Hello All.
Long time Tokai user and fan here.
Thought I'd share info on two of my guitars and some historical background. Both have been - and still are- hard working guitars as, I have been a pro musician and session player for the last 25 years.
I bought my first Tokai Goldstar in 1987 from Strings Guitar Center, Ryde, Isle of Wight as a replacement for the Fender Strat I'd just had stolen :evil:
It is a Candy Apple Red ST50 with rosewood neck.
I distinctly remember they had 3 models of Strat to choose from. The ST40, ST50 and ST55.
The 40 was the cheapest with rather crappy hardware - machine heads with little chrome covers - whilst the 50 were all Rosewood capped and the 55 were maple necks.
Prices were ?249, ?270 and ?299 respectively.
This one has been a real workhorse. It has had 3 refrets in the last 23 years, as well as new machine heads and bridge - which rusted so much it kept snapping strings!
The pickups are all Seymour Duncan Vintage Alinco's that I fitted in 1988. It is wired to work like a Telecaster, but the first tone control is now wired as a volume for the middle pickup so I can add it if needed. The remaining tone is a universal tone pot.
This one I used when I worked with The Pretty Things from 1990-94. Infuriatingly the selector switch knob fell off at a gig a month ago, so it has a bit of rubber on until I get a replacement.
Old Bridge!
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My other is a Love Rock from 1985 that I bought from "Honest John's" in Chichester in 1990.
It had been on their wall for nearly 5 years when I got it as Les Pauls' were so out of vogue in the late 80's. I think its a LS60 or even 70, though the sharp eyed out there may know better?
One piece mahogany body and neck, two piece flamed solid maple top. I think I paid ?250 for it.
This had Seymour Duncan PAF's put in at the same time, and most of the hardware has also been replaced.
The original machine heads had to be replaced when the back of one "pinged" off during a gig in 1995. The Shaller's were the only option at the time. The original bridge "collapsed" as its contour went flat over time due to string tension! Seriously, the arch on the bottom side leveled off. This was replaced about 5 years ago. As you can see the Cherry Sunbusrt has faded a little and more grain is visible near the binding.
Both these guitars got heavy use touring. In fact Dick Taylor had the Love Rock for a while. Here's a pic of both guitars in use from Swaalmen in Holland from 1991:
Little interesting snippet. The "inlay" of the logo is a little deceiving.
The whole headstock actually has a MOP veneer on it.
When the new machine heads were being installed, the holes needed to be drilled out to account for the securing nuts. The luthier was surprised when drilling out that big chunck's of MOP cracked off around the hole - you can just make out the damage.
So in fact the logo is not an inlay, but basically a template stuck to the headstock that is then sprayed black - and then peeled off.
A little later I found out that this is how many Tokai's of this era became "Gibsons".
When I first toured with the Pretty Things, we supported Stan Webbs' Chicken Shack. SW kept telling me I needed to get a real guitar - not some "Jap Rubbish". I was in awe of his beautiful Les Pauls. But a little later his other guitarist told me to ignore him as one was a Tokai just like mine with a new logo!
I have just done some sessions with the Love Rock. Here it is on a track called DayStripper by Matt Bioul - produced and engineered by Ian Caple:
http://old.thesixtyone.com/mattbioul/#/mattbioul/songs/popular/1/
cheers, great resource this website Ned!
Barks
Long time Tokai user and fan here.
Thought I'd share info on two of my guitars and some historical background. Both have been - and still are- hard working guitars as, I have been a pro musician and session player for the last 25 years.
I bought my first Tokai Goldstar in 1987 from Strings Guitar Center, Ryde, Isle of Wight as a replacement for the Fender Strat I'd just had stolen :evil:
It is a Candy Apple Red ST50 with rosewood neck.
I distinctly remember they had 3 models of Strat to choose from. The ST40, ST50 and ST55.
The 40 was the cheapest with rather crappy hardware - machine heads with little chrome covers - whilst the 50 were all Rosewood capped and the 55 were maple necks.
Prices were ?249, ?270 and ?299 respectively.
This one has been a real workhorse. It has had 3 refrets in the last 23 years, as well as new machine heads and bridge - which rusted so much it kept snapping strings!
The pickups are all Seymour Duncan Vintage Alinco's that I fitted in 1988. It is wired to work like a Telecaster, but the first tone control is now wired as a volume for the middle pickup so I can add it if needed. The remaining tone is a universal tone pot.
This one I used when I worked with The Pretty Things from 1990-94. Infuriatingly the selector switch knob fell off at a gig a month ago, so it has a bit of rubber on until I get a replacement.
Old Bridge!
My other is a Love Rock from 1985 that I bought from "Honest John's" in Chichester in 1990.
It had been on their wall for nearly 5 years when I got it as Les Pauls' were so out of vogue in the late 80's. I think its a LS60 or even 70, though the sharp eyed out there may know better?
One piece mahogany body and neck, two piece flamed solid maple top. I think I paid ?250 for it.
This had Seymour Duncan PAF's put in at the same time, and most of the hardware has also been replaced.
The original machine heads had to be replaced when the back of one "pinged" off during a gig in 1995. The Shaller's were the only option at the time. The original bridge "collapsed" as its contour went flat over time due to string tension! Seriously, the arch on the bottom side leveled off. This was replaced about 5 years ago. As you can see the Cherry Sunbusrt has faded a little and more grain is visible near the binding.
Both these guitars got heavy use touring. In fact Dick Taylor had the Love Rock for a while. Here's a pic of both guitars in use from Swaalmen in Holland from 1991:
Little interesting snippet. The "inlay" of the logo is a little deceiving.
The whole headstock actually has a MOP veneer on it.
When the new machine heads were being installed, the holes needed to be drilled out to account for the securing nuts. The luthier was surprised when drilling out that big chunck's of MOP cracked off around the hole - you can just make out the damage.
So in fact the logo is not an inlay, but basically a template stuck to the headstock that is then sprayed black - and then peeled off.
A little later I found out that this is how many Tokai's of this era became "Gibsons".
When I first toured with the Pretty Things, we supported Stan Webbs' Chicken Shack. SW kept telling me I needed to get a real guitar - not some "Jap Rubbish". I was in awe of his beautiful Les Pauls. But a little later his other guitarist told me to ignore him as one was a Tokai just like mine with a new logo!
I have just done some sessions with the Love Rock. Here it is on a track called DayStripper by Matt Bioul - produced and engineered by Ian Caple:
http://old.thesixtyone.com/mattbioul/#/mattbioul/songs/popular/1/
cheers, great resource this website Ned!
Barks
