Some garage sale finds make your heart skip a beat... $20 F hole archtop guitar.

[LeeH]

Always makes me wonder why someone would keep something like this for years and years, then sell it at their garage sale for $20. I've really reached the point where I don't ask, but just pay them and leave as quickly as I can.

[oldE]

Excellent score. A nice old piece saved.
How's the action?

Best
Les

[craigster59]

Nice! Those Harmony, Kay, Silvertone guitars can fetch a little money. Might as well see what you scored.....
Vintage Guitars Info - D'angelico, Stromberg, Kay, Hofner vintage guitar collecting

This site has catalogs to help... http://kingofkays.com/

[LeeH]

Originally Posted by craigster59

Nice! Those Harmony, Kay, Silvertone guitars can fetch a little money. Might as well see what you scored.....
Vintage Guitars Info - D'angelico, Stromberg, Kay, Hofner vintage guitar collecting

This site has catalogs to help... King of Kays

I found catalogs last night... I think mine might predate them. The tortoise pick guard of that shape, and black tuners seem to be a rare combination. Rare for a Kay, anyway. Best I can tell, the Kay acoustic guitars aren't worth a huge amount.

This is the closest one I can find to mine and it sold for $375.
Vintage 1930's 1940's Kay F Hole Archtop Acoustic Guitar Sounds Excellent RARE | eBay

[craigster59]

Yours is in much better condition than that one. The black tuners and diamond fret markers aside, it looks a bit like this one..
http://www.ebay.com/itm/VINTAGE-KAY-ACOUSTIC-ARCHTOP-GUITAR-BEAUTY-grlc1169-/291081782832

The headstock decal, fret markers, tailpiece and pickguard will be your clues to date of mfg and model.

[LeeH]

Originally Posted by craigster59

Yours is in much better condition than that one. The black tuners and diamond fret markers aside, it looks a bit like this one..
Vintage Kay Acoustic Archtop Guitar Beauty GRLC1169 | eBay

The headstock decal, fret markers, tailpiece and pickguard will be your clues to date of mfg and model.

Good points. I think the headstock decal is going to put it at least into the 40s. There's also this label inside:

[azasadny]

Nice find!!

[futuresoptions]

Nice find! Lots of good deals to be made at garage sales.

[herr_oberst]

Do you like the way it sounds?

[LeeH]

Originally Posted by herr_oberst

Do you like the way it sounds?

Keeping in mind that this is the opinion of a perpetual novice guitar player, it's not bad for an old guitar. I've bought and sold several Stella Harmony guitars. I've never been a fan of how they've played or sounded. But, I've had buyers show up for one of these and start wailing away on the right song, and they sound great. In comparison to the Stellas, this one seems much better. If I were to sit down to play, I'm still going to reach for the Takamine EF360S I've had since 1981.

The Kay... I'd just like find a spot to hang it on the wall. There's a fair amount of fret wear to the first three frets. I look at that and wonder whose fingers played this thing until they wore down the wood... what songs did they play and where did they play them?