The bass is a recreation of the ones issued in
the ‘50s, but with new production also come
new, modern upgrades. The new features
being introduced are a culmination of 50-plus
years of R&D. The bass is a single-cutaway
semi-hollowbody with a solid maple top, and
with feedback-resisting sound blocks running
the length of the body. The biggest upgrade
is the addition of a truss rod and an adjustable
bridge, which were absent on the original.
This allowed Kay to slim the neck to a more
streamlined, modern design. (No more 2x4
necks!) The floating tailpiece is as retro-hip as
you remember, too. And if you’re looking for
the funkiest in throwback features, don’t forget
the original Kay “Kelvinator” headstock logo.
The bass found itself in my hands for a
couple of hours—without plugging in. I really
enjoyed the balance and feel of the bass,
and letting the stock flatwound strings talk
to me as an “acoustic” bass was refreshing.
The tone was even and the resonant hollow body brought back sounds and licks of
another time, but without the smell of 3000
smoky gigs burned into the wood. The resonant tone-chambered body makes for a great
unplugged practice instrument as well, and
its medium scale (31-1/16") neck felt comfortable and unrestraining. One design feature I
really like was one it didn’t have: a thumbrest.
Usually, I prefer one on a bass where I don’t
have a meaty pickup to rest my thumb, but
on this bass, I didn’t miss it. My hand was
completely relaxed and comfortable without
one. It was a very nice change for me.
Plugging In
When it was time to get electric, I plugged
the bass into my trusty Ampeg B- 18. I figured classic should meet classic. Dialing
up a nice tone was not too tough—the
Ampeg is pretty much set flat, except for
the bass control, which is boosted a little,
and the Kay bass controls are very simple:
one Volume knob, one Tone knob, and one
toggle switch that acts as a high-end cut
switch, bypassing the potentiometer (The
original Kay designers of the ‘50s did this so
players could have a preset for the upright
bass sound). At first I had the toggle set to
bypass the tone control pot, which gave me
a deep, thumping tone. Kay likes to advertise that the bass has upright-like qualities
on this setting, and they are right. I had a
blast on this setting, with palm muting being
my technique of choice. Playing with the
thumb is especially effective with this bass,
allowing you to lay a thick, solid foundation
in your blues, R&B or jazz gig. When switching the toggle back, the bass was a little
noisy through the amp, but with a little tone
roll-off, it settled in nicely. Using a pick on
this setting, the bass took on a whole new
tonal color—bright and lively—that told me
it would make a great addition to anyone’s
studio as well. I ran the bass through my
recording rig, and it sounded big and meaty
running direct. I would love to use this on
my next project!
I didn’t play this bass live, but I did play it
really loud through my Eden rig as well—does
that count? What I found was a soild, true
sound that was what a guitar should be: an
extension of your fingers. The bass is addictive, which is a fine attribute for any instrument. As my fingerstyle playing got harder
and I really dug in, the G-string popped out
of its saddle, which I wasn’t expecting, but
also showed the limitations of the bass. You
wouldn’t play this guitar with Ozzy, but it
would be at home in a surf-punk band. Again,
this isn’t a primary bass in an arsenal, but
rather a more specialized instrument.
The Final Mojo
The K162V is a great bass. If your fingers are
used to playing a more modern bass, it may
take some getting used to, but once you do
get used to it, you’ll realize the value of an
instrument like this. There is a reason the bass
has a following, and a reason that Kay brought
it back. With its combination of ultra-hip design
and unmistakable tone, the K162V would be at
great weapon to add to your collection.
you need that old-school sound with
new-school reliability.
Buy If...
Skip If...
your tone taste is more modern.
Rating...
4.0
ONTHEWeb
Click here to hear sound
clips of the bass in action at
premierguitar.com
kay vintage Reissue
Street $799
kayvintagereissue.com
