Goya 109 Rangemaster Electric

Bought in 1965, made in Italy, 22 large frets. This is a full hollowbody guitar, not a semi-hollow. Double cut-away, 24-5/8" scale, 1-3/4" body thickness. All mahogany front, back, and sides with high gloss finish. This one is in cherry red color, but it was also available in blonde or sunburst. White binding around fingerboard and F-holes, 8-piece binding around top body edges, triple bindings on the back. Plexiglas engraved name plate on headpiece. Black pickguard. This guitar was the top-of-the line Goya electric at the time. Of the hollowbody electrics it was the only double-cutaway model.

Two pickups, each are split into two halves. The halves can be individually selected, so that 3 strings are covered by the neck pickup and 3 strings by the bridge pickup, or vice-versa, or all 6 by either the neck or the bridge, or by both pickups. Pickup selection is by pushbutton; this is faster and more accurate than any other method. The pickups are custom Goya passive single-coils. They have a shimmery vintage tone.

The bridge combines rollers with the tune-o-matic style. Each string is individually intonated. Height for the entire bridge is adjusted with two screws under the bridge. Mine came standard with a string damper I can flick on or off; I can also remove it entirely (but first I have to remove the strings).

The neck is very slender. It has a standard width top-to-bottom. At the bridge the string spacing can be set as desired with several grooves in the bridge rollers, a very unusual feature. I like this a great deal because it allows me to spread the strings apart more widely at the bridge than any other electric guitar I have, which greatly facilitates fingerpicking or hybrid pick-and-fingerpicking.

A hard case was included, along with string winder and cable. I bought this new in 1965 and it has well withstood the tests of time--and playing. The velvet lining in the case deteriorated and I had to replace the lining after 40 years, but this was easy.

There is one master volume knob. For a tone control there are 3 pushbuttons labeled high, med, and lo. The high has a bit more highs than the med. The med has a lot more lows than the high but is only slightly less bright. The lo is devoid of highs.

My guitar has a Goya vibrato arm. It operates in a matter opposite to the Bigsby. The Bigsby compresses a spring. The Goya stretches a spring. The Goya vibrato stays in tune beautifully, has an enormous range, and has a very smooth enjoyable feel.

Make no mistake--this guitar looks GREAT! It is super-flashy. with the double-cutaways that come to points it has the styling of Batman! It is like the Cadillacs of the mid-1960s. I have a variety of other guitars, and they vary widely in their appearances, and some are very peculiar, but none look nearly as gorgeous. This guitar does not look peculiar. It looks great! And the pushbuttons look mysterious, suggesting this guitar can do things other guitars can not. And it indeed can.

What is most special about this guitar is: the weight! It weighs only 5-1/2 pounds. It is my lightest electric guitar by far. It is no strain at all to wear it and keep on wearing it. It is amazing how much stress each extra pound of guitar weight brings with it, so that this 5-1/2 pound guitar somehow feels like 1/4 the weight of an 8-1/2 pound guitar.

As a full hollowbody this has both an acoustic sound and an electric sound. Acoustically it is loud enough to enjoy, and much louder than any solid body or semi-hollow guitar I have played. On the other hand, it is nowhere near the volume of my classic nylon string acoustic electric, and it is a bit softer than my steel string acoustic electric.

The way this guitar came there was almost no sustain. It sounded a lot like a mandolin. Actually, when strings were fresh brand new there was a reasonable sustain, but within three weeks the sustain was gone. The reason for this lack of sustain was that the vibrato arm plate that holds the ball ends of the strings was too light. I used a few drops of epoxy glue to attach a stack of three nickels to the underside of the vibrato arm plate. Wow, did THAT ever make a huge difference. The guitar sang, and it sang beautifully. Then I glued three "bullet" shaped fishing weights along with the nickels (because more nickels would not fit). Now it sings like an opera star. These weights turned this guitar into a player.

The bridge pickup is bright but not harsh. The two pickups together have a sweet full tone; with some treble boost from the amp it sounds like "The Shadows" or "The Ventures." The neck pickup is mellow but not dull. I play instrumental rock and surf rock. This guitar is suitable for both. The range of sounds is of course more limited than guitars that have three pickups or humbuckers that can be coil-tapped, but you can of course use the amp's tone controls or an equalizer or both.

Before I added the weights to the vibrato arm plate I'd have rated this guitar "2" for sound. However, it is a fast, very inexpensive, and easy fix that requires good judgment, carefulness, and avoidance of sloppiness but no real skill. So, my rating will reflect the weights I added. This guitar is now a PLAYER and not just a looker.

The vibrato arm itself is terrific. It takes wide bends and stays in tune. Yet the guitar tunes up quickly.

The frets were smooth and so were the fret ends. No fret dressing (sanding) was needed at all. I had to adjust the tension rod, the bridge height, the pickup height, and the intonation of each string, but these are ordinary adjustments for the guitarist to make. The finish was perfect--and it has held up great. There are only a few checks in the finish after 44 years, and the top remains totally clear. I had to clean the contacts of the pushbuttons once about 15 years ago, but once was enough. That was easily and quickly done with a screwdriver to take out the pushbutton assembly and a little very fine sandpaper.

The action is low and the strings don't buzz.

The strap buttons are metal; they are solid. However, they keep unscrewing in use and I keep having to screw them back in. I replaced them with larger screws and the same problem recurs. I'll have to glue them in.

This guitar is as reliable as any. I have depended on it and I will continue to depend on it. I have gigged without a backup. The original hardware is lasting after 44 years. Still it is a full hollowbody guitar and it must be handled more delicately than solidbody and all-plastic guitars.

The company is gone, out of business, vanished. Oh, well. Tempus fugit.

I've been playing guitar for OMG 46 years. I own several guitars that are reliable and good: several Steinberger USA, a Hallmark Stradette, a Brian Moore, a Washburn Idol, a Route 101 Solimar. I own several guitars that are unreliable: a fancy Carvin solidbody, a Switch Vibracell Signature, a Univox hollowbody. I use Vox, Carvin, and Traynor amps. If this guitar were stolen or lost I would do without it. I love the light weight, the looks, the tone, the vibrato arm, and the playability up to the 13th fret. Playability above that fret is not as easy as most other guitars. I don't like the string mute but I will remove that. In the summer I prefer small solid body guitars; this guitar has a huge body, but that is ok except in hot weather. A hollowbody or semi-hollow guitar has to be large enough so that the edge of the body does not dig into your right forearm; this one is large enough to avoid that, some are not.