Teisco, Guyatone, Truetone...

[luxinterior]

Maybe someone could possibly help me in finding some information out about this guitar. I bought it on ebay and it is (apparently) a Guyatone or a Truetone. It would be good to know about what year it might be and if it is a respectable guitar.

http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/cc23 ... _12JPG.jpg

http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/cc23 ... e_3JPG.jpg

[VintAxe]

Hi luxinterior,

Your guitar is neither a Guyatone or Truetone. It is a EP model Kawai built Teisco from the late 1960's or early 1970's.

It is a student grade instrument that can deliver in interesting tone in the right setting. Here's a video of Seasick Steve playing his EP style guitar to great effect (yours is in much better condition).



enjoy, sb

[mrblanche]

But Seasick Steve's guitar has six-on-a-side tuners.

[VintAxe]

Yeah, there are a lot of variations on this particular type of guitar. Some I've been able to identify as a specific model and others I haven't. From what I can tell they were all built by Kawai in the later 60's and early 70's.

Here's my EP-8T from the Japanese guitar gallery:


I also have one with the 6 on side tuners on the For Sale page:

[luxinterior]

I know this is the wrong section to ask this in, but how much would something like this typically fetch? Now that it's too late I'm interested in knowing if I've been ripped off.

[VintAxe]

Hey luxinterior,

I would guesstimate thay the majority of guitars in this category sell for something between $125 - $250.

Cosmetic condition and playability are the two primary factors influencing price. sb

[luxinterior]

My guitar has arrived, and as it turns out, printed in the little circle on the headstock is the word "Truetone". I assume, for that reason, that the guitar is a truetone. Does this change anything that you had told me previously?

[VintAxe]

I guess it tells us the guitar was distributed by Western Auto.

Western Auto distributed Kay guitars until about 1968 when they began to sprinkle a few Japanese imports into their line up. By 1970, all their guitars were Japanese imports.

I still think Kawai is the builder. There is a guitar pretty close to yours in the 1970 Western Auto catalog I have posted in the catalog section of the site.