Profile: Teisco was a Japanese manufacturer of affordable musical instruments from 1948 until 1969, and now the brand is owned by Kawai Musical Instruments Manufacturing Co. Ltd. The company produced guitars as well as keyboard instruments, microphones, amplifiers and even drums. Teisco products were widely exported to the United States and the United Kingdom.

The brand name "Teisco" was established in 1948, and sometimes incorrectly explained as an acronym of Tokyo Electric Instrument and Sound Company. However, the exact name of company establishing and producing the Teisco brand was not that name, and rather, they had frequently renamed their company name.

The company was founded in 1946 by renowned Hawaiian and Spanish guitarist Atswo Kaneko and electrical engineer Doryu Matsuda. The company was originally called Aoi Onpa Kenkyujo (roughly: Hollyhock Soundwave or Electricity Laboratories). In 1956, the company name was changed to Nippon Onpa Kogyo Co., and changed to Teisco Co. in 1964. In 1967, the company was acquired by Kawai Musical Instruments Manufacturing Co. Ltd., who discontinued the Teisco brand name for guitars in 1969 (1977 in Japan), but continued to use it for electronic keyboards until the 1980s. Show less