In 1967, Kay was resold and merged with Valco, but dissolved in 1968 due to financial problems. In 1965 Katz sold Kay to Seeburg Corporation, and he became the head of Seeburg's musical instrument division. The product line of Kay was shifted toward electric musical instruments on demands, and in 1964, the company moved to a new factory in Elk Grove Village, Illinois. Kay eventually subcontracted its amplifier production to Chicago music industry rival Valco in the 1950s.Īfter the retirement of Kuhrmeyer in 1955, the company was taken over by Sidney M.
Kay also made guitar amplifiers, beginning with designs carried over from the old Stromberg company. In addition to manufacturing instruments for sale under its own brands (like Kay Kraft and Kamico), Kay was also a prolific manufacturer of guitars for retailers across the nation who would order instruments with custom branding to be resold as "house brand" instruments. The company initially manufactured only traditional folk instruments such as mandolins, tenor guitars and banjos, but eventually grew to make a wide variety of stringed instruments, including violins, cellos, double basses and a variety of different types of guitars, including electric, classical, lap steel and semi-acoustic models. As its predecessor had primarily commercialized its products under its own brand as well as a large number of other brands, Kay Musical Instruments would continue that practice. The new company, "Kay Musical Instruments" was formally established in 1931. In 1928, with the help of an investor, Kuhrmeyer bought out his partners, renamed the company, and started producing electric guitars and amplifiers. In 1921, Groehsl's company was purchased by Henry "Kay" Kuhrmeyer, Frank Voisinet, and Charles Stromberg and renamed to Stromberg-Voisinet. The Kay Musical Instrument Company grew from the Andrew Groehsl Company (or Groehsl Mandolin Company ) in Chicago, established in 1890. Kay's archtop electric guitars in 1961: (L to R) Swing Master K673, K672, Truetone Jazz King However, Kuhrmeyer with Stromberg-Voisinet had produced the "Stromberg Electro" even earlier, in 1928, making the short-lived model arguably the first commercial electric guitar. Kay offered their first electric guitar in 1936 - five years after the Rickenbacker Frying pan, and the same year as the Gibson ES-150. The brand has been used by several manufacturers since then, mainly attached to Asian import guitars. In 1969, rights to name "Kay" was acquired by Weiss Musical Instruments (WMI). In 1967, the company was sold to Valco citing decreasing profits due to imported Japanese instruments.
The company operated independently until 1965 when they were purchased by the Seeburg Corporation, a jukebox manufacturer. They produced guitars, mandolins, banjos, ukuleles and were known for their use of lamination in the construction of arched top instruments. It was formed when Kuhrmeyer bought out his financial backers in the instrument manufacturer Stromberg-Voisinet. Kay Musical Instrument Company (often referred to simply as Kay) was an American musical instrument manufacturer established in 1931 by namesake Henry "Kay" Kuhrmeyer and based in Chicago, Illinois.