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All had the Teisco 'Swan-S' logo and were probably still tube amps. At least two of the models - the Amp-15 and Amp-30 - were two-tone and had a cross-shaped grillcloth area.
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The majority had a single color covering with a tweed grillcloth. In 1961 the amps offered came in a variety of shapes. One was a small practice amp, two were about 15" tall and the fourth was very large with six 8" speakers! They had round edges and looked a bit like '50s TVs. The colors ran vertically with a wider band in the center which was slightly narrower than the grill cloth. In 1954 four tube amps were available- in two-tone light and dark tolex. In 1956 the name was changed to 'Nippon Ompa Kogyo Co'. The company was originally called 'Aoi Onpa Kenkyujo' (roughly: Hollyhock Soundwave or Electricity Laboratories). Teisco was founded in 1946 by Atswo Kaneko, a renowned Hawaiian and Spanish guitarist, and Mr.
Teisco del rey checkmate 8 series#
The Checkmate series began in 1966 in black tolex, beginning with tubes and gradually built only as solid state.
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I'll begin with the mid 50s to mid 60s tube amps, all with a vintage tweed vibe, prior to the 1966 introduction of the "checkmate' series. Here are the photos and details that I've managed to gather so far: There were some larger amps made and I look forward to playing through them. I used one with a bullet mic to sing through and it was a way cool sound. Many have only 6 or 8 inch speakers and are low wattage, so the most you can hope for is a blues overdrive studio toy. The Teisco amps sure look cool and have the warm tube sound associated with the 60's era. I need to get it translated to see what clues it might offer. I bought my Teisco #72C from ebay and it happened to come with the original sales receipt from a military base in Japan, dated 1963, Also included was an info sheet on a bunch of other Teisco amps from that era. I hope that by posting what I do know, that more info will come forward, so please write to me with pictures, tube charts, schematics, stories etc. They are way under the radar, and in fact I've only been able to track down a single schematic, and very little in the way of technical info.
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I have one buddy who swears these will become collectable one day, but since I grew up on these Tulips I just can’t look at these as anything but old school rockers.I fell under the spell of 60's Teisco guitars a few years back, and so the obvious obsession to follow was the Teisco amplifiers. Some were dogs and some were winners, just the way it is. You can probably guess that quality control wasn’t a huge deal back then, and just like old fuzz pedals, you had to try these out. I’ve probably had this for 15 years, and it always sounded better than the others I’ve had. These guitars really make excellent garage band hammers, and I mean that! Like, the frets are super tiny so you can’t shred on these guitars, but the pickups sound so raw and powerful! It’s like barre chord city! At least that’s what these were for me! I had plenty of these back in the day, and this is the only one I kept. I do know that in my youth these could be had all day, every day, for $50 at pawn shops! These were as common as pointy “superstrats” in the 80s, but the only difference is no one wanted these. So how about that painted neck? Is that common or rather rare for these tulips? Even though I love vintage Japanese guitars, I was never a huge Teisco buff so I can’t say for sure. These actually have some sustain! Pickups are ULTRA HOT and read out at 6.53k and 6.33k and of course this one has series wiring so with both pickups on you get that jump in output. Red always seemed like a popular Teisco color, and during this time period (circa 66) all these guitars were built using solid wood (not plywood). I don’t think I’ve ever seen this on a Teisco before, and that tremolo arm is sorta unique, right? Notice how the knobs are raised on the pick guard? Usually these are seen with the late 60s floral pick guard, but this one has this seemingly rare stamped metal guard. Talk about a simple design, these Teiscos always reminded me of the Japanese Teisco equivalent of a Telecaster, only with more quirks! These ET200s were probably the most common and popular Teisco design, easily winning the prize for the often cheapest guitar in the Teisco lineup!