70's Kay K1B - Now With Recordings £300 Bristol

[chrisaxe]

Hello,

So for sale is my 1970's Kay K1B. This is a shortscale bass that was made in Taiwan under the 'Kay' brand name, as part of a collection of guitars that were essentially knock-off's of well-known brands. A quick google search and you'll find Kay look-a-likes for Fenders, Ric's and Gibsons - which is what the K1B is.

It's a short scale bass with one pickup, one tone and one volume. It sounds great - loads of vintage, low-end thump. The pickup is still nice and strong, and the electronics are in full working order. The tone control works, but it's essentially thump or more thump, so don't expect and crispy high's from this bass! The bridge cover unscrews revealing the original strip of foam stuck underneath (as well as a very unusual bridge). Truss rod seems in working order.

Overall it is in very good condition - a few chips here and there but considering its age, it's excellent. The chap I bought it from told me that he was the second owner - the original owner bought it new, hardly played it, before retiring it to the back of his wardrobe for decades. Apparently, the strings (flatwounds) are original to the bass, so they should hold some value in themselves! The volume pot has been replaced (I have the broken original if you want to take it), but aside from that, it's all original.

Looking for £300 - I know these were budget back in the day, but they are increasingly collectable and this one is in such great condition. There is one on eBay for £350, and they have gone on Reverb for silly prices. 

Based in Bristol, happy to ship at buyers expense. Unfortunately, the bass does not come in a case but I can package safely. If you'd like to come and try it out then feel free.

EDIT: I've had some time this afternoon to quickly record some examples on this bass. All of these were recorded through my Ampeg B15, mic'd with a CAD GXL3000, into a Focusrite Scarlett, into Logic. No EQ was used, just a touch of compression.

Thanks,

Chris.

Edited July 4, 2019 by chrisaxe
Corrections - 70's, not 60's.

[hooky_lowdown]

Oh dear... So many things wrong here. 🤣

[Bassassin]

Kay basses & guitars from this era (early/mid 70s, from the strip-ply neck construction & toaster pickup type) were made in Taiwan. There is a Japanese connection in that the Taiwanese factory was established by Kawai following their 1969 acquisition of Teisco Gakki, and was initially used to manufacture existing Teisco designs.

The bass would have originally had a serial/model number sticker - which is, interestingly, identical to those used on MIJ Teiscos, and demonstrates the link between the factories.

 

[chrisaxe]

30 minutes ago, Bassassin said:

Kay basses & guitars from this era (early/mid 70s, from the strip-ply neck construction & toaster pickup type) were made in Taiwan. There is a Japanese connection in that the Taiwanese factory was established by Kawai following their 1969 acquisition of Teisco Gakki, and was initially used to manufacture existing Teisco designs.

The bass would have originally had a serial/model number sticker - which is, interestingly, identical to those used on MIJ Teiscos, and demonstrates the link between the factories.

 

Thanks so much - really useful info. I've updated the listing.

[chrisaxe]

Just added some recordings demonstrating the tone using both pick and fingers. Link is in the main description.

[chrisaxe]

Withdrawn.