Documenting history as well as my experiences with repairing and restoring vintage guitars.

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Februrary 2024 update, I have revamped this article after threats of legal action by author Michael Wright for using a picture of three line...

Februrary 2024 update, I have revamped this article after threats of legal action by author Michael Wright for using a picture of three lines of text from his book and Steve Brown of VintAxe.com who claims to own the copyright to the 1944 and 1948 Kay guitar catalogs. 

Kay K-62 Type 1
This guitar began life as a K-60 but had been refinished

About

The Kay K-60 was one of the finest instruments built by Kay craftsmen in the 1940s. It retailed between $60 and $70 and was meant to compete against the large body archtops coming out of Kalamazoo, Michigan. They appear at the start of the 1940s and continue until about 1946 or 1947 when Kay refreshed its lineup after WWII had settled. Its sister model, the K-62, was identical except for a sunburst finish instead of natural.

These are 'jumbo' sized archtops with a lower bout of around 17" and constructed of finer wood than people expect from a Kay. The top is made of solid, carved spruce while the back and sides are laminate flame maple finished in nitrocellulose lacquer. The necks are constructed of book-matched, flame maple with a center strip of dark, light, and dark wood. The fingerboards are hefty slabs of Brazilian Rosewood bound in celluloid, inlaid with pearl or celluloid, and fretted with large wire (for the era). 

The hardware is also top notch with six individual open-back Kluson tuners in either a distressed brass or nickel plate finish. The tailpieces I've seen on these are either Kluson or Grover made. My favorite detail is the "ribbon" rosewood bridge which flares outward on both sides. The pickguards are made of tortoise celluloid and quite thick.

Type 1

The first iteration is identifiable by the use of genuine pearl inlay and a Brazilian Rosewood headstock veneer. The Gibson-esque headstock is a bold move by Kay and I've seen it confuse a number of people in the modern era.


This example has been refretted but features the jet black Brazilian fingerboard, double bound fingerboard, original bone nut, and pearl inlay. The original frets had a crown that was more triangular than round which I thought was interesting. 

The sunburst work is excellent and highlights the figure in the maple



Type 2

The second iteration of this model is identifiable by a celluloid headstock veneer with pressed indentations for paint instead of inlay. I do not have any dates indicating when the change occurred but I suspect it was closer to the end of WWII.

I've seen Type 2 models with both these rectangular inlays and the inlays on the Type 1. 

Antenna Inlay

The "Television" moniker is most closely associated with this incredible art deco styled archtop that Kay produced in the early 1940s. The appointments on this guitar are closer to the Type 1 and they were likely produced at the same time. These guitars are constructed exactly the same as the models above except with geometric pearl inlay across the entire fingerboard and up to the headstock evoking a skyscraper or antenna motif.


This instrument has been refinished and its hardware replaced but the body and the inlay are the real focus.




1966-1968 Kay with Kluson "double line" tuners About I recently completed a restoration of a Kay jumbo guitar that had bee...

1966-1968 Kay with Kluson "double line" tuners

About

I recently completed a restoration of a Kay jumbo guitar that had been weathered for decades in an abandoned shack in the Smokey Mountains in Tennessee and was in serious need of repair. It belonged to an unknown individual who did enjoy some pipe tobacco (there was a faint smell of it on the instrument before I began) and played the guitar to pieces. When the nut fell off of the instrument and was lost, they carved grooves in the first position for the strings to slide down by using the first fret as the nut.

My work included:
  • Filling the divots behind the first fret and in front of the nut
  • Redoing the filler around the inlays with rosewood and superglue
  • Patching a screw hole in the heel
  • Full refret
  • Neck reset
  • Stabilizing de-laminations on the sides
  • Fabricating a celluloid tortoise pickguard to replace the missing one
  • Removing the rough, factory x-bracing and rebracing the top with properly oriented spruce

Kay Factory X-Brace

This jumbo guitar originally had X-bracing from the factory but it is barely a step above the ladder bracing that most of these instruments have. Note the use of PVA glue instead of hide glue to attach the braces but that the kerfing is still attached with hide glue. They didn't seem particularly attached to any one adhesive towards the end of the company.

These braces are massive, unscalloped pieces of coniferous woods with random grain orientations. Note the spruce bridgeplate which has been chipped out by the ball ends of the strings I decided that since I was going to be fully restoring the instrument that I might as well redo the x-bracing
Original Kay X Bracing

In-progress picture of my bracing (not all braces are pictured)
I opted to keep the tone bars in roughly the same positions as they were originally to give this instrument a unique tone in line with what Kay had originally designed (intentionally or otherwise). My bridge plates are made from spruce, to allow for the best tonal quality, with the important distinction that I cap them with maple to protect the delicate spruce and add a little more strength. Of course I went ahead and addressed all of the cracks.

What is this instrument?

I continued to research the origins of this instrument but was unable to find an exact match. I tossed around a couple ideas until I took a closer look at the catalog.

The body of the guitar did not match the neck...

K-6104 "Professional" Country-Style 



The K-6104 was a top of the line dreadnought model built between 1966 up until Kay went bankrupt in 1968. It featured "genuine Australian pearl" position markers in a "longhorn" shape which is the colloquial name given to that model of guitar. It featured a quite intricate "batwing" bridge design.

Note the catalog says "Grover machine heads" yet all of these guitars came with Kluson tuners. 

K-8130 Solo Special II


The K-8130 "Solo Special II" was a jumbo guitar also built between 1966-68. It was slightly less expensive than the Country model seen above but built just as well without the flashly appointments. It had a straight Rosewood bridge and simple binding. 

The Instrument


My guitar had the body from a K-8130 and the neck from a K-6104 and they were so perfectly mated together that I was completely stumped. Part of the appeal to restoring vintage instruments is the "forensics" and looking for details or evidence of modifications 

The heel had begun to separate from the body and a bolt had been driven through the heel to keep it in place but the neck had never been removed. I was the first person to steam the neck out which was evident by the original hide glue remaining in the pocket which matched up with all the Kay glue jobs I've seen. The weathering and playwear was consistent on both pieces which meant they had been together for many years. 

I first wondered if they had simply swapped the bridges but the K-6104 was a dreadnought with different binding and a different rosette and so there was no way that this instrument was a modified K-6104. The K-8130 had block inlays and was finished in a brown lacquer as opposed to black and so the neck certainly didn't belong to a K-8130

My Conclusion

The Kay Musical Instrument Company merged with Valco in 1966-67 and folded the next year in 1968. (corrected 2/12/20)

I believe that this instrument was built by Kay when they were scrambling to sell their remaining inventory and liquidate their assets. This guitar was thrown together from parts belonging to two different models and then promptly left the factory in a last ditch effort to get their money's worth. It had been assembled in a manner consistent with every other Kay guitar I've worked on and so I had no reason to doubt its authenticity.

Did this instrument get taken home by a worker? Was it shipped out as a factory-second or did Kay send it to an unsuspecting owner who ordered one of the two aforementioned models? Did the owner even notice or care? We'll never know. 

Where is it now?

I listed it on Reverb and it sold fairly quickly to a player out in North Carolina. Hopefully the instrument continues to get played and lives another life for the next 50 years! 

I suspect a refinish or an overspray might be the proper method to ensure the wood is properly protected for decades to come but I leave that decision up to the next owners.

Here is an iPhone 7 video of the instrument that I recorded, unfortunately I didn't think to mic it up and do a proper demo


Here is the original listing for the instrument with more detailed photos
https://reverb.com/item/31375740-1966-68-kay-country-longhorn-x-braced-jumbo&show-sold=true

All catalog images came from: http://www.kayvintagereissue.com/






This is a Harmony H-1422 which was branded as an S.S. Stewart model 7004 for distribution by Buegeleisen & Jacobson. As of the authoring...

This is a Harmony H-1422 which was branded as an S.S. Stewart model 7004 for distribution by Buegeleisen & Jacobson. As of the authoring of this article, H-1422 does not exist in the DeMont Harmony Database and only a few examples appear on the internet.




This particular instrument has a floral decal applied to the upper bass bout which I inspected closely and determined to be quite old. Whoever placed it there did so a very long time ago and must've lacquered over it because it exhibits checking. Was it a special order from the factory? Can't really know but its definitely not a recent addition. Unfortunately the instrument was oversprayed and polished so its glossy but there are some visible drips on the sides and the original nitro lacquer is hiding beneath. It was done adequately so I have no intention of trying to remove it.


Age

This instrument does not have a visible date stamp within the body so any dating will have to be done through what I can observe and what I can compare against.

1940 B&J catalog scan showing a similar model Harmony instrument removed
after threat of legal action by VintAxe.com who claim to be the owners of the copyright to
this B&J catalog.




The tuning machines are Waverly and I have the exact set on a 1936 Harmony I own (confirmed via date stamp).

The fretboard has two slots cut in it which are visible from the dovetail and the nut which I believe are to accommodate two steel reinforcing rods running parallel down the neck. The neck is also extremely responsive to magnets, more so than my other guitars that I know have a single bar. My theory is also supported by a 193(6 or 8) Harmony Supertone, which I owned, that had two parallel steel reinforcing rods.

Construction


The neck is very light colored mahogany, steel reinforced, and with grafted headstock wings. The fretboard is a slab of gorgeous Brazilian Rosewood with the typical 1-2-1-2 inlay dot pattern. The frets were small, vintage-style and terribly worn so I replaced them for my restoration.



The back and sides are solid Mahogany and the top is also solid Mahogany. A typical, winning combination for a pre-war archtop from Harmony.



The top has the typical parallel tone bar bracing that you'd expect to find on an archtop from this era but the back has ladder bracing like a flat top. I've seen that back bracing on a 1930s Kay-built Old Kraftsman and believe it indicates a solid wood back.

Markings

Model No 7004
Serial No 2633
4187H1422





Step 1. Don't 1960s P-bass I photographed at the Springfield, MO guitar show Owner unknown (contact me for credit) Why not? W...

Step 1. Don't

1960s P-bass I photographed at the Springfield, MO guitar show
Owner unknown (contact me for credit)

Why not?

Willie Nelson's guitar 'Trigger'
Image Credit: MentalFloss.com

Guitars are not like furniture in which a fresh coat of poly or shellac rejuvenates them and increases the value. With guitars it is actually more desirable for them to be worn in and show signs of age such as lacquer "checking" (the lines that appear in old finishes from age, temperature, and humidity). Vintage instruments are typically finished in nitrocellulose lacquer (which crackles in long lines) or shellac (which shrinks into cube-like shapes) which act quite differently than modern polyurethane finishes. Old instruments will get dinged and show that wear much more prominently than modern instruments and that is part of the charm.

People love to see the play-wear and the history that a guitar holds in its appearance and you would be erasing that by refinishing the instrument. 

There is a huge fad in the instrument world of "relic-ing" which is the process of taking a new instrument and trying to make it look like an old, well loved instrument. Relicing has its fans and opponents but it is usually always more expensive than an instrument without such a treatment. It often doesn't make sense to people outside the industry but its a serious money maker because the demand is there.

Value 

Instruments have value historically, monetarily, and sentimentally. I keep the original finish on every guitar I work on and recommend it to anyone who asks because a damaged guitar with original paint is worth more than a guitar with new paint. I've owned guitars with original lacquer that flakes off if you look at it wrong but I kept it the way that it was because of the value held in that original, flaky paint

Of course a vintage instrument in pristine,original condition will sell higher than one that has been worn-in but a refinished instrument will almost always sell for less than an instrument that has been worn-in naturally

For example, I have this 1970s Harmony-built Fender acoustic that is dirty, yellowed, and most definitely worn through years of being played and years of being poorly kept. It looks rough to most people but I wouldn't dream of refinishing it because if this is a $400 guitar, it'll be worth $150 after being refinished. It will lose its character and the history behind it.


The neck from the above Fender acoustic
*Note the carvings in the neck*


Amateur Refinishes

Of course I say this as a man whose website is entitled "The Amateur Luthier" but I tend to stay away from finish touchups or work unless the guitar has already been refinished before. It is typically my last resort to try and restore some value to an instrument or make it look somewhat original. As I mentioned above, a refinished guitar will almost always sell for less than an original guitar but it is also important to note that a poor refinish will sell for the value of the parts on the guitar. A guitar that has been refinished poorly with drips or unevenness or a terrible color choice can be worth as little as the value of the parts on the instrument.

If a guitar has already been refinished, you probably can't hurt its value by refinishing it again. The exception is, of course, with very old refinishes or ones that were done quite well.

Here is a 1966 Harmony H56 Rocket that has been refinished, poorly, with a wipe-on lacquer and has had some body work done to make it look like a double cutaway. These are normally $500-600 instruments but the refinish work makes it a $200 instrument.. The poorly done body work and refinish made it nearly worthless so I pulled the parts for use in a better quality guitar and sold the husk to someone who needs a neck and gave them the body for free.


This is a 1964 Hagstrom HIII that was originally sky blue but the finish was stripped down to natural and no finish was applied on top of that. The value of this instrument was tanked by the refinish and the lack of original parts made it nearly worthless. I sold the parts off and the husk to help revive other Hagstroms from the era because it wasn't worth the money to rebuild.

 

What do I do now?

Take it to a decent luthier (not a guitar tech that you would find at Guitar Center) and have them look it over to find an approximate value of the instrument. I've seen thousand dollar instruments that were stripped and became hundred dollar instruments. Especially during the "natural wood" fad of the 70s, that was a rough time for guitar finishes.
  • Use guitar-oriented polishes to gently scrub dirt and grime off the guitar without losing original finish
    • Do NOT use any automotive waxes or polishes 
    • Do NOT buff the instrument with a machine unless you are very sure of what you are doing


  • Has the instrument been refinished before?
    • Yes, poorly with drips and runny paint
      • Then it is likely well within reason to strip the paint and make the instrument look better
    • Yes, quite well but its not my style
      • Perhaps consider selling the instrument and buying another that suits your fancy. No need to ruin good work
    • Nope but it is ugly/flaky/cracked
      • Leave it alone, your instrument and wallet will thank you when you go to sell it. Plus you are keeping the decades of history and character 
If you are deadset on refinishing your instrument, consult with luthiers to get a price and find someone who is capable of doing good work.

If you are interested in doing it yourself, stay away from store-bought finishes (especially polyurethane!!) and find some good Shellac or Nitrocellulose. 

Here are some great resources for finding finishing supplies

































This was all done in October of 2018 and I've only just now gotten to writing about it. It was 2:30pm when I stumbled across a neat Kay ...

This was all done in October of 2018 and I've only just now gotten to writing about it. It was 2:30pm when I stumbled across a neat Kay project guitar on Reverb that the seller claimed was X-braced. That, of course, piqued my interest and so I went to check out the other photos. That is when I stumbled upon a label in the soundhole.

Image Credit: Reverb - Lost Art Vintage Instruments


The production number is L2834 6100

The Research

I contacted the Reverb seller about the label and they responded "Can’t read it" so I set out to use image editing software to try and decipher it....

I returned with:
Stuart M. Klavens
3704 Rosedale Rd.
Baltimore MD
2-22-68
By using the magic (and relative creepiness) of public information, I managed to locate a relative of the owner and some possible contact information. After a couple flops and a talk with a Hispanic lady, I had reached a man who claimed to be the brother of Mr Klavens. I explained what I had found and what I was trying to learn and he said he would pass my information along.

A couple days passed and then as I was driving to work on the 10th of October, 2018 I received a phone call from a gentlemen who claimed to be the owner of the instrument. He had been going by a new name, that I have since forgotten, but explained to me some of the instrument's story. Our conversation was brief and my notes incomplete but this is what I know.

The Owner

He was born in 1938 as Stuart Klavens and picked up this guitar in the mid 1950s.

As a banjo player, he was accustomed to the layout and tuning of a banjo so he drove a screw into the bass side somewhere between the 6th or 9th frets and strung it with banjo strings.
Image Credit: 1959 article reprinted in The Bluegrass Reader 

He started playing in night clubs in 1962, changed his name to Stuart Clay in 1964, sold the guitar at some point, and changed his name again in 1984. He did play out and did play a plectrum-style banjo cover of "Wildwood Flower" as this 1959 article reprint illustrates.

He no longer plays but seemed thrilled that I had contacted him about his old instrument and mentioned that he was going to go and tell "all of my friends" and that was good enough for me.

The Conclusion

He had played and owned a lot of guitars and this one had gone and lived it's own life and he was curious to see if I was in possession of it. Unfortunately it was bought up before I could purchase and restore it so it is now off somewhere in the US living a new life and hopefully being rebuilt and played again.

The strangest instrument I've come across But built pretty well for being a DIY job. This is a 1920s Bruno & Sons No. 200 ...

The strangest instrument I've come across

But built pretty well for being a DIY job.

This is a 1920s Bruno & Sons No. 200 "Vernon" banjo neck mounted on a 1950s Kay tenor archtop body. The neck is birch with an ebonized maple fretboard that has mother of pearl inlays in it. I reinforced it with carbon fiber to help keep it straight but there is only so much it could do. The body has had a couple impacts and some were repaired with a really strong glue that I could not break with heat. The tailpiece is a tenor tailpiece that has been slotted for accepting banjo string loops. 
Note the pseudo-heel that was made from the neck. It screws to the neck and screws to the neck block.

Black clay inserts are pressed into the ebonized maple fretboard

They disguise screws

Two screws go into the neck block while a makeshift dovetail helps lock it in place.


Pearl fleur-de-lis hidden under the black paint
Original Kay tuners chopped and carved to fit on the neck
For sale here:
https://reverb.com/item/25829831-vintage-kay-archtop-bruno-banjo-conversion

The bridge had already been detached by this point and was just set back onto the guitar for the photo I've have the honor of wor...

The bridge had already been detached by this point and
was just set back onto the guitar for the photo

I've have the honor of working on a very clean late 60's Kay K6150 flat top "super auditorium" acoustic guitar in a "golden cherry" finish. This model was made from 1966 till 1968.

This guitar was a product of a struggling Kay Musical Instruments and the market flood of cheap Japanese built guitars, these were some of the last models built in the US before Kay was bought out. The instrument has some glaring design flaws that I've not seen in earlier Kay models which leads me to believe that quality control was on a downward slope

Previous Repairs

The guitar has had a bolt attached through the heel of the neck and bolted to the neck block from inside the body in an attempt to keep the heel from lifting; it didn't work. Luckily the drilling was done well and neither the dove tail nor the heel block were cracked from the bolt

The bridge was shaved flat in an effort to bring the strings down to a playable level. The saddle slot was cut deeper too and the bridge modification seems fairly professionally done.
Mystery species of Rosewood bridge (7"x1.25")
with stock decorative brass bolts


Issues 

The bridge has been bolted down to the body with 3 bolts, two decorative ones that I know are stock and then a third solid brass flat-head bolt that I cannot determine its originality. The bridge was lifting from the back and cracked between the pin holes which I determined to be caused by the chewed up bridge plate. The bridge was about ready to pop off and I only needed a little heat to encourage some stubborn spots which, as it turns out, the bridge was glued directly onto the lacquer finish. There was no attempt made to scrape the lacquer back or even to score or rough it up; the bridge was glued right onto the finish and bolted down which is why it failed to stay put.

The neck joint's glue failed years ago and after removing the aforementioned bolt I discovered that the neck had an impressive amount of wiggle room. The hole for the bolt made for an easy entry to the dovetail for my steamer and I removed the neck fairly quickly since it was already so loose. I was shocked at how loose the dovetail joint was after I removed the glue. Most guitars I can put the neck on dry and it'll fit pretty snug but this guitar's block barely makes any contact with the dovetail; no amount of glue will help hold that joint together.

I've been asked to fill the neck bolt hole with a strap button which I believe is totally feasible and the strap button is an easier approach to hiding the hole.

Solid spruce top bound with checkerboard binding

Repairs

I am going to carve a new bridge for the guitar out of a block of Indian Rosewood which will match the color and grain of the fretboard a little closer. I'll scrape the lacquer down to the wood underneath the bridge footprint in order to get a very solid wood-to-wood bond which will improve the sound and strength. The bridge plate will get a maple cap that will support the ends of the strings and keep them from putting excessive pressure on the top and bridge that leads to cracking and lifting bridges

The neck joint will be shimmed with maple until the guitar can be strung up without any glue and then I'll check the angle and glue the neck onto the guitar. That will improve the tone and the stability of the neck joint for years to come

The strap button hole will be filled with a dowel and a button will be attached


60s Kay Headstock - Image Credit -  Reverb - Chris Robinson's Gear Galore Info from the US Patent and Trademark Office Introd...


60s Kay Headstock - Image Credit - Reverb - Chris Robinson's Gear Galore
Info from the US Patent and Trademark Office

Introduction

Custom Kraft instruments were produced by a variety of manufacturers and distributed through the St Louis Music Supply company. The logo for the brand was a heraldic lion with two tails and wearing a crown. According to the US Patent and Trademark Office, the Custom Kraft logo was first used commercially on September 1st, 1938 [2].

Guitars during this era were built primarily by the Harmony Company from Chicago and assigned numbers; this page attempts to catalog all of the known models and their corresponding Harmony guitar.

Update: March 2019
I obtained access to a 1939 St Louis Music Catalog through the St Louis Public Library and took photographs, I cited their website below as [3].

Update: October 2020
I now own a 1935-36 St Louis Music Catalog thanks to the amazing Tony Hendrix and can confirm that the Custom Kraft line of instruments was not explicitly listed in this catalog. They used the "Century" and "Artist" brand names. However, there is an illustration of a guitar where "Custom Kraft" can be seen on the headstock so the name must've been in the works 

Update: December 2020
Custom Kraft "bass viols" built by Kay were apparently distributed by Hershman Musical Instrument Co in New York in the late 40s. Identical logo too. Bizarre

Contact me if you are interested in selling your Custom Kraft

Model 12

Image Credit - AcousticGuitarForum - Slyfox00
Similar to a Harmony h-974
Seen on a 1935 National Music Catalog pg.4 (Paywall)

14 fret to the body archtop acoustic guitar. Stenciled fretboard markers using a common Harmony design. 3 on a plate tuners (very common for the era) with black knobs. Segmented F-holes. Stamped tailpiece.


Model 18


Image Credit - Mine
Likely a Harmony Marquise H1390 as seen on the DeMont Harmony Database

Has 3x3 single tuners. Steel frets on a Brazilian Rosewood fretboard with the alternating 1-2 fret dot pattern. This guitar has an intricate marquetry binding. Solid maple top and solid back and sides which I assume to also be maple. The guitar has a black painted center-line dividing the burst on the back which might indicate that the back is two pieces but it is in fact one piece.

Deluxe 22


Image credit: mine
Like a Harmony Monterey H1327 as seen on the DeMont Harmony Database

This specific example has a mangled headstock but just barely readable underneath the black paint are the words "-stom Kraft" and "Deluxe 22". I could not find a date stamp within this guitar but the design heavily suggests late 30s and early 40s.

Model 23


Image Credit - Heritage Auctions
[3]

Like a Harmony Monterey H1327 as seen on the DeMont Harmony Database

Same headstock design as the Model 18 with tuners that have the same plate style. Herringbone style binding. Treble clef design inlaid into the pickguard. Pearloid headstock veneer.

I did locate a Youtube video of someone playing a 1935 Custom Kraft Model 23

Model 1134

Archtop seen in 1939 St Louis Music Catalog.

[3]


Tortoloid-bound mahogany back and sides, spruce top bound with black and white blocks. Steel reinforced mahogany neck [3].

Model 1136

[3]





"Extra Auditorium size", solid mahogany all around with a "dark wine red shade", patent tuning machines, pickguard has a female archer with a bow and arrow engraved on it [3].

Model 2248

Southern Illinoisan - December 1972


Model 3314


Image Credit - Ebay - Elrey James
14 frets to the body flat top acoustic guitar. The treble clef design returns again on the pickguard of this guitar. The movable bridge suggests that this was a cheaper model. 314 is also the area code for St Louis which may or may not be intentional. 

Seller claimed it was built in Kalamazoo by Gibson though there was no evidence to back up the claim. My initial thought is that because it does not look like a Kay or a Harmony that it might be a Regal constructed instrument.

Model 3317

1937
Image Credit: Mark S
Appears to be a Harmony H-950 "Monterey Leader" with a pearloid headplate and a black pickguard with an engraved treble clef.

Model 3320

Image Credit: Instagram @wesleygarrard


Model 4413

Archtop seen in 1939 St Louis Music Catalog.

[3]


Slotted headstock, single fret markers on 5, 7, 9, and 12, tortoloid pickguard inlaid with rhinestones, white binding on the top [3].

Model 4420

[5]
Mentioned in a St Louis Post Dispatch classifieds section from 1946

Model 6615

Archtop seen on ReRanch.com (and then promptly refinished by an ill-advised owner)

[6]

Model 6616

Flattop seen in the 1939 St Louis Music Catalog.

[3]
[4]
Aftermarket bridge and tailpiece [4]
Flat-top headstock with emblem in center, single fret markers on 5, 7, 9 and 12, pyramid rosewood bridge, mahogany back and sides, spruce top, two screw pickguard with four notes on it [3].

Model 6617

Archtop seen in the on Jake Wildwood's blog.

"While the "binding" is painted on, this guitar has nice solid mahogany back and sides, a maple neck, ebony fretboard, and spruce top."

Image Credit: Jake Wildwood

Citations

[1] https://www.guitar-list.com/brands/custom-kraft