Any Ideay who made this?

[SRFeldman]

Hello,

I'm trying to find out who may have made/owed this
(No inner stamp, SN#, etc.):
Thanks for any help!

Steve

[G7MOF]

Don't know, but it's beautiful.

[George R. Lane]

Close up of the headstock would be helpful. Any labels inside?

[mrmando]

Let's start with the bonehead question first. What does it say on the headstock?

The body shape is that of a Kay Venetian, but I've never seen a Kay with a quilted maple back or an adjustable truss rod. It's odd, because some of the appointments (bridge, fretboard, pickguard, DeArmond pickup) say "cheap '50s factory stuff" while others (back wood, engraved tailpiece, custom truss rod cover) say "custom made." I'm guessing it's either a Kay that was extensively reworked or mid-century custom copy of a Kay.

Are there any stamps or labels on the inside? That looks like an initial J on the tailpiece; is that what it looks like to you?

[billhay4]

A seriously nice looking instrument and the pickup is worth a few coins itself. Looks like a Kay to me, too, but the headstock should reveal a lot.
Bill

[Jeff Mando]

I'm thinking Kay, also. The finish looks more like what a modern luthier might do, than a vintage Kay finish. I agree the back looks a little too nice, maybe a refinished Kay with a new back? Truss rod is curious, also....not sure on this one.

[Dan Co1e]

Looks like Edwin Root's work from Springfield, OR.

http://eugene.craigslist.org/msg/5041441052.html

http://eugene.craigslist.org/msg/5028004684.html

[mrmando]

Looks like Edwin Root's work from Springfield, OR.

No it doesn't. Those are modern instruments; the one we're discussing here is obviously from the '50s or '60s (at least in part, if not the whole instrument). Edwin seems to be borrowing from builders like Alan Beardsell and Kent Everett.

[MikeEdgerton]

I can't imagine any modern builder using that pickup. The last of those that I bought new were old stock in the mid 60's.

[mrmando]

I can't imagine any modern builder using that pickup.

Not to mention that bridge, that pickguard, that tailpiece, those F-holes or that fretboard...

A couple of modern builders have copied the KayKraft shape; Jamie Curtis comes to mind.

[Bill Snyder]

I bet that tailpiece is not original to that instrument. It looks like a Vietnamese import to me (the tailpiece, not the mandolin).

[mrmando]

I bet that tailpiece is not original to that instrument. It looks like a Vietnamese import to me (the tailpiece, not the mandolin).

Hm. You think kidney bean tailpieces were being imported from Vietnam in the '50s?

The toolwork on the tailpiece has a very home-grown look -- done by hand, by someone who was moderately skilled but not an engraver by trade. Doesn't look like it was done in any kind of factory, Vietnamese or otherwise. Very much of a piece with the other custom elements of the work.

[Jeff Mando]

I just searched for "Kay Kraft mandolin" on eBay and there is another one with a back just as nice as this one, so I guess they did run into some pretty wood from time to time. So, the back may be original.

[Bill Snyder]

Hm. You think kidney bean tailpieces were being imported from Vietnam in the '50s?

.

Nope!