1960S TEISCO GUITAR JAPAN METAL SERIES INSTRUMENTS WERE

Great sound Great neck feel. When we passed it along, this guitar had great playability. It’s a great site about Teisco. We dated this guitar from this Teisco Timeline website. This is a 1963 Teisco Del Rey WG-2L.

This company got their start in business back in 1897 as a wholesale distributor of guitars, and brass instruments for music stores.This company first turned to Teisco in 1962, and that relationship continued until 1967. However we can agree that the better models had the Kent logo inlaid in the headstock.An incredible guitar boon occurred after the Beatles appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show in early 1963.That show was unusual, since the first guitar boon occurred in 1956 after Elvis appeared on the Sullivan Show in 1956.The distribution and import firm of Buegeleisen and Jacobson was there to fill the demand for cheap electric guitars. Some of the Guyatone models of the same era had a metal 'G' badge. And those instruments were usually built by two different Japanese companies Teisco, or Guyatone.I saw a lot of this model back in the dayThe rule of thumb is that the lower end solid body models were usually built by Teisco, while the more expensive semi-hollow, or hollow body electrics were manufactured by Guyatone.However determining the factory of origin is quite confusing, since some of the less expensive Kent models were the same instrument under the Guyatone badge.Early Kent branded instruments generally had a glued on badge with a metal 'K', which sometimes covered up another brand name. Some Silvertone guitars were made in Chicago, by the Kay or Harmony companies, but there was never a Kent factory in the United States, or anywhere in the world for that matter.There was a musical instrument distribution company from New York City named Buegeleisen and Jacobson, that began importing Japanese manufactured electric, and acoustic guitars to the U.S in 1962. At that time I figured those brands came from the Silvertone or Kent factory.

But we are going to concentrate on Kent Guitars.Teisco had already began importing guitars to the United States as early as 1960 under their own brand name, In 1964 the U.S. Once these guitars arrived in the United States, the Kent brand name, or another brand, was added to the guitars headstock.The Japanese manufacturer Teisco, which is said to be an acronym for Tokyo Musical Instrument and Sound Company, also imported guitars and basses under a variety of brand names other than Kent.These brands or badges included Silvertone, Lyle, Encore, Beltone, Winston, Kimberly, Audition, Decco, and more. Market was flooded with cheap foreign guitars, since nearly every adolescent was eager to be a rock star. We know in later years they used a Korean company, best known for building pianos, called Kawai.From 1962 to 1967 the U.S.

Around 1963.Besides the Series 500 and 600, there were the Series 700 and 800 models. Though they are the same guitars and basses, if it says Kent, it was brought here by Buegeleisen and Jacobson, if it says Hagstrom it was imported by Herschman.These budget Hagstrom-made Kent instruments began being imported to the U.S. In 1963 Buegeleisen and Jacobson began importing this model of Kent guitar to the United States and distributing it.From a prior article, you may recall that Jerome Herschman's company had been importing Hagstrom guitars under the Goya brand, and later under the Hagstrom name. Since these instruments had vinyl bodies, the owners of Hagstrom feared that any damage due to poor manufacturing would besmirch their reputation, so those guitars were stamped with the Kent logo. When Hagstrom of Sweden manufactured some budget instruments to be sold through a French company called Selmer. If they offered a Kent guitar, it was usually because it was taken in as a trade.Hagstrom first Kent branded guitars got their start in the U.K.

1960S Teisco Guitar Japan Metal Series Instruments Were

They may have been made by Kawai/Teisco, however and expert on Japanese guitars of this era believes the Kent 700 series instruments were made by a small factory called Hayashi Mokko. There were several similar, but noticeable different, body shapes in the 500 series Kent guitars.They all have the same size metallic logos on the headstock.The 700 and 800-series Kents were not made by Guyatone. The 700 and 800 guitars had a round foil sticker with the model number and sometimes serial number pressed into it.Kent also imported some violin shaped models, that were manufactured by Kawai of South Korea.There are two lines of Kent guitars: a Standard series and a Professional series which were made by either Teisco and Guyatone.Kent also offered the Polaris series of early solid body guitars that did not have adjustable truss rods in the neck.The Kent 510 Las Vegas is almost identical to the Guyatone of the same period. At times the necks were topped with six-on-a-side headstocks.

Why Can't We Be Friends? Guitar Lawsuits Curren. Click on the links in the text for more information. To this day, Southland remains a major music wholesaler, but now specializes mostly in music accessories.Click on the links below the pictures for sources. Some vintage Teisco instruments have been trashed just for the pickups.By the early 1970's, Buegeleisen and Jacobson went out of business and another distributor, Southland Musical Merchandise Corporation, acquired the Kent brand name.This company shifted distribution from manufacturers in Japan to those in Korea, as the production cost was less.The font for the logo changed when Southland took control, and emphasis was placed on lower prices with a higher profit margin at the expense of quality.Most of these Korean made guitars were knock-offs of Gibson Les Pauls, ES-335's and Fender Stratocasters, and copies of well known bass guitars. With the rise in collectors seeking vintage Japanese guitars, value has been placed on these pickups.