The Kay Bass
Vintage Instruments of Bluegrass Music

BY JEFF BIRDWELL

In 1937, when Henry “Kay” Kuhrmeyer decided to begin making cellos and basses in his Chicago factory due to trade restrictions with Germany as a result of WWII, he had in mind to build a good quality instrument for an afforable price. What he could not have anticipated was that one of the products he was producing in that factory would become the quintessential bass fiddle for an entire musical genre. Since the first time Bill Monroe decided to add an upright bass to his band, the Kay bass has been a part of bluegrass history. There are many Kay bass models made over the years until they stopped making them in 1969. The first was the C-1 followed by the M-1. Through the years, there have been in exess of 30 different models made, no doubt as a result of customer’s varying needs. There have been a couple of different shapes and colors introduced and upgrades to the various other components such as finger boards, tuning machines, tailpieces and scrolls to name a few.

When, not if, but when you decide to buy a Kay bass of your own, there are some things to consider. First of all, you will want to make sure that the bass you are looking at is indeed a genuine Kay bass. You can look in the E string F hole and in most cases there will be a label with the Kay company name along with the serial number and usually the year it was made. A very good source for Kay bass identifying and verification is www.KayBass.com. Second of all, you’ll want to make sure that the overall condition is relatively good. These were well-made basses that if cared for only got better with age, however the early ones were made some seven decades ago. Try to inspect the instrument as well as you can, making sure there are no major problems to be contended with.

When you do begin to search for a Kay, you should expect to pay somewhere around $2000 and up. Some of the things that might effect the price include age, condition and who might have played that particular bass.

Though owning a “Kay” can be a bluegrass bass player’s dream, for this bass player’s money nothing beats sound quality and a look you can be proud of. Make sure that the bass you buy is one that you will enjoy for years to come.