c.1964 Unitone EG-30 Salmon Colour - Guyatone - Bizarre Japanese Guitar MIJ - Rare!

c.1964 Unitone EG-30 Salmon Colour - Guyatone - Bizarre Guitar MIJ

Uni-tone guitars were also sometimes marketed as Astro-tone. There appears to be some link to Guyatone guitars, but no one is quite sure how big the link is. Were these early guitars made by Guyatone, or were they made by a separate company who purchased OEM parts from Guyatone and then assembled their own? The necks are virtually identical to the Guyatone LG-65T (and other models), and the the pickups and wiring scheme also are similar to the LG-65T, though some of the components (pots) are different. The shape is original and not seen in any Guyatone models, though the metal pickguard and rocker switches are similar to the LG-65T again. 

So who made this? Who knows?! Who cares!! We just live to rock these things out. 

Body is old and paint has faded from what was possibly an original burgundy colour into a deep salmon pink-ish colour. Weather-checking is present throughout, and there are some minor nicks and scratches and player wear from it's 50+ years of age, but really it looks pretty good. No major scratches or chip outs. 

24.75" neck with a 7.25" radius. Neck plays well with no fret outs, and original frets are in good condition.

Electronics have been cleaned and tested. New switchcraft input jack installed. Rocker switches act as on/off switches for each pickup, each pickup as an individual volume control, and the solitary slide switch at the front bypasses the tone knob. Makes this guitar have a wide variety of versatile sounds available. Great sounding pickups. A wonderfully round 5.62k from the neck, and a bright and chimey 5.48k from the bridge. 

Hardware is in good shape - chrome has some scratches and wear and some pitting for it's age, but overall looks very good. Tailpiece cover was in bad shape, so we have sprayed it with a metallic paint, and then added several layers of clear coat so that you don't have to deal with flaking chrome metal. If you know a good chromer, have it sandblasted and rechromed to look like new, but it's acceptable as it is. Non-original knobs, but we've chosen some that look cool with the guitar. 

Tuners work and hold tune. Don't look great, and should probably be upgraded. But they work.

Bridge works and is height adjustable, but this is the weakest part of the guitar, as this is just a flat rod with string notches and no radius. The neck is a 7.25" radius. Changing out this bridge will take this guitar up in leaps and bounds of playability. It plays as it is, but we mention this as an area for improvement. 

Original Tremolo and Arm work! And work super well! This is one of the funnest tremolos we've ever played - the spring balance on it allows you to do all sorts of crazy action, and yet returns to tune! Very cool.

Overall this is a very cool guitar. Fun to play as is, and with a few simple upgrades (new bridge, new tuners) could be absolutely awesome. Also, it has a unique style and look that's hard to match. Very cool.