Kay Mandolin - Classic Mandolin! - Made in USA 🇺🇸- Gorgeous Sound and Great Condition! -

What a little gem! Gorgeous Kay mandolin from a historical time in American made Kay instruments!

This instrument is a beauty. I love the sound, feel, spirit, look, everything about it. It’s a gorgeous little beast with a ton of soul and power. I saw Gillian Welch and David Rawlings play with a guest mandolin player who totally ripped on an old Kay just like this one, huge soulful tone comes pouring out of it. Some of these old Kays have soul above everything else, and can go shot for shot with feel and tone with Martins and Gibsons from the same era.

As an instrument, it’s awesome. That said, it’s old. Everyone one of these I’ve ever played has had issues above the 12th fret or so, and this one does as well. It’s kind of more of a songwriting and rhythm vibe of mandolin than it is a shredder like a modern mandolin, a lot more REM’s losing my religion than Sam Bush. The chords are thick and gorgeous and play easily, but it straight up doesn’t play above the 12th fret. There’s so much to enjoy about it exactly the way it is though, there’s tons of songs in it and it’s a really joyful and inspiring instrument. If you did want to go down the road of planing the fretboard to be perfectly flat, this would be a great candidate to do so because it’s in such great condition. It plays great below the 11th fret exactly how it is, but it would be a worthy investment if you wanted to go all the way with it.

The condition is really great as you can tell from the pictures. It looks great, I think it’s definitely spent a lot of it’s life in it’s original case. The finish is beautiful, the logo is nice and vibrant, and the fretboard and bridge look rich and healthy. The tuners are replacements, but they look the part and are good quality. The case is a beauty in itself! Classic original Kay case in beautiful condition, the two are a natural pair. Great mando!