Need info on Teisco

[abarson]

I’ve got an opportunity to pick up what might be a Teisco SB-1 on the cheap. I’ve never played a Teisco before and the one for sale doesn’t have strings.

1. Are all Teisco basses short scale?
2. Are they decently made instruments?
3. What do they sound like? Are the pickups single coil?

 

[msb]

They are short scale with single coil pickups. These were cheap basses when they were available , but some love that stuff …

 

[Beej]

I had that identical instrument in the guitar version. No, they are not good quality, but they can be made to work well. Some have really unique tones. They may need some time, attention and work to get them into a reliably playable condition, but I love them, so they are worth it to me. They can be had in longer scales too, but I don't think the SB-1 came in longer scales.

 

[kodiakblair]

1. I doubt they only made short scales, they and FujiGen built a lot of guitars/basses under many labels. My SB-1and Tulip basses were both short scales but their P-bass copy, the EB-1, may have been 34".

2. Some have 'charm' but most were built down to a price. Western distributors, keen to cash in on the guitar boom, wanted maximum profit for little outlay so companies like Teisco and Guyatone were given pathetic build budgets. Take this as an example of just how pathetic those budgets were, in 1967 the Teisco E110 guitar had an RRP of $19.97 while the EB100 bass was $39.97; both would be built for under $4 each.

3. Sorry, my memory struggles with last week no chance going back decades

 

[dc-upright]

My first guitari in 1967 was aTeisco, I still have it. It was pretty much unplayable but that did not stop my 12 yo self!
If the bass is similar it is made of cheap stuff.

 

[Bob_Ross]

Are they decently made instruments?

oh dear god, no... which is why many folks like them.

I owned a late-60s Teisco Del Ray electric guitar back in the early 1980s. What a horrible POS. I loved it.

 

[MotorCityMinion]

Yup, bunch of wall hangers for the man cave. Their most useful attribute is the reminiscence factor.

 

[abarson]

oh dear god, no... which is why many folks like them.

I owned a late-60s Teisco Del Ray electric guitar back in the early 1980s. What a horrible POS. I loved it.

Intriguing contrast!
What did you love about it?
What made it a POS?
This is more destined to pass the time in the trunk of the car, not as a main axe.

 

[ardgedee]

Some Teisco models don't have truss rods. Make sure the item you're considering has one, unless you want a wall decoration or luthiery project.

I suspect the fanbase is mostly due to the distinct sound many of them have. Even fans tend to admit their build quality and playability are circumstantial at best.

 

[J Wilson]

Pot metal and particle board. Seems like I've seen some long-scale basses, but I could be wrong. We used to call them Sears or 'Green Stamp' catalog basses, for those old enough to remember that Old World.

When I think of those sleds (that's what passed for 'cheap' electric guitars and basses when I was a kid at this in the 70's), the only thing I can think of is 'RUN! ! !'

 

[Gully Foyle]

I played a Teisco once that was sweet is all I can say. Great, if not hifi, tone, and played well. I would have bought it but was dead broke at the time. It was a semihollow double cutaway.

I love the old and weird - at one point I priced out having a luthier make a really nice version of the of the soviet cousins of the teiscos to have the look with all the quality you would want.

Eastwood makes some Teisco copies that might be better than the originals on average?

 

[micguy]

Pot metal and particle board.

I had one of their guitars a couple of decades ago. Most of it was cheap, but the neck was laminated, and in very good shape - straight, no twist. Some of them can be decent players, a lot of them, not so much.

 

[Fender_Bender]

Not having strings on it is a bit of a red flag. Does it not have a truss rod and someone is trying to compensate for a bent neck ?.

 

[Bob_Ross]

What did you love about it?
What made it a POS?

What I loved about it was how unabashedly crappy it was...like, it wasn't the least bit ashamed of its shoddy construction; it wore its crappiness like a badge of honor.

Note, if it had been my only instrument I would have had a far less charitible opinion of it. But, since I already owned some nicer instruments, having this one bad apple in the bunch was kind of an amusing joke. As long as it was playable -- which, depending on the weather/temperature/relative humidity etc., wasn't always a certainty -- it was useful for when you wanted a conspicuously crappy sound as contrast to the more refined layers in a multitrack recording.

It ultimately self-destructed of its own accord: Took it out of its case one day to find the neck and body in 5 or 6 separate pieces. So make what you will of that.

 

[abarson]

You guys have convinced me that since it's not a freebie, it's not worth putting strings on it.
Thanks for saving the taco fund.

 

[JIO]

Not seeing the bass you speak of - no way of knowing if purchasing it would be worth what they are asking. Like any other '60s vintage bass - it all depends on the neck. Most everything else can be addressed but if the neck is bowed or the tr inoperative - walk away. I personally don't hold the across-the-board bias against these MIJ ss basses and own a few that are legit players. Like any other basses - there are good ones and not so good ones. The bias is fine with me - it keeps the prices down for those of us who appreciate them.

 

[Wesley R]

If I was to buy an import bass from the erra
It would be this: Decca, of course it would need be dirtball cheap.

 

[Wesley R]

1. I doubt they only made short scales, they and FujiGen built a lot of guitars/basses under many labels. My SB-1and Tulip basses were both short scales but their P-bass copy, the EB-1, may have been 34".

2. Some have 'charm' but most were built down to a price. Western distributors, keen to cash in on the guitar boom, wanted maximum profit for little outlay so companies like Teisco and Guyatone were given pathetic build budgets. Take this as an example of just how pathetic those budgets were, in 1967 the Teisco E110 guitar had an RRP of $19.97 while the EB100 bass was $39.97; both would be built for under $4 each.

3. Sorry, my memory struggles with last week no chance going back decades

Allied Electronics and Musicaland also sold Teisco. Musicaland also sold Kingston guitars.

 

[prowla]

Generally they are cheap toot from a time where you couldn't get decent entry-level instruments.
However, I have one or two of those oldies just for the fun of it.
Actually one of the plywood guitars I have (an Audition) sounds remarkably good!
I nearly picked up one of the short-scale basses yesterday, but someone beat me to it.

 

[GretschWretch]

This is one version of the long-scale P-Bass, and it ain't bad at all.

Here is what it sounds like





A lot of negativity in the above posts is based on hand-me-down opinions that originated with a generation that didn't know anything about instruments in general. We figured how the bass was set-up from the store was how it was supposed to be. Intonation? Spot on! Action? Just right. Rubbish!

We didn't know from adjustable bridges to truss rod nuts to neck shims. What we saw was what we got and was what we thought we were supposed to have. Back then even a lot of store techs did not know any more about these things that we did.

Wood? Whatever was local to Asia. Electronics? Space-age, at least in concept, if not always of execution. But our opinions of these things NOW is based on instruments that were neglected and abused THEN, which is no more fair than basing our opinions of Fender and Gibson NOW on instruments with badly-bowed necks from being loaded with nothing but high tension Labellas for their entire history.