Telestar Unknown

I am assuming that this thing is a Telestar, due to it having all the features of a Telestar I had down to the crappy tuners, big "brotherv of pearl" dots, and the "hunk'o'metal" bridge.

This is a 65/66 Telestar in the shape of a violin! (Think Beatle bass) It's solid alder I think, with white binding on a 3 tone sunburst, 2 single coils directly mounted to the tortiose shell pickguard, 3 way Paul styled switch, 1 volume and 1 tone mounted to a seperate white pickguard, massivly crappy tremelo, 20 fret rosewood fretboard on a 24 3/4" mahogany neck with REALLY big fret markers. It came with 3 rusty strings.

This guitar suits me when I'm in a jazzy mood, or want a surf tone kinda thing. It's very dark sounding, which surprises the hell out me considering the type of pickups on it. I use it straight thru a Marlboro 20 watt transi amp or a 1965 Estey 9 watt tuber and a Digitech RP-3. It's got a rich warm sound, a cheesey surfy tone, and a kinda sorta accoustic sound in the middle position.
The second I put ANY kind of gain on it, HUMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM. Which is expected. Also, since the pickups are directly mounted to the pickguard, any time you tap the guitar, pickguard, or even the neck, you hear it thru the amp. Weird, but kinda cool.

It's nearly 40 years old. Whadda you think? The tuners are crap. The tremelo wishes it was as good as crap. The saddle was factory drilled and set a half inch away from where it should have been, so intonation was impossible. The neck warped out. The tone control kind of works.
On the plus side, it sustains well, the finish survived well, pots and jack works without crackling, it's solid without any cracks in the wood, and the coolness factor is beyond the 1 - 10 scale!

Once I'm finished with it, yea it will survive live playing. It's lasted 40 years, I can see it lasting another 40 with proper care and feeding.

Find me a company or support group, and I'll answer.

I been playing and rebuilding for 25 years. I've owned them all, and am quite satisfied with my family of Japanese guitars. I'll NEVER buy American again!
I currently have:
1962 Danelectro longhorn bass
1972 Penco Paul copy
1976 Univox pahse 4 Hi Flyer
1977 Aria 1682 accoustic
1984 Kramer DMZ 6000B bass
1987 Aria Pro Alex Liefson Prototype
1987 Ibanez Roadstar Pro540R

I choose it because it just sooooo cool! According to my wife, it's incredibly dark sounding, and I have to agree. (So dark, we named it "Mortisha") I got the neck straight, saddle moved, intonation in, and it really plays nice. So ok, it hums. A pickup change will fix that. The action is a bit high, but hey, it's early Japanese, that's normal. It realy is a looker, sounder, and one day I'll complete the trifecta by making it a playa!

Sometime in 67 or 68, a japanese worker, earning a buck or two an hour, sat down at his band saw, and created this masterpiece out of alder. Weirdly strat like with the horns, and OLD Gibsony jazz box thick neck. 21 fret on a 23 1/2" scale rosewood fretboard. (This is where Peavey got the idea for the T-15 and Patriot series.) A truely crappy tremelo bridge, that was probably made from broken WWII airplanes. The saddle is exactly that, a metal bar screwed into the body, so intonation adjustment in impossible unless you unscrew it from the body, set it, and screw it back in. The body is thin. REAL thin. MAYBE an inch thick, including finish. Which I had to refinish it because it started to peal off. I redid it in a '50's blue with a white neck. (June Cleaver would want to play it!)

This is where Hiro, my name for him, shines. The neck pickup is Jazzy. VERY jazzy. Jazzy to the point of sound like you're playing a hollow jazz box. The bridge is surfer strat without the noise and the hum! Since I play a Jazz/pop style, and occassional '70's rock, he suits me fine for the jazz stuff. Otherwise, he sits there, and waits for me to compose the piece of music that will show off his rythm chords.

You have to remember that the late '60's jap guitars, where, well, "bad" would be a kind word. I call it "Crapenese". Playable, but hardly. The action would appall a modern speed metalist, or someone used to a good Ibanez. It's more like a cheap jazzbox from the '50's. The open face, 6 in line and on a plate, tuners creak when to tune it, and don't look hard at the tremelo bridge, or ele it go out of tune. Surprisingly, the fretboard is nice, and the frets themselves are well seated.

Live playing? Out there in the real world? I wouldn't even think about it! It was a student guitar, made for Sears, or JC Penny, or something like that, And not meant to last 10 years, much less 38! He'll stay in tune for about two, maybe three songs, IF I treat it gently.

Tee hee........

Since own "Hiro", I've actually come respect to what he is, and the items Telestar made. No, they sure as hell weren't the Japanese Gibson or Fender. A cheap company that made cheap guitars. But I actually LIKE this thing. It's great for jazz rythms, and I can get a "Dick Dale" kind of vibe from it. My everyday gigging axe? Not on this planet. But fun? Yea. I'd get another one if I could find one.

? Don;t know where or when this is from. I was told early 70's. Only thing it says is Tele-Star and "steel reinforced" on the back in script. It has 21 frets, 1 volume control and 1 tone, and a 4 swichtes. The first is for rhythm/treble, then the next 3 are on/off for the 3 pick-ups. I had to have the guitar re-wired and the new control nubs installed. It has a steel pickguard that gives it its due age, and a sunburst body. The guitar seems to be mahogany with a rosewood neck, but not sure. The picups are covered, but I think 2 are humbuckers. It has a tele/strat like body with the tune-o-matic bridge. Not able to adjust intonation but heigth. It has a single pieces non-locking mount, which I'd love to update. The neck is huge, especially for my little fingers, but I dig it. Its very comfortable considering.

It has a sweet blues sound with a lot of potential. I am more than likely going to replace the pickups and maybe the toggle and also maybe the tuners. I want to get more out of the neck pickup. It has some trouble staying in tune, and I think thats becuase of the tuners.

The guitar needed work and still does. I believe it was a entry model. Its a tough guitar though, heavy and thin,except for the neck which is huge.

Tough guitar.

Yea right.

actually I am trying to find out more about this one. It is just over 30ys. old. In erly 70's I paid (mom and dad paid) around $600-$700 back then (between 1970-1973) What is uusual about it, is that it has a built in amp. Iam looking for schematics for this, and approximate value. Any informaton anyone could give me I would truely appreciate. It sounds great, well did until goinf through f-5+ tornado here in klahoma a few years back. The wirig has come lose.
The only words on it are TeleStar. lee helpe. thanks G. Stephens
TLW1127@aol.com

This guitar was made in Japan in the 60s.Sunburst finish.It has a body shape like a small jazzmaster,and it's real thin but solid wood with decent grain.Bolt on THICK mahogany neck with truss rod,rosewood board with 21 tiny frets.All on 1 plate tuners with plastic buttons.The name is on a metal plate screwed to the peghead.It has a bar string retainer.The bridge is adjustable and the tailpiece is the infamus "string breaker" vibrato(missing cover and bar).It has a huge thick chrome pickguard that holds the surface mount pickup(looks like a humbucker)1 vol,1 tone and jack.I believe this was the student model of the line and was proabaly packaged with an amp.

When I got it,it had no sound.It needs new pots,I wired the pickup direct to the jack.It sounds O.K.

This guitar has an odd setup. when i first purchased it had a steel, chrome plated pick guard and this strange 3 switch toggle, each switch had an on or off, and the last had for rythm or solo. funny thing was this guitar has 2 solid humbuckers. Too bad the wiring was messed up, and couldnt ever hear what the last switch did. The bridge isnt the best, kind of like a primitive form of a gibson tune-o-matic. you cant adjust the intonation, the saddle/bridge doesnt move, so i ended up having to move it back by drilling it in farther back. The neck is incredibly thick, and there are no fret dots on the side. The fretboard has 21 frets, mahogany. Not quite sure what kind of wood the neck is itself. Now i have since rewired, 3 position les paul toggle switch and a plastic pick guard. Left the volume and tone knobs alone.

I really really dig the sound of this guitar. The front position gives a very heavy, but clear tone, both hb's on gives a very blues tone, and the rear gives a nice crisp clean tone. I use it with a boss Turbo Overdrive (OD-2) and Distortion (DS-1), sounds great through my 1976 Acoustic model 150 head (200w)and 104 cabinet (6 x 10"). I play alot of hard rock, alot of punk, fits in well with rich lows and bright highs, a very versitile guitar. The only problem is the fuzz from the tone knob.

Wasnt put together too well at the factory, but i believe this to have been one of the lowest end ones they made. All in all i would have to say the only real flaw was that bridge needed to move back, the finish isnt so bad really and it really has a unique look to it.

Id bet my life on this guitar now.

I dont even think they existed when they existed.

i have a Gibson SG and a Squier strat, i love all 3 as each has its own sound. I do love this guitar, its got a one up on everything else ive heard, i cant explain it. I have been looking for other telestar's so if you find one somewhere, let me know.
Id like to hear from other Telestar owners Email me.