1966-68 Kay Country Longhorn X-Braced Jumbo

Barn-fresh from an old shack in the Smokey Mountains and painstakingly brought back to life

Now the exact model of this instrument is curious... The neck is a K6104 “Professional Country Style” but the body is a K8130 “Solo Special II”. They both were built between 66-68 (right before Kay went bankrupt in 68) and I believe that this was done at the factory as they liquidated and shipped remaining inventory.

The neck is poplar finished in a nitrocellulose sunburst. It has Kluson Deluxe “double line” tuners though the high E tuner had snapped and a different vintage one was installed. It features the last iteration of the Kay logo on the plastic badge and has a new truss rod cover. The fretboard is celluloid-bound Indian Rosewood with GORGEOUS abalone and pearl “longhorn” inlays. It was refretted with jumbo wire like a Gibson acoustic and the truss rod is functional. The neck was previously bolted back onto the instrument but that hole was plugged. The fingerboard also had large grooves in front of the nut which were filled with rosewood and had three nail holes after the last fret which were also filled. The neck was reset and the action is 3/32” bass and 1/8” treble but the saddle is 1/8” tall on both sides .

The body is a solid Spruce top bound in white and black celluloid. Here is the fun part, this instrument was X-braced from the factory! However the back was removed and the X bracing was redone with quartersawn spruce for a better tone. The bracing dimensions were taken from a 30s Gibson Advanced Jumbo but the Tone Bar placements were kept to preserve the instrument’s own unique tone. The top had four cracks in it: two on the bass side of the soundhole, one just past the pickguard on the upper treble bout, and one on the lower treble bout. All have been cleated and stabilized. The bridge is original and a new bone saddle has been cut for it. The pickguard was handcut due to the original being MIA. The sides had suffered delamination and were reattached and the back, as mentioned, was removed. The back braces are original still. The back binding isn’t entirely flush all the way around

Cosmetically this instrument has been through the wringer having experienced many hours of play and then subsequent neglect in a less than stellar climate. This entire instrument is covered in checked lacquer and it gives it more of a rougher feel than a pristine, shiny finish. The sides and headstock have a little flaking but the rest is stable.

You won’t find a more interesting instrument than this