Very Cool Vintage Japanese Solid Body Guitar

guitarz.blogspot.com:

Look at the upper horn on this awesome Japanese guitar. I'm not sure I've seen this model before.


Someone has looked after this guitar quite well. It has a few marks on the finish, but no noticeable dings or gouges. Sporting 3 gold foil pickups, mini switches, and an intact tremolo, it's hard not to message the seller right now and ask if they would consider shipping.

If I had to hazard a guess I'd say it was a Kawai or perhaps Guyatone.

Thoughts?

Update: I went to check the sale again and I guess someone loved it as much as I did, as the guitar is no longer listed.


R.W. Haller


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Rare 1960s prototype Guyatone Telstar with huge body and 24-fret neck

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Here's a 1960s Japanese-made guitar that is more unusual than most. It's a prototype Guyatone Telstar, has a very oddly shaped - and rather over-large - body with a "zolatone" finish (looks rather like Ovation's textured finish), and a 24-fret neck. This latter feature is very unusual for a guitar of this vintage - the Ovation Breadwinner which dates to the early 1970s is widely regarded as the first production model guitar with a 24-fret neck, although I believe there may have been other contenders to this particular crown. You'll note that despite the 24 frets, the top of the neck isn't particularly accessible with this body shape. Note also the bizarre almost exclamation mark-shaped position markers.

Thanks to Antony M who saw this guitar on eBay and posted it on the Guitarz FaceBook page.

Currently listed on eBay with a Buy It Now price of $6,500. It may be a rare guitar, possibly even a one-off, but I still feel that price tag is a tad optimistic.

G L Wilson

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1960s Japanese-made Guyatone Victoria: one to turn heads with!

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Here's a magnificent example of a seldom seen Guyatone Victoria currently listed on eBay. Here at Guitarz we first looked at this model guitar back in September 2010.

It's a 1960s-era Japanese-made guitar, has quite a unique shape, lashings of chrome and an intriguing pickup selector system: a rotary control pot with positions for Off/Low/Mix/High and a Solo/Rhythm switch. Quite how these function in conjunction to control the three pickups, I could only hazard a guess. It's good also to see that the tremolo appears to be all present and correct. All in all, the guitar appears to be in remarkable condition for an instrument that is around 50 years old.

Currently listed on eBay with a Buy It Now price of $650.

Thanks to Steve C for bringing this guitar to my attention.

G L Wilson

© 2013, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - the blog that goes all the way to 11!
Please read our photo and content policy.

Teisco, Guyatone, Maestro, etc...

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A couple of days ago I posted about  a 1957 Ibanez Hi-Tone guitar, about which I knew almost nothing. I inquired since, with a little help from our readers, and though I don't know much more about the Ibanez (but that the model should be a EG-1580), I found many guitars that are very similar (with different headstocks, pickguards, control plates, bridges, stoptails, cutaways, one or two pickups, in bridge or neck position, different woods, etc...)  - if not identical - under various brands: on top is a Teisco, on the right is a Guyatone LG 50 H, down are a Maestro LG 50 and a Guyatone LG 40. 

There were also Star and Antoria models, and I also found out that there's been a vintage Japanese Hi-Tone brand... So this is another  complex cross-branding story for a cool guitar!

And let me wish you all a happy new year for 2013! 

Bertram D

© 2012, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - 10 years and counting!

Guyatone LG-20 - 1960s Japanese-made Tele hybridized with Jaguar parts

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Now this Guyatone LG-20 is my kind of Telecaster. Note the Fender Jaguar-style vibrato and pickups, while the bridge is a typical 1960s Japanese unit with roller saddles for each string - a system that works brilliantly with this kind of vibrato.

This guitar is currently listed on eBay with a starting price of $374 and no bids at the time of writing.

Thanks to Jaimie of The Ones That Got Away for bringing this guitar to my attention.

G L Wilson

© 2012, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 10th year!

Guyatone LG-11W - another forgotten 1960s Japanese guitar

guitarz.blogspot.com:

Joshua writes:

I recently saw your post about the JVC Balladeer and I was surprised to see that I have a Guyatone in this (I think) same body/headstock design. The major difference is the pickguard configuration and it is certainly of a lower level model with no tremolo system. The pickguard is still of metal construction, just a flat finish and the controls on top of the pickups, which is actually quite comfortable. I have looked and looked all over the web and I've yet to see any Kawai/Teisco/Guyatone Japanese guitars with this same exact body design.

It has model number of LG-11W, which falls in line with Guyatone model numbers and of course has a 'Made in Japan' sticker, but unfortunately it no longer has its headstock badge (just a sticky residue of where one used to live).

In fact, I'm in the middle of refurbishing the neck and fingerboard due to too much lovin'! This thing was played to death and I'm certain whoever attempted to refret the fingerboard was not a pro, as there where large chips in the dried out rosewood. I decided to refinish the black neck paint while I was at it, which showed large stress cracks through the finish. I'm by no means a "pro" luthier, but I am an inspiring luthier who has made his own guitars. And as some may think this is sacrilege, I've decided to turn this 24.5" scale into a 25.5" scale and move the bridge/tail back that extra inch. I liked the feel of 24.5" but it was way too narrow for my liking. If I had any intention of selling the guitar, I would have of course kept it to its original scale.

Joshua

Here's a YouTube video of Joshua demoing the guitar. It just goes to show there's life in some of those old Japanese "pawn shop" guitars, although some of them might need some resuscitation.


We're always happy to see readers' guitars - the more interesting or unusual the model, the better - so please do keep sending in your photos and stories. Contrary to widely held belief, we at Guitarz can appreciate a nice Strat, Tele, Les Paul or SG the same as the next man, woman or dog; however, I think all our readers already know what they look like and what they can do, so we would prefer to see something just a little bit different from the run-of-the-mill guitars you see everywhere. Having said that, if you do have a Strat, Tele, Les Paul, SG, etc, with a particular story to tell, or an unusual variant or finish, then we wouldn't rule out including it on the blog.

G L Wilson

© 2012, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 10th year!

Guyatone LG-40 guitar made in Japan circa 1959

guitarz.blogspot.com:

This Guyatone LG-40 is quite an ordinary guitar compared to other models from the Guyatone range such as the super sexy sleek LG-1200 or the LG-120 with its rotating neck pickup. However, this slab-bodied instrument is not without its charms; don't you just love those almost oval-shaped pickups? Binding on both neck and body adds a touch of class. Believed to be from the late 1950s, this guitar was probably considered to be state of the art uber-cool back in the day.

Currently listed on eBay UK with a Buy It Now price of £300.

G L Wilson

© 2011, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 10th year!

Guyatone LG-60B - 1960s Japanese singlecut set-neck guitar

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You'll have to forgive me, I seem to be on some vintage Japanese guitar kick lately. This gorgeous Guyatone LG-60B would seem to be a Japanese amalgam of various Airline and Supro guitars. In my eyes it is just as desirable. Some nice touches include the "Sharp to Soft" pickup selector switch, the bakelite volume and tone controls and those huge Guya pickups which I suspect, despite their size, are actually single coils.

It's quite a beauty, but I couldn't really say that the $1,390 Buy It Now price on eBay is deserved.

G L Wilson

© 2011, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 10th year!

1966 Guyatone LG-120 with rotating neck pickup

guitarz.blogspot.com:

We've looked at one of these before, but nevertheless the Guyatone LG-120 is a very cool guitar and well worth looking at again. The example pictured is currently being offered for sale on eBay, although the listing is finishing very soon as I write this. It may still be one to watch because with a Buy It Now price of $1,600 I fear the seller is being a bit too optimistic, so perhaps it'll get re-listed at a more sensible price. It's a cool guitar, but not $1,600 worth of cool. Otherwise, I guess, you could always make an offer...

G L Wilson

© 2011, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 10th year!

1982 Guyatone LG-1200 Sharp Five

guitarz.blogspot.com:

Back in November 2010 here on Guitarz, David presented us with what he called The Coolest Guitar Ever Built, and - hey - if it's that cool, it's worth looking at another example. This particular example, as pictured above, was recently offered for sale on eBay and sold for $1,299.

And if you want to see it in action, here are a couple of Sharp Fives in the hands of The Ventures.

G L Wilson

© 2011, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 10th year!

1960s Guyatone LG130-T

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Ugh! I'm still feeling a bit unclean after that previous post. This 1960s-era Japanese-made Guyatone LG130-T in original cherry/pink finish is the perfect antidote. Seriously, what can I say about this vintage piece? The pictures speak for themselves.

G L Wilson

© 2011, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 10th year!

Marco Polo 4-pickup guitar

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Here is a supposedly rare Marco Polo guitar, made in Japan by Guyatone in the 1960s. It features four pickups (described as the seller as “very hot”), each having their own on/off selector switch mounted onto a substantial chrome pickguard. Other controls are a single slider switch for rhythm or solo that affects tone, and a single volume and single tone for all four pickups. The tremolo, which is still all present and correct, is said to work smoothly, leaving the guitar in tune after use. The adjustable neck has 21 frets on a rosewood fingerboard plus a zero fret, and has 8 position inlays. The guitar is obviously styled after offset waist guitars such as Fender’s Jazzmaster and Jaguar models. It is currently being offered for sale on eBay with a Buy It Now price of $595.

G L Wilson

Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 10th year!

Saturn Violin Guitar by Kawai, Teisco or maybe Guyatone - you choose

guitarz.blogspot.com

After Gavin's post of the Guyatone Saturn, this is my Kawai Saturn Violin shaped guitar which I picked up on eBay about four years ago for the princely sum of £149, which may have also been made by Guyatone. It seems it was made for just one year during 1968 then discontinued. I'm sure it's the same story for many "odd" guitars from this period. I've mentioned this before and it's hard to believe but the guitar industry was in decline at the end of the 60s and there were a lot of novelty instruments produced to try and catch the imagination of buyers. I guess, if they didn't sell, they were discontinued pretty sharply.

The logo is raised but is under the varnish - some kind of raised print, I guess - the one in the CrazyDave video (see below) has no logo so I supposed they were pretty slap-dash with some of the details and may have also made them under a different name for other distributers. Mine is in great condition and has hardly a mark on it. It's all original except I changed the pickups for some NOS ones from eBay. The originals were quite corroded and although they sounded fine, the NOS ones just look that bit better. Like many cheap pick ups from this time, they are quite microphonic but not distractingly so.

They only thing that's suffered over the years is the tremolo arm. The thread has stripped completely and now I use a slightly bigger nut to fill the old hole. Despite being a real cheapie, this guitar has a neck as straight as a die, a great action and even after some pretty strenuous wanging, it stays in tune.

The Presidents of The United States of America (the band not the wikileaks fearing politicians) used (ABUSED or TRASHED to be more accurate) one in their official video for their one and only hit "Lump" . After what they did to it, I guess there's one less Saturn in the world today. [Errrrmmm... David, you may want to read the comments - Chris Ballew of the Presidents said he loved that guitar and never abused it. - G L Wilson]

For a slightly more respectful video go and see CrazyDave play his. Not me, the other crazy Dave. Yeah Dave. Crazy man! Yeah!

There are scans of a 1968 catalogue from the Canadian company Eatons (as Gavin mentioned the other day) at http://www.vintaxe.com but you have to pay to see them. I did manage to get access to them a while ago (I guess there site was having problems) and was disappointed to find it didn't include my guitar. Actually I checked them this morning and they didn't include Gavin's find either. I put pics of the covers in the comments so you can get an idea of their overall cheesiness.




By the way, the second picture is the wall in my studio. I am rather fond of violin (or viola to be pedantic) shaped guitars. The Epiphone is new. Compared to the boxy-ness of the Univox it's a little dull but, with tape wound strings and using the neck pickup, it has a satisfying thump and a beefy ooomph that almost gets you into sub bass land. Which is why I wanted it. The Univox was a dog when I got it. I had to ditch the neck as it was seriously warped and the truss rod was broken and I've since replaced it with a NOS Hofner bass neck and extra light wound strings. A VERY different "twangier" sound than the Epiphone.

David in Barcelona

Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 9th year!

1968 Guyatone Saturn

guitarz.blogspot.com:

With its exaggerated offset body horns, four pickups, and an almost bewildering array of control knobs and switches - including a volume for each pickup and a single tone - this Guyatone-made Saturn guitar is certainly an eye-catching example of 1960s Japanese guitar-making.

The Saturn brand was, according to the eBay listing, sold through the Canadian catalogue Eaton's.

This is a nice example of this guitar from 1968. There is some cracking in the pickguard around the 3rd pickup and apparently the tremolo is not original (although you'd never know it).

G L Wilson

Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 9th year!

The Coolest Guitar Ever Built

guitarz.blogspot.com:

Bertram, remember in Crocodile Dundee, when he pulls out a big hunting knife and says "that's not a knife ? THIS is a knife"? Well, I say "That's not a sparkly retro guitar! THIS is a sparkly retro guitar!" In fact this is THE sparkliest retro-est guitar that wasn't made in the golden era of sparkly retro guitars.

This is the holy grail of any vintage guitar collector. This is the COOLEST guitar EVER built - EVER and it's on eBay at this very moment!

We usually think of Guyatone as a typical 60's brand (well, I do) but a quick Google will show that it's still alive and well and selling very expensive effects pedals. And, back in 1982 it was still making guitars.

Hang on, 1982 was the beginning of the era that brought us The SuperStrat, The Parker Fly, The Ibanez PointyThing, The Dean Dime-a-Dozen, The Jackson OMFG! and the original and super-est of SuperStrats - The Charvel. So what was this glittering, glamourous beauty doing being made amidst all those shredder-tastic, testosterone fuelled, dive-bomb-bombastic, cock-rock Phallocasters?

This guitar has an OMG! factor that is measured on the Richter scale. It is sparklier than Elton Johns underpants. It should have a 24 hour armed guard. It will melt your face off if you look at it with an impure heart.

This guitar anticipated the current nostalgia boom spearheaded by the likes of Eastwood and Italia by nearly 30 years and must have looked as out of place as EVH's logo guitar at Yngwie Johann Malmsteen's induction to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

If you're feeling blue, down in the dumps or just a little moody, get yourself over to eBay right now and scroll through the plethora of wonderful images that barely do justice to the majestic beauty of this oh-so-fine musical instrument and listen very carefully. You will hear, in the distance, the sweet singing of a heavenly choir and a herald of angelic trumpets and you will know you are in the presence of a rare treasure that is a privilege to behold.

Have a very nice day.

David in Heavenly Barcelona

Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 9th year!

Gosh! It's a Guyatone! And it's Gorgeous!

guitarz.blogspot.com:

A Japanese 1964 vintage Guyatone SG. It is a rather stonking example in my opinion. I'm quite taken with slightly greasy looking black finish, the gold foil pickups, chunky little Cadillac tailfin tailpiece and the exquisite G spot logo. All in all a very desirable piece of work. And according to the seller "This Guitar comes with Card Board Box!!" Who could ask for more?!!!!

David in Barcelona

Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 9th year!

Vintage Tokai Japan 60s Pre Talbo Weird Cool Teisco!

Another case of an eBayer who, not knowing the manufacturers name, lists a couple of fairly smart guesses including the all embracing "Cool" and the inevitable Teisco! - The exclamation mark did not go unnoticed.

Whatever it is, one thing's for sure. It's a corker. And, after a little research - it's a Guyatone Victoria.

The beauty at the bottom is from a Japanese site and there is yet another on Craigs List. The CL pictures are very poor and it's hard to tell anything except that it's bright blue. I think it's a fairly rare item as Google throws up very few examples and fewer still with decent pictures.

David in Barcelona

guitarz.blogspot.com:Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 9th year!

1967 Guyatone LG-350T Sharp 5

guitarz.blogspot.com

I've wanted to show this Guyatone LG-350 T Sharp 5 for a while now but couldn't find a good opportunity so far... Today I was happy to find this one in an elegant metallic dark blue (standard finish of the model it seems) that really enhances its very special line combining vintage Japanese pointy horns, German carve and Jaguaresque asymmetric curves. Other interesting features are the big vintage tremolo (I'm a fan) and the pickguard and its elegant curls covering the whole front of the guitar...

The Sharp 5 was a famous Japanese surf band of the 60s for which this guitar was created. Though I love these kinds of guitars, for a continental European like me, surf music is an enigma, I only heard of that because of Pulp Fiction's soundtrack and cannot make the difference with rock...

Bertram

Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 9th year!

A vintage Kent-brand solidbody electric

guitarz.blogspot.com:
An anonymous Guitarz reader writes:

Here are two snapshots of my old Kent guitar.

I acquired this circa 1995 at a ramshackle roadside shop in rural Georgia (USA), whose sign advertised "APPLIANCES - GUITARS". The place was full of beat-up used stoves and refrigerators, but there was only one guitar for sale, this Kent, which I purchased for fifty dollars, not a low price, but I couldn't bargain him down.

Note the stylized V and T on the volume and tone knobs. The movable plastic bridge is held in place by string tension, like that of an archtop guitar. The wear pattern on the aluminum pickguard indicates that someone played it a lot. It's basically a toy, but its amplified tone is clear and twangy.

Kent was a US-brandname for guitars imported in from Japan and Korea in the 1960s. Most were produced by Teisco and Guyatone, although later on the Kent name started appearing on Swedish-made Hagstrom guitars produced for the US market.

G L Wilson

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1960s Guyatone guitar with swivelling pickup

guitarz.blogspot.com:

In the mid-1980s Wilkes Guitars came up with a guitar known as "The Answer" which featured what seemed like a novel idea, namely sliding pickups allowing for a whole spectrum of tones*. A couple of years later, Westone issued the Rail bass which also featured a sliding pickup. It was my belief that the precedent for this idea was the 1970s-era Gibson Grabber bass which featured a sliding pickup and which was so named because you literally grabbed hold of the pickup and moved it to the desired position (although admittedly it didn't travel very far).

Imagine my surprise to find for sale on eBay this Guyatone guitar from the 1960s (pictured above) which not only has two pickups biased towards the bridge position but also has a swivelling neck pickup and accompanying "Cool/Hot" switch. Guyatone were of course a Japanese brand and many examples of their guitars were built at the now legendary Matsumoko factory.

But is this the earliest example of a sliding/swivelling pickup? I expect that Guitarz readers will know of others, so please respond in the comments below.

I'm reminded, of course, of Rick Turner Guitars (which surely must be at the other end of the quality scale from Guyatone) and the Model 1 which has a pickup mounted on a rotating plate.

G L Wilson

* Wilkes "The Answer" actually featured two coils that could be moved independently of one another and which could function separately as single coils or together as a humbucker. It really was a clever idea, the only downside was the appearance of the guitar itself that had a great big swimming pool cavity in the middle of the body.

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