1960s Teisco Spectrum 4 Electric Guitar

I've worked on various other Japanese-made Teisco Spectrum models but I think this is the first Spectrum 4 (it's unmarked but clearly a Teisco) that I've had through the shop. It's also the first Spectrum I've played with a usable, Mosrite-a-like whammy system. Most of these have a stamped-steel, cruddy whammy that does not work. This one does, thankfully, as it's a cast, heavy-duty whammy. Plus!

This guitar arrived for consignment in overall decent shape, though. It needed all the usual "Teisco spruce-up" stuff, however, but now that it's done it's a good, stable instrument and the flip-up foam "mute" works nicely, too.

The sound will either do it for you or not, though. These "split" pickups with the adjustable poles are very mellow. There are switches to engage them "on" for any combination of the four, but they appear to be wired so that if the two "neck" pickups are on they're wired in series and you get a volume boost and the same goes with the two "bridge" pickups. With all of the pickups on, they all seem to be wired in series and so you get even more volume... and a muddy mess as well!

I like the tone of these not so much for clean, jingle-jangle tones but more for face-melting fuzz and drive. If you hit these with drive or fuzz they come to life beautifully and I can't help but think that was sort-of the intent. At the time this was built (late '60s), fuzz was all the rage.

This guy has the nicer-grade Teisco neck style from the late '60s made from super-multi-ply maple (like a Framus neck from the same time) and with a butt-end adjuster for the truss rod. It's got a faster, more Fender-a-like feel than your average Teisco from the time.

Repairs included: a fret level/dress and fret seating, re-foam of the bridge mute, lots of various stabilization adjustments to hardware, cleaning, and setup. 

Body wood: solid ash (?) body

Bridge: adjustable w/bridge mute

Fretboard: rosewood

Neck wood: multi-ply maple

Pickups: 4x Teisco Spectrum split-poles

Action height at 12th fret: 1/16" overall (fast)
String gauges: 46w-10

Neck shape: slim-med C

Board radius: ~12"

Truss rod: adjustable

Neck relief: straight

Fret style: medium

Scale length: 24 5/8"

Nut width: 1 5/8"

Body width: 12 1/8"

Body depth: 1 1/4"

Weight: 6 lbs 14 oz

Condition notes: it's all-original save for new foam on the bridge mute and a replacement whammy bar. There's a little uswear but overall it's very clean for an old Teisco. Everything works as it should and the electronics were pretty clean as-is when they arrived. I sprayed-out the wiring harness, though. The tone control does not have a lot of taper to it -- it's "bright-bright-bright-dark-very dark" really fast. That said, I'd be using this wide-open all the time myself, anyway. The 3-way selector at the top simply cycles through "wide open" to "muddy" and "even muddier" like a Gretsch mud switch.