Robin As Tokai Distributor in Houston, Texas

[Sigmania]

Gathering info on this association.

This ended in 1984 apparently.

So 1982-1984?

 

[Sigmania]

In the 80's Robin Guitars was a big importer of Tokai's. The early Robin's were built in the same factory. Growing up in Houston and hanging out at the retails store Rockin Robin there were always a bunch of Tokai's which is where I learned about them. The retail was the same as the guitar manufacturer - Robin Guitars.

 

[Sigmania]

Tweet Tweet - Robin Guitars

David Wintz and Bart Wittrock opened Rockin Robin guitar shop in Houston in 1972. They built a solid reputation doing repair work and specializing in selling used instruments.


The guys first hooked up with Tokai at a NAMM show in Chicago in the early 80s and bought out their on-hand inventory of Les Paul and Strat copies to sell at their store back in Texas.


After selling through those guitars they ordered another batch and it showed up with no headstock logo. David and Bart whipped up a Robin decal and stuck it on the headstock and the brand was born.




Next, Robin moved forward with Tokai to produce some of their own designs, including the reverse blade style headstock. That was 1982 and their first original model was the Ranger.


In 1984 the relationship with Tokai soured for several reasons. However, new relationships were forged with ESP and Chushin Gakki (Chushin also did some runs for Jackson and Charvel) and Robin continued importing new models uninterrupted.

 

[Sigmania]

1983?

Tokai / Robin SRV Rare! | Reverb