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, the Kuhrmeyer-owned Stromberg-Voisinet brand 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 Japanese import guitars. In 1969, rights to name "Kay" was acquired by Weiss Musical Instruments (WMI).
The company produced instruments in its plant until 1968, when it ceased operations after a brief merging with Valco. Kay was established in 1931 in Chicago, Illinois, by Henry "Kay" Kuhrmeyer, from the assets of the former Stromberg-Voisinet (founded by Henry "Kay" Kuhrmeyer, Frank C. Kay Musical Instrument Company was a US musical instrument manufacturer of the United States, in operation from 1890.