maxvintage
Poster Extraordinaire
yeah thats a kay headstock for sure
Help Identify Muddy Waters's Guitar
- Thread starter The Angle
- Start date
maxvintage
Poster Extraordinaire
The Angle
Tele-Afflicted
That's it! Excellent detective work. Thanks.
Looks like Muddy's might have a replacement bridge, or Kay simplified it at some point.
I also think this may be the first time I've seen a guitar with the tuning keys tilted toward the player that way.
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mandoloony
Tele-Meister
Kay never made a Stratotone. People have incorrectly identified various Kay models as "Stratotones" but Kay never used the name.
First time I read that.
In the "Godlike Tone" thread, I nominated an iconic Muddy Waters tune, I Can't Be Satisfied. Of course I fell down a rabbit hole investigating what gear he used on that recording. What few sources I found agreed it was recorded on a 1940s Gretsch archtop with an added DeArmond FHC "monkey bar" pickup.
This led me to search for photos of Muddy with that guitar, with no success. I did find the shot below of Muddy with his wife Geneva and a guitar I can't identify. Could this be the Gretsch? I've found no 1940s Gretsch photos that match it, and the pickup is a DeArmond Rhythm Chief, not an FHC. Internet sources can be wrong about things like 70-year-old pickups, or maybe Muddy upgraded.
I think this should be an easy identification, given the distinctive inlays on the headstock and fretboard and the sharply pointed end of the fretboard. I don't recognize it and can't find anything that matches.
What a sexy picture, in every regard.
Nothing to see here really, just a guy about to change the course of 20th century music.
JustABluesGuy
Friend of Leo's
I think Harmony made Kay along with many other “brands” of guitars, but I could be mistaken.
guitar_paul1
Tele-Afflicted
The untold history of Kay Guitars
Kay Guitar Company made countless guitars over the years, for artists such as Keith Richards, Jimi Hendrix, Bob Dylan and more.
