A GUITAR REPAIRMAN'S APRIL FOOL GAG.

A few years ago, I was given an old Kay guitar to repair. It was one of those little bolt-neck jobs from the mid-1960's, a model K-1160 with the painted-on art deco musical note design and a neat engraved chrome tailpiece. I always thought these were kind of cute. Not much of a serious instrument, but surprisingly playable for a little beginner toy that it is, the K-1160 has long since become a cheeseball classic.

The little Kay was unbelievably filthy. The kid who brought it in found it in some basement, where it must have been stored for thirty years. The dirt on top of the guitar was darker and thicker than the black finish underneath. No problem, I had it all cleaned up, overhauled and set up within a couple of days, and waited for the owner to pick it up.

The kid showed up on April First and was amazed to see how well the little guitar cleaned up. So well, in fact, that there was now a clean sunburst top visible where before the guitar was completely black with dirt. "See how nicely I polished it?" - I asked him - "look at that nice woodgrain. You didn't even know your guitar was sunburst under all that dirt, did you?". The kid was speechless for a minute, turning the guitar over in his hands, his eyes open wide...

...until I laughed, pulled out his black guitar, and took back my own sunburst one. Here they both are, the twins. April Fool!


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