Teisco TR-320

wow 3 rocker switches and a phase switch above the strings
and bigsby knock off.

sounds KILLER dead on surf to movie soundtrack tones
these are my among my favorite p/up's ever
super bad

hmmm tough to judge
has binding on neck but really thin frets
kinda annoying but still rather able

this is solid

????

i chased this for 10 years and finally scored it
what a cool guitar very sci-fi in a good way
way cooler than most 1960's guitters
oh it also is maroon with a monkey grip
and aluminium p-guard and matching head stock guard
i want a green one!!!

In my opinion, this is one of the coolest Teiscos made: it's a perfect example of the, umm...unique guitars which came from Japan in the 1960's. Teiscos can be found for dirt cheap at places like pawn shops and flea markets, and most of them are pretty basic: a pickup or two, maybe a whammy bar, some weird finish, and so-so playability. This Teisco is a lot different, though, and must have been one of their upper level models, maybe from around 1965 or so. It looks like a Fender Jazzmaster/Jaguar, but has three pickups and a "monkey-grip" cut out on the bass side of the body. It's also got a vibrato, the characteristic Teisco "2 by 4" tuner headstock, three rocker switches which operate the pickups, and a switch that increases treble/decreases bass. Mine is finished in a maroon color which is offset nicely by the weird, striped aluminum pickguard. It's got a volume knob and a tone knob, the latter being wired backwards: in other words, 10 is bassy and 0 is trebly! These guitars were made with two kinds of vibratos: as luck would have it, I got the kind with the crappier, less streamlined one! There's no arm, so I haven't used this feature, which is a shame...but oh well. Its neck is pretty big, and as such it probably wouldn't make the best beginner's guitar. It's body is fairly sizeable, too. It didn't come with a case, but most old Teiscos that you'll find won't have one either. It's one of the coolest guitars I've ever seen!

This is definitely not a modern sounding guitar! The three pickups are perfect for 60's surf: they are ultra trebly, but thanks to the rocker switches (which have a tendency to be easily switched off due to their placement on the bass side of the pickguard) and the little treble/bass switch you can actually get some low and mid-range tones, too. I play noisy post-punk music, and this guitar sounds good for what I do. Evidently other indie rockers think so as well: the guitarists from Brainiac and the Blonde Redhead play these things. Run through my SuperFuzz pedal this guitar sounds nice and rich - but still trebly! I use an old Sears Silvertone Twin Twelve half-stack amp, and this guitar sounds okay clean, as long as you turn up the volume and let the amp distort naturally just a little bit. The pickups can be kind of noisy and staticky, but I don't really care too much about that - that's to be expected from these guitars. Most people would probably cringe if they heard this guitar played in all it's fuzzed-out, cruddy glory, but I like the unique-ness which it has: it sure won't give you the meat-and-potatoes Les Paul through a Marshall sound.

This Teisco needs a neck readjustment: when I bought it the action was just a little bit high, but the problem has worsened with time and I really need to get it fixed because it's getting tough to play comfortably. When all is well once again, though, it will be an easy guitar to play. The pickups sound fine for me, so I don't anticipate adjusting them any time soon.

Apart from the neck problem, this guitar is very, very solid. It's big and heavy, and doesn't seem like it would break easily - even the monkey grip is good and strong. It would definitely withstand live situations. The pickups are always dependable in their own weird way. The tuners might be a tad bit crappy, but so far they haven't given me any real problems, and the strap buttons are secure, too. Its finish and hardware are both in excellent condition, especially for a 30+ year-old guitar.

Teisco has been out of business for a long time, so I'm out of luck should I need customer support of any kind. Guess what? The guy who started Teisco was a Japanese businessman named Matsuda who also happened to be a Buddhist monk! Weird!

The Teisco TR-320 is a rarity: I've seen them for several times the price I paid for mine, and collectors have an eye out for them. They usually go for around $450 and up. I would try my damndest to find another one were mine stolen or lost. It's quirky and very recognizable: the monkey-grip was on this thing 20 years before Steve Vai and Ibanez borrowed that idea! It sounds nice and twangy, the way I like a guitar to sound, but it can easily do that crappy garage/noise rock thing, too. I just wish that I had the cooler vibrato system on mine!