A Poor Man's Stringmaster - Guyatone D-8

Matt Muldoon · Post by **Matt Muldoon** » 2 Nov 2011 12:26 am

Hi Les, Thanks for everything!
You know I love this Guitar and it´s sound. I was just putting it up because I bought a Fender 55 D-8
in Original Condition. It is a great Guitar and I puta real high Price on i hoping it doesn´t go.

This is a very well built Instrument. The woodworking is beautiful! No Plywood here!

Thanks Les!

Matt Muldoon · Post by **Matt Muldoon** » 2 Nov 2011 12:31 am

Thanks Doug. That information from Jackiso is very interesting.
Follow the links and enlarge the Catalogue pages.

Thanks Jackiso!

Alan Brookes · Post by **Alan Brookes** » 2 Nov 2011 9:08 am

My Guyatone D8 is my favorite steel, even though I have more valuable instruments. I play it every day. It's set up in Don Helms's B13/E6 tuning. I prefer it over a Stringmaster any day.

Les Anderson · Post by **Les Anderson** » 2 Nov 2011 9:15 am

Allen, you provided some valuable info for getting the Don Helms sound on a Guya D8. Without using the proper gauge strings the sound just isn't there.

The modern solid state amps seem to remove that early fifties sound as well. That was why I used my Fender Princeton Reverb amp when we did our Hank Williams Sr. shows as well as doing Little Roy Wiggin's work.

My Remington D10 just plain does not produce that Don Helms sound no matter how I tune it or the string gauges I use. The Guya however, works beautifully to get that unique sound.

Matt Muldoon · Post by **Matt Muldoon** » 2 Nov 2011 10:13 am

Yes Les it has a 22,5 Inch Scale Neck. I decided not to sell it and took it off ebay. I was asking 700 € or best offer. A guy offered 600 € but I turned it down.

Doug Beaumier · Post by **Doug Beaumier** » 2 Nov 2011 5:56 pm

The modern solid state amps seem to remove that early fifties sound...

My Remington D10 just plain does not produce that Don Helms sound no matter how I tune it or the string gauges I use. The Guya however, works beautifully to get that unique sound.

True. For a 1950s tone you need a tube amp, no more than about 25 watts, and a steel guitar with single coil pickup(s) wound to no more than about 8K ohms IMO. Today's solid state amps and humbucking PUs provide plenty of clean, strong tone, a modern sound, but not a 1950s sound. Unfortunately bands have gotten louder over the years and a low power tube amp will not cut it on most bandstands today unless the amp is 'miked'. They do sound great at home and in the recording studio however.

Len Amaral · Post by **Len Amaral** » 3 Nov 2011 5:57 pm

Hi Doug:

The past year I have been into lap steel. I have several Peavey power slides, one in G and the other B6. I just recently picked up a Fender 1957 Fender 6 string lap steel and a Benoit Weissenborn.

I'm still a gear head after all these years...*L*

Lenny

Doug Beaumier · Post by **Doug Beaumier** » 3 Nov 2011 8:05 pm

Hi Len, it's good to hear that you're into lap steel now. Gear head...? me too. There's nothing like a room full of steel guitars and amps!

Darrell Birtcher · Post by **Darrell Birtcher** » 12 May 2012 3:19 am

To follow up on Ray Shakeshaft's question about the leg thread size....My Guya's have 5/8-11 threads. A friend gave me some Sho Bud legs which have the more common 1/2-13 thread. A trip to the hardware store for the appropriate nuts, bolts and washers yielded some adapters after a bit of welding and grinding.

Also, one of my G's has large legs with a wingnut style clamp for height adjustment, the other has a narrower leg with the mic-stand style clutch. The narrow ones are not up to the task if you want to play standing up but the large legs are fantastic for that purpose. Both use the same thread though.

Also, regarding pickups, I LOVE the sound of all my Guyatone pickups but unfortunately they are too microphonic for loud stages. Great for recording and practicing and low volume gigs though!

Carl Mesrobian · Post by **Carl Mesrobian** » 5 Jun 2012 4:07 pm

Doug Beaumier wrote:Hi Len, it's good to hear that you're into lap steel now. Gear head...? me too. There's nothing like a room full of steel guitars and amps!

Or a room full of Gibson archtops

Joe Burke · Post by **Joe Burke** » 18 Oct 2012 7:55 pm

I've got one as well. Had it for about 6 months and love it. One neck tuned to C6, the other to G.

Les Anderson · Post by **Les Anderson** » 20 Oct 2012 3:03 pm

I have a feeling that there are more Guya and Guyatone steel guitars out there than many owners care to admit. I now know of three people in my area who own either a Guya or a Guyatone.

As I have stated many times and still insist on this. Any type of stringed musical instrument will sound beautiful in the right hands or sound like a wash tub with haywire strings in the wrong hands.

Doug Beaumier · Post by **Doug Beaumier** » 20 Oct 2012 3:33 pm

Any type of stringed musical instrument will sound beautiful in the right hands or sound like a wash tub with haywire strings in the wrong hands.

True. I'm reminded of the Jerry Byrd quote:

"If you can play, it doesn't matter what kind of guitar you use. If you can't play, it doesn't matter what kind of guitar you use."

Alan Brookes · Post by **Alan Brookes** » 20 Oct 2012 3:42 pm

In many ways I prefer the Guyatone to a Stringmaster.

Andy Henriksen · Post by **Andy Henriksen** » 13 Nov 2012 8:23 am

So...how does one pronounce Guyatone?

Gooya-tone?

Geeya-tone?

guy-a-tone?

Alan Brookes · Post by **Alan Brookes** » 13 Nov 2012 9:03 am

I always pronounce it as it's spelt, guy-atone.
People in Britain and the US don't usually pronounce the name Guy in the old Norman way as Gee.

At this time of year it's apt to remember the name of Guy Fawkes, reputedly one of the few people to enter Parliament with good intentions.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guy_Fawkes
(In 1606 he snuck dozens of barrels of gunpowder into the basement of the House of Commons with a view to blowing them up while the house was in session, but he was caught and executed. In thanks, the people have always burnt an effigy of Guy Fawkes on a bonfire every November 5.)

Les Anderson · Post by **Les Anderson** » 13 Nov 2012 1:53 pm

If you want to pronounce it as it was firs used by the Japanese, their language Goo-you - Tone. The letter U in Japanese is how you would say "you". Their language rarely has multiple sounds for the same letter. "I" is always pronounced as "E" as in speek: "A" is pronounced "AH" as in talk: "O" is O as in bone and so on.

The general rule is however, when in N. America, say it as N. Americans would say it. Goo Yah Tone.

Alan Brookes · Post by **Alan Brookes** » 13 Nov 2012 10:46 pm

...but the Japanese don't use Roman letters, do they? $:\$

Doug Beaumier · Post by **Doug Beaumier** » 14 Nov 2012 9:01 am

Around here we pronounce it.... goy' (like toy) - uh - tone

We also say pah-k the cah in Hah-vahd yah-d!

Darrell Birtcher · Post by **Darrell Birtcher** » 22 Dec 2012 1:46 pm

I'm sure glad to see all this talk about Guyatones.
I have 3 of them and love them dearly. I get lots
of compliments on the tone when I gig with them
mostly from other band members on fill-in gigs.

I am actually selling my D8 and one of my single 6's
now but I don't ever see myself without at least one
Guyatone.

I haven't listed them but if anyone is interested,
please send me a PM and we'll talk. The forum
will get a cut if this results in a sale.

Darrell Birtcher · Post by **Darrell Birtcher** » 23 Dec 2012 5:27 pm

To all that have sent me messages about the
Guyatones that I am selling, I am creating
proper listings in the "For Sale" section
tonight, so please look there soon for pictures,
details and prices. I was overwhelmed at the
responses I got at the mere mention that I
was going to be selling some. Please forgive
my unpreparedness!

Alan Brookes · Post by **Alan Brookes** » 23 Dec 2012 5:41 pm

Darrell Birtcher wrote:To all that have sent me messages about the
Guyatones that I am selling, I am creating
proper listings in the "For Sale" section
tonight, so please look there soon for pictures,
details and prices. I was overwhelmed at the
responses I got at the mere mention that I
was going to be selling some. Please forgive
my unpreparedness!

Over the years I've bought four Guyatones and given them away to friends, who have never been disappointed. I would buy those that you have, except that I retired last year and no longer have the means.

Helmut Gragger · Post by **Helmut Gragger** » 25 Dec 2012 11:50 am

Alan Brookes wrote:...but the Japanese don't use Roman letters, do they? $:\$

I would not be so sure about that...
I once read that the Japanese company "Roland" (today affiliated with Boss effects) invented this name, because they looked for a name that would be pronounceable in any language. It sounds familiar in German, English and by the looks, in Japanese.

However, if they had a similar intention for the Guytone, they appear to have failed

have fun,

-helmut

Dennis Coelho · Post by **Dennis Coelho** » 26 Dec 2012 4:27 pm

One of the difficulties in developing word processing for Japanese speakers is that the written language uses four different alphabets. Hiragana is the normal Japanese syllabic system. Katagana is a set of syllabic symbols used mostly for adopting foreign words. Kanji is the Chinese-based ideographic symbols, of which there are several hundred (or more) in common use. (8th graders are expected to have mastered 800 Kanji.University grads need over 3k.))

Finally, there is "Romanji," which is the Japanese word written phonetically using the English (Roman) alphabet. In Japan, one often sees public signs using all four alphabets.

Andy Henriksen · Post by **Andy Henriksen** » 31 Jan 2013 7:42 am

Anybody have a recommendation of replacement Tone AND volume pots for a guyatone D8? the vol. pot is scratchy and the tone pot is like sticky through half it's rotation and totally loose through the rest. I've tried cleaning them both, to no avail.

I'm sure this could have been a new thread in the electronics section, but I figured I'd ask the guya fanatics here. (sorry if that's inappropriate).

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A Poor Man's Stringmaster - Guyatone D-8

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Topic: A Poor Man's Stringmaster - Guyatone D-8