Identifying a pair of Kingston/Teiscos

[tinkris]

Hey howdy,

I have a pair of hollow bodies that are nearly identical, but I can't seem to get a good identification on either of them. Both have seen better days: you can see one that has been badged as a Kingston in the attached photos.

The other has clearly been the subject of amateur work: someone attempted to make some terrible inlays in the top and when they messed up the top layer of the laminate, gave up and painted the whole thing banana yellow. This second one differs from the one pictured in that it has a fender style neck which I'm convinced was a later replacement and not a factory copy. My suspicions are increased because the headstock lacks any badging.
Outside of that these two guitars are identical, with the exact same electronics that I can't match in any of the old catalogues. I'd like any guesses you guys might have on what these two are (there seems to be some big Teisco fans around). I also am looking for help on navigating the wiring on them: the switches are awkward and red here is going to need a new single coil pickup, so if anyone has a recommendation for approximating the original, I'd love to hear it.

[VintAxe]

Hi tinkris.

There are many variations on these Kawai built hollowbodies and many of them are difficult to document in the sales literature.

I'm sure you probably already know that the Kingston brand was used by Jack Westheimer on Kawai built guitars he imported from Japan starting around 1965. Michael Wright wrote a nice VG article about Jack that you can read here:




Based on the logo, I think your Kingston was probably built around 1968. I had a violin shaped Kingston model VS-180 that dated to 68 and had the same logo. I currently have a guitar with what appears to be the same body as yours listed for sale on Reverb. Based on the hardware I dated it to 1970 but given your example, mine might be a bit earlier than I thought.



The neck on your yellow one could be a replacement but this basic body style did come with a Fenderish shaped headstock so we can't determine whether or not the neck has been replaced based on the shape of the headstock. Most of these guitars were sold without a specific model identification so the best you can do for an ID is Kawai or an unknown Kawai supplier.

Chances are the pickup in your red one is OK and the problem is with a switch or pot. Your yellow one sounds like a parts guitar to me so you may be able to build one playable guitar from the 2 you own. Given the damage, the yellow one is probably worth more in parts anyway. If you do need an original pickup they come up on eBay fairly regularly since as I mentioned, these guitars are worth more in parts than intact instruments. Watch the auction and you'll find what you need eventually, just be ready to pay ridiculous money for the pup.

Good luck with the project.

P.S. I'm looking for an original bridge for mine so if you decide to part out the yellow one and want to sell the bridge, I'm your buyer. You can always email me at vintaxe55@gmail.com

[tinkris]

Wow, awesome response: I really appreciate it. Unfortunately, I'm missing the original bridge on yellow, but I'll keep you in mind if red ever blows up. I'll try harvesting electronics from yellow to get red up and running. It's not in as good of shape as your kawai on Reverb, but it has a nice tone to start from.

Thanks again, you keep an awesome site here.

[VintAxe]

Interestingly enough, my red Kawai on Reverb sold today; I guess the replacement bridge wasn't a deal buster. It was a very clean example of this model. I don't know your experience level so I apologize if I am telling you the obvious, but be sure to try De Oxit on the switches and pots before you start swapping parts. Generally cleaning the oxidation will get switches and pots working again. Fortunately on the Kawai these parts are easy to access by removing a few screws on the control plate. De Oxit is a bit pricey but you can probably find a small volume container on Amazon that won't set you back too much. If your parts are heavily oxidized, it may take 3-4 treatments before you get results and you may need to let the treated parts set overnite between treatments. Work the cleaner into the mechanisms by repeatedly turning/flipping them.

Hope you get your KawaI operational ASAP

[tinkris]

Sounds like good advice. I rebuild acoustic pianos, so the electronics on old guitars are a fairly new territory for me. I'll take any experience I can get. I haven't pulled any of the pots off yet, so good call.