Vintage Guitar Identification - Help Needed! Teisco?????

[Jemilio3]

Hi everyone! I am posting today because I need some help identifying a 60's/70's japanese guitar. It is my dad's guitar and he is old, so I am guessing it would be mid to late 60's, but I heard him mention 70's once so I really don't know the year. There are no markings on the guitar at all, except for the "made in japan" mark on the neck plate as shown in the photos below. (Oh, by the way it is a bolt-on neck) There are no logos or anything on the headstock either, which makes me think this could be a teisco because they used little stickers or buttons or something. My dad said that this is definitely a cheap Sears Roebuck guitar or something and I believe him because I play guitar and this guitar is terrible. It hurts to play it. I believe I remember my dad saying he traded a pocketknife for it. Anyways, thanks in advance for your help. Take a look at the pics and If you need me to take any more I will. - Jeff

[VintAxe]

Hey Jemilio3.

I don't have a positive ID for your guitar but it does have the Teisco "check mark" headstock profile characteristic of Teisco's made around 1968. My vote is Teisco.

[Jemilio3]

Hey thanks for the info. I have been looking at Teisco's and this guitar definitely looks like a Teisco K2-L. Upon looking closer at this guitar I have noticed some things that make it stand out from other guitars I have seen. It has a Strat-style input jack, which I haven't seen on a Teisco. It also has an angular pickguard. Most of the teisco's I have seen have pickguards that curve like the body. The tremolo style is different from the Teisco's I have seen. I noticed an Orpheus guitar with the exact same tremolo however. I haven't found any info on Orpheus though. VintAxe, you are right, It definitely has that checkmark style headstock.

I was talking to my dad and he said that the kid he traded for the guitar from was pretty rich and he got anything he wanted. My dad told me that the kid traded him the guitar because he had just gotten a new fender.

There is no model number or anything on the body... Should I check under the pickguard?

[Jemilio3]

Hey I was searching for Teiscos on eBay to see some pics and I found a Tulio guitar with the EXACT same neck plate as mine! The thing had no electronics in it so I couldn't really compare anything else. The body was roughly the same shape. So I searched for other Tulio brand guitars and the ones I found had the same "dual rocker" pickup switches, and the same knobs.

This would make my guitar a Teisco. But the question is, which one? I'm getting pretty excited that there seems to be no other guitar like this one.

[Spud1950]

Not all Teisco made re branded guitars have an exact actual Teisco model equivalent. Many Teisco made guitars bearing other brand names have mixed elements of various Teisco models and some are unique to themselves.

[Jemilio3]

That's cool. So kinda like mix and match. These vintage guitars are really interesting. The Japanese companies seem to have really cool innovations. Just from looking on this site I have seen guitars with built in effects, guitars with 5 pickups, and guitars that are shaped like quadrilaterals. It's awesome!

[VintAxe]

All of your observations concerning the distinguishing characteristics of this guitar are right on. The feature that most puzzles me is the Fender style input jack. Japanese builders in this era simply did not use this style of jack, it took time to route and slowed the assembly process. This suggests to me that you have a top of the line instrument from whoever the Japanese builder turns out to be.

As I consider the headstock profile more carefully it is more of a true hofner profile than the teisco check mark profile.

I'm still pondering this instrument.

[DeMontGuitars.com]

does that neck plate not look Hoshino Gakki to you guys?
This ones a mystery to me

[j.d.]

hello,

Lot of those are sold under brand-name "Imperial"

Hope this helps!

[concrete_charlie]

Right on JD, here's the same guitar with 4 pickups for sale on gbase listed as an Imperial
Also, check out the truss rod cover. Very similar to the Avalon Shaggs guitar. Maybe there's a connection?

[Peer]

[idtandy]

Have you looked here?

http://www.mark-cole.co.uk/teisco/