Attack of the Teisco Cont.!!

OK, the second and final post concerning the attack of the Teisco!

As I stated in the previous post, my friend passed on to me his first guitar to be restored, an old Zenon, made by the Teisco company in Japan, most likely in the early sixties. These student model guitars are now coveted by many. In the case of this particular Zenon, by buddy just would love to have his first guitar playable once again.

In the previous installment, I stated that half of the tuners were missing, the jack loose, and many years of grunge covered the instrument. I have always kept old guitar parts in storage, to be used or re-cycled as needed. I did manage to have the parts to re-assemble the six tuners! The nut was gone and I did use a new cheap plastic variety, I'm pretty sure Teisco used at the time. I took the pickguard off and checked the wiring. I found a broken wire and loose jack. I spritzed the three controls with WD 40, soldered the broken wire back onto the switch, and replaced the output jack. The tone capacitor was gone and the wiring to the controls altered. I did not want to disturb any more of the circuit than I had to, and decided to leave the tone control alone.

I removed the primitive tremolo system under the tailpiece, and attempted to adapt a Floyd Rose part to accept a whammy bar, but the system is too primitive, so that too I left alone.

I began to string it up after re-assembling and cleaning the area, only to find the strings high off the fretboard. I removed the neck and cut two plastic shims to place in the neck pocket, and replaced the neck. The strings were nicely over the fingerboard, requiring even raising the bridge adjustment wheels up a bit. The bottom of the pickguard, housing the output jack, was broken off. I decided to use the original repaired section, but added three more screws to secure the section. It was time for the test! I plugged it in and started playing. The bridge pickup really honks nicely and the neck pickup warms the tone. One of the rocker switches, is a bit persnickety, but does work. This baby is good for another 45 years, I reckon!!!