Max1981
Junior Member
- Messages
- 45
Last Christmas I told you all about a Teisco E-110 that was gifted to me and I proceeded to fix up into playable condition. I still have the old thing, and between then and now it has acquired a sibling: A 1967 Silvertone-branded K4L. I bought it at a chain music store, and they brought it to like-new condition. In the nine months I've owned these guitars, I've learned many things about them--not only why the people who owned them may have hated them, but also their redeeming qualities.
First, I'll play the Devil's Advocate. What might detract from these instruments?
The frets of the guitars may as well have been salvaged from model railroad tracks. The E-110's frets are ridiculously flat, and it hadn't even been played more than a few times. I had to raise the action up to about a centimeter at the end of the neck so that it could be playable past the 9th fret. The K4L's frets are properly round and playable, but they're puny. I'm not saying I want mega-jumbo frets on it, but I like to feel a little perpendicular resistance when I'm playing.
The pickups aren't really the best either. They're fairly low output and, yep, microphonic--not to the point where I can sing into them, but if I fiddle with any switches or if my pick hits the device, it'll get sent to the amp. Maybe for the 60s, when surf music was a thing and amps overdrove themselves, they were alright, but the bar has been raised since then.
Okay, mediocre fretwork and subpar pickups. We can all understand those. But does that really constitute comparing these guitars to scrap? I think not.
Here's the thing. Most people with war flashbacks of 60s MIJ guitars were only beginners. They hardly knew how to play, much less set up their instrument to be playable. So they attempted to play these un-set-up things... into tiny, poor-quality, low-tech amplifiers.
There's factor number two: what you play it through. The amplifier makes an absolutely massive difference in tone. If your amp isn't good, your sound won't be either. Billy Gibbons could play Pearly Gates into a Squier practice amp, and regardless of how great the guitar or its player were, it would sound like slag. Before I bought the K4L, I played it into several amps--Vox, Orange, Marshall, Supro, Fender, and Crate come to mind. It sounded fine through some and stellar through others. And if Rev. G and I switched what amps we were using, I can guarantee you Pearly would sound like Pearly again, and my Silvertone would be reduced to junk once more.
Long story short--These guitars are redeemable!!! They will sound like junk and be unplayable if you don't put a little time and effort into them, and plug them into a cheap practice thing. They will be just as good as any other guitar if you give them the servicing they need and play them through a more proper amplifier. Treat them right, and they'll repay the favor.
First, I'll play the Devil's Advocate. What might detract from these instruments?
The frets of the guitars may as well have been salvaged from model railroad tracks. The E-110's frets are ridiculously flat, and it hadn't even been played more than a few times. I had to raise the action up to about a centimeter at the end of the neck so that it could be playable past the 9th fret. The K4L's frets are properly round and playable, but they're puny. I'm not saying I want mega-jumbo frets on it, but I like to feel a little perpendicular resistance when I'm playing.
The pickups aren't really the best either. They're fairly low output and, yep, microphonic--not to the point where I can sing into them, but if I fiddle with any switches or if my pick hits the device, it'll get sent to the amp. Maybe for the 60s, when surf music was a thing and amps overdrove themselves, they were alright, but the bar has been raised since then.
Okay, mediocre fretwork and subpar pickups. We can all understand those. But does that really constitute comparing these guitars to scrap? I think not.
Here's the thing. Most people with war flashbacks of 60s MIJ guitars were only beginners. They hardly knew how to play, much less set up their instrument to be playable. So they attempted to play these un-set-up things... into tiny, poor-quality, low-tech amplifiers.
There's factor number two: what you play it through. The amplifier makes an absolutely massive difference in tone. If your amp isn't good, your sound won't be either. Billy Gibbons could play Pearly Gates into a Squier practice amp, and regardless of how great the guitar or its player were, it would sound like slag. Before I bought the K4L, I played it into several amps--Vox, Orange, Marshall, Supro, Fender, and Crate come to mind. It sounded fine through some and stellar through others. And if Rev. G and I switched what amps we were using, I can guarantee you Pearly would sound like Pearly again, and my Silvertone would be reduced to junk once more.
Long story short--These guitars are redeemable!!! They will sound like junk and be unplayable if you don't put a little time and effort into them, and plug them into a cheap practice thing. They will be just as good as any other guitar if you give them the servicing they need and play them through a more proper amplifier. Treat them right, and they'll repay the favor.
