don rooke plays the 1939 kay violin archtop guitar

ebb · Post by **ebb** » 17 Jun 2011 5:31 pm

i gave don a heads up on this listing a while back
http://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtopi ... hlight=kay

glad he got it
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I3bgeOh5mV0

Russ Tkac · Post by **Russ Tkac** » 17 Jun 2011 7:37 pm

Great stuff Ed!

Thanks,
Russ

Russ Tkac · Post by **Russ Tkac** » 17 Jun 2011 7:38 pm

Russ Tkac · Post by **Russ Tkac** » 17 Jun 2011 7:39 pm

Jim Cohen · Post by **Jim Cohen** » 17 Jun 2011 8:23 pm

Niiice!

Jeff Spencer · Post by **Jeff Spencer** » 18 Jun 2011 3:08 am

very very niice!!

Andy Volk · Post by **Andy Volk** » 18 Jun 2011 8:48 am

loved that clip! Thanks. Rooke is such a unique and interesting player.

David Eastwood · Post by **David Eastwood** » 18 Jun 2011 3:28 pm

That is just a beautiful piece of music, beautifully played. Thanks for posting it!

Rob Anderlik · Post by **Rob Anderlik** » 18 Jun 2011 3:48 pm

I agree! What a great tune! Very creative arrangement and use of layering to great effect.

Geoff Cline · Post by **Geoff Cline** » 19 Jun 2011 12:45 pm

DANG!! I LOVE seeing my old guitar used in such a wonderful way. How cool. Thanks for the post. Talk about up-cycling!!

Fred Kinbom · Post by **Fred Kinbom** » 19 Jun 2011 11:01 pm

Beautiful!

Andrea Tazzini · Post by **Andrea Tazzini** » 21 Jun 2011 3:01 am

Great band!

Steve Cunningham · Post by **Steve Cunningham** » 21 Jun 2011 9:34 pm

Great tune and beautiful playing...what more could you ask for?

Mike Neer · Post by **Mike Neer** » 22 Jun 2011 3:28 am

Don is one of the best. And he's a great player and composer, too.

Steven Cummings · Post by **Steven Cummings** » 24 Jun 2011 5:06 am

Wow! Anyone know how he did the electronics on this guitar? Also if anyone knows where to find one of the bakelite bridges please let shoot me a message would ya? I've got one of these old Kays that I need to get put together (especially now that I've heard what Don did with his). Just need a nut and bridge

Great video!!!

Donald Rooke · Post by **Donald Rooke** » 24 Jun 2011 6:35 pm

Hi guys,

Thanks for all your kind words about that video. We taped 6 or 7 songs that afternoon, and are posting them, it seems, relentlessly.

To answer Steven's tech question (with maybe too much detail), I put two pickups on that guitar. First i bought a "Kent Armstrong NECK MOUNT JAZZ PICKUP W/ADJUSTABLE POLES BLACKHJGN6-BK" and put it by the end of the fingerboard. (And put some electrical tape over the pole pieces, because the amplified sound of string-on-pole-piece, which happened a few times when I pressed too hard on a string, was brutal.) But with the pickup so far away from the bridge, the tone was dark, and I was using EQ to boost the treble, and I didn't really want to do that. So I had a spare Teisco, and put it near the bridge, and had them wired with a pan pot. Now I can pan for, effectively, more or less treble.

But the video is a bit misleading, because it's more than just the amp sound. I have a mic on the guitar as well as the amp, which I wouldn't do live, but in the studio it gives things more of an acoustic flavour than I get out of just the amp.

As for where to get a bakelite bridge? I haven't a clue. Maybe Geoff Cline (who I bought the guitar from) would have an idea, from down there on the banks of the Pedernales?

Again, thanks.
Don

James Williamson · Post by **James Williamson** » 25 Jun 2011 1:27 pm

@Steve,

According to this they were sold as an accessory to distributors up until 1938, so these bridges might turn up on ebay or gbase or similar if you're patient.

Link to Google Books.

Geoff Cline · Post by **Geoff Cline** » 26 Jun 2011 1:08 pm

There are folks who collect old Kays and one of them might be the best "source". The bridge is "reversible"--compensated on one side (for regular playing) and straight on the other for steel.

That said, if you just wanted to make it playable as a lap guitar, find a Nick Manoloff nut raiser (while vintage they are pretty easy to find...I may even have an extra one around here somewhere) and any adjustable archtop bridge and make a straight across bridge/saddle using fret wire or bone or material you can get from Stew-Mac.

Good luck. Those guitars DO sound great...of course having a player like Don doing the picking is a definite advantage.

Dean Parks · Post by **Dean Parks** » 26 Jun 2011 3:40 pm

Great music, thanks for that! And beautiful musicianship from all.

Don, off topic... The keyboard was what? Synth, or acoustic harmonium?

David Eastwood · Post by **David Eastwood** » 26 Jun 2011 4:18 pm

Dean Parks wrote: Don, off topic... The keyboard was what? Synth, or acoustic harmonium?

I'm not Don... but according to the blurb on YouTube, it's a pump organ...

Earnest Bovine · Post by **Earnest Bovine** » 26 Jun 2011 4:22 pm

Dean Parks wrote: Don, off topic... The keyboard was what? Synth, or acoustic harmonium?

The text says Michelle Willis (pump organ, vocals) and she is there in the dark. So in theory this music could be played without using electricity.

The Steel Guitar Forum

don rooke plays the 1939 kay violin archtop guitar

don rooke plays the 1939 kay violin archtop guitar

electronics

Bakelite Bridge

Re: Finding a bridge