Teisco Guitars?

What kind of pickups? Can you play it first? Got any pics? IME: Most of them have cheese grater frets and are best used as slide guitars...but not all of them.

 

Pic does not show up...

 

Some are good some are bad. Most all need work. Those particular pickups with the square magnets are one of their best. Very surf sounding and can have pretty high output. $200 is about right.

 

Make sure the truss rod works, dont let him say its fine unless you or a luthier has tried it, otherwise you could be throwing money away...

 

My first guitar was a Teisco and I now have several. I like them for their quirky low-rent tone and looks. I would not say they're decent guitars really. Like, a Korean made PRS Se is a decent guitar. These are more in the fabulous/awful category. They're artifacts from a different era.

That said, if the neck is in good shape, then they can be set up to play well. And the pups have their own thing going. For $200 how can you resist?

 

Tough call. Especially since I know next to nothing about those guitars. I'm old enough to remember a few friends who had them back in the sixties. Mostly what I remember is that the Japanese guitar makers didn't really hit their stride until sometime in the 70's. In the 60's we were all still laughing about those dinky Japanese cars that ran on motor cycle engines you'd see on a lot once in awhile. Back then it was pretty much Gibson, Fender. Grestch, Rick, and then there was all the rest that the pros didn't play. If you couldn't afford one of the big names you bought a Teisco or a Silvertone from Sears. In fact, now that I think of it my very first guitar was a Silvertone. I can't tell you whether it sounded any good or not because my dad couldn't afford to buy me an amp to go along with it. I seem to remember that it came with a Mel Bay "Guitar Chords for Bigginers" book as part of the package but even those simple chords were impossible to play on a guitar that was set up so that you could drive a truck under the strings. The Teisco might be a great guitar for all I know but if memory serves I don't remember any one speaking all that highly of them back then. On the other hand I've lived long enough to have learned that none of that really means anything. After all there is a lot of that same lack of enthusiasm still going on today for low budget import guitars many of which are in fact outstanding.

 

I've owned a number of Teiscos over the years. First, back in the '70s when that was the student guitar you learned on, then in later years I collected them for fun. Good guitars? Not even remotely. But they can be fun, and have sort of a quirky, nostalgia element about them. Just about ANY $200 Chinese guitar today will be way better than a Teisco. But if that's your thing, go for it.

 

here is an old teisco i had to let go. i loved the pickup on it but didnt play it enough to justify keeping it.

http://s287.photobucket.com/albums/ll142/johnnybirch/TEISCO PE 7/?action=view&current=PE-7_0002.mp4

 

I just bought a solid-body, Teisco-built, Sears & Roebuck electric for $100. It has the same pickups as the one you show. They are hot pickups, but way back when, I had a hollowbody git with them and they fed back a lot.

If the neck is straight, the truss rod works, AND the pickups work, then it's worth right about what he's selling it for. If it's all original, has strings and is cleaned up some more, it could fetch $300 or a bit more on eBay.

Actually, if the pickups work, you should pray that the electronics don't work, because it's probably just a loose wire, or oxidation in one of the switches. You can get the guitar cheaper, then fix it.

This is the one I just bought:

 

Most are cheao copies for begginers. The best ones were the Spectrum line , wich was their attempt to hit the professional makert IIRC. I had a Spectrum V that was great.