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Banjo

Kay Open Back Banjo

Name: Kay Open Back Banjo
Brand: Kay

Kay · Open Back Banjo

Price: 159 EUR – 159 EUR

Price history

Cheapest seen Most expensive seen

Availability: 0/10 (Very rare)

A no-frills, mass-produced Chicago banjo built without a resonator for a woody, old-time tone, sold in large numbers through the 1940s-60s before Kay closed in 1968.

Where available? Go to the best price – 163 EUR About this instrument

About the Kay Open Back Banjo

Kay's open-back banjos followed a consistent, simplified formula across decades of production: an 11-inch, multi-ply maple pot (rim) with a simple hoop tone ring rather than the more elaborate cast tone rings found on higher-end banjos, a poplar neck with an unspecified hardwood fingerboard, and geared tuners. Without a resonator behind the head, the sound projects backward as much as forward, producing the woody, warm, sustained tone old-time and clawhammer players favor over the louder, more directional bluegrass resonator sound.

A single coordinator rod (rather than the dual rods on step-up instruments) joins neck to rim, and the long scale length - typically 27 inches or more - combined with narrow string spacing reflects Kay's cost-driven, mass-production approach rather than player-ergonomic design choices found on purpose-built old-time instruments.

Where to buy

Reverb 163 EUR Best price View details

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Source: https://reverb.com/item/100783666-kay-open-back-banjo-1950s-natural

Sound character of the Kay Open Back Banjo

This Kay uses a simple hoop tone ring rather than a metal Mastertone-style ring, and has no resonator, so the head vibrates with little metallic reinforcement and the back stays open. The result is a soft, dry, plunky tone with fast decay - typical of budget-era open-back banjos built for old-time clawhammer playing rather than cutting through a bluegrass band.

Mellow Woody Percussive

Technical data for the Kay Open Back Banjo

Rim	11", multi-ply maple
Tone ring	Simple hoop
Neck	Poplar
Coordinator rod	Single
Scale length	~27"+
Type	Open-back (no resonator)

Price history for the Kay Open Back Banjo

Cheapest seen: 159 EUR · Most expensive seen: 159 EUR

Cheapest seen Most expensive seen

The history of the Kay Open Back Banjo

Kay Musical Instrument Company, based in Chicago, was one of America's largest mass-market instrument manufacturers through the mid-20th century until closing in 1968; its open-back banjos were affordable enough to introduce large numbers of players to old-time and folk banjo during the 1950s-60s folk revival.