After all my carry on a few weeks ago about that wonderful Yamaha SA-30 and then the Guyatone SG-25T I thought I should do a blog on this one too.
The thing they all have in common is of course, those GREAT turned in horns on a semi hollow body. The other blogs will run you through the details of these great guitars but I thought this bass deserved it's own blog, being that they're much rarer than their guitar siblings.
This is made in the same factory as the Guyatone guitar and ran from around the same period as the guitar version. It's the same double bound, hollow body with a bridge block and no bracing. The finish work on these early 70's Guyatones was flawless and this one is no exception. The body is the same as the Yamaha version but as explained in the previous blog the neck heel has been slightly modified to suit the bolt on neck that Guyatone used.
The bolt on maple neck is very thin and short 30" scale. It's very comfortable and has a bound rosewood fretboard and headstock. Like most Guyatones from this period it has a zero fret. I've put flat wounds on this one which I'm not a huge fan of myself but they sound and feel really good one this. It would have more attack with round wounds but these seem to work well on this bass.
The controls are the same as the guitar version with a three way switch and volumes for each pickup and master tone control. The output jack has the great big rectangular plate with "Guyatone. Tokyo Sound Co ltd" emblazoned on it, just like the guitar.
The pickups are bass versions of those amazing P-90 style pickups I love in these Guyatones. They are medium output but have great volume and response. I love these Guyatone pickups in everything I've heard them in, in both guitar and bass.
The bridge is the bass version of that beautifully designed unit as used on the Yamahas and the tailpiece is a tasteful chrome and wooden trapeze style.
This ones in great condition and is all original and everything works really nicely. The tuners are fluid and tight. All the electrics work well and it plays and sounds great. It may be a little "thuddy" with the short scale and flatwounds but I'll let whoever buys it decide whether they want more bite.
