NGD: vintage Kay and Harmony hollowbodies

[Rambozo96]

This evenings haul after a trip to Snyder Texas. Originally was in it for the red Kay guitar but when I arrived at the house the old lady there had two cases on the couch. Out of curiosity I naturally ask what’s in the second one. From there she opens the case and produces an early 60’s sunburst Harmony. Walking out to my brothers car which we took to get there I throw the Kay in the back and told him we needed to make an emergency b line to Allsups to the ATM as there was another guitar in there I needed to get. As spontaneous as this trip and how spontaneous I am in general was in the first place I can’t imagine this was particularly surprising. More details tomorrow, all I can muster to say is it’s old 60’s Sears guitars, they keep following me home…or I don’t know maybe comment on what this stuff is. Too tired. Some interesting artifacts from this pull is a 60’s Vox case the Kay came with and old cords, capos and some weird leather thing converted into a guitar strap. Gave $500 for the lot. The guitars seem to need some TLC in the pots and jacks but as far as I know the pickups show signs of life.

 

[walrus]

Cool guitars and a great spontaneous purchase!

walrus

 

[Guildedagain]

Ohhh, you lucky dog ;]

 

[jp]

Awesome acquisitions! I've always had a fondness for Kay Speed Demons. I'm sure you may know that there are a bunch of other brands from that era that offered essentially the same guitar -- Truetone, Airline, Silvertone, et al. My favorite variation has always been the the configuration like yours. Super cool old school, twangy fun. Enjoy!

 

[Swamp ash]

$500 for two vintage guitars, with cases and case candy - the Rocket alone would fetch that much.
It's really not nice to take advantage of senior citizens.

 

[Rambozo96]

$500 for two vintage guitars, with cases and case candy - the Rocket alone would fetch that much.
It's really not nice to take advantage of senior citizens.

They need work. Wasn’t taking advantage of nobody.

 

[HeyMikey]

Great rescue Rambozo. Fix them up and let them start rockin’ again!

 

[mavuser]

$500 for two vintage guitars, with cases and case candy - the Rocket alone would fetch that much.
It's really not nice to take advantage of senior citizens.

u think $500 cash for 2 old sears guitars as is, is taking advantage of someone? u are crazy! not everyone is selling, or buying, on reverb. totally inapproprite comment. You don't know the buyer's budget or situation, either

 

[Rambozo96]

I think I need to go into detail so I don’t have the reputation of being a shyster which I would hope that I am not because karma has a tendency to sort these kinds of things. I pretty much bought these untested, in currently unplayable condition as the nut on the Kay is broken, has wonky bent tuners and the Harmony needs a bridge and various parts to make the vibrato function again as well as attention to the electronics as the jack is super spotty. On top of that the tailpiece was moved forward by a 1/8” of an inch with the original mounting holes showing signs that they have stripped out unless this was a weird measure to block the vibrato. If anything I felt I was taking a little bit of a risk because if one r all pickups were dead on these guitars as is a common problem with these I’d be taken to the cleaners trying to get them rewound or find original replacements which would ultimately mean I lost my butt on the deal. Also ask mentioned Reverb prices and local prices are different. That’s nature of the beast, Reverb is a large site that has heavy traffic, your local Facebook marketplace also has heavy traffic but it’s reduced by locals within usually a 100 mile radius and from that small group even fewer are looking for guitars. And from what I understand these weren’t family heirlooms of a recently passed loved one, it’s more of a situation of they just moved in the house and found these in a closet and want them gone. I made them $500 richer and did them a service I feel.

 

[Swamp ash]

@Rambozo96 et al -
I apologize for my off-handed comment, above. I wasn't trying to be a dick (it just comes naturally for me - lol).
You don't owe anyone an explanation and I really like those old Kay and Harmony instruments, too!

I wish you the best with getting these guitars back into action.

 

[Guildedagain]

I bought a pair of guitars from a guy in a parking lot for $375 "straight from Grandpa's closet", that was like 10 plus years ago. I was cruising CL when I see these killer old archtops just listed, and I just had a couple drinks... Called him and said "let me sober up like 10 minutes and I'll see you in front of the Highway Cafe in a half hour".

It was a super clean unplayed Harmony Monterey in nicer than average case.

And the other a really nice Kay, more than once I've kicked myself for sending that one down the road but I didn't feel I was worthy and you can't keep em all but the Kay was extra cool.