Guyatone Lafayette

The previous review was spot on, just wanted to make it known to early lectric blues slide especially fred mcdowell replicators.

again the reviewer below was spot on.. in regrs to erly slide and Fred mcdowell specifically... I never have found out exactly the brand and model of the 335 style guitar he played on steak bone, this sound for me is what has frustrated me and created holes in my wallet trying this guitar with this and that tioll I pretty much stuck to his acoustic tunes using a eatly 50's regal archtop. This guitar not only nails the sound it can come close (with a black box or two) to hound Dog Taylor which is quite a distance of sonics. plus for my fingers (fingerpicking) the set up of this guitar is so perfect i can't believe it.. spacing between strings, the feel of the slide, the ability to pick and slide, if I designed a guitar for my needs it would be this funky Lafayette. Its the tyoe guitar you would find someone playin in an old juke joint, but I am serious about mcdowells music, very much so as over the years what may sound like slash and slide playing is very deceptive with counterpoints even in the timing of his quick slide movement on a semitone.
The musician below paid 100 bux, my was 145 (ebay).. as most reading this can relate to we have gone thru gutars trying to find a particular something, for me it was Mcdowell, in fact 10 years of searching.. his first guitar was a knock off a a 335 for steakbone his most prevalent guitar was a trini lopez,

can't believe for slide and fingerpickin..

great weapon

non, I think the support is a s good as you are with guitars or your local shop is with tiesco/guyatone/kay etc

only wish I have is that I had read this reviews review earlier

Picture:
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1966 Guyatone Lafayette, made in Japan by the Tokyo Sound Company. One of those neo-generic Japanese guitars that were not extremely desirable in the 60's but have found new life in current day hands. Better, IMO, than the Teisco line. 20 fret solidbody electric.

Unusual, blunt Jazzmasteresque shape. Non locking chrome tuners. 4 single coil pickups, each with an on/off switch. The two neck position pickups and the 2 bridge position PUs are grouped together with volume knobs and tone wheels into "channels." - lots of tonal control, and a solo switch boosts volume and tone. Tune-0-matic bridge, chrome pickguard (lots of chrome) and switch plates. Patch out is on the pickguard.

Thick jazz muffle, or laser-thin treble, and everything in between. Because of the flexibility of 4 seperatly tweakable pickups, there is not a tonal shape that can't be achived. (Though single coil hum is ever present.) Original pickups still have a hot output. Surf twang (think James Bond) is easy to dial in. Full bottom end. Chrome pickguard and floppy tremolo are are a bit microphonic.

Decently set up, but the fixed bridge had to be angled for improved intonation. Still not spot on, but quite playable. Whammy bar dives are not possible, since this bridge style will only bend down/up a step or so, and you will sourly out of tune after. Good for the last flourish of a set. No truss rod. But no need, either.

Electronics, aside from the old school coil hum, are noise free and wide-range.

Chrome is aging well, paint looks it's age (mine is white and orange, with hairline cracks.)

Action feels modern, frest have worn down to a reasonobale height.

This can be played live, but like most import guitars from the 60's, it needs frequent tuning. Old solidbodies in this category can be treated like babies, but why bother? Playing live, I would feel plenty comfortable... but a backup guitar is always nice.

Guyatone exists to this day, but they have little to no connection to the era when crazy Japanese kids were milling, bolting and soldering. They make tiny effects boxes and retain the namesake. Asking them for service or advice would be like filling out a 30 year old Rolling Stone subscription card.

I've owned a dozen or so cheap vintage guitars. I never pay more than a hundred bucks. Generally, the difference between a no-name twanger and it's vintage Fender counterpart is price. If the thing can support 6 strings with comfortbale action over a nice hunk of wood and some pickups, then most everything else is the wonky superstition of guitar nerds. Raw sound trumps pedigree. And my Lafayette busts cones.

Sounds massive through modern DSP effects and tube gear. Again, very tweakable tonal possibilities.