Kay K-300 1962

Cool alert! Well, in fact seriously cool, rare and killer sounding alert! Here we have a vintage Kay K-300 electric, a great example of Kay’s early 1960s move towards more modern-looking electrics. Kay was one of the major Chicago makers of the mid-20th century, producing instruments across a wide price range and also building guitars that were sold under other names through department stores and distributors. The result is a brand with a deep catalog and a strong footprint in American blues, early rock, and garage music.

The K-300 is one of the coolest kids in the 60s American catalog-guitar canon: practical construction, distinctive styling, and features that work for working players, even today. The K-300 is a double-cutaway solidbody with a slim, fast neck profile, a bound rosewood fingerboard with block inlays, two single-coil pickups, individual volume and tone controls, and a 3-way selector. Exact year dating can be difficult with Kay, but the features on this guitar makes it most likely to be made in 1962.

Weight is 3500g. It has been refretted so it plays very well, and the frets are in great condition. Everything appears original, including the frankly awesome original knobs and the mottled red “mother-of-toilet-seat” style headstock veneer. No case or bag is included.

While the K-300 is not an artist model, Kay electrics are part of the wider American electric-guitar story. Players such as Jimmy Reed are often associated with Kay guitars, and Kay also produced notable endorsed instruments like the Barney Kessel models in the late 1950s. The K-300 is the kind of uncommon, slightly offbeat vintage solidbody that delivers its own sound and feel, and it’s not a model you see every day, but it’s as ready to gig the garage or the grand ballroom as it ever was.

SPECIFICATIONS

• Model: Kay K-300 double cutaway solid electric
• Estimated year: Early 1960s, likely around 1962
• Finish: Natural
• Body: Solidbody, maple construction typical of the model
• Neck: Bolt-on
• Neck plate/screws: Three-screw mount
• Fingerboard: Bound rosewood
• Inlays: Block
• Frets: Excellent condition, refretted
• Scale length: Approx. 628 mm (24.75″)
• Nut width: Approx. 42 mm
• Pickguard: Tortoiseshell-style guardplate
• Pickups: 2x Kay single-coil pickups with gold covers
• Controls: 2x volume, 2x tone
• Selector: 3-way toggle
• Bridge/tailpiece: Covered tailpiece/bridge assembly
• Tuners: 6-in-line vintage-style tuners with metal buttons
• Headstock face: Mottled red celluloid veneer
• Output jack: 1/4″ jack mounted on the guard
• Weight: 3500g
• Case: No case or bag included