In a 2021 interview with The Pedal Show, Noel mentioned that the first guitar he ever owned was a “Kay Hummingbird.” He explained that he got it through a “Kay” catalogue and noted that the guitar was black.
I got my own first guitar, which was a Kay Hummingbird, right. It was black. I got it from my mom’s catalog, my mom ran K catalog.
Noel Gallagher – The Pedal Show
Kay Brand vs. Kays Catalogue
It’s important to make a little distinction here. Kay guitars and Kays Catalogues are entirely unrelated. The Kay Musical Instrument Company produced guitars, while Kays Catalogues was a British mail-order company offering a wide variety of consumer goods.
Now, if you listen to the interview,Noel specifically referred to a “Kay” catalogue, not “Kays.” But from what can be found online, there doesn’t appear to have been a Kay catalogue dedicated solely to the Kay Musical Instrument Company that was popular in Britain during the 1980s (though perhaps someone will correct me on this).
Noel also mentioned that his mother “ran” the catalogue, which sounds like she may have been a local agent for Kays. This was a common practice at the time, where individuals distributed catalogues and handled orders within their communities.
Given the popularity of Kays Catalogues in Britain during the 1980s, it seems more likely that Noel was referring to Kays Catalogue, not the Kay guitar brand.
As far as trying to figure out the exact model of the guitar, one obviously has to guess that it could’ve been something like a Kay K-500 (in case it was indeed a Kay), or something like a Hondo H124B (these were sold through Kays catalogue).
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