Teisco guitars were built by a company in Japan founded by Doryu Matsuda and Atswo Kaneko. The guitars were first produced in the early 1950′s and into the 1970′s. They also manufactured other instruments as well including microphones, amplifiers, drums, keyboards and even synthesizers. These guitars though not considered top line instruments had some unique qualities like unusual designs, some models had many control knobs and switches giving you a wide selection of sounds from which to choose and also a model that had an amplifier built into it. For these reasons and more they are well sought after by many collectors. They also were imported under different brands like Silvertone which was the one I had when I was a kid. I had a Silvertone amplifier as well. Some of the other brands were Kingston, Kimberly, Beltone, Kent, World Teisco, Jedson, Heit Deluxe, Norma, Duke, Lyle and Tulio. In the UK they imported the Teisco guitars under the names Audtion, Arbiter, Top Twenty and Kay.
Models Of Teisco Guitars
There were many different models of Teisco guitars so I’ll go over a few that stand out for me. I’ll start with the one I believe I had and I say believe because it’s been quite a spell but I’m pretty sure it was the Spectrum 2. A dual cutaway two pickup model I use to run through a Silvertone amp head and some home made cabinet. I remember the amplifier was never loud enough for me so in that sense nothings changed.
Another cool model is the TRG-1 this is the one that had the amplifier built into it. That in and of itself is enough to make it a collector of anyone interested in these guitars. It is a solid body like the Spectrum 2 but with only one pickup.
The May Queen stands out with the painter palette body with the f hole very nicely. It also has a vibrato bar and carries two pickups.
The EV-2T sports another of their very unique designs sort of a misshaped soft cornered pentagon. It carries two pickups and a vibrato bar as well.
The three pickup TG-64 with handle hole cut into the body, the striped pick guard and the 4 and 2 head stock is also compelling.
The four pickup models are all pretty captivating with all the controls that come into play but I prefer the Spectrum-4 with honorable mentions to the SD-4l and the SS-4l.
The hollowbodies have some great one, two and three pickup designs as well like the two pickup phantom-22 and the two pickup TE-300 which strongly bears the body resemblance to that of the Fender Telecaster only with an f hole.
Teisco Guitars For Sale
If you’re looking to add teisco guitars to your collection or trying to locate Teisco guitar parts, due to their abundance back in the day they are still out there and for the most part reasonably priced. Your best bet would be to check online on some of the auction sites and various other sites as well. You may even be able to still find them at rummage sales or second hand shops. In the end, I think the uniqueness of Teisco guitars make them a neat instrument to have.