Amazingly, there are still authentic Spectrum guitars being offered online for auction. Despite the downfall of Teisco, this guitar model continued to be a favorite for musicians and guitar players. As of today, there are still replicas that are being sold and shipped worldwide from America and Europe. This model was an inspiration in creating its subsequent models such as Spectrum 22, 2, 3 and 4. Popular Teisco Models Guitar Model: Spectrum 5įor the musical instrument enthusiasts, this is considered to be the holy grail of the vintage Japanese guitars and one of the most popular guitar models during the 1960s. Kawai was established in 1927 and has been in the guitar manufacturing industry ever since. Thus, as a result, Kawai was able to control Teisco's major distributors in the US. Interestingly, the company was bought by one of their competitors in the industry, Kawai Gakki. Finally, on January of 1967, Teisco Corporation announced bankruptcy. Unfortunately, it caused an increased in production but with very low and almost declining demand. The popularity of electric guitar began to decline by the year 1966, this is when a number of electronic stores stopped selling guitars and amplifiers.
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One of which, he submitted it to be featured in a Japanese TV show and Hashimoto would often appear to present the prize winners. There were many instances when Teisco made a promotional move in order to increase the demand for electric guitars. In addition to this, they also made a contract with BSS Distributors that focused on customers from Europe mainly on Finland, Sweden, Germany, Norway, Netherlands, and Germany.įoxy Freedom, via Wikimedia Commons The Weiss Musical Instruments or WMI Corporation became the sole distributor in all of America. It was also the time when Rock and Roll were starting to boom and the demand for the electric guitar has increased significantly, especially in Europe and America. In October of 1964, for the purpose of strengthening the name of the brand, they officially changed the name to Teisco Corporation. Later on, it eventually began to be available in Canada and the Australian market. American companies started to purchase the Teisco guitars and official distributors were then established.
This will subsequently lead them to bring their guitar products to the US market. It was also during this time that rock and roll were gaining fame on the other side of the world, the United States. Two years after, 1955, the name Arai Onpa Co., officially changed its name to Nippon Onpa Kogyo Co. The following year, 1953, the first electronic guitar was manufactured, which was designed based on the Gibson Les Paul, and would be named the TG-54. By the year 1953, several EP designs were already available. The name of the model was believed to be the EO-180. In 1952, the first guitar was produced bearing the Teisco logo, the wooden body produced by Shinko-shoji and electronics made by Arai Onpa Co. The popularity had a steady growth as Hashimoto traveled to different locations to promote the use of guitar and amplifier. Also, they teamed up with Shinko-shoji to make the wooden guitar in return for supplying them with electronics. Around this time, Teisco also started to manufacture pick-ups or guitar mikes. This led to a partnership with Orient Shoji during the year 1950 to 1953 that export guitars to the Korean soldiers in the US, which created a little boost in their sales and exposure. Like any other businesses, they looked into expanding into a newer market since Japan has already been saturated.
The 50s and the 60s: the Golden Years of Teiscoĭuring the year 1950, the market for Hawaiian guitar has been established and it was already recognized by the people of Japan despite that they were not initially familiar with this type of instruments. From then on, they started to produce the first Teisco musical instruments. They contracted with a timber company into making the bodies for the Teisco guitars. Sometime after Hashimoto joined the company, they moved to a new office in Furukawa-bashi. On the other hand, Matsuda was an expert in electronics and producing sounds. Hashimoto was responsible for the manufacture of the body of the guitar. Then, it was then that Hashimoto decided to join him. In 1948, Matsuda established Arai Onpa Laboratory, which was the initial name of Teisco, in the first floor of his family's factory.
But, eventually, Kaneko encourages Hashimoto and Matsuda to work together in the new business plan. Initially, Hashimoto and Kaneko wanted to manufacture guitar microphone and is looking forward to starting a new business venture. Roadside Guitars, via Wikimedia CommonsĪfter the Second World War, Hashimoto met Doryo Matsuda through his friend, Mitsuo Kaneko.