The Guyatone LG-140T was introduced in late '64/early '65 and was a more deluxe version of the simpler fifties and early sixties Guyatone solid bodies that Guyatone had been selling in increasing numbers throughout the early sixties.
As sales picked up and exports became a bigger part of Guyatones sales, they moved from the early one and two pickup simple solid body guitars and basses to more complex and aesthetically better looking solid bodies like the LG-140T here.
In 1962 they moved to a bigger factory to keep up with demand and the '63 catalogue shows the basic LG-55/65 and 85 style two pickup and in '65 introduced the more stylish, but still simple LG-50 and EB basses.
With exports to the US increasing under (mainly) the Kent name Guyatone picked up their game and started offering more pickups, switches and body contours and the LG-140T was the top of the line in this series.
It's a solid timber body as Guyatone used exclusively throughout these years and all hardware is made in house by Guyatone.
The body is a slab style double cutaway with a belly contour on the back. It's a conformable and ... familiar shape, although not really a direct copy of any particular guitar. The bolt on neck is maple with a rosewood fretboard and the quality of timber is great throughout. The neck is on the chunkier side but fits my small hands and becomes very comfortable quite quickly. Scale length is 25" which was common for mid the late sixties Guyatones.
The headstock is the typical "Fender inspired" six a side with the metal G badge still attached. The tuners are open gear with plastic buttons and are all original and still working great.
The pickups are medium output single coils and are grouped in pairs for switching and adjustments but can be all used individually or all together. The pairs (bridge and neck) have one/off slider switches for each pickup and a tone switch for each pair. These also as tone pot (rollers style) for each pair and a master volume, on the lower plate near the output jack, for each pair. It's a pretty simple set up that gives A LOT of options.
The vibrato is the simple wrap over type with a cover to make it look a little more ... professional. The arm and cover are still original and intact.
The bridge is a simple plastic "Bigsby" style one piece bridge with height adjustment via thumb wheels and intonation adjustment via two screws that pivot the base it sits on. It works well and this plays in tune across most of the neck.
As I've said many times I'm a huge fan of these early Japanese guitars and having owned and sold so many it's great to see the evolution of these companies as they increased quality and supply and turned into some of the best guitar makers on the planet.
The finish has that great early sixties "furniture patina" to it that I've mentioned before and I love the tobacco burst finishes on these guitars.
This is all original. It's over 50 years old and it's ALL original and working perfectly. That's the sign of a well designed and made guitar. I've worked on cheap guitars less than 5 years old that I couldn't say that about.
