TEISCO GUITAR NECK HOW TO
TEISCO GUITAR NECK FULL

TEISCO GUITAR NECK HOW TO

I left the strings on there because I also found out that during the early days of Teisco, the employees were actually making guitar strings in-house! How crazy is that!?!? They bought piano wire from Germany and somehow figured out how to make the different gauges. This is the second guitar and it came with the original case, chord, and two of the strings.

The first was when I visited Japan, and the second I bought here in the states. There was also a one pickup variation of this model called the J4. But this same guy also made guitar bodies for Guyatone! So the first two electric guitar makers in Japan, had factories that were within walking distance in Tokyo, had the same small woodworking shop making all the wood portions for both companies! He mustвЂ™ve been busy as hell!! There werenвЂ™t many of these guitars made and even fewer have survived the years. So all these bodies and necks were being churned out by one guy who lived near the factory. See, at this time Teisco was primarily an electronics manufacturer and not a woodworking shop. What I find amusing about these 1950s Japanese solid bodies is that almost all of the bodies and necks were made by one man living in Tokyo. It can be corrected with a few different methods like heat and neck resets. These guitars were usually like this from day one. Back then, if you had the good action at the first few frets, the вЂњcowboy chordвЂќ area, then you were all good! But as you go up the neck the action gets higher and higher. The set neck design is very similar to the 1950s Harmony Stratotone, but the angle is never quite right on these guitars. Once again, IвЂ™m always in the guitar minority!! But there was a reason behind this thick neck, and that was to overcome the string pull without having a reinforced rod.

TEISCO GUITAR NECK FULL

I really like that full V shape in my hands when I play guitar, but there arenвЂ™t any current makers that feature such a deep V. The neck is very thick and features a wonderfully deep V carve. Think of this model more as a вЂњblendingвЂќ combination. This J5 model didnвЂ™t have any pickup switching per se, but rather there were two volume knobs and one tone knob. Of course, they are crude when compared to modern guitars, but the Japanese electric builders (there were only two during this period, Teisco and Guyatone) werenвЂ™t that far behind many American guitar makers. They features all-wood construction and good frets. The tuners are very decent on this guitar and really these are well-built instruments.

And thereвЂ™s that early Teisco вЂњswanвЂќ logo that I love. ThisВ was the only Teisco style headstock to feature this shape and the double racing stripe just looks so cool. Notice the little label on the pickups? They say вЂњGuitar Mike.вЂќ They were using English words now and these guitars were being sold at American military bases and installations in and around Tokyo. But this model was an actual вЂњuprightвЂќ electric guitar! Hey, novel idea! These were also among the first guitars aimed at western players and people. This meant you could play the guitars sitting down or standing. Previously, many Japanese solid body electrics were a sort of вЂњbridgeвЂќ between lap steels and electric guitars. Anyway, this model wasnвЂ™t the first solid body offered by Teisco, but it is arguably the first Teisco solid body Teisco electric that didnвЂ™t share lap steel characteristics and lap steel pickups. These вЂњJвЂќ models were built in the late 50s and lasted until around 1961. Of course you can argue the nuances and construction techniques, but when you start to think on a global levelвЂ¦ Take for instance this early offering from Teisco. But the вЂњsecondaryвЂќ makers were all building electric guitars with a similar mindset. You really canвЂ™t compare these early offerings to Fender or Gibson made guitars, who really seemed to be light years ahead in design and approach. Small bodies, thick necks and usually powerful pickups. When you examine many of the first solid body electrics from Harmony, Kay, and Valco (in America) and Teisco and Guyatone (in Japan), then you see many similarities. Ahh, the small wonders that are early electric guitars.

Teisco guitar neck