1934 Kay Kraft Mandocello rebuild photoessay
This was a pretty huge project, that had a few incredibly nasty turns. KK mandocellos are a rare commodity in the vintage instrument marketplace too, with only about 6 of them that I have been able to document.
Kay Krafts were not the best built axes either, with multiple large structural issues built into each and every archtop instrument. I certainly had my work cut out for me.
The instrument was not strung up when I got it, so it's biggest problem would only surface later...
When I thought everything finished, and it was almost ready to send home, I strung it up, and found that the lack of significant bracing between the neckblock and the underside of the bridge led to a big problem. The entire soundhole dipped right into the instrument over a quarter of an inch! The instrument was trying to fold itself in half! After consults with a few 'Pro and Real' Luthiers, I came up with a radical fix that involved an ebony fretboard blank...
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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by onewent on
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Kerry, nice work, enjoyed that, and good idea on how to age the stark white mots. I need to do the same for a pick guard..thanks for the tip!
Tom
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Permalink Reply by George Roberts on
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Very nicely done Kerry. Is the Kay Kraft logo a decal, or is it painted on? There seemed to be enough random variation in the details that it looked as though it could have been done by hand.
George
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Permalink Reply by Kerry Krishna on
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The logos on these old girls were all 'HotFoilPress' appliqué George. Wayyy beyond anything I can do here at my shop. What did you folks think of the soundhole reinforcement that I did? I'll tell you, I can't put it into words how disappointed I was when I 'thought' I was finished, contacted the customer and told him it would be shipping out in two days, then strung it up and saw that the whole top near the soundhole was folding itself in half.... It was a lot of grief trying to get advice on what to do. Three Luthiers were involved in the discussion. My final solution was the most intrusive thing, but I will never have to wonder if this 'folding' will happen again.
The customer say that the axe is staying perfectly in tune since the hour he got it back too!
The 24 hour set epoxy that Frank recommended for some headstock repairs came in amazingly handy for the reinforcement.
I hope Frank pops in and says something.
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George, Acetone with dye added was a GREAT way to colour the MOTS. I also did enough MOTS for about 5 more of these jobs, or several actual fretboards.
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Kerry, can you give more details about the 'HotFoilPress' applique technique?
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So with the old style hotfoilpress, the design was actually embossed into the plastic of the KayKraft headstocks, about 30 thousands of an inch into the plastic. This newer style just sits on top, but you will get the idea. If search function was still working on this site, there was a terrific thread a few years back on it...
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You can see how deep the pressing is easily in this art shot that I took...
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Thanks Kerry,
I agree that it looks like a long run for a short slide, especially for a one off use.
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Permalink Reply by Ned Knepp on
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Kerry, You did a nice " do up" on the restoration. It looks like a pain in the neck but you did a nice job.
I have a KK Mandolin I rebuilt a few years ago with the MOT/embossed head stock. Fortunately for me the embossing is in almost perfect condition. I have to say that the mandolin isn't the most earth shattering player in the world but I still think it's one of the prettiest designs with the headstock shape and the body curves. In this case the MOT/embossed gold really works and I always think it looks better in person than in any pictures I've seen.
It would be pretty hard to duplicate it a small shop. Kerry, do you know if it was done in a single size or are there different sized head stocks?
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They are all different sizes. The only constant is the letter size, and everything else is different on mandos, 'cellos, tenors and two different size widths for the guitars.... .
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