Strat string height

I played some a few months back at a store that was having a sale on them.
I played four or five of them. None of them had the issues that you describe, but it is entirely possible that those ones had been sitting in the store for a year or two. I fully expected these guitars to suck, but I was pleasantly surprised by them.

Just to further qualify- I wouldn't buy one of these guitars sight unseen after what Jim said. You can get very nice playable guitars without the issues that Jim described- Yamaha do make some fine instruments that won't cost you a fortune. Samick are also putting out some fine guitars with their name affixed to them that won't set you back an arm and a leg.

IMHO, the Special IIs are not too bad at all for the price you pay. Bolt on neck, which somewhat accounts for the difference in price. AFAIK, Epi LP
Standards are set neck construction.

I have recently inherited a very old Kay double pickup archtop. It looks ancient...probably atleast from the fifties.

Does anybody know a source I could use to date this beast? It's awfully cool...makes me feel like Charlie Christian except for the picking.

You could check with Subway Guitars in Berkley, CA. Check them out at www.fatdawg.com.

Well, no, that's not exactly the case. Kay was originally the Groehsl
Company which was founded in 1890. The Kay brand was introduced in late
1936 or 1937 according to the 2003 Vintage Guitar Guide. The prices range in the guide from $100 to $2000 for the 1958 Barney Kessel Pro in excellent condition.

The Kay's get a bad rap for being junk guitars, but I happen to really like my old 573. As far as it being vintage, yes I would say it is. There seems to be 2 schools of thought on the subject but I'm of the opinion that it's the age of the instrument not whether someone deems it "good enough" to be called vintage. Either way, VG seems to think it is, they included 25 different models in the 2003 guide.

I was thinking more about the sixties cheap Kay's witch I was use to seeing and playing in High school. From reading post it obvious that there are some worth $$$ so I hope I did not offend anyone. I do have an old KAPA COBRA
1963 it was the cheapest one they made $119 new but that's all my parents could afford. I just did a complete restoration on it last year. I would be lucky to get $100 on e-bay but to me it's priceless

Do a google search...there's a couple of sites out there that have a bunch of info on Kays and Harmonies.

I recently replaced the body binding on a single cutaway archtop Kay from the '50s. A dealer in vintage instruments told me it was worth about $3000.

All the best