1970's Univox Gimme Les Paul Copy

I acquired this guitar in April 2008 and it has a market value of $112. I was told it was a Univox with natural finish that had been painted because of the "ugly" color that the finish had yellowed to over time. I was also told that the pickups had been replaced and were thought to be Seymour Duncan pickups now. I replaced the missing knobs with generic speed knobs in black to match the pickups. It really sounds good now and you might even be able to remove the paint to get back to the original finish.






Univox is a defunct American musical instrument and amplifier manufacturer. In the early 1960s the Unicord Corporation, a manufacturer of electronic transformers purchased the Amplifier Corporation of America of Westbury, New York. They began marketing a line of amplifiers under the name of Univox. The company was purchased by Gulf + Western in 1967.




Guitar making operations moved to Japan in 1975 where they continued making guitars until 1982. Production under the Univox name was halted after a fire at the Matsumoku factory. After this time instruments were made in Korea under the name Westbury. The Unicord Corporation was purchased by Korg in 1985, effectively ending the line for good.




Univox was best known for making copies of instruments from better known companies such as Mosrite, Fender, Gibson, Rickenbacker, Ampeg/Dan Armstrong, Epiphone and others. These copies are often referred to as lawsuit copies among collectors. The Univox Hi-Flier was largely based on the Mosrite "Ventures" guitar; it was popularized in the early 1990s by Kurt Cobain, almost two decades after original production had stopped.

1960's Sears Silvertone Model 1406 Mosrite Copy

I picked up this guitar in February 2009 and it has a market value of $80.99. This is a Sears Silvertone Electric Guitar Model 1406 from the late 1960's. The sticker on the back of the headstock was there when I found the guitar. Based on the headstock I believe this is actually a late 1960's model. As far as I can tell, this guitar is all original and complete. This guitar does have some nicks and dings in the finish as well as some crazing that is common in a vintage guitar. The pots are a bit scratchy and the knobs have chips/cracks in them but everything seems to work.


This is a late 60's early 70's Silvertone made by Teisco of Japan. This is a similar to the Mosrite or maybe a bit of Stratocaster. It's a small student/child size guitar. Teisco made guitars for lots of department stores and Sears joined up with them in the late 1960's.

The Teisco brand name stands for 'Tokyo Electric Instrument and Sound Company'. Teisco was founded in 1946 by renowned Hawaiian and Spanish guitarist Atswo Kaneko, and electrical engineer Doryu Matsuda. Teisco guitars sold in the United States were badged "Teisco Del Rey" beginning in 1964. Teisco guitars were also imported in the U.S. under several brand names including Silvertone, Jedson, Kent, Kingston, Kimberly, Tulio, Heit Deluxe and World Teisco. While guitars manufactured by Teisco were ubiquitous in their day, they are now very collectable.

Sears Silvertone 1440 Mosrite Copy

I picked this guitar up in late 2008 and it has a market value of $212.50. It's a late 1960's (probably 1968) Silvertone Model 1440 two pickup electric guitar. The body is a great copy of the style of the Mosrite Venture or Univox Hi-Flyer (or Hi-Flier). It was made in Japan, probably by the Teisco Company for Sears. Here's where you can get a copy for a fraction of the cost of the real thing played by the Ramones and Nirvana. This thing looks like it's been in a closet for years without being touched. Great shape and it has plenty of fret life and nice action with adjustable bridge and a straight neck. As far as I can tell, this guitar is all original and complete except for the mis-matched knobs.

1960's Prestige (Mosrite - Univox copy)

I picked this up in August of 2008 and it has a $152.50 market value. It is a rare 4 pickup Prestige guitar likely made by Teisco or Kawai. The guitar is copy of the Mosrite Ventures or Univox Hi-Flyer body style with a bright red sunburst finish with tortose shell pickguard.

The Teisco brand name stands for 'Tokyo Electric Instrument and Sound Company'. Teisco was founded in 1946 by renowned Hawaiian and Spanish guitarist Atswo Kaneko, and electrical engineer Doryu Matsuda. Teisco guitars sold in the United States were badged "Teisco Del Rey" beginning in 1964. Teisco guitars were also imported in the U.S. under several brand names including Silvertone, Jedson, Kent, Kingston, Kimberly, Tulio, Heit Deluxe and World Teisco. While guitars manufactured by Teisco were ubiquitous in their day, they are now very collectable.

The Kawai company was best known for its keyboards and pianos once made one of Japan’s most interesting and cool guitars of all-time: the Kawai Moon Sault. Shaped like a crescent moon, it was loaded with active EMG pickups and was adorned with green abalone inlays and sparkle finishes. They were made in the early 1980’s, and have been recently (and pathetically) reintroduced in bolt-on neck form. Kawai also made copies of Alembic guitars of exceptionally high quality and those are somewhat popular to collectors as well. No model can compare to the popularity of the MoonSault.