leschirons Posted October 5, 2021 Share Posted October 5, 2021 (edited) Got this not too long ago. It would seem to be a Tiesco EG1 however, the headstock suggests another model called a Montaya but I can't find anything with the same trem. So, if anyone has any ideas as to what it actually is (I've been through 100s of images on Google) I'd appreciate ant ideas. And it's strung for a leftie I know. Thanks, Edited October 5, 2021 by leschirons 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigRedX Posted October 5, 2021 Share Posted October 5, 2021 @Bassassin should be along with all the info you need. However it looks like a "Woolies Special" to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FinnDave Posted October 5, 2021 Share Posted October 5, 2021 15 minutes ago, BigRedX said: @Bassassin should be along with all the info you need. However it looks like a "Woolies Special" to me. I agree, the pickup looks just the same as the pair on my first guitar - an 'Audition' which cost £19.00 new from the local Woolworths. Several other parts of it are also the same. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leschirons Posted October 5, 2021 Author Share Posted October 5, 2021 Someone has just sent me this. It seems it's called a Tiesco Norma EG300 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yorks5stringer Posted October 5, 2021 Share Posted October 5, 2021 I've got a Tiesco Clubcard, can I help...? 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigRedX Posted October 5, 2021 Share Posted October 5, 2021 @leschirons it may be an optical illusion, but does you guitar have both a truss-rod cover at the head and an adjustment wheel at the base of the neck? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leschirons Posted October 5, 2021 Author Share Posted October 5, 2021 10 minutes ago, BigRedX said: @leschirons it may be an optical illusion, but does you guitar have both a truss-rod cover at the head and an adjustment wheel at the base of the neck? Hi, No, not an optical illusion, but also not a truss-rod cover. It's an aluminium sticker that says "Steel reinforced adjustable neck" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigRedX Posted October 5, 2021 Share Posted October 5, 2021 If you Google "Audition Guitars" and look at the images there's an identical guitar to that (along with the "Steel reinforced adjustable neck" sticker) but with an Audition logo on the headstock, so almost definitely a Woolies Special. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FinnDave Posted October 5, 2021 Share Posted October 5, 2021 A lot of the images are captioned as 'Audition by Tiesco'. I'm reasonably sure that mine only said Audition on it, but its parentage is obvious from the search suggested. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigRedX Posted October 5, 2021 Share Posted October 5, 2021 IIRC the Teisco connection is entirely wishful thinking on the part of people with these guitars to sell. Back in the early 70s when Woolworths was selling the "Audition" branded versions of this guitar they were priced at £19.99 and TBH that was a bit overpriced. I think they are only rare today because despite being manufactured in huge quantities most of them ended up in the bin when their owners either moved on a decent guitar, or gave up because they were so unplayable. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FinnDave Posted October 5, 2021 Share Posted October 5, 2021 Mine was subject to the usual brutal treatment a teenager is likely to submit a guitar to, but ended up in the hands of a school friend who was a far better guitarist than I was, and he managed to get it sounding pretty good. I'll have to ask if he still has it (or any bits of it). I think mine was bought from Woolies late 1973 or thereabouts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ubit Posted October 5, 2021 Share Posted October 5, 2021 I'm more a Lidl man myself, so no help here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bassassin Posted October 5, 2021 Share Posted October 5, 2021 4 hours ago, BigRedX said: @Bassassin should be along with all the info you need. However it looks like a "Woolies Special" to me. I have very scant knowledge of 60s era MIJ guitars other than what I've picked up peripherally, or from Frank Meyers' excellent History Of Japanese Electric Guitars book. However I know enough to be very confident it's not a Teisco - apart from in the sense that somehow every wonky little 60s/70s starter guitar's somehow a Teisco... 3 hours ago, leschirons said: Someone has just sent me this. It seems it's called a Tiesco Norma EG300 Norma maybe, Teisco, nah. A bit of digging uncovered this, apparently from 1972: The 'National' bass second from the right is a Sakai - and after consulting the aforementioned Big Frank's Useful Book, so, it would seem, is the wonky little guitar next to it. So yes - despite knowing borderline bugger-all about old tat like this, a bit of detectiving estabishes the guitar in question appears to be a Sakai. Norma's a US brand name & as it's unbranded, it seems reasonable to call it a Sakai EG300, as Sakai Mokko was a manufacturer. Unless... Curiously, there are several versions of the Sakai bass design, some of which are Korean, not Japanese. It's not unrealistic to assume versions of the guitar were also made in Korea or elsewhere - there are minor differences (the pickup being one) from the one in the catalogue. This type of guitar continued to be made in Korean & Taiwanese factories through the 70s & into the 80s. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leschirons Posted October 5, 2021 Author Share Posted October 5, 2021 Thanks everyone for the interesting input. I got this to use for slide so I'll definitely carry on sorting it out for that purpose. It actually has quite a nice dirty tone to it so, for the £3 it cost at the council tip shop, result. Was just interested to find out what it actually was, so thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigRedX Posted October 5, 2021 Share Posted October 5, 2021 Given it's origins it would almost certainly sported an "Audition" logo when new. To be fair apart from the missing vibrato arm and the broken tone tone knob it looks in pretty good condition - certainly compared to all the ones I was able to find photographs of. So unless the back is suffering from major buckle rash it might be worth looking for proper parts to replace the missing and broken ones and keeping it in close to "original" condition. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maude Posted October 5, 2021 Share Posted October 5, 2021 Holy random angles Batman!! 😁 Looks to be the same pickup (albeit with a black cover rather than white) that was in Robert Smiths first guitar, a Woolworths Top 20. He liked the tone so much that when convinced to buy a Fender Jazzmaster, he installed the pickup from the Top 20 in it between the two original pickups. It should be great as a slide guitar. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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