There is a Manhattan label that lives nearby Asheville. If it was going to the Selmer Museum, that label might make a difference; to anyone else, it is just another factory Kay. There were no specific modifications to the regular factory builds, just a different label. I'd wager that if you removed that label, underneath you would find the regular production serial number underneath. I do feel that old label would make for a cool t shirt! The engraving on the Kluson tuning machines is also not uncommon.
Ask ten Kay nerds and you'll get ten different responses, but... I disagree on the pre war models being better. My perspective is that the postwar 1945-1949 were the best sounding and best constructed of the Kay years, and for whatever reason, the necks seem to break much less often. The early models were a bit lighter that work well for some, but not everyone. By about 1951 they started using poplar for the inside layer of ply and those tend to fall apart due to glue adhesion issues with the poplar, hence all of the loose plys, seams, and bassbars, especially in the 1950s models. The postwar years used maple for the inside plys. That gives them a little more punch and focus and from a repair standpoint, you rarely see the glue adhesion issues to the extent that the others have them, especially the bassbar unzipping issues from the poplar where the bassbar and the outside ply layer are ripped apart from the top as a unit. I hate having to remove the top on a '50s model with the poplar plys. On a maple model, you might get a few small pieces of laminate that will come off, but on a poplar one, you wind up with a shoebox full of puzzle parts.
'Gotta agree with Kungfu- replace that rigid tailwire or start wearing a facemask for the day when- not if- it has a sudden catastrophic failure and flies up in your face; best $15 you'll ever spend.
Regardless, enjoy that bass. Play it every day like it is your last one on the planet and focus on the music remembering that almost every one of our bass heroes has owned and gigged with an old Kay at some point in their career- the gateway bass....
j.
www.kaybassrepair.com
