Kay Musical Instrument Company Kay Musical Instrument Company Kay Musical Instrument Company was a musical instrument manufacturer of the United States, in operation from the 1930s until the 1960s. Kay was established in 1931 in Chicago, Illinois, by Henry Kay Kuhrmeyer, from the assets of the former Stromberg-Voisinet (founded as Groeschel Mandolin Company in 1890). Kay offered their first electric guitar in 1936 — five years after the Rickenbacker "Frying pan", and the same year as the Gibson ES-150. 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. The
Boston Musical Instrument Company Boston Musical Instrument Company. This change coincided with a relocation to 51 Chardon Street in Boston. Two years later the company was purchased by Cundy-Bettony which continued to build instruments in the Boston name until 1928. The Boston Musical Instrument Manufactury/Company was a producer of traditional instruments for brass band. The 1869 catalog shows a full line of such instruments including the traditional cornets in E-flat and B-flat, E-flat Alto horn and horn, B-flat tenor, B-flat baritone, B-flat valve trombone and slide trombone, and tubas in B-flat and E-flat. Slide cornet was another option. The company also offered the full