What is this 1950's(?) Kay arch top electric guitar?

[jukeboxsteve]

I recently bought this Kay electric guitar at a local yard sale. The guy I bought it from, who was probably near 70 years old, said his father got it in 1952. I've looked at a lot of pictures online, but have not seen any with this same logo and design on the headstock. Most of them have the Kay logo at the top, not in the middle, and don't have the additional designs above and below the logo. Can anyone tell me the year and model number? What about value? I saw a similar one, probably a little newer, recently sell on Ebay for $400. Thanks!

[Spud1950]

What a beauty! I checked out the Kay catalogs in the VintAxe collection and can find no model that looks exactly like yours. In the 1952 catalog,there is a model K-151 that is very similar. Same body, pickguard,pickup,knobs and control configuration. The headstock is the same shape,but it is painted black and the Kay logo is straight across the top,no other embellishments.Also,it has dot fret board inlays instead of blocks and the tailpiece is longer. In the 1954 and 1956 catalogs,there is a model
K-152-S that is almost exactly like yours except it has the same black headstock and logo layout as the K-151 and the longer tailpiece.Otherwise, it is exactly the same in everything else. The only model I can find with your exact headstock logo configuration is the model K-27 acoustic flat top in the 1952 catalog, which is toted as their top of the line flat top model. Otherwise,it doesn't appear on any other models that I can find, acoustic or electric. Most mysterious.

[jukeboxsteve]

Hi, Thanks for your quick reply. I've also seen pictures of similar Kay guitars, but with the dot fretboard, or with the Kay logo at the top. Based on your info about the headstock logo on the K-27 in the 1952 catalog, it sounds like the guy could have be correct in saying that his father got it in 1952.