Tokai Guitar ID HELP

[shahpurs]

Hi , can anyone help me id this guitar, i am 90% sure it is a Tokai but just want someone to confirm this and what the actual model is.

I brought the guitar about 6 months ago , it was being sold as a genuine Fender USA guitar but when i looked closer I saw that it was not, but as soon as I played it I knew I had to have it .

I will try to describe the guitar the best i can

A Fender decal on the headstock
3 Way selector switch
cloth wired pickups which are stamped V1 on the back
Neck plate has 221533 stamped on it

The tuners are Kluson copies with deluxe on stamped on them .
The base of the neck has 9-9 printed on it
A tag inside the body which says 1=2=0 W

I have included some links to some pictures

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v227/shahpur/t2.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v227/shahpur/t5.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v227/shahpur/t4.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v227/shahpur/t6.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v227/shahpur/t7.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v227/shahpur/t8.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v227/shahpur/t9.jpg


any information would be appreciated , on what is and is not original (The scratch plate is not original )
.

thanks

 

[MIJvintage]

IMO, the neck & body both look like Tokai but not a matching set, i.e., they're from different guitars

also, pick guard isn't original & the decal is surely an add on

 

[shahpurs]

thanks for the response , are they are two differnt tokai models? Also are the pickups tokai ?

 

[XLarge]

My Goldstar has 5 way pickup switch !

 

[luis]

Tokai strats came with 5 way switch,that is not accurate as replicas but I guess it was because more usefull.Another japanese replicas as Fernandes came with 5 way switch too....

 

[XLarge]

Tokai strats came with 5 way switch,that is not accurate as replicas but I guess it was because more usefull.Another japanese replicas as Fernandes came with 5 way switch too....

My Greco SE600 came with a 5 way switch (with the strange feature of a very vague 2 and 4 position).

 

[cheshirecatsmile]

The pickups and wiring harness (wire, pots and plate the pots are on) are likely from a Tokai Goldstar sound. The pickup selector is not Tokai, or at least not from a Goldstar. The bridge, or at least the bridge saddles aren't correct for a Goldstar either--if you had a photo of the back of the tremelo block that would be interesting (also closeups of the saddles?). The neck is the right shape for an '84ish Goldstar, or possibly a Springy. More likely a Goldstar if it has other Goldstar parts--VIs were in Goldstars and not in Springys from what I've read. MIJ--what do you think the body is?--the neck join looks loose, but the body does have Tokai stamps inside. Shapurs--if you had a photo of the body where the neck joins to show if there are any extra holes drilled, or a photo of the back of the neck that would be useful (to see if the holes have been redrilled). The serial # is from a '56-'60 model-- a photo of the body with the pickguard off might be helpful to see if it's a 50's neck on a 60's body or vice versa (50's models had 8 not 11 screws on the pickguard--this might be harder to determine now that the pickguard has been replaced with an 11 screw model).

My feeling with guitars like this is to love them for what they are. You obviously fell in love with it at the store. It's interesting to figure out what it is, but I really think it's important to remember that guitars are meant to be played and not collected. If it has parts from 5 different guitars sounds great and feels good to play, then that's awesome. Enjoy it!
________
Sauber

 

[Ozeshin]

If it has parts from 5 different guitars sounds great and feels good to play, then that's awesome. Enjoy it

My sentiments exactly.
Clapton....Gilmore...and many of the great strat players mixed and matched parts from different guitars to make one...amazing hybrid ******* of a strat.

 

[shahpurs]

Thanks for the information , it is really appreciated . I just want to know out of curiosity what the guitar actually is .

Neither the body or neck have any extra holes in them and have a snug fit when attached with no movement .

I have included some pictures of the bridge as yyou requested.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v227/shahpur/t10.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v227/shahpur/t11.jpg

Also the back of the neck has a skunk stripe

 

[luis]

I would like to correct myself about 7 digits serial number,I remember a special run of 5 guitars Yoshi from Universe Guitarshop in Hamamatsu ordered from Tokai back in '01/'02(if not before.It has got less than 7 digit as ussual(I guess 3 digits if I recall well,not sure).I rtecall being a 320 with '57 Classic humbuckers.One was Yoshi?s personal guitar.I was handle it and it was a great guitar....

But this was the only exception to the rule I ?m aware....

EDITED: I guess I write this on the wrong topic

 

[cheshirecatsmile]

That's really interesting....
There are some photos with description from this magazine that match your guitar:

http://cgi.ebay.com/TOKAI-SPRINGY-SOUND-LAWSUIT-GUIDE-VINTAGE-GUITAR-BOOK_W0QQitemZ170106052037QQihZ007QQcategoryZ2384QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

(yes I know there was a snarky post joking about how much people were paying for these...I'm happy I bought mine. Ned--if you don't have a copy of this, I'll scan it and send it to you--it should be on this site! It has amazing photos of Springys and early Goldstars--some taken apart with detailed, albeit Japanese descriptions...about 25 pages of really good detailed Tokai Springy/Goldstar info&photos).

There is a page with photos showing a Goldstar model called a TST 50MRR
(it's Metallic Red, Rosewood neck--L+5digit serial= 1960-64 model) which has EXACTLY this bridge. On another page they show the same bridge off the guitar -- it's like a normal Final Prospec type, steel block but with these exact saddles instead of the "vintage" kind. If my limited Japanese ability is to be trusted it also says the same guitar has a 3-way instead of 5 way selector switch!

Adjacent to the photo of the TST50MRR is a TST50MR (maple neck late 50s model) that has the usual "vintage" (press-saddle in Katakana) type saddles (can't see if they're Final Prospec, or Tokai), so it's possible these saddles were just used on certain models, but the 3-way switch looks like it belongs with these saddles.

If the serial number length of your guitar (6 digits) for Goldstars corresponds to the model-year/grade for Springys it would be a TST70 and be a copy of a Fender strat model between 1964/65 and 1974 (or 1976 according to this site). I would presume a 64/65 considering it has pickups usually seen in a Goldstar, but that's a pretty large guess...
This of course is assuming the serial number plate is original to this guitar!

Man I wish I could read Japanese well...

Anyway--it might be possible the only things not original on your guitar are the pickguard and the logo...!

I'll see if I can figure out how to scan and post a link to the pages I'm referring to. No promises on how long that might take!


________
JAGUAR MARK VIII

 

[Rossi]

I have a Springy 79/80 and it has a 3 way switch & E stamped-pups :wink:

 

[shahpurs]

thanks to everyone for the information , i am really gratefull
thanks
shahpur