Teisco May Queen...A Glimpse Into the Future of Electric Bodies

Since it's coming into the month of May, I thought I'd write about the coveted and rare May Queen guitars by Teisco.  These guitars were made in the late 1960's at the height of psychedelic rock and it's clear Teisco was creating products for that market...unusual guitars that these early rockers would find cool and affordable.  Teisco was known for playing with body shapes and explored the ways in which guitars could be transformed in appearance without losing their sound quality.  The May Queen was no exception with its almost palette-like shape, which some claim was inspired from a Vox design.  I've often wondered if the "May Queen" badge was the inspiration for the lyric 'It's just a spring clean for the May Queen' from Led Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven", which came out in 1971.  Most May Queen guitars that I've seen are in tuxedo black and white, but there are a few out there...very few...that have a red finish that reminds one of a brick color. Another rare color for the May Queen is a beige finish that's kind of blah.  May Queen guitars have a distinctive pickguard with a 'signed' "May Queen" above the Teisco brand in old script.  Here's the red and black side by side:

How beautiful is that?  If you own one or have owned one in your lifetime, you are or were extremely blessed. 

Quest Atak V

Of all the crazy MIJ guitars I've seen, this one is really unique.  They're a little outside my area of study, since they were made in the 1980's, but they so embody the era of metal bands and long hair.  The Quest Atak series is pretty awe-inspiring in designs from the time, but the Atak V is an axe to savor.  Want to see the fluid, flying shape of one?  Go to this webpage.  Awesome, isn't it?

In addition to the crazy shape, I love the color blending on the guitar...it looks like it just came out of a fire someplace.  Must be some hot guitar madness being generated by that Atak.  Looks like you can score an Atak for as little as $120, but that's peanuts for as beautiful as these guitars look to me. 

If you own one of these pieces of guitar art, let me know how they sound!

Japan Quake 2, Hy-Lo, Hi-Lo?

Been watching the devastation over in Japan...yikes.  I honestly don't know if they will ever be able to return to normal after this.  Still haven't heard from some of the larger guitar manufacturers to find out if their factories still stand...and if the talented people making guitars in the region are still with us.  We'll just continue to pray to the guitar gods that all is well.

Meanwhile, a mystery has unfolded.  Two guitars:  Hy-Lo or Hi-Lo.  Made by the same company?  I don't know...after looking around and viewing a few for sale here and there, I have a hunch that these badges were made by different companies-thus Hy-Lo and Hi-Lo.  My guess after reading a lot of boards from owners is that Hy-Lo was made by Kawai Teisco, while Hi-Lo was a Matsumoku badge.  Why?  Well, one person claims that they bought their Hy-Lo from a Teisco catalog back in the late 1960's (nothing like an eyewitness account from a direct owner).  And Hi-Lo electrics sure look like a Matsumoku product to people who collect Matsumoku badges.   I really don't know.  To add to the confusion, both electrics and acoustics were made with this badge name, so it must have been somewhat successful as a badge here in the United States.  For now, I've got them divided on the list under these makers until someone puts me right who knows the answer or I find a person with  Hi-Lo who can testify that it was made by a specific maker because they have direct knowledge of it.  I'm confident that Hy-Lo is a Kawai Teisco product.  What I don't know, what I'm unsure of, is the Hi-Lo badge.

Does your head hurt reading this?  It hurts mine just thinking about it as I write.  Sorry.

Anyhow, if you know of the origin of Hi-Lo guitars, let me know.  I'm going to take an aspirin now and lie down after that previous paragraph.  Whew.

Japanese Quake...Damage to Guitar Manufacturers So Far....

After seeing the footage from the great Japanese quake of 2011, one can't help but be awed at the destruction.  Many of us in the guitar world are worried about factories in the areas affected that produce the guitars we love to both play and purchase.  After taking a look at the information available the only guitar manufacturer who released a statement was Yamaha.  Yamaha said their factories were not damaged significantly if at all by the earthquake.

Another source claims that Tokai factories are safe after the quake.  Fujigen Gakki reports on their company blog that the factory is safe and everyone is ok.

I have not been able to locate anything from Hoshino Gakki, distributors of Ibanez and Tama instruments.  Chushin Gakki is located in Nagano and there has been no word issued from the factory.  If anyone knows the status of their factories, let me know.

Now I just read that one of the nuclear reactors in Japan has melted down...dear god.  We can just pray and hope that things improve from here on out.

JooDee solved...Do You Have An Elk?

Had a message from a guy out on the west coast who's a collector of JooDee guitars.  He shared with me that he nailed down the company of origin for these beauties:  Dyna Gakki.  Which was one of the companies cited in many JooDee discussions!  He said he got the information from a former Dyna executive in Japan.  So I feel confident that we can say Dyna is the maker of the JooDee badge.  Whew.  Only god-knows-how many more badges to go....

Read some interesting things on the Elk badge too, from Vintage Guitar magazine.  I had it in the wrong place, as there was an Elk Gakki in Japan!   From the pics, these were pretty cool looking guitars.  Finding a clear acrylic Elk was fascinating as well.  Does anyone remember a major rock star of the 1970's who played a clear acrylic guitar?  If there was one, I don't recall it.  Anyway, Elk seems to be a pretty scarce badge.  Have you seen one?  Own one?  Did Elk Gakki make anything else? 

So many questions....I may have to learn Japanese.

Checkin Out Some Vintage Ibanez and Weymann Guitars

Had a pretty good weekend last week and checked out some new talent.  One was playing a pretty decent Gibson from the 1980's with gold pickups...sweet.  Another had a vintage 1940's Weymann electric with pearl inlays that was outta sight!  Sounded pretty good, too!  Also saw two Ibanez beauties:  a 1979 bass in honey, Musician MC300NT and a 1973 custom cherryburst Les Paul copy.  Getting to hold them and just look at the craftsmanship was a pleasure.

But I also stumbled upon a new badge this week.  Gession.  Apparently, this was a guitar made in Japan in the 1970-1980's period.  It's a Les Paul with a pancake body...with a darkburst over yellow finish.  Has anyone seen a Gession before?  Rumor has it that it was a Tokai badge, but I don't know...I've certainly never seen one or heard of the badge before.  The person who had it got it at a local flea market pretty cheap (it's not in the best of shape, but playable).  Yet another mystery to solve in the MIJ world.

Oh, well.  I've got a good 40 years yet to look into this.  And learn.  Maybe even solve some of these questions.

Well the good news is you have more information....

The fellow that was unhappy with my list wrote back and was REALLY nice about it.  Really nice.  He explained a lot and told me a few things to look into or just plain set me straight where the list is way off, which was a good thing.  So the long and short of it is, I know more about the topic but I've got a lot more work ahead to make it accurate. Sigh.  Such is life.  Nothing comes easy.

And I just want to say here and now that guitar collectors are some of the nicest and friendliest people on earth.  I've got a friend who runs an in-home concert venue for musicians who has been so sweet about helping me through my frustration in researching this topic.  Another friend of mine, who manufactures guitars, told me I was plain crazy to attempt such a list...that it couldn't be done.  But it hasn't stopped me from trying.

I leave with a quote from the great Albert Einstein:  "If we knew what we were doing, it wouldn't be called Research."

Starting the blog...calling all shredders!!!!

As just a simple country person with little to no musical ability who has never owned a guitar or played in a band, it probably strikes you odd that I'd have an interest in vintage guitars.  But in doing research on various obscure badged guitars for friends of mine, I found something endlessly fascinating as an amateur historian and internet geek!  Much of what is known about this topic comes from enthusiasts only. To my knowledge other than the occasional article in a vintage guitar mag or paragraph in a vintage guitar collectors' book no one ever addresses the missing information in sum.  It is something that needs to be tracked down and recorded.  To do that, I need all you shredders and threshers out there to help me!

So I started this blog in a five year mission....no, that's Star Trek.... to gather all the bits of information out there on obscure, branded or badged guitars...to try to go back in time, find out who made them and why, and hopefully provide badly needed information to the folks out there who play and own these things and just love 'em to death!

This week I gathered what I know so far from the 1960's-1980's era, which I posted on Hubpages under the title Japanese Manufacturers of Made In Japan Badged Electric Guitars from 1960 to 1980.  This was a period where Japanese firms made hundreds of badged, low priced guitars that were modeled on the more expensive great American guitars during the height of electric guitarsmanship.  Kids everywhere wanted to play like Jimi Hendrix and Carlos Santana, so they got their parents or saved their money to buy Les Paul or Rickenbacker copies made in Japan or Korea for the American market. 

American manufacturers like Aria and Ibanez gave contracts to Japanese companies to produce products that were copies of famous Fender and Gibson guitar designs, reproducing them into cheaper versions with cool sounding names like Raven, Shadow and Vox.  These were transported and sold right here on main street, sold by the thousands...until Fender and Gibson sued for copyright infringement to stop their flooding the American market with copies.

The odd thing is, some of these cheap 'copies' are highly sought-after collectibles that guitarists LOVE to play! 

So let's begin the investigation, my soulful friends, and figure out....WHO MADE MY VINTAGE GUITAR!