Rare chance to get a Kay, if that's your thing....

[PaulKing]

Yes, an actual Kay.

Not mine, just saw it on Reverb.

I have an almost identical one.

 

https://reverb.com/uk/item/90553106-kay-3-4-double-bass-m-2-restored-very-rare-in-the-uk-cover-and-pickup-included

[petebassist]

Mojo to die for - stunner !!

[Happy Jack]

It would need to play & sound utterly sublime to justify that price tag for a bass in that condition.

 

I get mojo, I get roadworn, I get "has lived a life", but that bass looks as if it was used for target practice. For grenades.

 

[PaulKing]

1 hour ago, Happy Jack said:

It would need to play & sound utterly sublime to justify that price tag for a bass in that condition.

 

I get mojo, I get roadworn, I get "has lived a life", but that bass looks as if it was used for target practice. For grenades.

 

But look at that lovely label Jack ... 🤩 😁

That's what people are willing to pay for. Doesn't make it a better bass obvs, just pure lust and (unjustifiable) cool factor!

Personally, I think it looks cool as flip. The tailpiece and saddle stink I agree ... but largely fixable. Neck break is a shame, but more have that than don't. The table is right where it should be, no sinking ... that's one crucial thing.

As long as the neck is at a good angle too...

 

£2.5k is a reasonable-ish price for that old dawg.

[Beer of the Bass]

Unusually for a UK bassist, I started on a borrowed Kay in my teens. It belonged to the local fiddle organisation in Dunoon, they had two Kay basses and at least one cello. I don't know how they got over here, but I'd wager it was connected to the US submarine base that was on the Holy Loch for decades. 

I had no idea at the time that they were considered anything special. I struggled to get the sound I wanted out of it, but that could easily have been down to me or the strings that were on it. They were round nylon wound on the G and D and round metal wound on the E and A, and had off-white cores with looped ends that could have been gut or a synthetic material. 

[Bloopdad1]

£2500!!!!! Blimey! 

There'll need to be £2000 worth of £50 notes stuffed between the wood plys to get me to buy that! 😂 🤣 

(And another £500 stuffed in both the neck cracks! 😂) 

 

[NickA]

What's a good laminate bass worth?  I played a nice old one that was £1500 and have a friend with a rather nasty new one that cost her £1300.

 

This one needs a new neck really and unless you're The Guitar Weasel, that's going to be expensive.  So given the ongoing costs bloopdad seems about right with the pricing!

 

At least the seller is being honest about the condition.

[Burns-bass]

6 hours ago, NickA said:

What's a good laminate bass worth?  I played a nice old one that was £1500 and have a friend with a rather nasty new one that cost her £1300.

 

This one needs a new neck really and unless you're The Guitar Weasel, that's going to be expensive.  So given the ongoing costs bloopdad seems about right with the pricing!

 

At least the seller is being honest about the condition.

About £1000 maybe?

 

The Musima bass I use cost me £500 and needed a new bridge, endpin and nut and is now a wonderful instrument. It’s not a complex sound and you’d not want to bow it, but for amplified work, travelling in a van and playing 50 odd gigs a year inside and out and in all weathers, it’s ideal.