Teisco after purchase by Kawai

[Drew]

Is there a way to tell the difference in Teisco guitars after they were purchased by Kawai in 1967, markngs, ID numbers, etc. I've heard the quality improved after the Kawai purchase.

[jedistar]

Do these help?

http://www.vguitar.com/brands/details.asp?ID=64

http://www.vguitar.com/brands/details.asp?ID=65

http://www.vintaxe.com/faq.htm

still trying to track down info for Teisco, cheers

www.jedistar.com

[VintAxe]

Hey Drew,

I'm working on a translation of Teisco History that was published in Bizarre Guitars of the 60's that covers the transfer of business, the factorys used, etc, related to Teisco and Kawai guitar production. Actually, I have the translation from Japanese to English, but the English is a literal translation of the Japanese so it needs to be edited pretty heavily to read well.

According to the history, Kawai officially took over Teisco January 9, 1967. Interestingly, First Man and Honey were started by some of the younger Teisco employees that objected to the Kawai takeover. On January 21, 1967, Teisco Business Affairs was created as a subsidiary of Kawai and Teisco production was moved to a new factory. Kawai guitar production was then moved into the Teisco factory. I think the first guitar series released by Teisco Business Affairs was the Spectrum.

So, if you have a Teisco built after 1967, it was built under Kawai Management. It took about a year in 1967 to completely move the factories around so any Teisco from 1968 on probably came out of the new Teisco factory. I think you focus on models and years of production more than markings or ID numbers. Hope this helps.

BTW, I'll be making the Company Histories published in Bizarre Guitars of the 60's available on the site as soon as I get time to edit the translations. Interesting stuff. sb

[Drew]

Thank you both for this information, very interesting history. As with other segments of Japanese production of consumer goods in the late 1960s such as cars, electronics, etc. things were booming. I guess this virtually wiped out US production of lower priced guitars. Look forward to futher info....thanks again, Drew