NGD Silvertone (Teisco) KL4

Discussion of vintage Jazzmasters, Jaguars, Bass VIs, Electric XIIs and any other offset-waist instruments.
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Ben17e
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NGD Silvertone (Teisco) KL4

Post by Ben17e » Wed Jun 13, 2018 5:50 pm

https://photos.app.goo.gl/8dZ49bGXap7gncC68
Image
Picked up this guy recently on a whim locally. Really cool guitar that is in quite good shape for its age. It needs some setup attention rather soon but once I took it apart and fixed some simple things like pickup screws being loose and cleaned it up (it was pretty dirty/dusty), it is pretty beautiful and the electronics work great other than I believe a bad cap on the tone pot as it doesn't seem to be working right. I have heard many people describe these pickups as "weak." I don't understand this at all although some of the videos on YouTube sound that way..I don't hear it that way at all though.. It is huge sounding compared to a strat for example. The guitar's wiring is really smart. It has a rhythm and lead switch which is a bass roll off similar to Reverend's bass contour but on a switch - Rhythm mode takes the low end off. The pickups are wired in series so they thicken up as added together without getting too thick. There doesn't seem to be a tone of phase cancellation even with the closely spaced pickups which is sort of surprising. Perhaps the phase cancellation plus the series combination are balancing each other out well to not be too bassy or quacky. Pretty cool guitar! Definitely not the modern player but a really neat instrument.

Edit: Actually I think this guitar shows the tones pretty well: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9smTfeTxo_U&t=136s
Really a lot of guts...next to my much more boutique Thorn with Lollar Gold Foils, the pickups have more similarities than differences, these having more of a full low mid range.
Last edited by Ben17e on Fri Jun 15, 2018 5:47 pm, edited 2 times in total.

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alkalineHemlock
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Re: NGD Silvertone (Teisco) KL4

Post by alkalineHemlock » Fri Jun 15, 2018 3:18 pm

That sounds pretty cool... Any chance you could try posting the pics again? They aren't coming through on my side...

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Ben17e
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Re: NGD Silvertone (Teisco) KL4

Post by Ben17e » Fri Jun 15, 2018 5:46 pm

Any luck with the direct link now? I forgot I have been having trouble when trying to share from google photos here...

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alkalineHemlock
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Re: NGD Silvertone (Teisco) KL4

Post by alkalineHemlock » Sat Jun 16, 2018 9:17 am

Oh, yeah. I see it now. That red is gorgeous, w o w .

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