SG Junior legit?

[flatrockmobile]

TOKAI SG Junior SG-J52 Vintage White / Limited Edition / SGJ52 TOKAI SG Junior SG-J52 Vintage White / Limited Edition / SGJ52 | Reverb

Notice how "Limited" looks like the same font on the breadstick as Edwards or GrassRoots

 

[Sigmania]

Hmmmm

 

[Sigmania]

CN plus 8 digits is correct for Chinese Tokais in that period. 2021.

That said, no way of knowing if it’s completely legit since there’s a lot of mystery surrounding Chinese production.

My understanding is the new management at Tokai is going to move away from production in other countries. We shall see.

 

[Sigmania]

52,000 Japanese yen equals 396 USD.

The price with the discount ($557) is probably full retail price with the fees.

 

[flatrockmobile]

TOKAI SG Junior SG-J52 Vintage White / Limited Edition / SGJ52 TOKAI SG Junior SG-J52 Vintage White / Limited Edition / SGJ52 | Reverb

Notice how "Limited" looks like the same font on the breadstick as Edwards or GrassRoots

Headstock not breadstick. **** spell check

 

[Sigmania]

This one has a different TRC.

Export dimple. Flower pot.

2020

Tokai SGJ52 Junior Cherry | Reverb

 

[Sigmania]

And I’m not totally sure what that “Limited Edition” script is. I’ve seen it before on another Chinese model and it stuck out and looked odd.

It could be counterfeit, a side door thing, or it could be legit and something Tokai let them do.

I’ve seen other weird apparently legit Tokais coming out of China with unusual script or logos on the headstock that are very different than what comes out of Japan. Hard to know what is authorized and what is not since Tokai has historically been pretty private about production in other countries.

One example of an unusual looking Tokai are some of the newer Chinese Cats Eyes acoustics with the Gibson style inlaid script that Tokai uses on LPs. Looks odd. Nothing like what Tokai Japan has done.

So there are big gray areas with Chinese production.

 

[Sigmania]

Here’s one from 2010 with the appropriate serial number then, so guessing it is legit.

tokai guitar | eBay

No idea where it fits in the line of Chinese models. Sometimes Limiteds are lower end sometimes higher end. Don’t go by that I would say and assume any wood that is painted is low grade. Would not be mahogany for example.