Teisco ET-220

I just purchased my first Teisco guitar. I had seen many of them on eBay and they looked very unique. This model I think was made around 1969 and is fashioned like a strat. It is very light weight and a bit smaller than a strat. It has 2 Spectrum pickups that look cool, however the top (heavy) strings are much lounder than the bottom strings. I tried to adjust the pickup screws but it did not make any difference. The two pickups are positioned on the guitar in a manner that it is almost impossible to play "Chet/Travis" style picking. It has a trmelo that seems to zap it out of tune if used too heavily. It has a cheap "mother-of-plastic" inlay on the frets. The finish however was very nice and a unique gold flower pickguard.

I play almost completely "chet/travis" style fingerpicking and could not play at all on this guitar. Maybe other styles (Dwyane Eddie,etc) may be suitable since the bass strings are overpowering the treble strings. It has a weird lingering "ringing" when you pluck the strings, even unplugged.

The action is very close and easy to play. I think is true partially because the frets are worn and barely functional. Another strange observation is that the strings are way too close to the pickups, and you must be very careful not to touch them with the pick or fingers.
It seems to be an overall poorly designed guitar.

It appears that the guitar could and has stood up well for a 35 year vintage guitar. I plan on keeping it as a "collectible" however I am not sure if it will appreciate all that much in value.

I have been playing guitar for 45 years. I have a vintage Silvertone, vintage Gibson, Ibanez hollowbody electric, and Fender Strat affility. If you just want a collectable - this guitar is cool to look at. If you want a player - go for a Fender strat affinity for about the same price.

Hmm....nasty lil' single coils...very retro but totally awesome. i like the way it handles overdrive...a very nice classic rock feel but there is no way i could recommend this to any real hard rock players. i bought it originially cos' it looked cool....littl;e did i know that it was a machine! nice blue finish with gold hardware and little flowers which are worn a bit...ok...well alot but hey ....it's old old old......probably my favorite guitar right now. great neck, bad tuners..but oh well....i have a tu-2 so i can tune on the run.

The clean is very warm and dirty....reminds of a ES-335 warmth with a little overdrive. as stated above...very nice overdriven sound. i can't say that i've really heard any other guitar that sounds just like it.....yeah...nope.

The strings are perfect in height above the neck and pickups. when i got it the guitar was already set up and i loved it....immediately. it's worn but hey ...1960s.....what do you expect?!! the paint isn't bad...nice deep blue...the neck is very very comfy. a really joy to play.

hmm....i've only had it for two days...sheesh.

eh?

overall i like it......it's no gibson SG or Fender American Strat...tele...jazzmaster....hmm....but it's way cool.

It's a 1968 Teiso ET-220. It puts me in the frame of mind of a Mosrite knockoff. only not really. Nice 22 fret neck. i like the headstock, also. gee, these controls on it are soooo confusing. i wonder what all these simple, clearly labeled buttons do?!!! theres a volume, tone, and pickup switches, and a rhythm/solo switch. Its Cobalt Blue, with a black plastic pickguard with gold flowers in it... PRETTTYYY. It has SPECTRUM pickups, namely, it has gigantic single coils labeled "TREBLE" on the first 3 poles and "BASS" on the others... tuners are alright, but far from ideal. i rather like it.

Well, it suits some of my playing. It takes a hell of a lot of gain to get it to drive the way i am used to... Its a nice acoustic sound, and its nice for fuzzy Ramones type punk and some Hendrix here and there... NOT A METAL GUITAR. but then again, metalheads have warlocks and explorers. they dont need cool guitars. i play umm... "garagegrungepunk?" it does anyhthing from a rumble to a twang, although not a whole helluva lot of twang. i like it, because i like fuzzpunk. i like the sound it makes. it suits me, yes...

set up? a Del Ray? dont be silly... hah... i got it pretty well set up. theres a buzz on the 11th fret and raising the strings fairly high was the only way to stop it. But its reasonable. the pickups are nicely out of the way of the strings, a nice change for a Teisco... all the other Del Rays ive tried had a nasty habit of the strings bumping the pickups. its annoying as hell. aside from finish dings, which are almost unnoticeable, its nearly spotless... not bad for a 30-40 year old guitar...

i dropped when it arrived. it survived the 1970s. could probably slam it through a drywall with no consequence.

who?what?where?when?why? maybe if i invented a time machine...

i love it, worth the 120 i paid for it. and its an incredibly fun toy, in its own down-syndrome kind of interesting way... if it were stolen, id track the guy who stole it down, and beat the ever-lovin shit out of him with it. and dump them naked in the country. end of story.