1954 Kay K-22 Artist

ARCHIVED • SOLD

1954 Kay K-22 Artist

The K-22 Artist was offered between 1947 and 1956, and unfortunately most of the examples we find haven't survived the years very well. Happily for all of us this one has, though, and it sounds great! With its combination of massive 17" wide jumbo body and ladder-style bracing the voice of this guitar is big, brash, bassy, and bold. The typical unrefined ladder-braced tone is offset - or complimented - by the jumbo body and the result is tonal heaven! There's enough bass response to keep you happy, while the trebles and upper mids have almost resonator-guitar-like fullness and nasality... it's pretty cool, really. The guitar's extra long 25.9" scale length turbo-charges the top, and makes the attack almost as quick as an archtop's, while doing its bit to add power and volume to the equation. The neck is very much like one from a banner-era Gibson, with a substantial C profile and a 1-3/4" nut; very fitting for a guitar of this stature. Mahogany and spruce body with no cracks, rosewood fingerboard with Southern-Jumbo like pearloid inlays and double-layer binding. New bone nut and saddle, compliments of us, and new pickguard and pearl-logo compliments of the last guy. The action is set at 5 to 7 64ths and can be lowered further; however, the not-perfect original frets would need to be dressed or replaced if you wanted lower action than that. As it sits the guitar can get buzzy under a heavy picking hand. Original gold Kluson single line tuners work great and look cool, and pinless Brazilian rosewood bridge adds a bit of class.
Without case
SOLD
1954 Kay K-22 Artist
  • 1954 Kay K-22 Artist
  • 1954 Kay K-22 Artist
  • 1954 Kay K-22 Artist
  • 1954 Kay K-22 Artist
  • 1954 Kay K-22 Artist
  • 1954 Kay K-22 Artist
  • 1954 Kay K-22 Artist
  • 1954 Kay K-22 Artist

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