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Any Tiesco Fans?


Belva

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Some of them are really fun to play, but most have really bad necks. Once they get bowed the truss rods aren't strong enough to hold the necks straight. I took one apart a couple years ago and the weld btw the bar and anchor is really cheesy. I'd play one before I got it unless you are up to making a new neck for it. I say make a new neck because teiscos used some funky scale lengths, and you'd have trouble finding anything that matches the pocket as it is.

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I would stay away from it. I repaired one for a friend about eight months ago. Because he did not want to pay me to make a new neck, I pressed the neck to correct excessive bow and a twist. The neck is holding up, but I told him when I did the work that I could not guarantee it.

 

The guitar also sounds kind of raw and distorted.

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I have a 1969 Silvertone (Teisco) short scale bass. Has a lot of sentimental value and is also great to play. Not an expert, but that's not a typical Teisco in your picture, but I'll believe the seller if that's what he says it is. Most of them looked like they were surf/science fiction guitars. I realize some looked like strat wanna-be's.

 

The truss rod doesn't truss any more in my Teisco bass (spins free) but it's still good to play and the SC pickups are great. However, you wouldn't really replace the neck or pickups on that eBay Teisco without it losing its cool factor - you're kind of a prisoner to it . . . . so, I don't think it's a great find (no, I'm not bidding on it!).

 

I say, step away from the computer . . . . . .

 

Greg

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I would stay away from it. I repaired one for a friend about eight months ago. Because he did not want to pay me to make a new neck, I pressed the neck to correct excessive bow and a twist. The neck is holding up, but I told him when I did the work that I could not guarantee it.


The guitar also sounds kind of raw and distorted.

 

 

 

Interesting. Was that neck solid wood? Mines some sort of prehistoric plywood stuff. It has a really strange texture.

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I have a
1969 Silvertone (Teisco) short scale bass
. Has a lot of sentimental value and is also great to play. Not an expert, but that's not a typical Teisco in your picture, but I'll believe the seller if that's what he says it is. Most of them looked like they were surf/science fiction guitars. I realize some looked like strat wanna-be's.


The truss rod doesn't truss any more in my Teisco bass (spins free) but it's still good to play and the SC pickups are great. However, you wouldn't really replace the neck or pickups on that eBay Teisco without it losing its cool factor - you're kind of a prisoner to it . . . . so, I don't think it's a great find (no, I'm not bidding on it!).


I say, step away from the computer . . . . . .


Greg

 

That's a pretty cool looking bass. If it played well i'd rock the sh*t out of that too. :thu:

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Interesting. Was that neck solid wood? Mines some sort of prehistoric plywood stuff. It has a really strange texture.

 

 

In this case, the neck was solid wood. Larry and his brother reworked the guitar when they were teenagers (he is now in his late 40's). The finish was stripped off and refinished. The neck was shimmed with a piece of press board (the cardboard type) to try to correct the the neck problem when Larry was a kid. He brought it to me. It was a real pain to fix. Three days under a heat lamp with the neck clamped and shimmed and another three to cool. When the neck was straight (or close) I took the opportunity of showing Larry why I charge a fair amount to level the frets by making him do it. I removed the neck pocket shim (they epoxied it in), and in one of my rare uses of epoxy putty, made a new shim and properly adjusted the neck angle. Had to correct the worn bridge by filing, as well as to reposition it for proper intonation (If I recall correctly, it was about a little over 1.8/8th to close on the bass side though the treble side was good). Had to make a new string retainer for the headstock.

 

If Larry were not a friend, I would have refused the job. As is though he felt something like $150 was too much, I felt it was far to little for the work involved. He did get a playable guitar back though. The {censored}ty part, after about two weeks of playing it, he put it in a gig bag and back into the closet (at least he loosened the strings this time).

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I would be a project just to toy with. I've also heard the frets are junque and wear out real quick. Not the point. I'm trying to find cheap projects due to my ever dwindling cash flow problems.

 

 

If you come across one and it needs neck work I wouldn't touch it. Most of them have veneered finger boards, plywood necks, and ineffective truss rods. All those things make it hard to correct problems. You can't really level the board when you are replacing frets because of the veneer.

 

They also use non standard hardware that don't have modern equivalents. That's workable but it bears mentioning.

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I would be a project just to toy with. I've also heard the frets are junque and wear out real quick. Not the point. I'm trying to find cheap projects due to my ever dwindling cash flow problems.

 

 

If you live in an area where craiglist has a lot of listings, I'd keep an eye on it for a project like that. Also check out local flea markets and garage sales. Check out the shipping cost on that puppy! If it ended at $20, you'd have $50 into it. The teisco is more of a sentimental thing, people buy them because it's what they started on and they'll pay a lot more than they're worth. I wish I had my old beetone I started on, but I'm not going to pay more than $40 if I find one exactly like it.

 

I just picked up an old peavey horizon II for $100 on craiglist, for a project. It's beat up and I may have over-paid, but it's a decent guitar, plays well, sounds good and it will be worth the time and effort I put into it. I've seen a lot of decent projects in the $50 range on CL.

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