1952 Kay Thin Twin

[AGH1974]

I found this guitar in a thrift shop and am having a hard time finding much information about it. I know it is a Jimmy Reed issue Kay 161 from the 1950's. I can find similar guitars but have found nothing with the same headstock as mine. Can someone guide me to more information?

Thank you for any feedback!

I hope it's okay to send this link to the photos......

http://www5.snapfish.com/snapfish/thumb ... =snapfish/[/img]

[Spud1950]

I assume what you're seeing are pictures of the re issue model from a few years back that had the "Kelvanator" style headstock,like this one. This is not vintage Kay correct.





This style headstock,while it did appear on other actual vintage Kay models never appeared on the K161 Thin Twin during it's production from 1952-1959.

Your headstock is just as it always appeared in the vintage Kay catalogs,like this one from 1953.



Here's Jimmy playing his,same headstock as yours.




Congratulations on your Thin Twin. That's a great find. How much did it cost you?

Edit - Here's some other versions of the same guitar. These were made for Sears and Montgomery Ward and sold under their own brand names. Cosmetically a bit different, but otherwise the same model as the Kay K161. Here's the Sears Silvertone version.



Here's a Montgomery Ward Old Kraftsman version currently for sale on eBay.





Here's what the pickups look like under the guard. The part you see from the top is deceiving.The pickups are actually pretty large.

[AGH1974]

Wow! Thank you for the old ad, we haven't found anything like that! it is exactly like our guitar. When the thrift shop owner showed me the guitar I know he must of thought it was just an old, crusty guitar covered in stickers. I knew it was an old American made guitar and that's it. He apologetically asked $100.00 and my wallet couldn't come out fast enough!

Thanks again for the info!