Tariffs made importing foreign instruments unreasonably expensive. The original company produced guitars for domestic use. At that time, Kawai discontinued the Teisco brand on their guitars, but kept the brand name for use on their electronic keyboards. The Teisco brand lasted until 1967 when the company and assets were purchased by the Kawai Musical Instrument Company. Teisco is the name that gave the company it’s recognition. There was another company called Tokyo Sound Co Ltd, that built Guyatone guitars. However, according to the company founder, Mr. The original name of the company was Aoi Onpa Kenkyujo, which can be loosely translated to Hollyhock Soundwave or Electricity Laboratories.īy 1956 the name was changed to Nippon Onpa Kogyo Company, then in 1964 it was changed to Teisco, which most sources explain is an acronym for Tokyo Electric Instrument and Sound Company. Kaneko teamed up with electrical engineer, Doryu Matsuda. He also played the “Spanish” style guitar. Teisco, was a Japanese Company that was founded in 1946 by a Hawaiian guitarist named Atsuwo Kaneko. It was a fad, but many companies saw it as a bull guitar market and rushed in to make money. I cannot describe the incredible demand for guitars and basses after the British Invasion. These guitars were normally sold by brokers, who usually re-branded them or had them rebadged them prior to shipment, then sold them to music stores, department stores, and even pawn shops. Although there was no metal name plate on the headstock, by it’s pedigree, I can tell it was made by Teisco at a time when the United States and the United Kingdom were being flooded with cheap electric guitars made in Japan. He owned a grocery store, and took it in as pawn from a customer that could not pay their bill. (Thanks to Mike Fox, Leslie Hampton and Doug Agnew.I have an old guitar that my Dad gave me back in 1965. Measuring about a half foot longer than a Stratocaster, this tall drink of water weighs just over five pounds! One could easily do an entire gig on this guitar. But while it may seem a bargain, just remember that you’ll undoubtedly have to take it to a good luthier to make it play as good as it looks. Suffice to say, the Del Rey EP-10T hasn’t quite appreciated in value the same way an early ’60s Strat has. If you find one that’s stock, in great cosmetic condition and set up nicely, it could easily set you back about a thousand bucks. When new, it listed for about $70, or roughly a quarter of what a Fender Stratocaster was going for in the early ’60s. The Del Rey EP-10T is one of the more collectible Teiscos. And either due to the headstock angle or the absence of tall frets, there isn’t much sustain, a common issue with many vintage budget guitars. The pickups are so microphonic that they squeal even at low volumes.
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With both pickups on, however, we were rewarded with a full-bodied “macho acoustic guitar” rhythm sound that was a blast to play.Īs for using distortion, forget it. Once the guitar was plugged in, the bridge pickup setting proved to be bright and garagey, while the neck setting was rather muted and almost too bassy. You never know what you’re going to get with a 50-plus-year-old guitar, and the Del Rey EP-10T was no exception to the rule.