1959 Magnatone Mark VIII

Here's a bit of a weird one. This is probably a Magnatone Mark VIII, designed and built by Paul Barth, manufactured in either 1959 or 1960. Before he contracted with Magnatone, Barth built some of these guitars under the Barth name, and also some labeled "Natural Music Guild", which is an interesting name for a guitar company. But most of these guitars bore the Magnatone name. I don't know if there is a logo under the red paint on this one.

I bought this guitar in 2013 as a basket case. It was long ago refinished in a bright red and still had the original pickups and shards of the original pickguard and the three position toggle switch. The good people at Michael Dolan Guitars put it back together for me and I've modified it a bit over the years too. We had the original pickups rewound. I didn't care for the sound of them so I had a new pickguard made to try some Magnatone pickups from a 1965 Zephyr guitar. I didn't like these pickups either, so I made some aluminum adapter plates to mount a fantastic sounding pair of DeArmond gold foils from an old Harmony guitar, and that's what is on there today, along with a Bigsby vibrato and a roller bridge. I bought the tuners new in 2013, and I refretted it with jumbo frets in 2023. It is today an excellent sounding and playing guitar, very far from original, but functionally superior. I will miss it.

Included with the guitar are the pictured chipboard case. Also, the original pickups, which look cool but don't sound great (perhaps they could be rewound to sound better?). Also, the extra pickguard with the Magnatone Zephyr pickups. I didn't love the sound of these, but I do love the sound of the pickups from the Magnatone Tornado guitars. They are identical in shape and size, so if you can find a pair of those.... They are distinguishable from the Zephyr pickups by their adjustable polepieces.

The guitar is quite lightweight. Probably 6.5lbs or less. The nut width is very slightly wider than 1"9/16. The neck shape is comfortably round. Not large, just round. Please feel free to message me with questions.

The price on this guitar might seem a little much compared to sold listings, but I'm sticking close to it for a few reasons. First, I really adore this guitar and I've put some work and money into it. Second, it sounds and plays better than a stock example. Third, the extra pickups are worth some dough. An enterprising deviant could off them for some decent money. I'd rather sell it all together. That's just me. However, if you are reading this and you really want to buy some rare mediocre sounding pickups, please get in touch. I could be coaxed.

PS: One of the photos I took outdoors in the bright sun. I included it because I feel it more accurately shows the color of the guitar.