Seeking Info on Inherited Mandolin

[audraellis]

My son was given a mandolin that belonged to his great grandfather. It is a Kay. The number inside is L3429. My Aunt was born in the 50’s and said he had it before she was born. Seeking a year model, value, etc.

[Seter]

Do you have any pictures of this mandolin? There have been a wide variety of Kay mandolins over the years since they were one of the main brands for decades.

[mrmando]

Value most likely between $200 and $400, depending on condition.

[NickR]

The L3429 number is pretty meaningless- probably a batch number. Very rarely do Kay instruments feature the actual model number. The top Kay mandolin was the "Venetian" Kay 72 or 74 in blond finish I did buy a Kay 72 and it is a pretty good mandolin. These do fetch reasonable amounts subject to condition. What you find with Kay is that many of the instruments were made at three price points, cheap, fairly cheap and moderately expensive. What that means is there are three levels of quality in the wood, ornamentation and build quality. However, that does not mean the cheaper instruments necessarily sound awful, they were made to sell at a price and mostly were not looked after, so with the passage of time they have become junk- and parts donors. Here is a Kay 74 that was sold on ebay at a somewhat lower price and you get to see the catalogue entry- $65 in about 1951. https://reverb.com/item/12615940-kay...birdseye-maple

[mandolinstew]

Value most likely between $200 and $400, depending on condition.

New Kay $100. Solid spruce top waiting for tuners,bridge and tailpiece.Same as Gold Tone gm50