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Teisco bass guitars

Crystalman85

Crystalman85

Nov 30, 2008
6,452
1,817
Chicago, Il.
www.soundclick.com
#1
Has anyone ever own these basses or tried them out?...my brother send me an email saying that I should buy a teisco del ray bass guitar mainly because he found a teisco del ray guitar at chicago music exchange(music store from my hometown chicago). he also said that it might be interesting to have a matching set-up(instrument-wise). anywho, I'm not familiar with teisco guitars and I was wondering does anyone here have any experience with their bass guitars?

Here's the bass guitar that my brother wanted me to buy.

http://www.chicagomusicexchange.com/products/Teisco-Del-Rey-Bass-Blue.html
 
#5
My brother had a Teisco Del Ray hollowbody bass. That was the best Teisco that I have ever seen. All the others that I have seen were the quirky designed slabs. Fun stuff, but I can't see paying more than $150 without trying it on a good amp.
 
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#8
Teisco Del-Rays were introduced from Japan in the early 60s. The quality and designs were poor. Of course, there were some exceptions, so it is not quite accurate to condemn them all as junk—but it is not too far off either.

Some people love them for their quirky look and feel. Sound-wise, they usually had one or two single coil pickups that were pretty mediocre, IMHO. I owned one, a 1963 single pickup P-bass copy with a nice tobacco burst nitro finish (branded Kingston) and played many others. They were famous for thick necks and terrible action. I mean terrible. Chrome and rocker switches were typical features. It was the poor boy's way to get a bass. We considered them a badge of shame.
 
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#11
Tiescos (and basses sold under other names but made in the same factory) are quirky to say the least but they aren't necessarily junk. In fact a lot of the features on these instruments were viewed as inferior or odd yet made sense (ie. multilaminate necks, truss rod adjuster at the heel of the neck, zero frets, slim necks with a moderate taper ala Hofner and Ric...). As for playability, they can be made into very good players with great action.

The pickups are usually very microphonic but that's easily rectified by potting them. Unless the bass was well taken care of, which is a pretty slim chance given that these were inexpensive 'student' instruments, the switch contacts are most likely corroded or in serious need of cleaning. Other than that the pots and jacks, although run of the mill, are servicable and of decent enough quality to still be working.

As for value... that's up to the seller/buyer to decide (click on pic for a chuckle):
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I have yet to see any baseball-bat-necked Tiescos so chances are that it's being confused with something like this Kent... a bass sans truss rod with one of the thickest (fore to aft) necks I've ever played... thicker than a Wishbass:
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#13
Diogenes said:
I have yet to see any baseball-bat-necked Tiescos so chances are that it's being confused with something like this Kent... a bass sans truss rod with one of the thickest (fore to aft) necks I've ever played... thicker than a Wishbass:
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Click to expand...

I picked up one of these recently for mega cheap on Craigslist. I posted a thread here trying to figure out what it was. It's in the process of being "restored" after a bad defret attempt and some other damages. No truss rod, very thick neck....
 
#14
These were the kind of Guitars and basses I had when I was in high school. I couldnt afford a decent one so we "tried" to make them work. We got shocked by some of them and the action was good for shooting small game with homemade arrows :p
Keeping one tuned was another story.
I wish we could of had what the kiddes have today ,SX , Squiers to start out with . We would of felt like rock stars.
 
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