1952 Kay Silvertone Aristocrat Cherryburst, Excellent, Hard, $775.00

Silvertone Aristocrat Model 57G-674 made by Kay circa 1952 in Chicago. Attractive red sunburst lacquer finish, spruce top, maple back and sides, laminated neck, rosewood fingerboard with pearl inlay, fancy adjustable bridge. Original Kluson tuners. The tuner buttons are shrinking a bit, but function well.

This flashy cutaway archtop was one of Sears' higher-end acoustic offerings, built for them by Kay. With color-coordinated engraved and painted celluloid pickguard and headpiece, top, back, and side binding, and shaped abalone and plastic fingerboard inlay, this is a quite flashy guitar, especially for the original $59.95 list price. It's also one of the better Kay instruments of the period, better-sounding compared to many of the Silvertone offerings.

Overall length is 42", 17" wide at lower bout, and 3 1/2" in depth, measured at side of rim. Scale length is 25 3/4".

This guitar is very clean overall, with very little wear -- just some finish scrapes and chips, and some loss on the back of the head stock (see photo). A very good player with a good neckset and a better sound than one would expect. Includes a modern hard case.