Teisco
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Website | teisco.com |
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Teisco was a Japanese
In 2018, the brand "Teisco" was relaunched –along with former guitar company
Company history
The brand name "Teisco" was established in 1948, and sometimes incorrectly explained as[3] an acronym of Tokyo Electric Instrument and Sound Company.[4] However, the exact name of company establishing and producing the Teisco brand was not that name, and rather, they had frequently renamed their company.
The company was founded in 1946 by renowned Hawaiian and Spanish guitarist Atsuwo Kaneko and electrical engineer Doryu Matsuda. The company was originally called Aoi Onpa Kenkyujo (roughly: Hollyhock Soundwave or Electricity Laboratories). In 1956, the company name was changed to Nippon Onpa Kogyo Co., and changed to Teisco Co. in 1964. In 1967, the company was acquired by
Products
Guitars
Teisco guitars were imported to the United States since 1959 or early 1960, and then re-badged as "Teisco Del Rey" after 1964.[2] From 1948 to the early 1960s Teisco products often, like many Japanese products of the period, shared several designs with American and Western European products of the time including
However, in the early 1960s Teisco products became increasingly unique. Teisco guitars became notable for unusual body shapes, such as the May Queen design resembling an artist's palette, or other unusual features such as having four
After
Many Teisco guitars had a primitive
Baritone guitars
Teisco also produced a six-string bass called TB-64 (or ET-320) in 1964, similar to the
Also, 2 or 4-pickup
However the formal relations between Teisco and these models are not enough verified yet. The VN-2 is used by The Noble Gasses band of Los Angeles, California.Basses
Teisco basses are easily identified through a unique pickup design exclusive to the Del Rey series. This design consisted of a large rectangular chrome pickup with black plastic holding the four poles in one place. Other designs may vary, but are all easily distinguishable and unique among subsequent bass designs. Teisco made a short scale bass under the Heit Deluxe name. With a scale length of 23.5", it was a student or beginner instrument. It featured a single pickup, volume and tone controls and a rudimentary bridge/tailpiece.
Amplifiers
Teisco also produced numerous models of guitar and bass amplifiers which were often sold under the Checkmate brand name, but also named Teisco or Silvertone as well as Beltone and Melody. In the 1950s, early amplifier models were very basic 5-10 watt tube/valve designs. During the 1960s, more advanced and powerful models were offered, such as Checkmate 25, Checkmate 50, and Checkmate 100 featuring dual channels, reverb and tremolo effects. Teisco also made solid-state (transistor-based) models, some designed no less radically than their guitars of the time. The Sound Port 60 (60 watts/RMS) and Sound Port 120 (120 watts/RMS) amplifiers from the late 1960s were copies of
Synthesizers
Teisco also produced a range of synthesizers, with models including the 60F, 110F, 100F, 100P, SX-210, SX-240, and SX-400.[14]
Bands such as Hot Chip (UK), Pure Reason Revolution (UK), and Goose (Belgium) are known to use Teisco synthesizers.
Drums
Teisco marketed drum sets in limited sizes and configurations during the 1960s, sold under the brand name Del Ray. They were produced by sub-contractors to fill out the company's catalog as a supplier of combo instruments,[15] but discontinued after the acquisition by Kawai.
PA system
Teisco monitors can be seen in The Beatles' 1966 concert in Tokyo.[16]
Bibliography
- OUTPUT – エレクトリックが新しい感情のダイナマイトだった [OUTPUT: Electric was a Dynamite of New Emotion]. Y.M.M. Player Magazine mook (in Japanese). Tokyo: Player Corporation. 1982-01-20. ID:09818-1-20.
- 60's Bizarre Guitars. Guitar Magazine mooks / Rittor Music mook (in Japanese). Tokyo: OCLC 269873814. ID:4-69771-02, ASIN B0064YESZO. Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2015-07-29.., etc), but this book itself has been discontinued for a long time.
The history described on this book is widely referred (for example, "Teisco catalog 1974/05" - Meyers, Frank (2015). History of Japanese Electric Guitars. Centerstream Publications. ISBN 978-1-57424-315-4.
- Models and Catalogs
- Teisco timeline by Mark Cole
- Teisco catalog 1964-1965, Nihon Onpa Kōgyō, Co. (日本音波工業)
- Teisco catalog 1965 by Yamaha
- Teisco catalog 1965-66, Teisco Co.
- Teisco catalog 1966, p. 1, 2–3, Teisco Co.
- Teisco catalog 1967, Teisco Shōji, Co. (テスコ商事)
- Teisco catalog 1968 (publisher unknown)
- New Sounds In Music – Solid State Effect Guitars (late 1960s), Teisco Shōji, Co. (テスコ商事)
- Teisco catalog 1974/05, Kawai/Teisco
- Teisco catalog 1980, Kawai/Teisco
- Teisco catalog 1982, Kawai/Teisco
Further reading
- Wright, Michael (25 April 2002). "Teisco Guitars, Part I – Rock 'n' Roll Dreams, Part I". Vintage Guitar.
- Wright, Michael (2 May 2002). "Teisco Guitars, Part II – Rock 'n' Roll Dreams, Part II". Vintage Guitar.
- Wright, Michael (20 January 2014). "1968 Teisco May Queen – Perennial Classic, Made in Japan". Vintage Guitar (July 2003).
- Wright, Michael (30 December 2013). "Spectrum 5". Vintage Guitar.
- Moseley, Willie G. (20 January 2014). "Teisco Del Rey Basses – '60s Egalitarianism from Japan". Vintage Guitar (October 2014).
- "Teisco 110F". Future Music. No. 66. OCLC 1032779031.
See also
- Kent guitars
References
- ^ BandLab to Reboot Teisco and Harmony Guitar Brands by Carly Smith on Reverb.com, 14 Dec 2017
- ^ a b Wright, Michael (8 January 2004). "Jack Westheimer — Pioneer of Global Guitarmaking". Vintage Guitar (July 1999).
- ^ Mark Cole (12 December 2006). "Teisco timeline". Teisco Twanger's Paradice. Archived from the original on 2010-05-03. Retrieved 2010-01-31.
- ^
Dregni, Michael; Aldrich, Margret; Murray, Charles Shaar; Voyageur Voyageur Press (19 September 2003). This Old Guitar: Making Music and Memories from Country to Jazz, Blues to Rock. MBI Publishing Company LLC. p. 134. ISBN 978-1-61060-549-6.
- ^ 60's Bizarre Guitars 1993
- FujiGen) were known to had been supplied to Goya; and Teisco's similar models might have some relations to them.
- ^ Wright, Michael (July 2003). "1968 Teisco May Queen – Perennial Classic, Made in Japan". Vintage Guitar.
- ^ "Eko Auriga 1969/1971". FetishGuitars.com. Archived from the original on 2012-04-25.
- ^ US patent D208948, Thomas W. Jennings, "GUITAR", issued 1967-10-17, assigned to Warwick Electronics Inc.
- ^
"Genesis of FujiGen (start of the electric guitar manufacturing)". Matsumoto guitars [Guitar Manufacturers in Matsumoto City] (in Japanese). FujiGen had subcontracted with Teisco, and manufactured models including: J-1, J-2, EB-1 (similar to EB-18), VN-2, and VN-4; And then, their former factory manager had spin-out to establish a Teisco factory in Toyoshina, called "Teisco String Instruments, Company" (also known as "Matsumoto Teisco").
External links
- Official website
- Teisco Twanger's Paradise, a site for Teisco collectors
- VintAxe.com, features pictures and descriptions of Vintage Teisco Guitars. Must pay for access.
- Japanese Page on King of Kays – information and photos of vintage Japanese electric guitars at KingofKays.com
- Teisco synthesizers pages, with information on various models of Teisco synthesizers
- Vintage Synth Explorer: Teisco synthesizers
- Teisco synthesizer & Sequencer, Sequencer.de
- Teisco Amps