1960s Teisco ET-320 Electric Guitar

I've worked on a bunch of Japanese-made, Teisco ET-320 and similar models in the past. This one is entirely-original and it's the first one Jose got to work on! He fixed a botched old refret with a good level/dress job and then tweaked the saddles and setup. It's a player, now, despite its chunky neck profile and (essentially) flat fretboard.

The whammies on these have a nice feel and a curious action in which the whole bridge plate moves down with the movement of the arm. The pickups on these are square-pole, single-coil thingies that are identical to the ones found on most "Sharkfin" Teisco models and they're relatively high-output, warm, and aggressive for the time. They're like a cross between a P90 and a Strat sound -- real strange and very much themselves and they sound egads-good for driven surfy sounds.

The "switch" is to engage a bass-cut/bright mode and the 3 rocker switches are for the individual pickups. As they are added to the circuit, they are put into the circuit in series, so as you add more pickups the guitar gets louder and muddier. This is bonkers but it's very cool if you want to, say, use "adding a pickup" as a passive boost mode.

Also, let's admit it -- the color? The monkeygrip? The sort-of-Jazzmaster styling? So good...

Its only drawback is weight, and while I didn't weigh it before putting it back in the case to go back to its owner, it felt like a good 9 lbs or so.