[1] The brand name "Teisco" was established in 1948, and sometimes incorrectly explained as[3] an acronym of Tokyo Electric Instrument and Sound Company.

The company was founded in 1946 by renowned Hawaiian and Spanish guitarist Atsuwo Kaneko and electrical engineer Doryu Matsuda.

The company was originally called Aoi Onpa Kenkyujo (roughly: Hollyhock Soundwave or Electricity Laboratories).

Hound Dog Taylor famously used a variety of these Kawai-era Teiscos, which he bought at his local Sears department store.

Also, James Iha of The Smashing Pumpkins played a K-2L, which can be seen in the music video for Rocket as well as the inside of the Pisces Iscariot CD jewel case.

This is one of the reasons these guitars became popular again during the 90s among many noise artists as a cheaper alternative for the Fender Jaguar or Jazzmaster, which were beginning to attract collector interest.

It had an off-set body shape similar to a Jazzmaster, but with an extended top horn, a 'monkey handle' cutout on the left-facing side of the bridge and a Fender-style headstock with an oversized scroll.

Also, 2 or 4-pickup baritone guitars (27 3/4 inch scale) with a tremolo, known as Demian or Orlando VN-2 or VN-4 ca.1964 manufactured by FujiGen,[10] are often referred as Teisco models.

Teisco marketed drum sets in limited sizes and configurations during the 1960s, sold under the brand name Del Ray.