Pickup Guru Jason Lollar to Re-release Pickup Book on CD

Jason Lollar Announces The Re-release Of His Famous Guitar Pickup Winding Book On CD!

Legendary pickup maker Jason Lollar single handedly launched an entire generation of boutique pickup makers with his book. “For the Guitar Enthusiast, Basic Pickup Winding & Complete Guide to Making Your Own Pickup Winder”. The book was only in print for a few years and has subsequently become the Holy Grail to those looking to break into the pickup making world. Since then old copies of the book have gone way up in value. However, Jason has recently noticed a rash of folks selling bogus copies of the book on line for hundreds of dollars. “I am sick of chasing down people selling bogus copies of my book,” says Jason Lollar who has worked hard to combat the rip-off artists. “ So I am going to re-release it on CD in the next couple months…” Jason asks that those who are interested in the book-turned-CD not contact him about it. Instead you can keep an eye on his website where the new CD version of the book will be announced. In the meantime DO NOT pay big bucks for the old book as it might not be real and you will be kicking your self in a few months.

The story of two 1930's Kay Kraft Guitars (Part 6...)

So…. Now I have two of these. The one on the right is the one I have had for 20 years and now I'm thinking I might finally start collecting info on what it needs to be playable again. The one on the left is the “New” one. I adjusted the neck (which is adjustable!), lowered the bridge, and removed the shim someone had installed under the nut. It’s actually in very good shape for a nearly 80 year old guitar. The "new" guitar is 100% original accept for a re-fret it got sometime in the 50’s or 60’s judging by the tiny fret wire used and the fact that they are warn down too. It's missing about 2" of binding on the body and the whole treble side binding from the fret board is gone. I'll track down a new one.

These guitars are officially called the Kay Kraft Venetian - Style B. They were made by Stromberg-Voisinet for the Kay Musical Instrument Company in Chicago. They were built from 1930 to 1935 and were absolutely revolutionary for the time. Actually, some of the features are revolutionary even today. I guess I'm not exactly objective here but I don't think there has been a more beautiful guitar ever made. The Neck joint is unlike anything I am aware of any where else in the industry. But using a radiused neck block and a bolt and wing nut one of the most tricky and expensive

repairs in luthiery, a neck reset, is now as simple as loosen the string, loosen a wing nut, adjust neck joint, tighten... Brilliant!

The arched back is not braced at all and after nearly 80 years neither guitar shows any damage of distortion of the back. The top has a kind of hybrid X bracing system not unlike those on Martin guitars.

LittleBrotherBlues.Com has some great pictures of how the bracing in these great guitars work along with a few other Kay models that were based on these ideas. You should check them out.

Although the two guitars have different bridges they are both original as this guitar was offered with both types over the 5 years they were made. The bridge on guitar #2 has a very fancy bridge made of Bakelite and is reversible. It is straight on one side and compensated on the other for better intonation. There is also some small difference in the pick guards and clearly the left guitar is much darker in color than the right guitar. The #1 guitar on the right has replacement tuners from the 60's I think. It still has the original bar frets. The tails are slightly different as well but again they are both original as there are no additional holes inducting one of them may be a replacement. The tuners on the #2 guitar are original and come from the Guitar Prod. Co. in Cleavland Ohio.

My plan is to restore one back to original and make the other more of a player.I may use the binding from the trashed fretboard of the #1 guitar to fix up #2 and then just make a new fret board for #1. Well see what the next 20 years bring...


If you would like to hear this guitar just click on this picture below.

1930's KayKraft Guitar (Part 5 of the Kay Guitar Story)

The next day was Friday. It was a crazy day that had Alicia and I running errands all over town. We finally stopped to eat lunch. While enjoying my hamburger I started thinking about the Kay again. If Barry was selling his privet collection he might be in real trouble. I hatched an evil plot and ran it by Alicia. I would offer him a stupid low-ball price and see if they would take it. We were only a few blocks away at this point. Then I would be able to sleep soundly knowing I had offered them a good price and they were simply too foolish to see. I walked in and headed straight to the old guitar. I snatched it up and plunked around on the high action a little bit making sure the half-fretted notes and out of tune strings spoke clearly about what a junk heap this guitar was to anyone within earshot. Then I looked at the guy behind the counter and said “Hey… take $300 for this old thing?” “He looked back and said…. “Well…. If you pay taxes on it. $330 and you're out the door.”

Damn…. He called my bluff!

Stromberg-Voisinet Kay Kraft Venetian - Style B (Part 4 of the Kay Story)

I was near Barry’s on other business and thought I would just drop in. I didn’t even notice at first that the old privet collection of guitars was not up on the wall any more. My eye made it’s way down the line of “for sale” guitars. There was a nice Alverez, an Epiphone an Ovation and a pair of old Yamahas 12 strings, some banjos, lot's of junk electrics, a new Fender Tele, cool stuff … but nothing I had to have… until I saw the old KayKraft hanging with all the other “for Sale” guitars. It even had a price tag on it. I took a peek… $500.00 “wow…” I though, “Barry is selling his privet stuff… times must be hard. But this old Kay can’t be worth that much.” I picked it up and played it a little. The action was way too high, as if someone had been playing slide with it but I knew it could be adjusted. The intonation was off a little but that could be fixed too. Then there was the sound. It sounded like a thousand old blues records I’ve heard over the years. It sounded like the opening run to “Black Queen” from Stills first solo record. Not as much bottom end as Steven's Martin but tight lead run tone.

I wanted it… But $500 was a little too high and I had never had any luck haggling at Barry's so I hung the guitar back on the rack and walked out telling myself that the guitar was too old and too beat up for that much money.

I got back in the car and told my wife Alicia about it. “Is it playable?” she asked. "Yes…well, it could be. ” I said “You should go get it. You have the money. I love that guitar!” We talked about the old Kay Kraft we had at home. We talked about doing to Ed's with it all those years ago. ABout the plans that I had that never seemed to come to pass. We have been working on some music together that could use some acustic guitar. She was right, I did have the money but I couldn’t pay that much for the guitar so we just drove home and I tried to forget it. But I found myself looking up at the wall. At my old pawnshop find from 20 years ago. She was still pretty but she been silent for over 10 years. I had forgotten what she sounded like until this afternoon. But $500... that was just too much money.

1930s Kay Kraft, Recording King, Deluxe (Part 3 of the Kay Story)

In 1993 Alicia and I moved to Nashville and old habits followed us. It could be hard to find a good guitar deal in a guitar store in Nashville before Ebay came along. So I would check pawnshops and thrift stores for deals. One day in 1995 I walked into Barry’s Pawn and I couldn’t believe my eyes. There on the wall hung the exact same 1930’s KayKraft guitar that I had at home. It was hanging high up on the wall with about 7 other old guitars. I couldn’t see it well but it seemed to be in good shape. I asked the guy at the counter, “Hey… How much for the old Kay?” He didn’t even look up from his paper, “Sorry man… Those aren’t for sale. They are part of Barry’s privet collection.” Oh well. I figured if I pushed too much he would want way too much for it so I just let it go. It probably wasn't any good anyway.

Over the past 20 years I have only seen two more of these guitars person. One in a high-end vintage guitar shop on Ft. Laud beach and the other at a Nashville guitar show. Both were way out of my price range for a nostalgia trip. As time went on I forgot about playing the KayKraft, it just became a thing on a wall to me like so many other little knick-knacks that sit around a house. They just sort of fade into the background with time. When I ran into Barry’s on my regular bargain hunts I didn’t even look up on the wall at the old guitars any more. Just stroll in, look at the amps and the stomp boxes. Maybe see if they have a fretless bass this month. Then on to the next shop.

Until this month...

1930's KayKraft (Part 2 of the Kay Story)

The guitar sat in a box for a week or two while I talked about all the crazy things I could do with it. Finally Alicia said "You should let Ed have a look at it. He might know more about it." So we decided to take a trip down to see our friend Ed Oleck, owner of Ed’s Guitars in Miami. I had bought and sold a lot of gear with Ed over the years and always valued his opinion where instruments were concerned. Ed told me I really had a neat guitar there and I shouldn’t mess it up by painting it. “In fact, check this out… “ Ed wet a little bit of cloth and rubbed on the top a bit. Under the caked on dust and attic crud there was a fantastic sunburst with a gold guild work. “…See? Just clean the guitar up and put it back together. Then if you don’t like it I’ll trade you something for it.”

Thus began my first trip into restoration and vintage guitars. I polished all the crap off the guitar with some Meguiar's classic car polish. I put all the parts back together and played it for a few years. She was a good guitar. She had a small crack along the bass side of the body and at some point someone had carved the initials J.M. in to her finish. But even so she sounded good and loud. Alicia taught me chords with it and it got dragged all over Florida. Eventually we moved to Nashville and the old Kay went too. But my early amateur attempt at a restoration was far from perfect. Over time the old, original bar frets wore down, the fret board warped and the arch top started to slightly sink in. I started to worry that the top would crack some more so I loosened the strings and retired the guitar to wall hanger status. I told myself I would rebuild it someday when I had more knowledge of what to do about that top. But the years ticked by and I never did rebuild it.

to be continued...

20 Years with the same guitar (Part 1 of the Kay story)

This may be hard to believe but not everything around Searcy String Works is about guitar and bass pickups. Once in a while I actually sit down and record music. Sometimes is just for fun. Sometimes it's for a project like the Six String Bliss records. Once in a while it's just because I like to do fun things with my wife Alicia who I have been with for 20 years. She and I have been through a lot. Take this old guitar for example.
It all started in a pawnshop in 1989. Alicia and I weren't married back then. We were broke as broke can be. That's what started our habit of looking in thrift stores and pawn shops for deals on the things we needed. That’s why , when I neded a drill one day we headed to the local Ft. Laud pawn shops to find a deal. I managed to find an old one at a decent price but I also found a 1930's Kay Kraft guitar that was totally disassembled in bits in a box. Now, I didn't know it was a 1930's KayKraft guitar. The guitar had so much dust on it you couldn't even tell what color it was. The fret board was off the neck. The neck was off the body. The binding was off the body. The pick guard and bridge were off the body. It was a mess but Alicia loved the lines of the thing and I didn't have an acoustic at the time and thought maybe I could paint this pile of junk and make it playable. I asked the guy what he would take for it and he said, “If you buy that drill I’ll give you that box of guitar parts. It came out of some old ladies attic.“ and that’s how this bass player came to own his first old guitar.

To be continued...