Teisco
Tokyo, Japan
Teisco emerged from a partnership between guitarist Atsuwo Kaneko and electrical engineer Dory Matsuda, beginning as Aoi Onpa Kenkyujo, or Electricity Laboratories, in post-war Japan. The company evolved through names like Nippon Onpa Kogyo before adopting Teisco in 1964, a name chosen simply for its appealing sound rather than any acronym. Starting with lap steels, amps, and pickups in the late 1940s, it expanded into solidbody and archtop guitars during the 1950s boom, exporting widely by the 1960s under labels like Silvertone and Kent. Acquired by Kawai Musical Instruments in 1967, guitar production phased out by 1969, though the brand persisted for keyboards into the 1980s.
