Meet The Hound Dog

tonyw · March 6th, 2010, 02:33 PM

One of my fav all time bluesmen was Hound Dog Taylor, he got his sound from 4 pickup Teisco and Kawai (took over from Teisco) guitars cheap amps with ripped speakers, but his guitars always had that 4 pickup configuration that i was always wanting. His best known guitar was Kawai's lookalike of Teiscos SS-4L

During the 80's i was playing at a blues festival when i heard a tone and said to myself that that sounds like HDT and upon checking the player out i found it was a touring player from the U.S.A with a 4 pickup Teisco. I have secretly loved the sound of these guitars since i was about 17 but hey it would of been uncool for me to be spruking about them, they wernt Fender or Gibson, and if you didnt play these brands you were out of the snob club and uncool to boot. (still the same today in some circles)

Forward to the 90's i am recording an album and have all my gear tuned to sound filthy and i am grinding out a dirty blues of which later my bassplayer would comment that he loved that tone, its so Hound Dog Taylor! from that point i went in search of a 4 pickup Teisco or Kawai not as easy to find as the 2 pickup guitars.

Fast forward to the last 2 years and i realise these things are gaining in value and some are reaching over $1000 US, i am gob smacked and resigned to making my own 4 pickup guitar. I recently listened to a guy on youtube with a 4 pup Teisco and again ther's that Hound Dog sound, then last week i make contact with a vintage collector in Japan who just happened to be parting out of his vintage collection a Teisco 1965 WG-4L all original except for the tone knob. He has had this guitar sitting around doing nothing for many years.

Last night i went to play a show and came home to find my offer on the guitar had been accepted and its on its way on Monday, i cant wait this thing is butt ugly with a whammy bar that could cause serious damage and a slight strat body appearance about it and i love it. I also promised myself no more strat style guitars or 3 tone sunbursts, but hey what can a poor boy do?

Meet "The Hound Dog"

Heres a bit of a review a guy did on the same guitar about the tones.

Having four hot single coils (alternating polarity) each with an on/off is enough. Add the tone switch and things go from crazy to outright nuts. Any two pickups will either give you a really fat humbucker, or a crazy twangy inbetween strat sound depending on polarity combination. All positions are free from all noise. I assume this is a perk of the metal pickgaurd. I have four settings I fall back on when I get crossed up.
You can get convincing tele sounds, hollow epi type sounds, strat middle pu and in between sounds, P90 type bridge, LP bridge...
I only have the bass switch on for bridge pickup only position, all others are in the bright position. This guitar produces more unique sounds than I can mention.

Cant wait, i am glad i am on the road for 4 days next week time will go quik.

ArlenBucy · March 6th, 2010, 02:41 PM

Very neato!

LeftyBlake · March 6th, 2010, 02:44 PM

My dream guitar is any one of those old wacky Teisco, Kawai, Mosrite, etc. guitars. If I could ever find one left handed, I would be absolutely thrilled. I am extremely envious of you. One day I hope to get something like this!

tonyw · March 6th, 2010, 02:51 PM

I have nearly bought so many of these but i wanted the 4 pickups and yeah they are wacky butt ugly guitars and i love em. I got this for well under half what i had seen them going for. Only reason the guy was letting it go was he likes to collect from 1970 on
and so was getting rid of this 65. This is not a Del Ray as its never been exported and for some crazy reason these non export go for more even though its only a badging difference, go figure.

T-Bodz Terry B. · March 6th, 2010, 09:58 PM

Coll Hound Dog Brother!

tonyw · March 7th, 2010, 12:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by T-Bodz Terry B.

Coll Hound Dog Brother!

Everybody know da hound

YouTube - hound dog taylor

tonyw · March 7th, 2010, 01:00 AM

Oh Boy What A Day This Is!!!!!

YouTube - Hound Dog Taylor "Wild About You Baby"

scotzoid · March 7th, 2010, 03:47 AM

Quote:

I also promised myself no more strat style guitars or 3 tone sunbursts, but hey what can a poor boy do?

'cept to play for a rock n roll band?

Looks like it fell out of the ugly tree, & hit every branch on the way down

, but hey, I can smell the lowdown funky blooze coming out of that that thing, just looking at the pic. Nice score, tony...hey, fugly guitars need someone to love them too...

Hugh · March 7th, 2010, 07:12 AM

Cool find. Does it have a zero fret ? I can't tell, but I think I see one.

tonyw · March 7th, 2010, 02:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by scotzoid

'cept to play for a rock n roll band?

Looks like it fell out of the ugly tree, & hit every branch on the way down

, but hey, I can smell the lowdown funky blooze coming out of that that thing, just looking at the pic. Nice score, tony...hey, fugly guitars need someone to love them too...

Teiscos are ugly guitars as are alot of the mij from the 60's, maybe the acid was good back then. They definately scream blues, something about the alnico pickups i guess, seems even the single pickup Teiscos have that raw sound about them, i want one of those too. I have only ever played a Teisco tulip and that thing was a slide demon.

My collection will soon be complete, (maybe), i only need a 335 type, a 12 sting electric, an esquire, a jazzmaster, a duo sonic, a pure tele and my crazy 3 pickup guitar, HB, strat , Tele setup. I may do a bassVI and a Jazz Bass, and a very short scale neck guitar of some kind, i know theres more i just cant think which.

Quote:

Hugh: Cool find. Does it have a zero fret ? I can't tell, but I think I see one.

Not that i am aware of mate, looking at the the small bit of paint chip between the headstock and the nut he sent a pic of the's no zero fret.

gliderider22 · March 7th, 2010, 02:33 PM

I've got a Teisco ET-440, 4 pickups and tons of switches and it's amazing (especially the $125 price tag).

Enjoy your new guitar!

tonyw · March 7th, 2010, 02:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gliderider22

I've got a Teisco ET-440, 4 pickups and tons of switches and it's amazing (especially the $125 price tag).

Enjoy your new guitar!

The Spectrum with all the flowers over the black scratch plate from 1969? lovely guitar.

A guy had a mint one,virtually unplayed, tags and all, but wanted $2200 US, i choked on that one. I saw a ET-440 on youtube i liked alot but the guitar was sold.

gliderider22 · March 7th, 2010, 02:53 PM

Mine's in mint condition with the floral pattern in perfect shape, no tags. I have the bridge with the rolling muting function. I just couldn't see selling it at this point but for $2200 US I'd do it too.

Quote:

Originally Posted by tonyw

The Spectrum with all the flowers over the black scratch plate from 1969? lovely guitar.

A guy had a mint one,virtually unplayed, tags and all, but wanted $2200 US, i choked on that one. I saw a ET-440 on youtube i liked alot but the guitar was sold.

tonyw · March 7th, 2010, 02:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gliderider22

Mine's in mint condition with the floral pattern in perfect shape, no tags. I have the bridge with the rolling muting function. I just couldn't see selling it at this point but for $2200 US I'd do it too.

I love the idea of the mute switch saw it on the youtube demo.

Kyri · March 7th, 2010, 03:06 PM

Tony, very interesting, do you have any idea what this is?

tonyw · March 7th, 2010, 04:01 PM

Nice guitar is it yours?
I think i may have only seen one of these in my travels on the net but not recently. Japanese judging by the switching pots. I am taking it is a 4 volume on the bottom and 4, 2 or 3 way tone switches on top and the trem partially ripped off a Jazzmaster style. Pickups dont look like anything i have seen on 60's MIJ. These sort of guitars are manufactured under so many different names because you could contact the manufacturer and have your own brand name put on them. The 4 pickup models of any of these brands seem to be the most desireable. If it was purchased in the UK it could be an Arbitor brand MIJ but i am not 100%sure on that

Kyri · March 7th, 2010, 04:10 PM

Its not mine, I don't know its history but when I asked the guy who made up my paint for my strat refinish to send me a picture of the aged white I was after, he sent me the picture. He has either made or resprayed the guitar, he makes guitars as well as mixing different shades of nitro. I must ask him what it is, next time i need paint. Your thread reminded me of the interesting looking guitar!
regards

Kyri

tonyw · March 7th, 2010, 05:00 PM

It may be the one i have seen a picture of, it may be a hybrid even, other than that i have no idea.

scotzoid · March 8th, 2010, 01:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tonyw

My collection will soon be complete

You poor silly man, you're delusional, come in out of the sun, quickly...

Quote:

Originally Posted by tonyw

I may do a bassVI ...

You bring the pics, I'll bring the popcorn. Definitely an item on my bucket list...maybe not so much for myself to play a lot, but a spare axe to bring to jams when I may be the only true bass player there, I can hand a VI off to a guitar player who thinks he can't play bass for a couple of tunes...

tonyw · March 8th, 2010, 02:05 AM

I musta got hit in the head by a hail stone yesterday after the biggest hail storm in my lifetime here in Melbourne.

My wife is glad my addiction isnt booze, drugs or exotic cars although i hot up Subarus to take hardcore offroad haha

I have liked the Bass VI since i saw Jack Bruce in Cream and being a 2 piece player it may add to the mayhem me and my drummer create.

scotzoid · March 8th, 2010, 10:58 AM

I recently learned that the Beatles had a Bass VI, which one it belonged to, or if it was a "community" axe hasn't been made clear, but most often used by John or George when Paul wanted to play guitar, or perhaps on rare occasions, wasn't there. I remember seeing the VI in Fender's catalog in the early 70s, & wondering why they would put a trem bar on a BASS? Guess it was easier than making a hardtail Jazzmaster...

tonyw · March 8th, 2010, 01:28 PM

The bass VI body is a whole different kettle to the Jazzy body other than the trem

Heres where i will buy mine from Bass VI body

The beatles did use one it was Lennon and Harrison i remember seeing it in some film clips may have been Abbey Rd, Noel Redding used one with Hendrix as well.

Lots of players use or have used them, a very versatile piece of kit.

tonyw · March 8th, 2010, 01:32 PM

The Hound Dog has left Japan and i am about to hit the road, i cant wait to get back home and check this thing out.

tonyw · March 13th, 2010, 03:07 PM

I just received my Teisco 1965 WG-4L, "The Hound Dog" tuned to ear and played it unplugged and wow how much acoustic tone does one need, i am scared to plug it in incase its a let down after the acoustic properties of the guitar. All is good, the neck is great, its a lovely player, it just needs some tweaking and a thicker set of strings and its ready to rock. Hope to have some pics soon and some sound clips of this ugly duckling as i will record with it next week. Totally wrapped in my purchase and for a guitar thats 45yrs old its a lovely instrument in the hands.

tonyw · March 18th, 2010, 04:56 AM

All this talk of ET440's led me to purchase one, i just couldnt help myself, the tones on The Hound Dog got me doing things i shouldn't. Now repeat after me I DONT NEED ANYMORE GUITARS!!! well this year anyway, ok maybe 2 more after this one haha

tonyw · March 26th, 2010, 03:07 PM

Update on The Hound Dog:

After playing the frets off this thing for a few days it became apparent i was riding a bucking snarling Pitbull so it was timeto strip it down and have a look.
1: the nut had been filed square ewww someones been on drugs and had a go at being a luthier, so to kee this guitar original i wll redo and try and save the nut.

2: Sticking tuners: Easy fixed, we have a local product called Inox that i swear by, its craps all over WD40 for this sort of work. The Ferruls are cracked so i sourced another set from the USA.

3: 3rd pickup switch intermittent now fixed by pinching the contacts in the switch, i did this to all the contacts which made them a bit tighter so you can feel the switch lock into place instead of flopping around. Theres a dodgy jumper wire on the hi lo switch needs a solder.

4: Checked the resistance on the pickups: The pickups from the neck are...... North polarity 7.26k, South 7.10k, North 7.26k and South 6.83k at the bridge so the resistance is pretty even but doesnt tell us much more than that. There are 2 caps on the hi lo switch but i cant read them, i will test them on the meter when i get more time.

5: This thing can squeel like a pig and i was aware these pickups had some microphonics but i felt it went deeper than just that so i went and checked the volume/tone and jack and found, The volume pot is original and reads 875k i am assumiing it was a 1meg pot but the markings on the pot lead me to believe its only meant to be 500k?, the markings on it are from what i can read B83 50 3 most of it is covered in solder. The tone pot is a change over as i suspected as soon as i got the guitar as it rolled on clockwise Teiscos roll on Anti clockwise, its cheap asian and reads 500k on the top of it, my meter has it at 509k so its bang on but its not authentic so i will search for an original volume tone pot harness (found one). I discovered there's was no earth to the jack which could be half my problems with microphonics i am experiencing or maybe its just unpotted pickups. All in all its not in bad shape for its age.

Heres the wiring on this 4 pickup monster

anfontan · March 26th, 2010, 06:02 PM

Hey Tony, I remember those Teisco guitars very well from my childhood-I'm sure the first actual electric guitar I ever saw in person was one of them. I think it was at a Woolworth store or someplace like that, but I was mesmerized by it-

anfontan · March 26th, 2010, 06:10 PM

Wow, I was just looking back at earlier posts and saw that whammy bar--I swear it looks like the handle on an old refrigerator we had when I was a little kid

mijstratsq · March 26th, 2010, 06:43 PM

hey nice guitar its way cooler then i pictured it as being.how does it play?does it feel cheap or does it feel like it could take a cluckin and keep on truckin.im into playing slide and im going to keep my eye open for something like this.love that vintage look.does it stay in tune?

tonyw · March 26th, 2010, 07:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by anfontan

Hey Tony, I remember those Teisco guitars very well from my childhood-I'm sure the first actual electric guitar I ever saw in person was one of them. I think it was at a Woolworth store or someplace like that, but I was mesmerized by it-

The original gig bag i got with this shows it was obviously owned by a japanese student because written in pencil in childish like letters is the name TAKIFUMI maybe the original owner?, i know i am the 3rd owner and the second owner stored it as part of his collection in Japan for many years.

Quote:

Wow, I was just looking back at earlier posts and saw that whammy bar--I swear it looks like the handle on an old refrigerator we had when I was a little kid

The bar (what a monster eh) and trem is actually one of the best setups i have ever played and always returns to tune, pity that the strings keep pinging at the nut. Also these strings are very old.

The ET440 i will pick up today as i have just been informed its arrived from the USA and cant wait have a look over it.

tonyw · March 26th, 2010, 07:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mijstratsq

hey nice guitar its way cooler then i pictured it as being.how does it play?does it feel cheap or does it feel like it could take a cluckin and keep on truckin.im into playing slide and im going to keep my eye open for something like this.love that vintage look.does it stay in tune?

Fantastic guitar nothing nasty about it at all, solid mahogony and for slide its got the devil in it for sure, i love its tone and sound and yep he stays in tune now that i am getting the setup a bit better.

These may have been cheap to buy but they are very well made and solid even after 45yrs

tonyw · March 26th, 2010, 09:41 PM

Well i thought i would get my ET440 today but it turned out to be my Authentic Volume and Tone controls, alls good these are like new and fit straight on. I only need a tone pot have found one just need to purchase and a Teisco Japan badge which are scarcer than rockin horse crap.

tonyw · March 30th, 2010, 09:44 PM

Heres my immaculate ET440 Teisco Del Ray i received yesterday, everything works well on it, just needs a setup.

LeftyBlake · March 30th, 2010, 10:34 PM

It's beautiful! I love the look of these guitars.

tonyw · March 31st, 2010, 02:14 PM

This one is better than the 1st one condition wise, i have all the original parts i needed for the 1st one now except for the badge.

I am watching a single pickup E100 at the moment. They hold some real appeal to me as well and their tone is something else. A single gold foil pickup went on ebay yesterday for $80US

They really knew how to wire these things, its a good learning curve for me.

jimmiraz · March 31st, 2010, 04:26 PM

I've had this 30 some yrs.
Looks to be the same type of switching, and simular pu's only mine has 3.
I'm wondering if is the same manufacturer.
Mine has no name, that I can remember anyways.
I sanded the neck and refinished it, God I was just a kid then LOL!

It certainally does have a sound it's oun.
Brings back a lot of memories, put a lot of hr's on it.
It's been Red, Natural for a while, and now white with a red sparkel.
It may have been a burst originally if I remember right.
It was sprayed red when I got it.
Glad I still have it.

Tony yours up on top is a beauty by the way, LOVE IT! (Both of em)

tonyw · March 31st, 2010, 11:06 PM

Jimmiraz yours is definately made in Japan probably by Teisco even Kawai after they took over. The closest actual Teisco i can find to your pickup config is the 1968 K-3L but thats the only simialrity other than the pickups themselfs look the same. Your guitar may have been exported under many names. If i find one like it in my travels i will let you know.

Have you a pic of the headstock? Cool guitar by the way!

heres some of the brands these guitars were shipped under

Quote:

Silvertone, Jedson, Kent, Norma, Kingston, Kimberly, Lyle, Tulio, Duke, Heit Deluxe and World Teisco. Likewise, they were imported in the U.K under such labels as Arbiter, Audition, Kay and Top Twenty.

jimmiraz · April 1st, 2010, 04:59 AM

The headstock is shaped like a strat, it's large but shaped more like a strat smaller style.
I'll see if I have a pict later this evening, or snap one for you.
I just can't remember if there was ever a name on the headstock, it was so many years back that I sanded the neck down.
The rollers on the bridge saddles look close to what's on yours.
With the cover off the trem you can pluck the strings on the bridge and get the coolest sound. (think Joe Walsh - Lifes been good)
Thanks i'd appreciate to know what it is.

scotzoid · April 1st, 2010, 10:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jimmiraz

The headstock is shaped like a strat, it's large but shaped more like a strat smaller style.
I'll see if I have a pict later this evening, or snap one for you.
I just can't remember if there was ever a name on the headstock, it was so many years back that I sanded the neck down.
The rollers on the bridge saddles look close to what's on yours.
With the cover off the trem you can pluck the strings on the bridge and get the coolest sound. (think Joe Walsh - Lifes been good)
Thanks i'd appreciate to know what it is.

Maybe like the sound at the end of the Beatles' "Oh! Darling"? I had a late 60s Silvertone (MIJ, probably in the same factory as yours) that I could pluck the strings between the trem & the bridge & get a very similar sound. Microphonic pups, gotta love 'em

tonyw · April 1st, 2010, 03:47 PM

I can also pluck between the bridge and the trem and get some very cool sounds. As for microphnic pickups i like the challenge as its like driving a really old V8 clunker with dud brakes bad steering and skinny tyres but boy will this thing get up and hunt for you if you learn to drive it. I was even thinking of wax potting the pickups but if i do anything i will go down the old road of encasing them in copper, but in reality i like these screaming bad boys as they are.

I am having the most amazing time working these beauties out and if you dont watch out they jump up and bite you. You learn to control the instrument, so that the instrument doesnt control you...