In any case, when it was made nobody thought that inexpensive Japanese guitars were worth saving or would become collectibles! I’m sure glad this one made it. Wow, one of the rarest of all the Teisco electrics This was arguably the very first Teisco solid body guitar that didnt borrow its styling from lap steel. It’s probably fair to conclude that this particular model is relatively scarce. The biggest year was 1966, when 618,000 guitars were imported, including all electrics and acoustics. There’s a perception that Japanese guitars such as Teisco were imported by the millions, but, in fact, quantities were not really that large. The Teisco SD-4L (and a companion 2-pickup SD-2L) only lasted into 1964. By ’63 they had changed to these quasi-DeArmond gold foil single-coils (which are not bad, by the way). In ’62 when these were introduced, the pickups were large chunky chrome affairs with a black bobbin center. All in all this is a great little guitar for getting down with “Walk, Don’t Run.” Once you get everything all set up, it plays very nicely indeed. It sits on a little elevated platform above the guitar top and operates with three springs, one of the earliest 3-spring vibratos on a Japanese guitar I know of. I don’t know if this has a reinforced neck if it does, it’s certainly not adjustable. The body is laminated, which the more snobbish call “plywood.” The neck is one-piece maple with a bound rosewood fingerboard. Teisco E-110 and Teisco Checkmate 10 5:10 //I’m going on an adventure// New (to me) electric guitar, vintage amp dream deferred, and scoring a mad decent used amp. For a guitar that was once regarded as something close to junk, laughed at by Les Paul and Strat aficionados, this is actually a pretty remarkable piece of lutherie for its time, the formica facing notwithstanding. teisco delrey guitar techdemo guitardemo tonezone vintageguitar 60s madeinjapan electricguitar. 1963 Teisco SD-4L, which could have been brought in by Westheimer or someone else. The object of my desire seen here is a c. Westheimer’s interest was more engaged in other brands he was selling, so he didn’t complain about W.M.I.’s usurping his brand name. By around 1964 or so another company called W.M.I., which stood for Weiss Musical Instruments, started importing Teisco del Reys, as well. There actually was a Teisco company! In fact, it was the late Jack Westheimer who appended the “del Rey” suffix to give the brand a little more “Spanish” veneer. by Westheimer Sales carrying their own company’s brand name. Teisco guitars were somewhat unusual back in the 1960s because many-though certainly not all-were imported into the U.S. Vintage 1963 Teisco SD-4L Electric Guitar