I picked this up today at an estate sale and having trouble finding anything about it. It's a Kimberly Phantom 22 model and from what I can tell was made by Teisco in Japan in the '60's - and that's about all I know LOL. The guitar appears to be in very good condition considering it's ~60 years old. I just brought it home and haven't checked any of the electronics yet. Although it's very filthy the finish looks to be in excellent shape. Very light. Interesting that it has a flame maple back and a plain front.
I did find a few Kimberly Phantom basses online that look identical. I was hoping I haven't overspent on this one but the basses seem to go in the $600-$900 range. I really think it's pretty cool. I can't wait to get it cleaned up and hopefully playable. I honestly can't find anything online about the guitar model so I'm hoping someone here many know something.
Thanks!
Seems like they Teisco made so many models but never 2 identical. There are a few other Japan companies from the same era who could have made it too. Beware some do not have a truss rod in the neck.
This one has a truss rod adjuster at the heel - thank goodness. Haven't had a chance to check if it works but actually looks like the relief is pretty good.
It's going to need a lot of work. Action is real high, as well as the pickups. When you fret a higher fret the string hit's the top of the pickup LOL. Hopefully the pickups are easily adjustable or else I'll need to shim the neck. Other problems I've found are stiff tuners (really stiff!), a non-functioning volume pot, and nothing coming out of the bridge pickup.
Good news is the neck pickup works and sounds pretty good! (I'll take what I can get). I did a quick wipe down of the body and I'm impressed how good the finish is. One tiny nick on the tip of one of the horns. Maybe because it has been set up so poorly it just never got played much - HA!
Guitar is light and comfortable with a really thin neck. I feel like there was a musician that played a model like this but I can't think who.
Thought there was a picture of Tom Petty playing something like that. Danelectro longhorn is the model i am thinking of.
Teisco switches and pots are not the greatest quality though they can be brought back to life usually. Tuners may come apart or the back part may come off, get some vaseline/grease in there. Pickup not working is probably the switch. Chances are they are basically gold foil pickups with different covers, most were the same underneath.
I ended up taking this to a tech to sort out the electronics. Luckily the bridge pickup is fine and all the components are now functioning correctly. He did a great set up on it and it plays well. The pickups actually sound pretty good.
As far as playability it takes some time to get used to it as the neck is narrow and it has small flat-ish frets. Once I adjust to it it's actually kind of fun to play - very different to everything else I have. If forces me to be very precise with my fretting hand and use a light touch, which is something I need to work on anyway. So as well as looking cool on my wall it's good for training technique. LOL!
