These new archtop guitars are modernized recreations of the ornate artist models Kay created for jazz great Barney Kessel between 1957 and 1959. The guitars on review here are similar in construction, hardware and appointments, and differ primarily in body size. All were tested through a reissue Fender Deluxe Reverb with Alessandro hand-wired circuitry, and a Vox Mini Superbeetle head and 1x10 cabinet.
K1700V PRO
The smallest of the three guitars at 13 inches wide, the K1700V Pro is a real eye-catcher with its flashy Kelvonator gold-dot luncheonette headstock overlay, Kleenex-box pickup covers, clear reflector knobs, crosshair tailpiece and silver-backed pickguard with a Barney Kessel inscription. Our review guitar wore a flawless black gloss finish (the other colors are Natural Blonde and Tobacco Sunburst). Accenting it all is cream binding on the body, neck and headstock, and an ivoroid cap on the heel. Together, it adds up to an appealing guitar, and one that plays well, courtesy of a moderately thick, C-shaped neck, nicely finished frets and a good factory setup. The nut corners could have been a little smoother on our review sample, but everything else felt fine on this guitar.
The Kay Custom Ceramic single-coil pickups sound good and have no problem churning out the grind when played through higher gain amps and pedals. Their output was less than that of the stock Gibson P-90 in a ’63 Les Paul Junior I used for comparison, but the K1700V’s neck pickup covered the bases for everything from round jazz tones to aggressive blues and rock.
I had several opportunities to play the K1700V Pro with an instrumental group doing a mix of jazz and world music, and it