cool Japanese guitars

here are a few samples of my Japanese guitar collection.....

this one is badged Onkyo, 2 gold foil pickups, nice!!

this one is badged Lindell, solid mahogany body, killer pickups

this one is labeled Audition, 3 gold foil pickups!

unbranded, maybe Samick, 24" scale, smoking p90 sounding pups

a little out of focus but anyway.... Kent (guyatone style pickups)

unlabeled, great sounding pickups...

one puppy, unlabeled...

i just love the way these old pickups sound, nothing like 'em today...
i'll poke around for some more pics of others...

this one has a Teisco badge, 24" scale, sounds like whiskey and cigarettes, the bloooze man...

another nice one puppy, unbranded, cool red glitter on the pickup, great sound...

Lyle SG with gold foil pickups

another SG, unbranded, mini-humbuckers

Kay SG, all original

beautiful unbranded solid player, duo-sonic sound

Heit Deluxe, 4 pickup superstrat, individual switch for each pickup

Teisco Del Rey Spectrum

there's more around here somewhere....

Like stepping into a time machine Mike. Weird and wonderful at the same time...at least, that's how I remember the 60's...sort of.

Gotta love those big honkin' rocker switches (we don need no steenkin' mini toggles!)

Nice Mike! Is that Heit 4 possibly another Teisco build?...

I've seen several Teisco badges with a virtually similar pup/wiring layout as that, just not with that curvalicious body style.

Whatever the case, I'm a fan!

you making your own alloy scratchplates there?

you know what they say about the 60's right?
"if you can remember the 60's, you weren't really there!"

Iceman wrote:Nice Mike! Is that Heit 4 possibly another Teisco build?...

I've seen several Teisco badges with a virtually similar pup/wiring layout as that, just not with that curvalicious body style.

Whatever the case, I'm a fan!

that's one of my favorites
here's a look at the headstock...

according to the information at the webpage by Torch Harrison, it was made by Kawai/Teisco
Japan Badged Electric Guitars from 1960 to 1980
it is a great player, and very well made. one of the better quality Teisco guitars i've played. it needs a better bridge. it has a great feeling mahogany neck on it, nice easy, low action, rounded back, not too thick and nicely tapered to the treble side, 1 5/8" at the nut. very smooth player. not a heavy guitar either. the body is thin, 1 1/4". i have to open it up to check next time i change strings, it is probably mahogany plywood. there's nice variety of sounds from the different switch combinations. mellow 60's surfer-sound trem action. no dive bombs on this one (hahaha).

i love the style on these old things but the build technology was very basic. i have always wanted a good solid guitar in that old style. good quality wood, vintage pickups with modern electronics and hardware... new retro guitars i see don't quite do it for me so.....
i thought i might just as well make it myself. i created the design and found somebody with a CNC machine to manufacture the body for me. there will be one each of maple, alder, ash, mahogany.
so here is a sneak peak at a work-in-progress, my prototype #1 (maple)

Sgt. Vimes wrote:you making your own alloy scratchplates there?

nope!
all originals

and a few more from the closet and the shelves around workbench....

no label, solid mahogany, nice pickups kinda telecaster sounding

this one is labeled Kingston, nice flamey maple top and back probably mahogany core, smokin pickups, micro frets, set neck with neckplate

the classic, Teisco Del Rey Tulip, blistering pickups! grimey nasty twangy sound!

and a few bodies looking for necks and other parts...




many times the cost to restore far exceeds the value of the full guitar. it sometimes takes ages to find the right parts or even new vintage style replacements. and even all complete with original or new, they usually are not stable and solid over time. rarely do they stay solidly in tune from week to week in the case. and almost never stand up to heavy playing and rough handling when in service. so they have their limitations.
but they sound like nothing else these days, so tune up and record one toon at a time and you can make em work for you.
tinkering with these has to be for the 'enjoyment' of doing it because there really isn't much financial return possible unless you get really lucky.
which is why i decided to make my own and try to capture some of the old vibe in a solid dependable guitar.

Thought you might like to see my two Teisco built guitars, look kinda familiar....


Top one is a Jedson labelled Tele type model, the other is an Audition but sadly it's missing it's logo.

I also have a link to a Jedson Info site, it as some details on their old models, some of them Teisco made.

DAN.

the pickups on that Jedson are great ones.

just like on this nice example of a Tulip guitar
this one has rollers on a threaded rod for the bridge. the rollers are sized to mimic the radius of the fretboard, and can be adjusted for desired string spacing. note the 2 piece pickguard. the black, lower portion is metal, with the jack raised up on an angle, like the inverse of the strat style jack.

and another Tulip with different pickups.
these floral pickguards last forever without wearing off the pattern because it is actually clear plastic, etched on the backside with the pattern filled white and the entire back surface coated black.

this is one of the super cheapos with awesome sounding pickups, Guyatone style, super twang-bangers. i've got it strung up with 9's and it is lively as can be. Surfs Up Dudes!

and this hollow body with original pups

and one more with no name on it. a project that needs some tuning pegs, a bridge and the missing knob is for a selector switch, but mostly all there. 3 Guyatone Pickups!!! and way cool pearly pickguard.

wow, some cool guitars you have there! that hollow body looks a bit special too!

according to ConcreteCharlie at the matsumoku forum, the hollow body is a Firstman S2-C, "Liberty" from around 1967. it seems they were an offshoot from Teisco
matsumoku forum thread (post is on page 2)

I do like the idea of making a modern type build - looks like a great start