I've written about these before but since I love 'em so much I thought I'd let everyone look at this one too? Unfortunately this one sold within hours of being taken to the shop, but here's some pics anyway.
As mentioned in previous blogs it's the turned in horn shape of these that I really love. Originally a Yamaha design from '66/67, Guyatone (and others) started using it within a couple of years on, generally cheaper versions with bolt on necks.
These Guyatones have THIN necks in both guitar and bass versions and are a joy to play. This bass has a thinner neck than some guitars but is still very comfortable and easy to play. The necks also don't vary much in width and depth as they run down towards the body, making them easy to play all the way up the neck.
These Guyatones from the early seventies (well, post mid '69) were contracted to two factories as Guyatone no longer had a factory of their own and both factories made great quality instruments. Some of my favourite Guyatones are from this early seventies period.
These thinline hollowbody basses were popular in Japan and were made in some version by most of the big manufacturers of the time. The Hofner hollowbody bass was of course VERY popular due to the Beatles and copies of them were everywhere in various states of quality but bigger double cutaway hollow basses were very popular too.
These are of course a pressed laminated arched top and back body and the build quality is superb. With full binding on body and F holes and quality construction inside with two rails running the length of the body under the top for the pickups to mount to and bridge to sit on. They have a nice sized, well supported neck and tail block as well which some entry level Japanese guitars from this period didn't have, much to their detriment fifty years later.
I'm always on the lookout for these and basses like them for the shop so keep an eye on the site (or here) for updates for what comes in. Sometimes they don't last long at all.