Yesterday morning, a hunt in the attic/loft was needed. I was listening to a few early David Bowie songs where he was playing, often, on a 12 string acoustic. Distinctly, the lovely blue one he was playing on Starman on Top of the Pops, brought back memories of a sound that was transforming my musical expectations. It was what led me into listening back to the early Bowie vinyl albums yesterday. Relaxed and enjoying ‘back when’….a lightbulb moment occurred. I remembered that Angie (my wife) bought me a secondhand 12 string Kay dreadnought acoustic guitar back in the very early days when we first met.
VIDEO OF GUITAR SOUND AT BOTTOM OF THIS BLOG.
It was a very nice, now vintage, Kay 12 String KDG812 Acoustic Dreadnought Guitar. These were made in Japan back in approximately 1970 to 1974. The fretboard shows slight string pressure indentation through frequent use. So was loved and played by its original owner. I certainly never used it so much to cause this, so it was therefore probably made around the 1970 to 72-ish date. Angie bought it in 1974 secondhand. Internet research suggests it was probably made in the Terada factory in Japan and by Matsumoku. Ace quality from that source apparently. I believe my Kay guitar is a bit rare now according to other internet information. I saw the almost identical body design in the 6 string Kay KDG88, which sold for £427.50 (weird pricing!), yesterday morning and stating being made in the same factory. Apparently, high end quality was always considered despite being made for many European and USA markets.
Back in the early 1970s, I had played the Kay a few times, but found, in my naivety, it was very difficult to tune up. I was blowing through old pitch pipes with the standard six notes to tune a 6 string guitar by. So was guessing the extra 4 octave harmonic strings by ear. I still use the pipes now. But nowadays? It is all electronic/digital clamp on ones attached to the guitar head stock. In line tuners within amplified gear on stage. Or the Apple Mac/GarageBand computer tuning through the microphone the acoustic is played into or the audio interface with an electric guitar on a lead. So, so much easier.
Writing songs on the 6 and 12 string acoustics was regular and exciting back in the old days. I believe that the 12 strings, harmonically, gave me song melodies I wouldn’t have come up with usually. I used it eagerly and experimentally back before the Punk/New Wave sound of the three piece XCerts band I played in was formed. Once the XCerts were formed though, I changed to only playing Bass Guitar in the band. I began playing the Eko 6 string acoustic dreadnought much more regularly for writing trashy punk songs. So the Kay, and its softer 12 string sound, was relegated to becoming an overlooked lovely sitting in the corner.
After leaving the role of being a musician in earnest, I unfortunately left the intensity of daily guitar playing. Sold my beautiful 1960s Fender Jazz Bass guitar to buy a small potter’s kiln. Silly me! But money was really tight and a wedding/marriage was looming too. Needs must and money was tight.
Career decision, at first, was still based in the ‘arts’. I became a potter. That was a fantastic blast. Loved that period in my life. Exhibitions and Craft Fairs. Even started thinking of writing songs that suited the ceramic mythology vibe for playing in the background for an ambience at exhibitions. Medieval or New Age atmospheric. I did write a weird atmospheric piece on an old Casio keyboard I managed to obtain in those days. Poetry from the stories of the pottery characters I made recited on top of the instrumental backing. Not great! But a mortgage had to be paid. And two children to bring up too. Selling pottery became an ‘up and down’ monetary wise. So a ‘real’ job and career was required.
Moving on from making ceramics/pottery for ten to twelve years, it was then that Sign Language/Lip Speaking/Note-taking for Profoundly Deaf and Hard of Hearing students in colleges and universities started that new career. Leading on from that experience, the finality of working career to my life was realised in the role of a Staff Nurse. The latter chosen Sign Language and Nurse professions being working alongside many people. Not such a blast. An introvert within a role of ‘daily interaction with others’ was very uncomfortable. Stress, due to working with a significant amount of people on a ‘one to one’ basis, entered life and made a huge worrisome impact. Supporting and working alongside students and patients means that high responsibility is involved. And you always felt vulnerable in own self belief that, possibly, you may not have the adequate skills to do gold standard justice in your role. Self criticism borne from a life of insecurities. Characteristics of oneself never really change. They still exist in some form or other. Bravado in presenting oneself isn’t in Summers’ nature. I notice that I even refer to myself in the third person often. Nowadays?
From 1982 to 2023 my guitar playing was at a minimum. Ignored playing anything on guitar for months on end sometimes. So when moving to Wales in 1995, there were about half a dozen guitars, electric and acoustic, put into the attic and out of sight. I only kept my first owned Eko dreadnought acoustic guitar for picking up and playing downstairs. Songwriting was no longer important. Well….little oddity songs and some that were quite promising were always flying around my brain. But stuck on back-burners within the neural pathways of the mind were more meaningful captures. You can’t stop a musical brain writing internal melodies. You have to let them journey freely and lightly along the neural pathways to eventually find little rooms at the end of deep mind-scape tunnels where they hide within.
So, back to this morning. The attic was searched and down in a corner of the gable end to the house, the forlorn and miserable Kay was found. Filthy with debris, dusty spidery webs and the metal work very rusted in places it humbly presented itself. Albeit with an inner leap of joy at the sight of human presence again. The wood of the guitar felt rank. A house built in the mid 1880s with its original slate roof in situ can let the outside weather dust from this world in from time to time. I also felt emotionally rank…..basically for my behaviour towards such a wonderful item. So five hours of working on it has been yesterday’s activity. The string holding nut was broken, the strings dull and rusty and the metal machine heads were gummed up with age.
Photographs below can be enlarged. Just tap on the image. Thank you.
I took all the head stock metalwork, bridge saddle and neck string housing nut off and pulled them all apart. Using fine fountain pen emery sheets to rid rust spots. Then used a spray can of general cleaner/polish to break through the dry dust grime on the guitar varnished body and followed up with some Fender Fingerboard Remedy oil to clean, hydrate and protect the guitar neck’s fretboards. It was truly therapeutic. I’ve bought the nut, saddle, pegs to hold in the strings and some D’Arrio strings to give it a more solid update. The original parts were still in place, but worn or broken. And being 55 years old, they were getting brittle.
Now having attached the 12 strings, I find the action (distance between strings and frets) quite high. This means having to push down harder on the strings to get a decent sound of fret/string contact. Chords played are then cumbersome as no smooth transitions are possible. Also, 12 strings instead of 6 brings their own added difficulties in tactile application. Plectrum rhythmic strum is strangely different and more notes to hold down and ring out cleanly and true is tiring on the wrist and hard on the fingertips. It’s like driving my 1972 VeeDub Bus (camper van). No power steering. So all manoeuvres are achieved with a lot of effort and energy to turn the steering wheel. But! Luckily the Kay does have a neck adjustable truss rod. So it can be worked upon to get the strings closer to the fretboard. And maybe lighter gauge strings will be useful too.
Anyways. Here’s how it sounds below. Tap to hear the video. Excuse the ad hoc rawness. Just switched on record on the iPad MOTIV app and iPad internal microphone, after tuning the guitar up quickly, to hear how it sounded in this basic recording form. Pleased with the richness captured. No idea as to what I would play.
On the Apple Mac home studio, after the ‘action’ being improved for playability, it should be a great addition to my songs.
Gray Summers 
Lovely 12-string acoustic! Lovely after all your hard work to clean it up. Great playing and video!
I know how much time it takes to put something like this together. Your dedication to this Kay project is admirable, Gray.
I’m in the middle of assembling a light weight plant stand for my spa room. To get done well before it becomes time to repot and move the plants indoors before it turns cold. We’re in the 50s Farenheit degrees at night already!
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Thanks Sheila. Just need to set it up properly. A bit naive in that department though. Sounds like you are DIY determined currently. Very therapeutic. Good to have plants indoors. They do contribute to emotional and biological well being enormously.
Have been remiss in my accessing WP for a few weeks. Lots going on outside of blog land. So still awaiting calmness in life. Been very weird lately. I need to catch up with all my fave blog friends again. Been a bit dash in, read avidly but leave without time for adequate replies to give the thoughtful reply words and the justice they all deserve.
The VeeDub Bus is now in its final stages of completion. A few months work on it again needed. So will be nice to get out there and record music and videos on the hoof. It does drive beautifully now with its new all singing and dancing USA twin port carburettor.
Cheers Sheila. Hope you are keeping well.
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Funny you should mention “keeping well.” It took me a solid two weeks to get over the bug I got while I was on the road trip with my girls (daughter and three granddaughters when we went to my home state for my 45th high school reunion). At least I got to spend time with my son, aunt and uncle, and oldest dearest friend. Else it would have been a complete bust!
Great news on the VeeDubb, Gray!
And ah, yes. Plant therapy. It’s all good now!
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I did read about your sabbatical revisiting journey. It sounded like you had a very up and down experience. A very interesting time, but due to missing out on ‘looked forwards to’s’, very sad too. I did feel for you regarding that quick onset of illness and its impact on your well made plans. Rather like Angie and myself finally catching Covid, after years, at a wedding we went to. Despite us both being up close and personal in my nurse role and her shop role, bam, caught in the, seemingly, unlikeliest moment. Once you relax and let your guard down, as you did in the excitement of your planned trip Sheila, and you allow the nasty bugs in. And boy….can they be impactful.
The VeeDub has had extensive work again. But it was nice to get her back when the grandkids visited for a week. Drove beautifully. It looked a bit rough that week with grey primer painted patches over the bodywork. And a petrol gauge that didn’t work, so not knowing if the tank might be emptying quickly or slowly, I kept visiting the petrol station. But over the last three weeks, it should all be done now. Paul is a busy guy, so I realise the VeeDub is worked on when his time allows. He phoned the other day and said it will be back this week. Yay!
Cheers Sheila.
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Thanks, Gray.
Yeah, the whole covid debacle. Ugh! So sorry you and Angie got it (and from attending a wedding)! I don’t know what I got but it still stuns me how quickly it manifested!
I can only hope all of us are becoming more resistant and resilient to these “bugs”!
This is good news about your VeeDubb. Well, except for the petrol gauge that kept you on your toes (heightened state of alert)! Glad to hear you all enjoyed your visit with the grandchildren. Aww.
I am also glad to hear from you/read a new post. I meant to say that earlier. Cheers!
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I suppose ‘catching bugs’ has been followed by really exhausting long term symptoms. Months of trying to achieve healing. Never heal completely though. Also the emotional impact of scan investigations and awaiting results. It’s been a very strange time since last October.
I haven’t been very active writing blogs or doing interesting stuff at all. So. The grandchildren visiting was a one week highlight. Currently? Days are turning into Groundhog Day. Angie says the same regarding her working life. Over and over. Not joking. So it’ll be good to get the VeeDub back now and take her out.
I have read posts of other bloggers from time to time. Not as much as I used to though. One of those inert periods I guess. Impacted by tiredness. Glad to know you are on the mend. And getting greenery back into your home will bring a bout of Nature Fix.
Cheers Sheila.
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Groundhog Day here as well, Gray! Ha! Love that Bill Murray movie! But I hear you that we gotta mix it up now and again with a VeeDubb or something fresh! Ha! Glad we’re all doing better.
I just had a fellow blogger boost my blog the other day and I had to laugh in extreme agreement with the name of her blog site, Progressing not Perfecting. I thought, now, ain’t THAT the truth!
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I believe the film had dark undertones in its early script form. It still does have some tendencies to have an unsettling dark nature to it. But I do love that movie too. As ever, Frankie makes it difficult to break the daily loop of ‘cat as central to everything’. No recorded music since January! Writing songs a fair bit, but not in any focused nature. Mind is a bit skittish. But the VeeDub is the hoped for provider of change.
I like that another blogger has tapped in to and promoted your work. Much deserved. And, yes, Progressing, not Perfecting is a fine Mantra. Mine is still ‘And so the story goes. To where? No one knows. Borne from self promises….not worn out wishes’. That’s my Mantra. 😊
Cheers Sheila.
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Well, you are a saint to put up with Frankie fella. I hope you know that, Gray!
I know you’re gonna love getting out of the house, away from Frankie (whom I always think of as “that darn cat”), on excursions! Hopefully, soon!
Richard continues writing songs, mostly reworking old songs, on Suno. He hasn’t been in his music recording room either, for many months.
I didn’t realize the dark undertones in Groundhog Day. I will watch again with knowing eyes. Thanks for that!
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We have been thinking of many ways to let Frankie just roam free. But it is an impossibility. A few cats have been hit by cars in the village. It has a busy road out front. And he went off over the back garden wall over fields and got lost and confused when we tried it. We did and do have an iPhone collar tracker on him, but it is difficult to really pinpoint location. A wide area shows.
Really pleased Richard is still keeping his hand in concerning the music. Albeit a bit less often. At least it is still a viable option in life. I really miss it to be honest.
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Totally understand about not letting Frankie fella roam. We just had a rogue cat outside on our deck rail ripping into my herbs and then it went digging into my two large pots where I have peppers and lavender growing! Grrr! Not sure how to stop that and don’t know why it chose NOW to do it since I have been growing these all summer!
I replanted everything but pepper plants are picky. At least two of the six may be ruined. Thus, I am not happy today! Ha!
Richard has been writing a ton of songs though! Just not with physical guitar and recording. He’s in AI mode 100%! He writes and rewrites several a day. So much so that I can’t keep up with him! I try to put the ones I can dance to on my playlist and then use them in my Jiggle Butt videos. Those have been getting a lot of views!
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We bought three battery operated frequency ultrasound cat repellers. They work a treat. Work on motion sensors. High frequencies emitted that lots of pests can’t stand and they keep them away. Doesn’t affect birds. Not a bad price either off Amazon. Next door’s cats were coming into our garden to leave their number twos. Immediately they didn’t come in again. Now we have Frankie, he surprisingly isn’t bothered. Maybe has dodgy hearing due to pedigree status. My grandkids didn’t like them though. They could hear the high annoying frequency. So had to turn them around when they were playing in the garden.
I know Dill who is making his AI albums is still prolific. Made 8 albums in one week. I know many are using the medium, but I simply cannot do it. I want my songs coming from my guitars and my home studio. Too much invested I suppose.
Haven’t accessed YouTube much recently. I shall have to catch up with your uploads. Sounds positive re: views. Great news.
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Great idea about the battery operated frequency ultrasound cat repellers, Gray. I will keep that in mind. I turned on the auto motion light last night as a deterrent. We just typically don’t use it. No evidence of the cat last night. We’ve seen two big cats around, this we highly suspect one of them.
That’s odd that those ultrasound frequencies bother the grandchildren but not Frankie. Wow!
And yes, though Richard has invested a fortune too, in gear and all the former 400+ studio production of his songs, he’s reworking them in Suno to get their take on the songs! At first it bothered me, but many times Suno does a better job than the studio demos. Go figure! I now see AI as the clown we can’t get back into pandoras box. Ugh
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The councils in town centres put similar high frequency systems where teenagers used to gather and cause trouble. The hearing deteriorates as we get older. My son is in his mid to late 30s now and can still hear the cat deterrents. I do believe that certain cat types have specific biological weaknesses. Will have to look into it.
AI is not going to be used by myself though. I just want to get back to recording in a way that can include others too. The Tascam Model 12 analogue mixing desk can be used outdoors in the VeeDub. So, if I can make video recordings alongside the music of progress and activities, it should be a really nice sound and vision project. Now I can’t stop the Bowie earworm of his same titled song. My mind is hearing and singing ‘Waiting for the gift of sound and vision…….’ Mary Hopkins’ voice alongside too. Cheers Sheila.
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I believe you’re onto something about the ears hearing different frequencies as we get older. Mine has definitely changed with addition of tinnitus.
I am checking into those cat frequency thingys. Last night was okay. Plants were not disturbed, thankfully. My pepper plants are doing sooo good that I am very hopeful to get food from them!
I spent the last two days putting together a lightweight wooden plant stand for my spa room (for all the outdoor plants to come in and be able to get more light this winter). I just finished it. And finished moving it into place and moving the bookcase (which meant clearing it all off, moving, repositioning it after Richard weighed in on placement), and refilling with books, etc. I will take some pictures and craft a blog article about it.
I am sooo looking forward to hearing what you come up with (recordings) from your VeeDubb adventures, Gray! You’ve got the right talent, motivation, and equipment to rally the troops and get it done. Sounds exciting! (Not to worry; I wasn’t suggesting you use AI, you gotta stay true to yourself!)
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Very jealous! My first ever try of growing three types of pepper plants failed miserably this year. They got eaten straight away. Maybe a greenhouse would be better. But we were far more lucky this year than last year. Nothing last year. Complete failure. Recently, we have eaten potatoes, cucumbers, runner beans, broad beans, peas, lettuces, tomatoes, radishes, celery, rhubarb, and have lots of the regular annual herbs to keep picking this year. So not too bad. But other stuff has really failed. Root vegetables mostly.
I like the idea of your bringing the garden within. Micro greens on dedicated shelving are very popular nowadays. Special lighting needed though.
I want another adventure regarding music. I used to play guitar a lot in the VeeDub. Has a nice ambience. Also, it is a magnet for people who always stop, smile and have a few words or longer conversations. Maybe I’ll get lucky and a few musicians may be walking by. I know some musicians locally too, that would be keen to get on board. Fun times hopefully. Cheers Sheila for your thoughtful replies.
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the Kay, silently waiting all those years, never lost faith. her strings knew one day they’d sing again in your hands.
the photograph of all the guitars tells its own story, Gray: each one, unique and full of history, loves you as much as you love them. it’s clear you’re all meant to be together. x
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Cheers cookie.
It was nice to work at getting K to a more presentable status. And I think of her as a ‘her’ too …. as you have also done. With 12 strings? ….. a complicated female in presentation exists though in K’s character. I felt bad when I witnessed the dry deep adhered dust, rust and grime. Akin to the Guiwenneth mystical character who came out from deep within Mythago Wood. Great book. But, it is really nice to play some tunes on K again. Albeit difficult. A bit more tweaking with the playing action and losing the bad dull fret spots will make for a long term beautiful addition for the new songs. Just not very good at setting up guitars, so a fast learning curve ahead again.
I wanted to make the raw video here in the blog so that I could get an idea of K’s sound out here in internet land. Even with the rawness of having difficulty playing K, the basic quality chosen for audio and the richness from such a basic iPad inherent microphone….it is great.
All the best cookie. 💫
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🦄
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Unicorns are Ace. 💫
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A highly informative and interesting read Gray. And, not just about the 12 string beast. I could relate to your various issues. Wonder where you are on the spectrum. I’m definitely there – well we all are. With a daughter diagnosed I can see some of their traits in myself. All the best to you and Angie. Shep
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The spectrum is a strange phenomenon Shep. My Nurse Manager visited a few months back and spoke of her adult daughter and her recent diagnosis too. We spoke of finding, as you say, similar traits within ourselves. I worked alongside very many people in Social Services on the spectrum. Began to understand the multiple ways it can express itself in each individual’s presentation.
Myself? I like the gentleness it can bring to one’s way of living. The wonderful intensity of finding new interests to follow, focus upon and understand ‘what’s this all about’ allows escape from life’s realities. Emotional presentation? Simply being a good gentle person for both yourself and the way you treat others is a nice way to live. Retirement is amazing. But when others put large demands on my time…..massive stress returns. I want to help in all ways I can. And I do help. But it is a very intense undertaking.
After reading Katherine May and her three amazing books, I felt comforted. Her first book I read was called ‘Enchanted’. I read it in one day. Really unusual for me being a slow reader, but feeling recognition in a lot of the scenarios within it, I couldn’t put it down. Most of her own lived descriptions belonged to my life too. On the back cover of the third book I read of her’s, ‘The electricity of every living thing’, she says,
‘People carry electricity for me; they have a current that surges around my body until I’m exhausted. It’s hard to pinpoint what it is, exactly; something about their noise, their unruly movement, the unpredictable demands they might make on me. It makes the air feel thick, like humanity has, not a scent, but a texture. It makes me feel like I can’t breathe. I had come to the woods to escape that, and yet here it was, following me’.
That is very intense, but there is sense within the way the need for escape to one’s introverted nature can be a gentler reality. A VeeDub Bus allows that escape and is a Godsend. The Bus is back this week and in far better shape engine and body wise. It is a good friend. The presence of music, from both my own creation or diving into the amazing creations from other musicians, writing prose, poetry, pottery, photography, fountain pen script, gardening, DIY, etc…..(basically learning or expressing new artistic and useful life based skills on a regular basis), all bring about both control in trying to understand and interesting diversions that involve just myself. Better still. It harms no one. Just Angie and my joint bank account at times. 😊
Cheers Shep. All the best to you too.
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