The strings install easily through the tremolo, and the bridge has only one saddle, and there is no provision for adjusting intonation. This nice combination, and it is handy to be able to shutoff both of the pickups when putting it on a stand. There are two smallish humbuckers that have their own tone and volume knobs as well as ON/OFF toggle switches. One of the best parts of this guitar is the electronics package. The chrome on these parts is pitted, so it must have been a bit damp in that basement. The adjustable bridge is separate from the tremolo, and is not exactly the beefiest thing I have ever seen. The rest of the hardware consists of a crude top mount three-spring tremelo with a nifty folding cover and the longest arm I have ever seen. The nut and fretwork are still in good shape, and it appears that the craftsmen did a nice job 40+ years ago when they put it together. The headstock still has the often missing Teisco Del Rey badge, and it is equipped with cheap open-gear tuners. There are 20 frets and the fret wire is pretty small. There are cool-looking fret markets on the edges of the fretboard, which are unlike any other guitar I have seen. The 24 ¾-inch scale neck also appears to be made of mahogany (three pieces) and it is capped with a rosewood fretboard. The neck pocket is huge, so much that there is only clear access to the first 14 frets. The silver aluminum pickguard does not go with this color combination very well, but it is original to the guitar. The body appears to be made of mahogany, and it is shot with a subdued tobacco burst finish. This is a small guitar with a short-horned body that is closer to that of a Fender Musicmaster or Mustang than a Stratocaster. It is unmolested and unmodified with the exception of new strings and a fresh set-up. It was sold to Faust Music in Wisconsin, and it was put away in the basement until the store went out of business last year. The guitar we are looking at here today is a ET-220 that was built in the late 1960s.

Since then they have attained a cult-like following, particularly with their Spectrum series instruments. Teisco keyboards were sold until the 1980s. In 1967 Kawai bought the company and discontinued the Teisco name overseas in 1969, and in 1977 for the Japan market. Teisco is an acronym for “Tokyo Elecrric Instrument and Sound Company.” The company was started in 1946 and started to sell instruments under this brand name in 1964. It was my first chance to play one that had not been beaten to death or modified beyond recognition. I love funky old Japanese guitars, and when I had the opportunity to buy a new old stock Teisco Del Rey ET-220 electric I jumped at the chance.

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