Famous musicians who use tokai guitars?

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thechadz03

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I love my Tokai guitars but its seems that nobody famous uses them!!
I know Billy Gibbons occasionally plays a love rock and SRV used to play springys but there must be more surely ..... there can't surely be just one famous alive person playing Tokais on stage?

The only MIJ electric guitars I see famous people play commonly are either ESP or Ibanez but here in the U.K Tokai are in loads of stores as well so it is a bit strange.

Anyone want to add to this list of known Tokai players? Do you think Fender and Gibson have some sort of hold on the music companies? Seems odd.
 
Who knows???
Probabily many artists use Tokai. I could think they rip off the logo 7okai to put a Gibson or a Fender logo on their instruments...... :p
Could be possible????? :wink: :wink: :wink:
 
yeah I guess they may change the logo but how many people here do that?! That is blasphemy!! haha!
 
Given that Tokai are unable to sell new product in the USA, and that most famous musicans are from the USA, it is not that surprising that so few use Tokai. But you might expect Europeans to use them. Still, maybe they are not well known, as in the UK there are only a few dealers that stock new items. So if you are a musician and you travel to your local shop to try out gear, chances are you will only come across Gibson, PRS, Fender etc.
 
Billy Gibbons is a genuine Tokai user - there is footage of him using a Love Rock on TV & at live gigs.

SRV? I remain to be convinced. I believe he held a Springy once for a photo, but I'm not convinced the connection goes any deeper than that.

Johnny Whitehill, who used to play in Paul Lamb & the Kingsnakes (before Lamb replaced him with Lamb's much less impressive son... :roll: ) played a Sunburst rosewood board Goldstar, with Seymour Duncan pickups, I think. The guitar can be seen on the cover of Whitehill's solo album Guitar Slinger.

Otis Grand's gold Strat is, so I'm told, a re-badged Tokai.

There are others, but that's all I can think of right now.

Mike
 
thechadz03 said:
Anyone want to add to this list of known Tokai players? Do you think Fender and Gibson have some sort of hold on the music companies? Seems odd.

Let's put it this way. If I worked for Fender or Gibson & I saw an influential guitarist using a Tokai, I would probably offer to give them a free Fender/Gibson to encourage them to promote my brand every time they played. It's not really feasible for a small company like Tokai to do the same in reverse.

I imagine free guitars for endorsement deals or publicity are simply tax-deductible expenses for the big companies.
 
stratman323 said:
thechadz03 said:
Anyone want to add to this list of known Tokai players? Do you think Fender and Gibson have some sort of hold on the music companies? Seems odd.

Let's put it this way. If I worked for Fender or Gibson & I saw an influential guitarist using a Tokai, I would probably offer to give them a free Fender/Gibson to encourage them to promote my brand every time they played. It's not really feasible for a small company like Tokai to do the same in reverse.

I agree...this is the correct answer.
 
Mention Tokai to any famous musician/guitarist (especially ones endorsed by Fender or Gibson), or any non-famous but professional experienced guitarists and you always get the same re-action.
They either once owned one, or played one, had a friend who owned one, heard one, worked on or repaired one, and they all say the same thing...GREAT GREAT guitars.
Put one in their hands and they all re-act the same way...they shake their heads in amazement.

That's the ultimate endorsement of a brand...IMO

Mention Fender, Gibson, Ibanez, ESP, or any other brand to the same musicians and they all say the same thing...they've played some great ones, some mediocre ones, and they've also played many that were terrible.

I'll save you the trouble, Mike. :D

CaptainHyperbole.jpg
 
What!? You haven't heard about Disco Ensemble!? Shame on you guys ;)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disco_Ensemble
http://www.onemetal.com/2009/05/31/interview-jussi-ylikoski-disco-ensemble/

Very bad *** group actually, worth of checking them out.

If I remember it right they have said in some interview that they use Tokais because the get them free. So I believe they have some kind of sponsor contract(?)
 
Diamond said:
I'll save you the trouble, Mike. :D

It would be fun to argue with you Diamond, but I can't really disagree with anything you said. :lol:
 
Let's not forget Matt Schofield.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yfi9fKpm3yU
 
billy_gibbons_marshall_tokai_ad.jpg


TokaiQuestion.jpg


And what about Burny? ;)

- Steve Jones (Sex Pistols)
stevejonesSEXPISTOLS-guitaristhisBU.jpg


- Duff McKagan (Guns N' Roses, Velvet Revolver, Loaded)
duff_mckagan_2078098.jpg
 
Paul Brett, who played lead guitar for the Strawbs, and The Crazy World of Arthur Brown.

See http://www.fret-dancer.com/viewguitars.php?groupid=44
 
To be fair, although we quote him as a Tokai player, Billy Gibbons has been a Tele player for while now, hasn't he? I didn't see that coming!
 
Billy Gibbons had his own Pearly Gates LP run at Gibson recently. He always claims to use the original they copied on every album. I suspect he used to use the Tokai live especially when abroad - famous French TV broadcast - to save the travel associated risks with the original Pearly Gates.

Matt Schofield used a Tokai 335 for a while but has gone back to Strat for latest album.

Steve Hackett - ex Genesis is a notable current Burny user.
 
MattThorpe said:
Billy Gibbons had his own Pearly Gates LP run at Gibson recently. He always claims to use the original they copied on every album.

Does he? I'm sure I read that Eliminator & it's follow up were mainly or totally recorded using Deans?
 
He may have claimed this for the purpose of enhancing the Gibson blurb er marketing.
 
MattThorpe said:
He may have claimed this for the purpose of enhancing the Gibson blurb er marketing.

That sounds more likely. He also probably omitted to mention that he played a Gretsch for several years & now plays a Fender Tele! :lol:
 
"It?s finally here, and it?s bad to the bone. And now you can own it. Billy Gibbons? favorite axe has always been his beloved Pearly Gates ? a rare 1959 Gibson Les Paul Standard with legendary angelic qualities. It has appeared on every track of every ZZ Top album to date, and sings with a ?God-like voice? unlike any other guitar."


http://www2.gibson.com/Products/Ele...y-Gibbons-Pearly-Gates-Les-Paul-Standard.aspx
 
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