Awhile back Gearwire ran some musings on guitars that musicians chased with a sort of "irrational exuberance" (to steal a phrase from every musician's favorite economist). Many of these guitars seemed to be Harmony and it led to several articles (and soon some videos) on these guitars. There are websites dedicated to Harmony instruments and there are many of their guitars that are nice instruments. But there are more that are not so nice and yet are still sought after -- whether for nostalgia ("I had one when I was a kid" or "I saw one in the store window and my mom wouldn't get it for me") or because they look cool.

Another series of guitars that fit into this category -- maybe -- are the Japanese-made Teisco brand. You can find a number of very detailed articles online about these guitars, talking about their history, why the headstocks are wildly different even in the same year of manufacture (no one seems to know the answer to this one) and other arcane bits of data. There is even a website called Teiscotwangers.com, run by a Teisco enthusiast. Apparently this site gets so many inquiries that the guy who runs it disabled his email. But drop by the site anyway as is a fountain of information.

While there is a lot of info available what you cannot find is WHY anyone wants or is so enthusiastic about the instruments.

The company first appeared in 1946 and became Teisco in 1948 producing microphones, amplifiers and, oddly, a lap steel guitar. In the early 1950s the company released an acoustic and an archtop guitar. They look like Gibson knock-offs. They were followed with electric models in 1954. One of these models, the J-1, also strongly resembles a Les Paul but with some style differences. In the early 1960s Teisco stopped ripping off Gibson and started ripping off Fender. They were imported into the USA under the following brand names--Teisco, Teisco Del Rey, Kingston, World Teisco, Silvertone, Kent, Kimberly and Heit Deluxe.

One guitar that has become sought after from Teisco is the Teisco Tulip--a small electric with a tulip body shape (E-120 model). And they are snazzy looking instruments. You can find various late 60s models on auction sites beginning at around $50 to over $200 (we found a Tulip for around $40). Taking that into account some of them are worthwhile oddities. If you want more info do check out the Teisco Twangers site as it is both an homage to the brand and contains a massive amount of information as well.

One final thing about Teisco, as you look into the later 60s you do start to see truly bizarre body styles adapted from earlier styles. The look less like the earlier obvious knock offs but that doesn't, by definition, make them good.

More on Teisco players soon