Teisco Spectrum 5

This is a vintage Teisco Spectrum 5, manufactured in the late 1960s. It has three split-coil pickups, for a total of six pickups, all single-coil. It has five switches that choose various combinations of the pickups, a master volume control, a master tone control, and a mono-stereo switch. It has an interesting vibrato. The body (mine is red) has a deep "German" carve, with interesting "binding" in the carve. The neck appears to be a three-piece maple neck with an ebony (or perhaps stained rosewood) fretboard. It is vaguely Strat-shaped, but it is decidedly its own guitar.

I love this guitar. I bought it because I'm a fan of Teiscos and of the great bluesman Hound Dog Taylor. I thought that the Spectrum 5 would look cool, but be disappointing in terms of sound and playability. I was wrong. The guitar feels great in my hands, and it has two great sounds in it ("yellow" and "green"). It is somewhat noisy, but nothing out of the ordinary for a single-coil guitar.

I have used the Spectrum 5 with a Teisco Checkmate 50 amp (all-tube head; 2x15 cab), a Fender Frontman 25R, and a tiny Sears Silvertone. (The Teisco amp was formerly owned by Steve Turner, guitarist for Mudhoney, and is one great amp.) It sounds great through all of the amps. I have been very surprised by how great it sounds through the Fender Frontman 25R. Although the Fender is a cheap solid-state amp, it combines with the Teisco for a clear, but tough sound. It also sounds fabulous through the Silvertone, which is a very toneful little amp. I also have a great-sounding Peavey Delta Blues 210, and I'm looking forward to cranking the Spectrum 5 through that amp.

I am sure that the Spectrum 5 is not for everyone. But if you're looking for a guitar that has its own sound, then consider the Spectrum 5.

I have used the guitar with a variety of stompboxes, including three wahs (Snarling Dogs Super-Bawl Whine-O; Rocktron Black Cat Moan; and Crybaby 535Q); three fuzz boxes (Frantone Cream Puff; Voodoo Labs Superfuzz; and ZOOM Ultra-Fuzz); a Visual Sound H2O (chorus and delay); and a Voodoo Labs Microvibe. With some adjustment, the Spectrum 5 has played well with all of these pedals and amps.

I love the guitar. It is generally clera and

I bought this guitar very well used. I immediately took it to Trading Musician here in Seattle and had Chris do some work to make it playable for me. I had him set it up for slide in open D tuning, with 12s. He did a fabulous job: the guitar plays the way great cheesecake tastes: a delicious melting into one's self.

My Spectrum 5 is almost 40 years old, and it still looks good. I have owned several Teiscos, and all have been solid. This one is both high-quality and solidly built.

Teisco is out of business. I have contacted Kawai, but haven't heard back from them. It doesn't matter: this is my guitar for my lifetime.

I have been playing more than 20 years and have owned (and still own) many other guitars. This is my favorite. I bought it used, but Chris at Trading Musician in Seattle did a great job of setting it up for me. When I strapped it on the first time, I felt that I was holding an old friend. I love the balance, the overall feel, and the bright, intense tone of the green and yellow settings. If you own a Spectrum 5 and want to sell it, please contact me. I'd love to have a blue one to match my red one.

I guess I have the honors of giving the first review for the Teisco Spectrum 5. Considering its rarity, its not so surprising. Only made in japan, this model is the pinnacle of design and craftsmanship of the Teisco lineage. solid mahogany body (bound) with german carve, maple neck, and rosewood fretboard with a slight roll. 3 split stereo pickups, with 2 volume knobs controlling left and right channels. when switched to mono, the 2nd volume knob functions as a tone knob. a brilliantly designed stock tremolo tailpiece moves the bridge as tension changes in order to compensate, so no wear on strings occurs. this one is fininshed in a beautiful marine blue with white pickguard. 5 multi-colored tone switches were designed to "color" the tone and range from bassy hollowbody to thin/ twangy telecaster tones. the neck is slick and thin, so accessibility is excellent.

My favorite tone/color switches are green and yellow. the green has a very gritty fat tone. the yellow is sort of reminicent of a jaguar, but with more mid range. no noise, the tone varies from a rich fat tone to thin twangy from one end of the color spectrum to the other (for an obvious corelation). i'm playing it through a 4x10 fender blues deville which suits is perfectly.

the factory set-up was nothing to call home about, but it's not too different from my US made jaguar. it needed a set up, but most guitars do. action, fit, and finish were great with respect to my expectations. the bound headstock is worth a mention.

I'm sure will stand up to live playing. although teisco is not famous for making the best guitars, this one being the top of the line, was built very well, with quality materials. i would definitely gig with it without a backup. the finish is well done and the hardware is made to last. i've seen a lot of crappy teiscos, but this was not made with the crappy stuff used on the cheaper teisco models. it rivals (and in my opinion, is better than) my US made fender jaguar.

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been playing >10 years. i would definitely buy it again if it were lost or stolen. this is quality piece and its addictive to play. the tone is amazing and has a really good feel to it. its hard to put down. it has a real vintagy vibe to it. the teisco crests on the headstock and tailpiece are neat and show pride in the workmanship. i like the obscurity of it, but my only issue is if for any reason i need a replacement part, well, i won't be able to find it. but until then, i give it a 10.