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
Musical Instrument Museum (Brussels) in Brussels. With the arrival of the esteemed Latinist Roger Bragard, curator between 1957 and 1968, larger budgets became available from the Ministry of Culture, as exhibits were renovated, new personnel were hired, concerts were again organised, and new rare pieces were collected. His efforts were pursued by his successors René de Maeyer (1968–1989), (1989–1995), and Malou Haine (1995–2009). The museum's collection presents Belgian musical history (including Brussels' importance in the making of recorders in the 18th and 19th centuries and as the home of instrument inventor Adolphe Sax in the 19th century), European musical traditions, and non-European instruments. Mechanical