Goya Unknown

Back in 1970, I bought a '61 Gibson cherry ES335 from Richmond Trading Post in Toronto, Ontario, with OEM Gibson HS case, for $400 CAD. The guitar was absolutely mint. I sold it to a friend who was playing in a travelling band in '74. Then in 1982 I walked into the old Thorold Music Store in Thorold, Ontario and found a cherry Goya ES335 copy and bought it for $300 CAD. It was an exact replica of the Gibson except that the frets were a bit higher and more "square". I sold it in 1985. Then in 2004, a friend told me that a friend of his (from Thorold) had a guitar for sale and it turned out it was a Goya ES335 copy except that this one had the trapeze tailpiece (as opposed to the stop tailpiece of the previous one) and was a burgundy copy of the '62 Gibson ES335. I picked it up in trade for a Crate GX30M amp.
I know that Goya in the '60's was a Swedish company and that in the late 70's and early 80's, Goya electrics were being made in Japan under the Greco name but with the Goya name for export. So, I presume this guitar was made by the same Japanese company (Fujigen Gakki?).
This guitar has laminated maple top, 22 frets, mahogany neck with rosewood fretboard, PAF-copy pickups with "made in Japan" stamped on the bottoms of them, slim neck, Grover style tuners. It looks, plays and sounds exactly like a '62 Gibson ES335!
I've done a lot of research on the net and sent off numerous emails hoping to find info as to maker etc of this guitar, all to no avail. So, if anyone reading this can help, please send me an email. I can send pix of the guitar. One thing I can say is that the volume and tone pots in this guitar are twice the size of normal pots, ie about 1 .25" in diameter. The scale is 24.75" and the trapeze is identical to that used by Gibson in the early 60's. The serial number stamped into the back of the headstock is 107016 which, if the guitar is indeed made by Greco, would mean that it was manufactured in 1981.
When all is said and done, this is probably the best and most exact copy of a Gibson ES335 that I've found except that the headstock doesn't have the typical Gibson "open book".

This guitar looks, plays and sounds exactly like a '62 Gibson ES335. It has a slim neck with super easy action. It's PAF copy pickups have that same glassy singing "transparent" full sound of the early '60's Gibson PAF's. Close your eyes and you'd swear it's the "real thing". In fact, even with your eyes open, aside from the fact that the logo on the headstock says "Goya" instead of "Gibson", you'd still swear it's the real thing.

When I got this guitar, it was already over 20 years old. The first 5 frets were quite worn so I had my luthier friend Jack Armbrust change them out. A gear cover for one of the Grover-style tuners was missing so Jack fashioned one out of a piece of Stainless steel stock he had kicking around and you'd be hard put to notice the replacement. Other than that, after stringing it with new GHS boomers and cleaning up the body, neck, fretboard, etc., well, you'd swear this guitar is almost brand new! Everything speaks quality. No shortcuts here. Easily compares to the best 60's vintage Gibson semi-acoustics.

As previously stated, for a guitar that is well over 20 years old, this axe has proven itself to be durable and will easily outlive me. It has withsttod the test of time. I wouldn't trade it for any Gibson of recent vintage. All the guitar any real player needs.

N/A

I've been playing since 1964 and have owned many "quality" name-brand guitars including a '61 Gibson ES335. This guitar is every bit as good in every way. Just wish I knew exactly who made it and when. If you can help me with this, please email me at agermain@becon.org. I can send pictures. I've searched high and low all over the net and found a lot of Goyas and Grecos but still have yet to find one identical to this guitars.

67 goya(eko factory)20 frets.Thineline archtop.bolt neck.cherry striped laquer finish.2 dearmond dynasonic pickups.Copy of Guild electric no dought.Very similar to Martin gt series of guitars in hardware and layout

wow...It is the poorest Italian man's gretsch....Does alot of convincing sixties sounds.I always felt like lou reed while playing this guitar

Low action,typical eko surface cracks in hard clear finish...smells great somehow!Lots of piting in metal covers of pickups...I replaced original plastic knobs with aluminum knobs off of 50's military projectors...more like tele or gretsch ...oh.and the old bigsby I added finished the trick

Don't step on it,never lend it ...pawn it and you should be shot.The single best guitar I have ever known...truly was my therapist for years in retrospect...anyone got it write me(firuzehsmann@gmx.de)you will be rewarded!

da

I am the best 4th rate guitarist i know...I live in Berlin Germany now....best city in the free world....rock on fellow boys and girls

1978 from the serial number, #82010, Feb. 1978, 10th unit. Made by Terada Guitars of Nagoya, Japan for Martin. 20 frets, 14 clear. Solid spruce top. No electronics. Body is solid Brazilian rosewood. The neck is mahogany with reversed truss rod and is thin and fast, with Martin D-41, octogon (real) abalone marks on the 1st thru the 17th fret. Goya label on head is (real) mother-of-pearl. The top of the guitar is a Martin D-41, while the body is a Martin D-35 with a three piece back. Finish is high gloss lacquer. Body style is a Martin D type dreadnaught. Binding and purfing is ivory on front, back, neck and head. Abalone inlay on top binding and sound hole. Bridge is rosewood painted black to simulate ebony, string-thru body. Bridge pins and tail pin are ivory with abalone inlay. Tuners are chrome M6A Schallers. The nut and the saddle are bone. The fingerboard is rosewood. It has jumbo frets, very little wear. Forward cross and scalloped bracing. No case.

I do acoustic folk. Alot of fingerpicking, slap strumming, and flat picking. It's perfect. It looks like a Martin D-41. It plays like a Martin D-41. It sounds like a Martin D-41. What's not to like?

I bought the guitar off Ebay, used. It's 24 years old. It has three little dings in the top. Very slight scuffing on the back and very light strum marks on the front. One has to look hard to see them. The fit and the bookmatch are flawless. The action is a perfect 7/64ths at the 12th fret.

This guitar was meant to be played and played alot. It's solid as a rock. I would trust this ax to stand up to anything.

Goya was purchased by Martin in 1976. Production first went to an unknown manufacturer in Japan (Terada) and then later moved to Korea (Sigma) in 1979. Though not certain, I believe it has been Terada that was supplying Martin with parts for it's Shanandoah series guitars. I would only trust any repairs to a qualitfied Martin luthier.

There is no label on the inside of this guitar. There is no glue residue to indicate it ever had a label. It may be fanciful thinking, but I believe this may have been a prototype from Terada in an attempt to capture Martin's business in making Goya. Terada is one of the largest guitar manufactures in the world. It now has all of it's production making Gretsch guitars. The give-away on it being a Terada was the hilt on the neck behind the nut instead of the Martin diamond and the Terada striping on the the back, a Terada trademark. It matches my Terada 12 string perfectly. (See my review under Terada.)It is unbelievably perfect for as old as it is. If I lost it, I'd hang myself. It's a Goya, it's a Martin, it's a Terada. The best of the best, of the best. I own a Yahama FG180, FS470S, A Terada TR1012 12 string, none of them sound or play this sweetly and they are beautiful guitars. For the price, the playability, the sound, and the history, I feel like I stole this guitar for the price I paid. It's worth at least five or six times this.

I have a Goya Solid Body Electric, with no identifying markings that I bought used this summer (1998). I'm told Goya is an export name useed by Hagstrom.
It's a 24 fret guitar, with 4 knobs (upper & lower volume & tone), and three switchs (pickup select, upper and lower pickup polarity).
It has two humbuckers (no covers), passive electronics.
The finish is woodgrain, a warm brown on the main body, with a blond streak like a skunk strip up the centre (same color as the neck).
Body style is SG - when I first saw it I thought it was a Gibson.

I play folk - switched to electric because I suffer from RSI and playing acoustic was getting increasingly painfull. It's possible to make the guitar sound just like an acoustic, however a friend who's into rock had some really interesting sounds coming out of it.
It's clean good looks are what first caught my eye. After picking it up I knew it wasn't a cheap guitar - it felt way better than an Epiphone. I ended up trying every guitar in the store that day, and none of them had the feel that this one had. Sound wise, it sounds good. Real good.
I'm not an expert on electrics, so I can't really comment on variety of sounds - heck I don't know how to do most of that stuff , thought I may learn now that I've got the guitar for it.
So far no dislikes.

Action? Great. No factory flaws that I can see, however the clear coat has a couple of chips in it, and the knobs are discolored (age).

Will it withstand live playing? Easily. It's one of the most solid guitars I've played. I'd play it anywhere, anytime, without a backup. Again though I'll note that I'm into folk, which puts a bit less stress on the guitar...

I inquired about the company - seems that they are out of business, which is disapointing. I'd looked at a lot of guitars before I bought this one, and in my humble opinion the Goya is in the $1000 Canadian range if you could still buy them new (about $625 U.S.).
I prefered it over Epiphonies and Squiers for fit, finish & sound. It's not as good as the mid range Les Paul's, but that still makes it one nice guitar.

I've been playing guitar for 5 years now. We have (my wife and I share) a Norman 12 string, a Seagull 6 string, an Antares 12 string, the Goya, a Cord tube amp, a Roland keyboard, and a variety of miscellanious instruments.
If I lost this guitar, I'd try and find another - it would be worth it.