A Poor Man's Stringmaster - Guyatone D-8

Doug Beaumier · Post by **Doug Beaumier** » 30 Nov 2014 7:46 am

Nice looking Guyatones!

Veit Doehler · Post by **Veit Doehler** » 30 Nov 2014 8:14 am

Thanks, Stephen, that helped. I held a small rare earth magnet hovering over the PU, now all pole pieces sound the same. Although I don't have any idea, how pole pieces can change their polarity....

Here are two pics my new toy. It also looks like new and I love it's sound. Very different to the Dual Pro 8 that I have and different to the Schnoor S8 (luthier from Hamburg). But I guess that's no news, different guitars sound different...

Doug Beaumier · Post by **Doug Beaumier** » 30 Nov 2014 8:51 am

I love it's sound. Very different to the Dual Pro 8 that I have and different to the Schnoor S8 (luthier from Hamburg). But I guess that's no news, different guitars sound different...

Yes, to my ears the Guyatones have a more raw sound than most other steel guitars. It's not a clean, sterile sound. It's more ragged IMO, but in a good way. It's hard to describe. I think my recent video of "Golden Earrings" is a pretty good example of the Guyatone sound, in my humble opinion.

--- click it --> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ecLkdv9amE

Jim Williams · Post by **Jim Williams** » 30 Nov 2014 9:10 pm

I think these are some vastly under rated guitars, I have an old 6 string and would love to stumble across a D8 someday.

Fraser Moffatt · Post by **Fraser Moffatt** » 7 Apr 2015 9:17 am

Just joined the Guyatone steel club (S-8 ) Having never played a Stringmaster (or even seen one in the wild), I can't compare, but jeebus, I like this thing a lot. Plays a lot better than I expected it would for a 40+ year old "cheap" offshore copy of a classic instrument.

Way more versatile than my S6 lapsteel and easier to get going on than my S10 pedal steel.

I like the sound and the feel of it a lot.

Darrell Birtcher · Post by **Darrell Birtcher** » 7 Apr 2015 10:45 am

I sold this D8 here on the forum back in December 2012 to a gentleman who indicated that he planned to restore it. If he's still out there I'd love to see how it looks today. Wish I had kept it but needed the funds for other "tools of the trade." It sure sounded neat.

Doug Beaumier · Post by **Doug Beaumier** » 7 Apr 2015 6:15 pm

Wish I had kept it

I know what you mean... I have a long list of guitars I've sold and later wished I had back! Live and learn... but I never learn!

Alan Brookes · Post by **Alan Brookes** » 8 Apr 2015 11:10 am

http://picosong.com/LuZ8
Well we've talked about Guyatones, and we've looked at pictures, so here's what one sounds like.
Yes, it's just me multiple-tracked, and I'm no Frank Sinatra or Jerry Byrd.

Joe Elk · Post by **Joe Elk** » 8 Apr 2015 11:41 am

Very Nice Alan!
Joe Elk

Doug Beaumier · Post by **Doug Beaumier** » 8 Apr 2015 3:13 pm

Go Alan! This reminds me of the bands I played with back in the day. Especially the reverb on the steel. Reminds me of the halls we played in. Just keep the draft beer flowing...

Alan Brookes · Post by **Alan Brookes** » 8 Apr 2015 3:34 pm

Thanks Doug and Joe. I was born to boogie. I guess I'm a product of the 50s. I still prefer C6 to E9. I just love those rich chords.

Pete McAvity · Post by **Pete McAvity** » 12 Aug 2018 7:03 am

Had time yesterday to research a sixer I found a couple years ago in Nashville. The store had it in armpit tuning EADGBE. Guyatone Castillo. I can only find one Castillo on the internet- mine! I lifted these pics from the Reverb ad. Plywood layers can be seen through the finish as many have mentioned here. Thought to be a 70â€™s Guyatone Conqueror HG 306 C. Came w/ no legs or sockets, but included a cleaning cloth which matched the green felt lining of the case and had â€œI love Heatherâ€ written on it. Pickups seemed low output when I got it, not hot like some have described. Life intervened in the last 2 years so have yet to get a proper tuning on it & investigate the pickups. May try the magnet trick mentioned a page or two back in this thread.

Doug Beaumier · Post by **Doug Beaumier** » 12 Aug 2018 7:15 am

The Castillo brand is a new one on me. Regarding the weak output, check the pickup resistance. If you don't know how to do that, take the guitar to a repair shop and have them do it. You might consider having the pickups rewound or replaced.

Pete McAvity · Post by **Pete McAvity** » 12 Aug 2018 12:34 pm

Just gave it a run- pickups are good & even across the strings. Just not as strong as my old Valco w/ string-through pickup, but Ive since come to learn that that thing is an anomoly in and of itself as far as output.

Doug Beaumier · Post by **Doug Beaumier** » 12 Aug 2018 1:12 pm

Yeah, it's hard to beat those old Valco string-through pickups! The Guyatones may not have a strong output, but they have a unique tone, kind of raw and kind of "nasal" sounding.

Bill Sinclair · Post by **Bill Sinclair** » 12 Aug 2018 1:50 pm

Pete,

I purchased a Guyatone very similar to your Castillo on ebay a few weeks ago. Mostly on a whim because it was cheap and largely based on the favorable reviews on this thread. Far and away the worst sounding lap steel I've owned. Terrible tone and zero sustain, especially on the first string. I figured something must be wrong since I knew Doug's couldn't sound this bad. Closer inspection revealed a gap between the bridge plate and the pickup plate. At first I thought the plate must be warped but when I took it apart it revealed a solid ground wire between the two plates. Many steels use a similar method of grounding the bridge but usually it's a stranded wire that can crush into the wooden body below it. This one was between two pieces of metal and just served as a "sonic decoupler". I relocated that wire and drilled and replaced the tiny and inadequate bridge screws with some longer beefier ones and now it sustains like a normal lap steel. I still have some tone issues to work out. The switch that adds in the neck pickup is currently the "suck" switch but the bridge pickup sounds great and I'm confident it can be addressed when I have time.
Here's the Before picture:

Doug Beaumier · Post by **Doug Beaumier** » 12 Aug 2018 2:26 pm

The Guyatone lap steels I've owned sounded a lot thinner and more "nasal" than the consoles.

James Kerr · Post by **James Kerr** » 20 Mar 2021 1:28 pm

Late to the party but here is my Guyatone D-8 had it a long time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWVll5SxZ7M

James Kerr,

Doug Beaumier · Post by **Doug Beaumier** » 20 Mar 2021 1:54 pm

That looks exactly like mine! Nice job on "Once Upon a Time in the West", James.

James Kerr · Post by **James Kerr** » 20 Mar 2021 1:57 pm

Thank you Doug, I enjoy playing mine.....JK

Doug Beaumier · Post by **Doug Beaumier** » 27 Sep 2021 5:06 pm

Teisco Factory, 1954, Japan

Carl McLaughlin · Post by **Carl McLaughlin** » 30 Sep 2021 7:31 am

Can anyone on the forum tell me which came first in the double neck 8s,the one with rocker switches or slide switches, The symble G for fret markers,solid wood bodies or plywood? Foil pickups?

Doug Beaumier · Post by **Doug Beaumier** » 30 Sep 2021 8:46 am

I think the Guyatone D-8's with rocker switches and "G" fret markers are earlier than the ones with slide switches and Stringmaster-style fret markers. I've owned two super clean Guyatone D-8's that I believe were made in the 1970s, and they had slide switches and Stringmaster-style markers. And I owned one of the other style (rocker switches and G markers) and it was very worn. And most of those that I've seen in pictures have been pretty beat up, so I assume that is the older style.

Carl McLaughlin · Post by **Carl McLaughlin** » 30 Sep 2021 8:53 am

We're the early ones plywood?

Doug Beaumier · Post by **Doug Beaumier** » 30 Sep 2021 9:06 am

We're the early ones plywood?

Yes, there is some discussion about the bodies earlier in this thread. I believe that all of the Guyatone bodies we're made up of layers of plywood, laminated. Sometimes if you look closely you can see the different sections.

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