MIJ or MIC ???

[lordbizarre]

Hi !
just got this guitar at home from a friend who claims his father received this guitar in a badge together with Parrot acoustic guitars.He presumes that this guitar is also a made in China-one.At first glance I had a feeling this could be very old Guyatone ( maybe 50's )
After close examination I found the pot's to be from KATAOKA Electric Co,LTD Made In Japan . The tuners are also MIJ ( but honestly didn't check out if original...).The semi-set neck ( with two woodscrews secured as some other MIJ guitars I have ) is almost the same as some very old electrics I've seen before ( and certainly as a 1963 Kawai ) An other feature is the use of woodscrews with a nodge and not with a cross !
It would surprise me if China had already electric guitars in the late 50's /early 60's and that they should have bought the hardware from Japan ????
The stoptail/trem doesn't seem to be original but left his marks to the (maybe-)original case...
I've a strong feeling , because the MIJ pot's and the Volume/Tone pot-knobs this could be a realy end 50's Guyatone...???...
anyone ?

[VintAxe]

I think you are right thinking this is a late 1950's Guyatone Ivan. I've never seen this model before but it does have characteristics that suggest Guyatone to me. If you look at the pickguard, you see a black line border with all of the pickguard screws placed on the line. Compare that to this late 1950's Guyatone LG-60B. Also, the knobs on your guitar are very similar to the LG-60B. It is hard to see in my picture, but the LG-60B knobs have Volume and Tone written on them in the same lettering as the knobs on your guitar.



I've never seen that style of pickup before but Guyatone was experimenting with a variety of different pickup designs in the late 1950's.

I also agree that it is very unlikely your guitar was built in China. Just doesn't make sense in a historical context.