La Baye 2-by-4 Guitar
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DEVO Signature Model by Eastwood
Weighing in at 6-lbs this guitar is called 2-by-4 for obvious reasons. The build quality and sound of the pickups is pretty decent for a guitar at this cost range. The licensed Bigsby works well. The roller bridge makes it work pretty smooth. The Eastwood P-90s can sound Fender Strat clean or at higher volumes have a bit of growl. The guitar is manufactured in China. The true work and overall setup was pretty good and I did not need to do much out of the box.
Due to the radical shape, using a guitar strap is pretty much needed even when seated. The jack location is a bit strange and you will certainly need to send the cable around the guitar strap. This works fine and no big deal. This is not a travel guitar as its overall length from bottom to top of head stock is about 44-inches. Based on an original guitar played by Bob 1 of DEVO fame.
Another very cool radical guitar from Eastwood Custom Shop. Eastwood builds guitars based on old designs with a few new twists. Their Custom Shop asks guitar nuts what they want and if they get a buy in for a design they manufacture the guitar. Nice idea. This is the second Eastwood guitar I have owned.
Eastwood Custom Shop’s La Baye 2-by-4 DEVO Signature Model includes Bigsby B-50, DEVO logo gigbag or hard case (if ordered with one), certificate of authenticity. There were only 45 of the original La Baye 2×4 made in 1967 making it pretty rare. They now sell for about $2500+. One definite design flaw on the original 2by4 is the placement of the three-way pickup select on the bottom of the guitar. It did look cool, like a rifle trigger, but there’s almost no way to play this guitar without hitting the toggle. Forget playing while sitting down. This tribute model has some minor updates: the switch was moved to the body top (Bob 1 suggestion), features 4 top hat knobs for better access and better pickups than the original guitar which had relatively weak output with little tonal range. The Bigsby is better also than the original La Baye tremolo.
Very cool guitar. If you are a DEVO fan even better. Below is the original.
Original 1966 La Baye 2X4 Guitar
Model Name: La Baye 2-by-4 DEVO Signature Model
Colors: Red
Body: Basswood
Neck: Maple, Bolt-on
Fingerboard: Rosewood, Dot Markers
Scale Length: 24 3/4″
Width at Nut:1 5/8″
Pickups: Dual EW Custom Hi-Output P-90’s, Chrome Covers
Switching: 3-Way
Controls: 2 Volume, 2 Tone
Bridge: Bigsby B-50, Roller Bridge
Hardware: Gotoh Nickel/Chrome
Strings: D’Addario #10
Case: hardshell case INCLUDED
The guitar also comes in Black, Natural and a left-handed Red. You can order without hard case and it will ship with a light weight gig bag.
Bob 1 playing an original La Baye 2-by-4
History
There were approximately 45 original LaBaye 2×4’s manufactured. They were invented by and made for Dan Helland. He named them “LaBaye” after the city he sold them in: Green Bay, Wisconsin. LaBaye 2×4 guitars were produced in the Holman-Woodell factory in Neodesha, Kansas in 1967, and share features and hardware with the Wurlitzer-branded guitars that were built in the same factory. The guitar is so-called because it is modelled after a 2-by-4 plank with a neck attached to it. The models were identified as Six, Twelve and Four, which was the bass version. Here is some history on the La Baye 2by4 guitar at Vintage Guitar.
