Product: Teisco 10
Price Paid: UNKNOWN
Submitted
12/02/2007
at
06:00pm
by
Pro Usician
Features
:
10
THIS IS NOT THE SAME AMP AS THE CHECKMATE 10. Though some of the reviews for that amp may be there by mistake and should be for this amp instead.
Tubes: 1-6X4, 2-12AX7, 1-6BQ5(EL84)
Controls: Volume, Tone, Reverb, Tremolo (with on/off in control)
Speaker: 10", 8 Ohm, 20 watt Teisco (Not some wimpy 6 1/2 or 8 incher here! OK, it's squeezed in there, but it's well worth it for the tone! The Teisco sounds bad, so switch it out for a good 10", it's really worth it!)
Wattage: Approximately 4-7 watts. (Probably more like 3 watts)
This is a small little practice amp with Reverb and Tremolo built in. About the size of a ViboChamp, but with reverb! The ultimate kind of practice amp! Since it is low powered it's great for cranking at home for practice. This is a HUGE feature since it's hard to get a great tone from gigging amps at low volume, so practice isn't as fun or inspirational. And how many little tube amps have REVERB!!!
Sound Quality
:
9
Pretty straight forward: 12AX7's feeding a EL84. Vox AC4 territory! Nice clean sound, rich and full. If you turn the tone all the way up it is WAY trebly, but around midway it sounds great!
It has a great break up/overdrive and is rich and creamy sounding with midrange bite. Loves humbuckers and with a pedal boost for single coils it be hapnin!! Nice hang time on the notes and it compresses naturally very nicely. You can do all those tube things like backing off the guitar volume for clean tones and digging in with the pick for more umph!
Even though the Reverb tank is very small, it does a pretty good job on this beast! Not the best reverb you'll ever hear, but very passable for adding depth to the sound. The tremolo has a built in on/off switch in the speed knob. You can't control depth, but it's preset for a good middle ground and works great. Goes from long pulsing to machine gun!
Loves pedals, so you can plug in your board and have at it while watching TV or talking on the phone! It sounds great without blowing your ears out!
Reliability
:
8
Teisco was known for cheapo guitars and amps, but this little cutie has PTP wiring, uses good electronic components and seems pretty well built. Like any old amp, it needs some TLC to sound its best, so new caps, tubes,etc are needed from time to time. It's 40+ years old! You gots to change the oil and tires on them once and a while!
Only real weak point is that the speaker sucks. Replace it with ANYTHING and it will sound better, but a good quality 10" speaker helps a bunch!
The cabinet is very lightweight, but is wood, not plastic or cardboard. The speaker baffle is even thinner with the look of luan board, but at this low wattage it does the job!
Customer Support
:
No Opinion
Whatzat?! They were owned by Kawai, and Kawai is still around, but I wouldn't count on much help!
Overall Rating
:
10
A new point to point wired tube guitar amp with reverb and tremolo would probably run you $1500+. A Vox AC4, even more $$$ probably!! This thing is around a tenth of that or less. Sounds like a great value to me.
