Teisco Guitars Come to North Carolina

Between 1965 and late 1976, Teisco guitars and amplifiers could be purchased new in North Carolina stores. Among the stores carrying Teisco products were Lowe's, Rose's, KMart and Sky City. Teisco items could also be found in other stores that sold tv's, appliances and hardware. I saved up  $100 in 1966 in order to purchase an electric guitar and amplifier. The guitar was a Teisco Del Rey ET-210 and the amplifier was a Checkmate 14 with a 6 X 9 oval speaker. The amp had 3 inputs, with tremolo speed, strength, volume and tone controls mounted on top of the amp. The amp also came with a foot switch to turn the tremolo on/off. The sound from this little amp was crystal clear. On each end of the amp there was a chrome aluminum strip running along the top and front of the cabinet sides. After 1966, the CM-14's I saw had the controls mounted on the front. Some of those had either an 8 or 10 inch round speaker.