Kay Guitar Brand Origins
Guitars from the Kay Musical Instrument Company were often sold to distributors labelled under that specific distributor's chosen brand name. This was a cheaper alternative to having to build your own in house brand of instruments. Often times tracking down the origins of brand names and the manufacturers of those guitars can be very difficult and so I've decided to try and compile a comprehensive list of all the brand names that Kay instruments were listed under. For the purpose of this article, I will only be including the US-built guitars by Kay and ignore the entire era of the 1970s and 80s where Kay outsourced their guitar brands to Japan.
Disclaimer: Brand names were often shared as distributors changed who they wanted to buy instruments from. There are brands listed here that were made by both Harmony and Kay as well as other companies.
Also would like to shout out to
Jedistar.com for having one of the largest searchable index of guitar brand names. I took quite a bit of info and some brand names from his site and simply compiled them into my list. All credit for those discoveries goes to him and the respective owners.
Airline
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| Image credit, unknown author |
Airline guitars were sold by Montgomery Ward through catalogs and physical stores. The brand was used from 1958 to 1968 and more recently reissued by Eastwood Guitars [5]. Airline guitars were also built by Harmony at some point in the brands lifetime.
In my experience these guitars seem to be the most highly priced Kay guitars around; even the basic acoustics tend to be more expensive for the brand name. Airline guitars are probably most recognized for the "Res O Glass" body construction and unique design styles that you see artists such as Jack White using.
Alamo
"Interesting factoid. Alamo purchased many parts from Kay when they went out of business and you see Kay tuners and fretboards on some of their guitars for a while after this." [Brian R]
Arch Kraft
Budget archtops produced from 1933 to 1937 [Wright 172]. Distributed through the Vitak-Elsnic Company catalog which was based in Chicago, Illinois [25].
Continental
Produced from 1929 until the late 1940s [Wright 169, 170]. Produced for the Continental Music Company.
Barclay
Distributed by Unity Buying Service in the 1950s and 1960s [20].
Beltone
Distributed through Sorkin Music Co in the 1950s [26].
Distributed by Monroe or P&H according to the Kay Vintage Reissue Website [20]. I'm not able to find any definitive info on what either of those companies are.
Catalina
"House Brand name for Abercrombie and Fitch" [Brian R].
The Catalina brand name might've also been used for guitars built by Harmony [22].
Custom Kraft
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| Custom Kraft Archtop: Image credit, mine |
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| Custom Kraft "900" Amplifier: Image credit, mine |
Custom Kraft was a line of instruments produced for St Louis Music Supply Co. The guitars were made by Kay and the amplifiers were produced by Valco/Supro [2]. An article on Premier Guitars claims that the line was launched in 1961 and were produced until Kay was purchased and subsequently went under in 1968 though some instruments still bearing the name appeared into the early 1970s. [3]
My archtop uses a tailpiece that I've only seen on 40s and 50s Kay instruments but it did not come with its original Kluson tuner either. The current St Louis Music Co has no relation to or info on the original company and so I am not able to verify my assumption that the brand was in use before 1961.
El Ranchero
Produced in the late 1950s and distributed through the Sorkin Music Company [27].
Fischer
Produced for the Carl Fischer catalog from 1929 to 1936 [Wright 169, 170]. The company is based in New York, New York [24]
Possibly produced by Harmony later in the 1950s. See
this Reverb listing for evidence of a Harmony construction (headstock shape)
Franklin Music House
Made by Kay in the 1930s [17].
Distributed through its name-sake, Franklin Music House based in Newark, New Jersey [Spann 207].
Futuramic
Guitars built in the 1950s for an unknown retailer [16].
The headstock design includes two rockets and two airplanes flying towards themselves. The "F" in Futuramic is also very similar to the font used on Fender guitars.
Alamo guitars had a model of lapsteel called the Futuramic and Noble released accordions under the same name but there is no apparent connection.
Gretsch
Kay produced guitars for Gretsch during the 1940s [Wright 171]. I have a 1947 Gretsch New Yorker archtop that I have heard was a model built by Kay as well.
Groehsl
Groehsl was founded in 1892 and later acquired by Stromberg-Voisinet which rebranded itself as Kay [11]. Their instruments were produced between 1918 and 1921 [Wright 169]
Holiday
Distributed by Aldens [20]. Also manufactured by Harmony. Commonly seen from the 1960s.
Hollywood
Made for (or with) the Shireson [sic] Brothers in 1933 [Wright 170].
The company is properly spelled as Schireson Brothers Manufactured Musical Instruments. The resonators were made by Kay with cones and hardware supplied by Schireson Bros [12].
Kamico
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| Kamico Parlour Flat Top: Picture credit, myself |
Kamico was marketed as a cheaper line of Kay guitars and distributed as a lower priced version of Kay's regular guitar line [1]. They were introduced in 1947 and continued to be manufactured until 1951 [Wright 130, 173]
Kay Kraft
Kay Kraft were an early brand of instruments produced from 1927 to 1937 by the Stromberg-Voisinet Company which later became Kay Musical Instrument Co [Wright 94]. This brand is occasionally confused with Custom Kraft due to both having the same spelling of "Kraft" but they are entirely unrelated.
Kay Kraft guitars are also known for having an adjustable bolt-on neck construction which allowed for the angle of the neck to be adjusted by a plate between the neck and the body. They are also known for the "Venetian" mandolin style shape.
Kaywood
Produced for one year only in 1934, these resonators featured either a curly maple or mahogany construction with a wooden resonator plate [Wright 170].
Lark Jr
Likely made between the 1930s and 1950s
Marathon
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| Marathon flat top: Picture credit, myself |
Nathaniel,
Marathon was a house brand for the original Southland Musical Merchandise Corp. in Greensboro, NC. It was primarily used for cheaper guitars mostly of Japanese origin. If yours was made by Kay, in those days, Kay was a US made brand. The original Southland ceased to exist in about 1990 after being sold to a company called Onsite Energy Systems in 1972. I went to work for the Original Southland on Aug 1, 1972 as a stock clerk. I became a road rep for them in April of 1973. I still do the same thing today, 46 years later, but with different companies these days. In 2003 I "resurrected" Southland. Whatever history of the company that exists is in my brain. All the older employees have passed on.
Sorry I can't give you specific information about your guitar. Kay Guitar Company still exists today. Perhaps they can help you;http://www.kayguitar.com/
Best,
Ed Rider
Marathon branded guitars were distributed by Southland Musical Merchandise Co in Greensboro, North Carolina. The brand's origin date is unknown but my acoustic (pictured above) has Kluson tuners that date it to the late 1950s. Youtube user Joseph Macey dates his collection of Marathon guitar picks to the late 1950s at the earliest and continuing into the 1960s [4].
Many thanks to Mr Macey for his video led me to the Southland name and then to Mr Rider who gracefully responded with his knowledge about the brand.
Marvel
Marvel guitars were marketed by the Peter Sorkin Company out of New York, USA. Made in the 1950s through the 1970s according to Jedistar [9].
I've played the model pictured to the left and it feels like a normal, low end Kay arch top guitar. Nothing particularly impressive about it except the name and headstock logo.
Marveltone
Notable model, 1933 Marveltone Arch Kraft No.778 archtop [Wright 172]. Also produced or distributed by Regal [13].
No apparently relation to the Marvel line of Kay guitars.
Marwin
Distributed through the Barth-Feinberg catalog based in NY in the early 1950s [28]. Also might have been constructed by Harmony
Mayflower
Guitars and banjos manufactured by Stromberg-Voisinet in the 1920s [Gruhn 442]
Montclair
Oahu
Oahu was a brand of instruments produced for the Oahu Publishing Company based in Cleveland, Ohio. These instruments were built to appeal to the Hawaiian genre of music and commonly feature square necks. These instruments likely were made as early as 1927 [Wright 116] and as late as 1938 [Wright 170]. The Oahu Publishing Company closed in 1985[8].
Old Kraftsman
Old Kraftsman instruments were marketed through the Spiegel catalogue which was based in Chicago, Illinois. Found as early as 1942 in the Spiegel Holiday Catalog scan [14].
In my experience, most of the guitars under this brand name were basic Kay models with nothing extraordinary about them.
Orpheum
The Orpheum brand name appears on a variety of instruments from different manufacturers but was initially created by the American banjo manufacturer William Lange Banjo Co [6]. In the 1960s, the name was recycled and applied to Japanese-built guitars and the brand has recently been resurrected again. The American-built models were made in the period between the 1930s and 1940s according to Jedistar [7]
I was unable to find a clear builder for these guitars since the name passed through so many hands but the guitar pictured is an exact match for my Kay-built Marathon acoustic guitar.
Paramount
Distributed by the William Lange Banjo Co up until the 1940s [15].
Penncrest
Penncrest was the in-house brand for J.C. Penney. Sold through the 1950s and 60s but the exact dates are unknown.
Looking through the catalog scans at the
Wishbook Web archive, I was unable to find any references to Penncrest in the 1966 JC Penney catalog.
Playtime
Made around the 1940s for Sears [18].
Premier
Mentioned a time or two on the internet, I currently don't have any information for it yet.
Regal
Kay produced some guitars for Regal in the 1930s such as the model numbers: 2106, 2110, 2112 [Wright 170].
Rex
Sold through Gretsch catalogs only in 1948 [Wright 132].
Sierra
The pictured guitar is from a Reverb listing that claims its a 1950s Kay. The headstock matches the 3-bump design and the dovetail neck places its construction before 1961. They also mention that it might've been from a Montgomery Ward catalog though I am unable to confirm that.
Possibly badged for an unknown local retailer.
Silvertone
Silvertone guitars were manufactured by both Kay and Harmony for Sears, Roebuck and Co. The pictured model is a 1941 Kay Crest archtop.
Sherwood
Made between the 1940s and 1960s and distributed through the Mongomery Ward catalogs [20].
S. S. Maxwell
Produced by both Harmony and Kay but between 1933 and 1934, they were produced by Kay [Wright 170, 172]. Not to be confused with S.S. Stewart which was produced by Harmony.
Sterling
Distributed by Tonk Brothers Co in the 1930s
Stromberg
The original name of the Kay company. Instruments were distributed under this name from 1921 until 1932 [Wright 169]. I speculate that the name might've possibly appeared again until the company's rebranding to Kay into 1937.
Supertone
Made for Silvertone by Harmony [23] and possibly Kay as well.
Supro
Some Supro branded acoustic guitars were built by Kay in the 1960s up until 1968 [Wright 172].
Suprema
Distributed by the Canadian catalog, Eatons. The listing that the included picture is from claims the guitar was built in 1936.
Sylvia
Approximately 1950s based off of the bridge shown in the Reverb listing and the fretboard wood color but nothing is nailed down.
Telleno
Exact same construction as my Wabash parlor guitar
Truetone
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| Picture credit, mine |
Distributed by Western Auto in the 1950s and 1960s.
This particular model is an early 1960s Kay Speed Demon.
Tonk
Produced during the 1930s and distributed by Tonk Brothers Company as late as 1938 [Wright 172].
Ward(s)
One of the house brands of Montgomery Ward [10]. Produced banjos and flat tops as early as 1925 and as a solid body guitar as late as 1961 [Wright 169, 175, 178].
Wabash
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| Image credit, mine |
Wabash guitars were distributed by the David Wexlar Company [21]. Personally, I've seen claims that they were made by both Kay and or Regal.
The headstock pictured is from a 1/2 size "Buckeye"-stenciled cowboy guitar project that I haven't started work on yet. The tuners on the right side of the headstock are 1930s patented "Safe Ti-String" and the tuners on the left and unbranded.
Sources:
Gruhn, George, and Walter Carter. Gruhns Guide to Vintage Guitars: an Identification Guide for American Fretted Instruments. Backbeat Books, 2010.
Gruhn, George, and Walter Carter. Gruhns Guide to Vintage Guitars: an Identification Guide for American Fretted Instruments. Backbeat Books, 2010.
Contributors
- Brian R (Facebook - Kay Guitars)
- Nate G (Facebook - Kay Guitars)
- Gary B (Facebook - Kay Guitars)
- Walter C (Facebook - Kay Guitars)
Updated: 1/26/2019
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