NGD: Kay Speed Demon

[Nick]

When I went to pick up the Yamaha from a setup, Lauren pointed out this Kay and said it was pretty. I had been eying it too, my friend TJ at http://loveoffuzz.com put it together a while ago with some replacement tuners, Epiphone vibrola and new wiring, sold it off and it eventually found its way back to his new shop on trade.

I asked Lauren later on if I were to get it, if she would be cool with it being an “upstairs guitar�, something I can hang on the wall as decoration and also pick up to play on the couch (it has enough volume unplugged it’s kind of just perfect for that). She said yes so today I went in with my Silvertone Bobkat, did a straight trade and here it is on the dining room wall.

[Nick]

Don’t know why it uploaded sideways, the original photo was vertical.

[robroe]

Welcome to phonescale uploader hell. Every pic I do for 6 months now. Sideways AF. I EVEN TURN THE FUCKING PHONE SIDEWAYS SO WHEN UPLOADER TURNS IT SIDEWAYS IT WILL BE DOUBLE SIDEWAYS AND GO UP BUT WHEN I FUCKINGDOTHAT IT DOESNTTURNATALL AND ITSSTILLFUCKINGSIDEWAYSFUCKKKKKKKK

[Bacchus]

You're having good luck with these cool old guitars lately.

[westtexasred]

Looks great,congrats!

[Thom]

Nice one, that looks brilliant.

[Doog]

Love it, what a great find.

I'm beginning to love that style of vibrola, I've had my eye on a Vintage Midge Ure Goldtop for a while, and now the new GibbyEpi SG.

Should probably actually play with one first.

[Nick]

I really like the vibrola. I remember trying a guitar with one years ago, probably an SG or Firebird, I thought it was too subtle I didn’t understand the point of it at all. Now it feels just right, either I played a badly set up guitar before or I just appreciate the subtlety of it now.

[Doog]

Yeah, sometimes you want just a subtle shimmer, even your squirrel pal there can appreciate that

[Ankhanu]

That looks really cool; nice snag!

I really like the vibrola. I remember trying a guitar with one years ago, probably an SG or Firebird, I thought it was too subtle I didn’t understand the point of it at all. Now it feels just right, either I played a badly set up guitar before or I just appreciate the subtlety of it now.

How does it compare to the Jag/Jazzmaster? I find they have just about perfect subtle to just slightly wild wobble for how I play, but I've never tested a Vibrola.

[Noirie.]

Nice one. William Reid used one early on in JAMC

[Nick]

That looks really cool; nice snag!

I really like the vibrola. I remember trying a guitar with one years ago, probably an SG or Firebird, I thought it was too subtle I didn’t understand the point of it at all. Now it feels just right, either I played a badly set up guitar before or I just appreciate the subtlety of it now.

How does it compare to the Jag/Jazzmaster? I find they have just about perfect subtle to just slightly wild wobble for how I play, but I've never tested a Vibrola.

I don't have a Jaguar or Jazzy handy to compare it against, but the trem in my Yamaha SG-80T from a couple threads down is a very similar design. I would say the range of the Vibrola is about half that of the Yamaha - tuned standard, the 1st string goes down a half step compared to 1 full step, and the 6th string only goes about 2 full steps compared to 4.

Based on the description of your playing style a Vibrola would probably do the trick, it's nice having a bit more control over the pitch since its full range is about what I functionally use on other trems most of the time.