Anybody know anything about an old Kay mandolin?

[lespaul_79]

Hi,
A friend of mine has her grandfather's old Kay mandolin.



Anybody know anything about them? I'll try to get an image of the label, year, model, etc.

Thanks!

[Loudloar]

If the catalog illustrations are accurate, it looks like it is from around 1966-1968. See page 28.

http://www.kayvintagereissue.com/pdf/1966catalog.pdf

Steve

[barney 59]

Frigidaire headstock --1960's.

[MikeEdgerton]

They were called Kelvinator (not Frigidare) headstocks because the of the K on the headstock and the design looked a bit like a Kelvinator refrigerator. This was one of the last where they simply painted the logo on, no tacked on badge or anything. Here's a picture of the real thing.

[jim simpson]

I picked up a Kay Thin Twin repro guitar recently and it has the Kelvinator style attachment to the headstock. I don't think the original Thin Twin had it although other models did. I love the pickguard.

[MikeEdgerton]

Back to the original post. You probably won't get a year on a label, there probably won't be a label. These were entry level mandolins built by Kay in Chicago. Most were laminated and many had horrible neck joints. If the neck is still tight consider yourself lucky. My guess is that it's a 60's instrument as well.

By the way, nice guitar Jim.