Guyatone Lap Steel

Terry VunCannon · Post by **Terry VunCannon** » 29 Jun 2007 8:35 am

Hey all, I just spent all morning playing a Guyatone lap steel that I won on ebay, & must say that I am pleasantly surprised on the sound & quality of the instrument. The volume & tone knobs & pup switches work well & the tuners seem tight & hold well. I have a job tonight & plan on taking it & playing it right away. Has anyone else had any experience with one of these???

I A-B'ed it against one of my Fender Stringmaster D6's & it held it's own...it is no Stringmaster, but it has some great sounds, I can't wait to get it up to stage volume...Terry V.

George Rout · Post by **George Rout** » 29 Jun 2007 10:30 am

These have been discussed before on the Forum. Basically, I don't theink they are/were a favourite North American guitar. I can't quite see from the pics, and you call them "pop up" switches, are they "push on, push off". If they are, that is better than the models I have seen (and one I had) which had "rocker" switches. I had to tape them down to "ON" because they were right in the picking area, and they were going on and off like a strobe light.

The tone quality on all Guyatones that I've seen dropped off considerably above the 12th fret, which is common for less expensive guitars.

The components seem to be fairly good. I had no touble with mine, but I bought it cheap, hardly used it because of the rockers and sold it for twice as much as I paid for it.

George
http://georgerout.com

Paul Osbty · Post by **Paul Osbty** » 29 Jun 2007 5:41 pm

It's just a copy.

Rick Alexander · Post by **Rick Alexander** » 29 Jun 2007 5:50 pm

Terry, I have that same guitar.

It's actually pretty decent, the best of the "knockoffs" (I sold my Columbia and my Jedson).

George Rout · Post by **George Rout** » 29 Jun 2007 7:00 pm

Hey Paul, whadda ya mean "It's just a copy"???
Geo

Rick Alexander · Post by **Rick Alexander** » 29 Jun 2007 7:25 pm

Terry, what tuning do you have on it?
(I have E7 on mine)

Les Anderson · Post by **Les Anderson** » 29 Jun 2007 8:14 pm

I have a Guyatone D8 and couldn't be happier with it.

The brand name name is what most people in here are judging these steels by. I doubt if these critics have ever played one or even heard one being played

George Keoki Lake · Post by **George Keoki Lake** » 29 Jun 2007 9:39 pm

One of my students has this model with the rocker switches. Pain in the butt! Tone is not bad, but as indicated, it's certainly not a Fender. Good student guitar.

Terry VunCannon · Post by **Terry VunCannon** » 30 Jun 2007 9:10 am

Hey George, Les, Rick, Thanks for the input...after some of the comments on other Guya's, I really feel good about mine, the switches are in great shape, & I played it last night & it sounded great...I think it will be a great working lap steel for me when I don't want to carry one of my Fender double neck Stringmasters out(Like an outdoor gig where it might rain).
...Rick, I used D tuning last night...Terry V.

George Rout · Post by **George Rout** » 30 Jun 2007 5:41 pm

Hello Terry, you're right. While I have about 15 or so steels, I carry mostly a Fender Champ (6). I've given up years ago taking my Gibson Console Grande out of the house, simply because of the weight. I'm glad to see they've changed the rocker switches on the Guyatones. It was darn near impossible to play them without taping the switches down.
Geo
<http>

James Mayer · Post by **James Mayer** » 2 Jul 2007 7:03 am

I own the exact model you posted. Bought it for $275. I love it. I've never played a stringmaster to compare it to, but I can't really find anything to complain about with the Guyatone.

Mike Neer · Post by **Mike Neer** » 17 Oct 2007 6:40 pm

Old topic, but my next door neighbor (a sweet elderly woman) recently passed away and her daughter was kind enough to give me the exact same guitar, Terry. It looks as if it never had been played.