 34 × 6 cm)
estimate: $2,000–3,000
result: $1,125
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Molded logo to headstock of each example ‘Kay’. Engraved to tailpiece of each example ‘Made in Germany’. Stamped to tuners on each example ‘Kluson Deluxe’.

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Established by Henry Kay Kurhmeyer in Chicago in 1931, Kay initially manufactured only traditional folk instruments and later developed a line of mid-range guitars. In addition to their own brand, Kay also manufactured a series of house branded guitars made specifically for various department stores: Silvertone and Supertone for Sears, Sherwood and Airline for Montgomery Wards, Old Kraftsman for Spiegel, Custom Craft for St. Louis Music, Truetone for Western Auto, Penncrest for JC Penney, Barclay for Unity Buying Service, Orpheum for the Wards catalog and Suprema for Eaton’s Canada. Kay also produced a line of archtop acoustic guitars called Kamico. 

Jimmy Reed playing a Kamico Thin Twin similar to Lot 295.

Notable players include Jimmy Reed, Paul McCartney, Eric Clapton, Sheryl Crow, Jack White, T Bone Burnett, Tom Petty, Elvis Costello, Bob Dylan and Sarah McLachlan. 

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