Can anyone identify this guitar?

EasilyAmused · April 1st, 2007, 07:21 PM

With so many knowledgable people on the board, I thought I'd see if anyone could help me out... I bought this guitar 2 years ago or so from a used clothing store (of all places!). It needed some work, but I had it set up proffessionally for playing slide and it sounds incredible.

But, I'm moving to a smaller place soon and need to be cutting down the collection, so I've been thinking about selling this guitar. The thing is, I don't have a clue what it is, or what I should ask for it... Can anyone help?

Disastercaster · April 1st, 2007, 07:27 PM

This guitar is... Henry.

From what it looks like I would have said it was European but your picture links say it's a Teisco?

EasilyAmused · April 1st, 2007, 07:31 PM

I had just made a guess as to the possibility... but I don't really know too much. I just know the pickups have gold foil - like I've seen on some teisco guitars... sort of... so when I saved the pictures, that is what I labelled them as. but I don't really know anything about the guitar.

Joe-Bob · April 1st, 2007, 09:40 PM

Teisco maybe. Knobs are changed.

Jeffscreamedcorn · April 1st, 2007, 09:46 PM

IMHO, it's a modified Teisco. Besides the afore mentioned knobs, it looks like a Gibson tuneamatic, and maybe a changed tremolo.

Poppatwang · April 3rd, 2007, 11:06 AM

Teisco. Has the so-called "Ry Cooder" pups. They were sold under a lot of names including Kent & Guyatone.
If you had four pickups you'd be Hound Dog Taylor!

PapaBeef · April 3rd, 2007, 11:37 AM

Sure looks like a Teisco to me.
I'm pretty sure Kent was one of the few names not made by Teisco back in the day.
But there were sure a lot of them.
I had a Kimberly that was made by them. And I've seen tons of other Teisco built guitars sold under other names & even without names.
Those gold foil PUPs look pure Teisco to me. And so does everything else about the guitar that's original.
The knobs were definitely not stock. And the bridge is hard to see in the pic. But if it's a tune a matic type, it was also replaced.
A lot of these guitars had a piece of threaded rod with round pieces on each end that fit over the adjusting wheels, and round saddles that would adjust from side to side, but not front to back, which made intonation interesting at times.
But the Kents I've had were totally different animals...
A lot of plastic hardware like PUP covers & bridges, rocker switches, big chicken head type knob as a selector switch, bridge muting bar & all kinds of crazy stuff like that.And the higher end models had a lot of fancy inlay work so you knew they were Kents.

Jelly · April 3rd, 2007, 11:48 AM

The pickups mos def look like Teisco. The headstock with the string tree bar and zero fret do look European, but I think Teisco did those things too.

PapaBeef · April 3rd, 2007, 12:17 PM

Yeah...Same headstock, tuners,string tree bar & zero fret as my Kimberly.
Also same PUPs, except there's only 2 of them, same individual swithes for the PUPS & looks like the same trem tailpiece minus the bar.
There's no question in my mind it's a Teisco product.

Poppatwang · April 4th, 2007, 02:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PapaBeef

Sure looks like a Teisco to me.
I'm pretty sure Kent was one of the few names not made by Teisco back in the day.

From Vintage Guitar: Another clarification about brand names is in order. Teisco guitars can be found mainly bearing at least eight brand names: Teisco, Teisco Del Rey, Kingston, World Teisco, Silvertone, Kent, Kimberly and Heit Deluxe. Teisco was the name used mainly in Japan but also on a few occasions here in the United States. Most Teisco guitars were imported into the United States by Chicago’s W.M.I. Corporation — originally owned by guitar importing pioneer Jack Westheimer — bearing both the Teisco Del Rey and Kingston brand names. By the mid-’60s W.M.I. was providing Teiscos to Sears and Roebuck carrying the Silvertone moniker.

The same article said that Guyatone had nothing to do with Teisco, yet I own Guyatone lap steels with the exact same Teisco "gold foil" pickups.

Mysteries of the Orient.

PapaBeef · April 4th, 2007, 04:29 PM

I could swear I saw something from Vintage Guitar that said both Kent & Goyatone had nothing to do with Teisco.
It could have been somewhere else, though.
I'm old & didn't take very good care of my brain back in the day.
But I've owned several Kents & several Teiscos & IMO they don't appear to be related.
If you search E Bay for Kent guitars, most listings do mention Teisco.
But look at the pics.
Not that it really matters one way or another.

Jackson Jackson · April 4th, 2007, 04:34 PM

No question, it's a Teisco (possibly and likely modded).

PapaBeef · April 4th, 2007, 04:42 PM

You got me going there.
I just looked up the afore mentioned VG article & guess what...
In one paragraph it states that both Goyatone & Kent guitars were made by a company called Tokyo Sound Co.,Ltd, which had nothing to do with Teisco.
The next paragraph was the one posted by Papatwang.
Check it out: http://www.vintageguitar.com/brands/details.asp?ID=64
So that remains a mystery.

Poppatwang · April 5th, 2007, 01:40 PM

Plus those pups showing up on Guyatones & Teiscos. Maybe they came from a third party vendor.

April 1st, 2007, 07:27 PM	#2 (permalink)
Disastercaster Tele-Holic Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Dublin, Ireland Age: 20 Posts: 781	This guitar is... Henry. From what it looks like I would have said it was European but your picture links say it's a Teisco? __________________ Mighty Atomics, Garage Rock N Roll!!!

April 1st, 2007, 07:31 PM	#3 (permalink)
EasilyAmused Tele-Meister Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: London Age: 25 Posts: 252	I had just made a guess as to the possibility... but I don't really know too much. I just know the pickups have gold foil - like I've seen on some teisco guitars... sort of... so when I saved the pictures, that is what I labelled them as. but I don't really know anything about the guitar. __________________ Check out my bands' sites: Soul/Blues and Brit Pop and Rock

April 1st, 2007, 09:40 PM	#4 (permalink)
Joe-Bob Friend of Leo's Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Dallas, Texas Age: 46 Posts: 4,026	Teisco maybe. Knobs are changed. __________________ "German is the language God uses when He really means business." --FZ

April 3rd, 2007, 11:06 AM	#6 (permalink)
Poppatwang Tele-Afflicted Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: St. Paul, MN Posts: 1,909 13 Photos	Teisco. Has the so-called "Ry Cooder" pups. They were sold under a lot of names including Kent & Guyatone. If you had four pickups you'd be Hound Dog Taylor! __________________ The Dieselfitters http://www.dieselfitters.com Roy Hubbs http://www.royhubbs.com

April 3rd, 2007, 11:37 AM	#7 (permalink)
PapaBeef Tele-Meister Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: EN JAY Posts: 412	Sure looks like a Teisco to me. I'm pretty sure Kent was one of the few names not made by Teisco back in the day. But there were sure a lot of them. I had a Kimberly that was made by them. And I've seen tons of other Teisco built guitars sold under other names & even without names. Those gold foil PUPs look pure Teisco to me. And so does everything else about the guitar that's original. The knobs were definitely not stock. And the bridge is hard to see in the pic. But if it's a tune a matic type, it was also replaced. A lot of these guitars had a piece of threaded rod with round pieces on each end that fit over the adjusting wheels, and round saddles that would adjust from side to side, but not front to back, which made intonation interesting at times. But the Kents I've had were totally different animals... A lot of plastic hardware like PUP covers & bridges, rocker switches, big chicken head type knob as a selector switch, bridge muting bar & all kinds of crazy stuff like that.And the higher end models had a lot of fancy inlay work so you knew they were Kents. __________________ What I mean is, sometimes I just don't know what I mean. Ya know what I mean?

April 1st, 2007, 09:46 PM	#5 (permalink)
Jeffscreamedcorn Tele-Holic Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: beantown Age: 51 Posts: 796	IMHO, it's a modified Teisco. Besides the afore mentioned knobs, it looks like a Gibson tuneamatic, and maybe a changed tremolo.

April 3rd, 2007, 11:48 AM	#8 (permalink)
Jelly Tele-Afflicted Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Germany Posts: 1,423 10 Photos	The pickups mos def look like Teisco. The headstock with the string tree bar and zero fret do look European, but I think Teisco did those things too. __________________ "I got on a bus and I went to Fresno because I thought Merle Haggard lived there."

April 3rd, 2007, 12:17 PM	#9 (permalink)
PapaBeef Tele-Meister Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: EN JAY Posts: 412	Yeah...Same headstock, tuners,string tree bar & zero fret as my Kimberly. Also same PUPs, except there's only 2 of them, same individual swithes for the PUPS & looks like the same trem tailpiece minus the bar. There's no question in my mind it's a Teisco product. __________________ What I mean is, sometimes I just don't know what I mean. Ya know what I mean?

April 4th, 2007, 04:29 PM	#11 (permalink)
PapaBeef Tele-Meister Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: EN JAY Posts: 412	I could swear I saw something from Vintage Guitar that said both Kent & Goyatone had nothing to do with Teisco. It could have been somewhere else, though. I'm old & didn't take very good care of my brain back in the day. But I've owned several Kents & several Teiscos & IMO they don't appear to be related. If you search E Bay for Kent guitars, most listings do mention Teisco. But look at the pics. Not that it really matters one way or another. __________________ What I mean is, sometimes I just don't know what I mean. Ya know what I mean?

April 4th, 2007, 04:34 PM	#12 (permalink)
Jackson Jackson Tele-Meister Join Date: May 2006 Location: Portland, OR Age: 35 Posts: 381	No question, it's a Teisco (possibly and likely modded). __________________ myspace.com/jacksonBjackson jacksonBjackson.com trixiestudios.com

April 4th, 2007, 04:42 PM	#13 (permalink)
PapaBeef Tele-Meister Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: EN JAY Posts: 412	You got me going there. I just looked up the afore mentioned VG article & guess what... In one paragraph it states that both Goyatone & Kent guitars were made by a company called Tokyo Sound Co.,Ltd, which had nothing to do with Teisco. The next paragraph was the one posted by Papatwang. Check it out: http://www.vintageguitar.com/brands/details.asp?ID=64 So that remains a mystery. __________________ What I mean is, sometimes I just don't know what I mean. Ya know what I mean?

April 5th, 2007, 01:40 PM	#14 (permalink)
Poppatwang Tele-Afflicted Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: St. Paul, MN Posts: 1,909 13 Photos	Plus those pups showing up on Guyatones & Teiscos. Maybe they came from a third party vendor. __________________ The Dieselfitters http://www.dieselfitters.com Roy Hubbs http://www.royhubbs.com