Teisco (テイスコ) was a Japanese manufacturer of affordable musical instruments from 1948 until 1969. The company producted guitars as well as keyboard instruments, microphones and amplifiers. Teisco products were widely exported to the United States and the United Kingdom. Teisco guitars sold in the United States were badged "Teisco Del Ray" beginning in 1964. Teisco guitars were also imported in the U.S. under several brand names including Silvertone, Kent, Kingston, Kimberly, Heit Deluxe and World Teisco. Likewise, they were imported in the U.K under such labels as Arbiter, Audition, Kay and Top Twenty. While guitars manufactured by Teisco were ubiquitous in their day, they are now very collectable. In fact, highly sought after models are now being reproduced. Teisco also produced numerous models of guitar and bass amplifiers which were often sold under the Checkmate brand name, but also named Teisco or Silvertone. In the 1950s, early amplifier models were very basic 5-10 watt tube/valve designs. During the 1960s, more advanced and powerful models were offered, such as Checkmate 25 and Checkmate 50, featuring dual channels, reverb and tremolo effects. Teisco also brought out "solid-state", transistor-based, models, some designed no less radically than their guitars of the time.
From 1948 to the early 1960's Teisco products were often, like many Japanese products of the period, close copies of American and Western European products of the time. However, in the early 1960's Teisco products became increasingly unique. Teisco guitars became notable for unusual body shapes, such as the May Queen design resembling an artist's palette, or other unusual features such as having four or five pickups (most guitars have two or three). In 1967, Kawai bought Teisco. They started to produce all the Teisco guitars, as well as their own brand, Apollo.
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