Solved! possibly tricky 335 identification question.

[fuzzmeister]

Hi, my name is Fuzz.

I've been playing Jms exclusively for the last 20 years (yeahyeah, indie rock background) and have been possessed by ES335 style guitars lately since I started fingerpicking and sliding. Symptoms of old age possibly. Got me a lovely Greco super real 335 two years ago and it's becoming my main guitar, lately started digging into Tokai realms and while I lurking around on the Registry, I finally got me a grip on the nomenclature of the newer ES-style models.

There's one thing I can't seem to figure out, though... there's an "ESP" model available locally which doesn't follow the naming convention (has no further indication of price in Yen), unlike the UES135, 155 etc.

It just says ESP.

Looky here:

http://www.guitar24.de/de/pro.php?p=21565

or here:

http://www.guitar-hospital.de/GHTokaiShop.htm (scroll down a bit)

Both say it's nitro.

Just a re-named 135/155?

Any thoughts? :roll:

Cheers, F

 

[DaveWW]

That's one of a range of special order guitars by the German Tokai distributor. You can see that and others here

http://www.tokaiguitar.de/produkte.php?kategorie=1-1-1

 

[fuzzmeister]

Hi Dave,

thanks a lot! How come I couldn't find it?

In fact, it kind of worsens my confusion. On the distributor's website it says that ESF is the nitro finished model, while on one dealer's site it says ESP is the nitro one. The other dealer told me the same on the phone. Not that I deparately need nitro but i'd surely mind paying the nitro when it's poly.

Just dropped the distributor a mail. Will post findings.

Cheers

 

[fuzzmeister]

Update:

Just called the distributor (super nice guy).

ESF is indeed nitro, ESP is poly.

The confusion seems to be that ESF is currently not available, and that the one dealer where I looked at the guitar declared ESF as ESP. Will need to take a look at the guitar again. IIRC, it had slight flame and an open book HS. I already dropped a deposit on ze gitah, so I might get an ESF at ESP price.

Might turn out as a lovely deal!

 

[fuzzmeister]

Sorry I don't mean to post-pad for any reason, except for wanting to share ze news:

The guitar is mine now :lol:

I's the ESF with nitro top layer and dots (I like these more than blocks), orange drop cap, all that business.

I didn't even bother plugging into an amp at the store. Picked it up, and it felt great from the first second. Awesome round neck and super resonant. A bit brighter than what I'm used to, but I usually play pure nickel strings, so that might as well be it. I'm out of strings at the mo, so I'll have to wait and see.

Gave it a real quick setup, polished frets, adjusted truss & bridge, filed the nut a bit, it's a killer guitar - and I'm not some gearhead who claims each of his guitars have sustain for days, m@j@, and play like buttah. For real, the guitar is unbelievably well done.

If I was nitpicky, I'd say the truss cover position is a little bit off, but what the heck. The finish and general craftsmanship is flawless. I kept searching for something to bother me, you know, some spot of the binding not 100% accurately done, finish flaws... but there is nothing, except for the truss cover, which is at worst a bit amusing: They put together a perfect guitar and then just "somehow" screwed on the truss cover, haha.

I had some explaining to do to the lady when I came home with yet another guitar, but I didn't forget to bring flowers, so all went well in that regard. I've played the thing the whole night through and I cannot recommend it highly enough. Can't wait for the next band rehearsal and then next year when it's properly broken in.

Again: thanks for the advice, hoping to contribute some in the future.

 

[singemonkey]

Pictures! 8)

 

[fuzzmeister]

Soon! I'm waiting for a bit of sunshine... :wink:

Call me nuts, but I rolled the fretboard/binding edges a bit last night (just some 600-800 grit, guitar in lap, in front of the telly). It's even more comfy now.