Kay?

[Ed McGarrigle]

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Sorry about the crappy photo
A guy has this mando for sale.looks like a Kay to me but I don’t know and neither does he
He asked what it is so I thought I’d see what I could tell him. Look like Kluson tuners.
No prices mentioned yet
Looks like some separation at the neck joint
I’ll probably take a pass but it would be nice to pass along some info
Thanks

[NickR]

Yes, it is a Kay- probably sold by Sears as a Silvertone. Those enclosed tuners were used by Kay from the very late 1940s and that shape of headstock was discontinued in the very early 1950s, so this mandolin is circa 1950. This type of mandolin, and I have three, often has a gap at the heel and sometimes it means the neck is loose but one of mine has some factory applied filler in the gap and the neck is fixed in good and solid! Good old Kay! I would like to mention, that two of my three were bought for spare parts but I revived them as they may have looked woebegone but they were very easy fixes. The one with the filler in the gap looks like it has never been played in 70 years while one of them, the neck just fell off when I removed the strings- but I glued it back in! These mandolins were made at three different price points- starting with very cheap! One of mine is actually a very good sounding and playing instrument- I may have a photo in the cloud.The tuner buttons were full of cracks which I have filled with epoxy glue and they seem to have be okay- the alternative is what happens as seen on your mandolin you have featured! The neck on this one has been bolted on- no glue and I did not see why I should add any glue because it is super solid and the action is very low. A Kay mandolin with a straight neck? How about that, and I own it!

[Charles E.]

As Nick mentioned, most of the tuner knobs have rotted off this one.

[MikeEdgerton]

Kay built instruments "For the trade" with no brand name on them. That way a school, retailer or distributor could sell them as their own, labeled or not labeled. They weren't the only company that did this.

Kluson made a boat load of tuners where the buttons were made of plastic that just rotted away. The good news is you can buy reproductions. The bad news is that they will probably cost half as much as the mandolin will be worth when you're done doing the repairs. The big thing to watch on these Kay mandolins is the neck joint. Kay was notorious for bad dovetails that they just slopped more hide glue into. If the neck joint is still solid after all these years that's a good sign that it's probably OK.

Frank Ford has an article on his site www.frets.com about replacing Kluson buttons.