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Topic: Cuya Tone steel |
Steve Geis
From:
Fayetteville, GA USA
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Posted 19 Dec 2009 7:27 am |
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| I had a customer bring me a "Cuya Tone" 8-string, double neck, w/3 legs. Can anyone share any history on this guitar/company, and any info if I can get parts anywhere, i.e. tuning keys & a pickup? Thanks in advance. |
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Neil Cameron
From:
England, United Kingdom
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Posted 19 Dec 2009 8:49 am
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Would that be a GUYATONE d8 like this one with 3 legs?
(This picture is not mine but was provided by a forum member in an earlier posting), try searching Guyatone in non-pedal. |
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Steve Geis
From:
Fayetteville, GA USA
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Posted 19 Dec 2009 10:26 am
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Yes! Dosen't look as pretty, but yes it is the same thing. And the same with 1 pickup on the front neck & 2 on the back neck. There is no switch to switch necks, but there are 3 selector/toggle-type switches in between the necks. Can I assume that these 3 switches go to the three different pickups?
U reply says the pic is someone else's; do you know anything about these guitars? |
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Les Anderson
From:
The Great White North
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Posted 19 Dec 2009 4:02 pm
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I have a Guya D8 which is the forerunner of the Guyatone. You won't find much acceptance with these steel on this forum. The other side of the story however is that there are more of these steel guitars around than most people realize or want to admit. You will find more than one well known non-pedaler plays these guitars. Doug Beaumier owns one and plays his very well. He has also posted a couple of tunes on this forum using his Guyatone.
Some posters have claimed that they are made of plywood. These comments got the better of me so I took the tuning pan off mine and drilled a couple of small holes in it and found that it was not plywood but indeed solid wood. I think mine is made of white birch. You will also notice in the picture that mine has four legs.
Another thing to remember, as with any other steel guitar, they have their own tone. I play mine one stage when doing the early Eddy Arnold tunes or when doing a Hank Williams Sr. tribute set.
You will also find lots of historic info on this brand of steel guitar within this link. This link also gives you an idea as what its tone sounds like.
http://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=147757&highlight=guyatone
Below are a couple of pictures of mine. It has a blond Finish, not white and I play it through a Fender Princeton Reverb amp.
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Neil Cameron
From:
England, United Kingdom
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Posted 19 Dec 2009 4:17 pm
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Hi Steve,
I've looked for the thread I was thinking of about these, indeed it's headed by the same picture I borrowed in my earlier response.
It's Doug Beaumier's thread titled
Topic:" A Poor Man's Stringmaster - Guyatone D-8 "
do a search for this thread in non-pedal section, it's readily available, very interesting and informed and you can hear how the guitar sounds when expertly played.
My interest in these started when I saw and just missed one in an Ebay auction here in UK, thought it looked good and wanted to know more, a single 8 version was made too.
Good luck with restoration, check out that thread, it's all in there. This is a great forum. |
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Les Anderson
From:
The Great White North
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Posted 19 Dec 2009 4:21 pm
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As a bit of a side note on my Guya D8, my wife and I happened to stop at a yard sale some time back and I saw this steel guitar leaning up against the wall of the house. Naturally I had to ask what she wanted for it.
When she told me $50.00 for the steel guitar, its case, Ernie Ball volume pedal and the Fender Princeton Reverb amp I almost tore my pants apart getting my wallet out of the pocket. Everything was in pristine condition and the rest is history. I sort of felt like I had just stolen something but my feelings of guilt did not last long. |
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Keith DeLong
From:
Dartmouth NS Canada
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Posted 19 Dec 2009 5:40 pm
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| Saw one of these at a barbershop the other day, the barber was owed some money by someone and he got the steel as payment--I'm lefthanded so I couldn't really tell how it sounded, but it seemed pretty good. The switches are a common complaint but should be easy to replace or swap with some other type of switch. I tried to tune it up--is the closer neck with the double pickups usually tuned to C6th? This one appeared to be an A7th tuning so I set the outside neck to a C6th. |
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Ulric Utsi-Åhlin
From:
Sweden
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Posted 20 Dec 2009 6:05 am
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Manufacturing specs probably changed over the years,
but the Guyatones I´ve seen have indeed been plywood
jobs.McUtsi |
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Les Anderson
From:
The Great White North
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Posted 20 Dec 2009 11:07 am
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OK, here is my Guya's wood and grain structure. Note it is not a Guyatone. From what the lady said who sold me the Guya, her husband had bought itaround 1958 - 1960. The amp and volume pedal he bought some where around 1970.
You will notice that the steel has a natural, clear blond finish not painted white. I am guessing that it is a clear shellac finish. I am also assuming that it is white birch in three solid wood pieces. I don't think anyone can claim that this steel is plywood.
Weight is 36 lbs, 7 ounces.
From looking from the back side (player's side).
Looking at the pickup end.
The bottom of the Guya.
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Ulric Utsi-Åhlin
From:
Sweden
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Posted 21 Dec 2009 1:06 am
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That´s solid enough,and I remember a couple of solid
wood Guyatones as well,come to think of it,but the
few I´ve had in have been finished in creme white
and made out of plywood ; lots of copy brands of
the past would use solid woods for transparent
finishes only.McUtsi |
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Les Anderson
From:
The Great White North
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Posted 21 Dec 2009 11:04 am
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Wow, you guys really do have sharp eyes. Three e-mails so far asking about those little white squares on the lower fret board. I was trying to chart some tabs and had to resort to using video recordings to see where my bar was on the fret board as I played. For some reason, I can't continuously stop and start to chart the numbers then start again where I left off. (I have never been accused of being the brightest bulb on the tree) So, I marked the frets, play the entire piece with the camera rolling; then, chart the tab from the video. Hey, it may not be the proper way to do it but, it works for me!
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